The 26th of July

Would it be redundant for me to mention that it's raining again? Imagine how redundant it feels. It's pouring.

Today I made cranberry orange muffins (from a mix) for breakfast... had hot dogs and cucumbers for lunch and for dinner Austin made this homestyle bakes beef-a-roni stuff that tasted better than it looked. I also had my standard 2pm bowl of ice cream. When I realized that was the last of the ice cream, I hopped on the mule and made my way into town.

That reveals a hint of  the priorities in this house: ice cream, pain meds, orange juice in about that order. As a matter of fact, I probably wouldn't eat before the 2pm bowl of ice cream everyday except for the fact that I can't take pain meds without food. The orange juice, for me, is a similar necessity. I seem to have fewer dizzy spells when I have the daily o.j. Blood sugar issues, you might think, but every time it's been checked it's been normal. I've gotten hooked on this pineapple coconut juice that tastes like a pina colada without the rum. I'm allergic to pineapple but this doesn't seem to bother me as bad as actually eating the fruit does.

I took some (I think) cute pictures of my Little Kitty but forgot that I had manually turned off the flash, therefore, they're all blurry and bad quality but I'm posting them anyways:
1. trying to catch Lady's tail
2. striking a sassy pose
3. biting my hand

  And then I remembered to turn on the flash. This last one is Little Kitty watching the rain. He's weary of it too. 

I have to keep my cup of water on the nightstand covered to keep LK from drinking it during the night. I love my kitty but I'm not up for swapping saliva with him. Out of concern for his well-being, I put a little bowl of water on the nightstand for him. And then I saw that little bowl next to my glass of water and realized that I have trudged further down the path of incurable cat lady-ness. 

I also keep it covered to keep the bugs out. We have an exterminator who comes frequently but this is a basement and we are next to a lake. It's inevitable that we have creepy crawlies around. I literally have to sweep the ceiling to knock down spider webs about once a week. I've also had to resort to turning on the bathroom light when I go at night- I was typically the one who just stumbled in the dark avoiding bright lights so I could get back to sleep easily. I'm just fearful that I will have a Little Miss Muffet moment in the middle of the night and I'm not sure my heart could take it. To reinforce that fear, this morning there was a spider - a big one- right behind the toilet. My phobias are legitimate. 

My granddoggy Sammy is here for the weekend while his mommy and daddy are camping in Cherokee, North Carolina. I told Cody to look for the Birdtown Thrift Motel - it's this run down old motel that his dad and I stayed in when we were newlyweds. It's literally singlewide trailers lined up end to end and transformed into motel rooms. We stayed there in July of 1986. I have no idea if they're still in operation. When I googled "Birdtown Thrift Motel" all I got was an obituary from 2007 of the guy who owned it. My first marriage was all camping and cheap motels - my second marriage was to a guy who considered "roughing it" to be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott instead of a full-service Marriott. Both loved adventure and I did too. Lately my definition of adventure is driving to the mailbox. Such is life, I suppose. The shiny side of that coin is that I am blessed enough to live in a place where many people like to go for vacation. It's hard to complain. 

We also stayed at the Wolf-on-the-River once during a horribly rainy weekend. Ryan was a toddler but he was such a good traveler. We never had to worry about him wandering off or getting into the campfire. He was the kind of kid that God gives to parents who are too young to know what they're doing. He was born grown. On our many trips to Cherokee we never could afford to do all the touristy things like seeing the outdoor drama or eating at the better restaurants. We just enjoyed the scenery. Cody and Marquee's plan is to enjoy the scenery and if it rains they'll go to the casino. 

Sammy is doing well so far. This is his first overnight trip to the mountain house. He doesn't do stairs so he's pretty much restricted to the main floor. 

Austin just came out and announced he has a hole in his air mattress... something about dropping the cellphone charger on it. The one I just bought two weeks ago for $50. That kid needs a good job... he spends money faster than I can grow it. 

Anyways... that's our exciting Friday. Happy weekend, y'all.