Upside Down Cats

While I was initially satisfied with my original blog's look, the colors were never "me." So Scott spent last evening tweaking my blog, changing the style and using "my" colors. I got so excited about seeing the new site take shape, I stayed up waaaaay past my bedtime...(for shame!) I think it looks amazing...

In addition to new colors and theme, Scott added a blurb I wrote describing my blog, and a picture he took of me in Central Park on our fabulous NYC adventure of March, 2006.

Over the next few weeks we'll keep on tweakin'...soon it will be utter blog perfection! Stop by often to see what's new!

I hope you find the new look as attractive as I do...I think we have a winner!

 

On the subject of change, I thought I'd include my Quote Du Jour here:

"I feel very strongly that change is good because it stirs up the system." - Ann Richards

I believe our system has been well stirred...

Desi doesn't fetch her ball like she did when she was a kitten, but would you agree that she still loves it?

Maybe she's dreaming about fetching...

I frequently rail against those who either downplay the importance of sound nutrition for children, or dismiss the idea of feeding children nutritious food as the "impossible dream." As a daycare provider, feeding nutritious meals to my charges is a challenge I face daily. Through the years I have had to find solutions to the nutrition conundrum that please everyone. Today I'm going to put my credibility where my mouth is and share some of the methods I have devised to tastefully help accomplish this daunting task...

Continue reading "Purely Pureed" »

"Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all." - William Goldman, "The Princess Bride"

I guess no one ever promised this ride was going to be fair at the beginning, middle or the end...

 

Although I've never read The Princess Bride, it is one of my favorite movies! It's one of those movies I can watch again and again, or even pick up in the middle and watch the remainder without feeling I've had an incomplete experience!

In fact, we incorporated copies of the DVD into some very unique Christmas gifts we gave last year...We made "Family Movie Night" gift bags which included The Princess Bride DVD, several blanket throws (how many depended on the size of the family), and tubs of homemade flavored popcorn. We love to give different and meaningful gifts, and we felt really good about these!

In looking over William Goldman's biography, I have discovered that in the course of his writing career (which spans the last five decades) he has written 26 screenplays which have been produced into movies and 14 novels. I think that qualifies him as prolific! Check out his credits by clicking the Wikipedia link to his name above...it's like a list of some of the best movies ever made, and he wrote them all!

I love finding out surprising facts about someone...I only knew his name as the writer of The Princess Bride before I found the above quote. Now I know a bit more about a very talented man.

There's a family wedding this week, so we won't be eating as many meals at home as usual. Of course I have planned out the meals for the beginning of the week, so here's some of what we'll be enjoying at our house this week:


Bratwurst, Corn on the Cob, Mixed Greens Salad

Homemade Tortellini Soup, Italian Turkey Sub Sandwiches

Chicken Kiev, Steamed White Rice, Sauted Broccoli

Shrimp Lo Mein

Bagel Sandwiches with Bacon, Egg & Cheese, Hash Brown Potatoes, Honeydew Melon


With the Rehearsal Dinner and Wedding itself coming up, I'm sure we'll be eating well even away from home!

Today I would like to introduce another of our cats. Desdemona - Desi for short - joined the family six years ago this month. There is no amazing story of how she came to our home like Beemer, and no touching story like the arrival of Penny and Abbey, but with a face like that, who needs stinkin' fanfare...?

It was a day in the middle of August. My daycare children were playing in the back yard while I prepared lunch. A seven year old girl ran up to the back door and told me, "Gina, there's a cat in your yard!" I went out immediately to shoo away what I assumed was a stray because I didn't want the children in contact with a potentially diseased or dangerous cat. To my surprise - and delight - it was the precious little gray ball o' fluff pictured above. She had just strolled into the yard and by way of introduction walked directly up to me and gave me the "bump and slide" greeting against my leg. Well, apparently an aura surrounds me that lets cats know I am powerless to resist their feline wiles...

"It's funny how dogs and cats know the inside of folks better than other folks do, isn't it?"
- Eleanor H. Porter (1868 - 1920), Pollyanna, 1912

I picked her up and whispered, "If you want to be our kitty, you have to be the one who will let me hold you like a baby." I flipped her over on her back in my arms (she weighed no more than two pounds) and petted her belly...she immediately agreed to the arrangement, so signifying with a purr that was bigger than herself!

Continue reading "It's Not Like Desi Arnaz..." »

I was reading Michael Wade's blog, Execupundit, today in which he featured an excerpt from John Welter, author of My Store of Grievances. Mr Welter discusses his opinion of the current state of customer service. I have a thing or two to say about my own experiences in the land of the consumer... At my local grocery store - where I shop weekly and spend $150.00 (on average) for food to feed ourselves and the daycare children - I am frequently disappointed by the treatment I receive - or don't - from my checker. Often he or she does not even acknowledge my existence other than to announce the total I owe for my items. His or her priority seems to be attending not to me, but to the conversation with the bagger, complaining about management or about his or her schedule. Maybe it's my fault...after all, I am interrupting their bitch-fest...

Continue reading "Customer Disservice" »

I was just considering my writing process today...Earlier in the day I started thinking about what I might write on UDC and was coming up dry. I simply felt uninspired...nothing was sparking my interest or curiosity.

Then along came a spider...

Once the Spider Incident of '07 happened around 3:00 this afternoon, I've barely stopped writing!

Funny where inspiration can come from...

“If you were on a sinking ship and yelled, "Women and children first!" how much feminist opposition do you think you'd get? . . . Women want to fight men for equal pay, but how often do they fight a man for the check? . . . And any man who questions a woman's physical capabilities gets branded a sexist -- but who do they call when there's a spider to be killed? Convenient feminism -- crackpot theory or dangerous lunacy?” -Bill Maher quotes (American Comedian, Actor, Writer and Producer. b.1956)

OK, I think I can get away with sharing this potentially controversial, maybe even inflammatory, quote because I killed the biggest spider I've ever encountered today. So I'm not Annie Hall calling Alvy Singer over to her apartment at 3:00 A.M. to kill the spider in her bathroom...I am not a woman who has a predetermined attitude about what is a woman's job and what is a man's. I am just as likely to be the spider assassin as my husband. The only time I ask Scott to kill a spider is when I can't reach it...he is a foot taller than I am, after all...that's being pragmatic, not sexist!

Continue reading "Gina's (Apropos) Quote Du Jour (Maher)" »

Why do spiders have this effect on me...?

Not that I'm unique in my abject disgust for these hideous creatures, but why do they affect me like this...? I certainly don't have any spider horror story about a masochistic brother's spider collection being let loose on my bed, or anything...

I just killed what I think is the biggest spider I have ever seen in person right here in the daycare playroom! We've had so many spiders in the house in the past two weeks...Considering all the rain we've had lately, I think they are coming inside in droves to find dry land. I am going to try not to let the fact that I am completely freaked out right now cause me to exaggerate my description of the size of this revolting thing...half-dollar size, maybe! I was putting away cots after nap time and there it was...just staring at me - nay - challenging me.

Continue reading "Arachnophobia In The Afternoon" »