How Do I Get Talked Into These Things?

Here, for your viewing enjoyment, are the fuzzy punks who have been keeping me company for the last week….

Dippy

Rascal

Buddy

Sadie

And Pookie…

Who won’t sit still long enough for me to take his picture.

He’s black and cat shaped but you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Christmas Morning

For those of you who weren’t aware, I’ve been house/pet sitting since the 23rd. The house is located in what I affectionately refer to as ‘the sticks’ and it takes about twenty minutes to get there from my apartment. There are times over the last week or so when this drive has been almost too much for me to handle, especially when it is compounded with some of the family things I’m dealing with and some of my other obligations but mostly I’ve enjoyed it…and it was especially beautiful at dawn on Christmas morning. The roads were so empty and the world was so peaceful that I was literally able to stop in the middle of the street and take pictures without being in anyone’s way…so I did.

Holiday Baking

So…since it’s the holidays…I made pies and cobbler.

The Holiday Post

Bless Us All

Life is full of sweet surprises,
every day’s a gift.
The sun comes up and
I can feel it lift my spirits,
It fills me up with laughter,
it fills me up with song,
I look into the eyes of love
And know that I belong

Bless us all, who gather here
The loving family I hold dear
No place on Earth, compares with home
And every path will bring me back from where I roam

Bless us all, that as we live
We always comfort and forgive
We have so much that we can share
With those in need we see around us everywhere

Let us always love each other
Lead us toward the light
Let us hear the voice of reason
Singing in the night

Let us run from anger
And catch when we fall
Teach us in our dreams and please, yes, please
Bless us one and all

Bless us all with playful years
With noisy games and joyous tears
We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

* * * * *
A very Merry Christmas to you and yours, love HistoryDiva

The DivaFamily Christmas Tree

It’s pre-lit, eight feet tall and come out blurry this year…

This ornament is the first one my father ever gave to my mother and has been on our family tree every year for as long as I can remember. When I was really young I used to rip it off the tree and chew on it. (I’m ashamed that I just admitted that…)

Oh, and if you can’t tell, it’s two little mice in their little toadstool house.

Only I could turn Christmas into a sheep joke.

My mother made this about twenty years ago or so. She crocheted a dozen different snowflakes and then dipped them into a sugar solution to make them stiffen and pinned them down to a foam board so that they would dry correctly. They hang on our tree every year and still look brand new.

My mother made this too. There are about a half dozen cross stitched ornaments on the tree every year.

This ornament was made by my Aunt J and is one half of a matched set…the other one has the mouse looking at you. Have you picked up on the ‘theme’ of our family tree yet? No? How about another hint…

This is another one of those ornaments that have been around FOREVER. It’s a little girl mouse in a stocking…and yes, there is a matching little boy mouse in a stocking.

And for those of you playing the home game, yes, the ‘theme’ is mice. It’s a long story.

The picture of the cute kid in the creepy bunny ornament frame.

The cute kid is me.

Shut up!

Hail to thee, my alma mater!

This is one of two paper angels that hang on our tree. My mother got them years ago from a co-worker who’s mother makes them out of wall paper scraps.

This little house is part of a set my mother purchased the first Christmas she and my father were married. She painted them herself and over the years I have done everything I can do to preserve them. I love them. I plan on stealing them.

Merry Christmas!

Trivia Night

…was a wash out last week due to an influx of college students and (oddly) families with small children. So we went out to dinner instead!

Here’s Dave, the H.O.P.S.F., and JustJulie enjoying their grub.

See Julie? I told you the picture wouldn’t make it look like you were stuffing your face with fajitas…but it makes the H.O.P.S.F. look like a napkin-less heathen!

And here’s JustJulie’s brother and the LibraryDiva…also enjoying their grub.

Maybe we should do this ‘dinner’ thing more often…

Thing Two

Because I Know You’ve Missed This

…it’s MeMe time!

You can totally blame my friend Donna for this one.

42 ODD things about the HistoryDiva

1. Do you like blue cheese? I don’t know. Have I ever had blue cheese?

2. Have you ever smoked? Yes, once. (Hi Mom! I was totally legal at the time!)

3. Do you own a gun? Don’t I already have enough problems?

4. What flavor of Kool-Aid was your favorite? Cherry…and I avoid Grape at all costs.

5. Do you get nervous before a doctor appointment? Normally no, by the time I drag myself to the doctor I’m usually so sick that I’m just concentrating on sitting up right and not hurling on the waiting room floor.

See that? Just another little slice of the awesome that is me.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I try not to.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? This version of ‘A Christmas Carol’

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I don’t drink in the morning…you really shouldn’t drink until at least lunch time.

9. Can you do push ups? Yes, but I choose not to.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My Citizen Eco-Drive watch that I saved for three months to purchase and than got a freaking AMAZING deal on!

11. Favorite hobby? Cross stitch

12. Do you have A.D.D.? Look! A squirrel!!!

13. What's one trait you dislike about yourself? I can be unintentionally cruel

14. Middle name? Withheld intentionally...but nice try, emailed MeMe.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
a. Amy Sedaris is very funny. (I'll name this thought 'George.')
b. Breaking Dawn is a very long audio book. (I'll name this one 'Herbert.')
c. I hope the Interloping Midget didn’t just pee on the Christmas tree skirt again. (and I'll name this thought 'Sir Ogington Fartworthy.')

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coke, Tea, Water

17. Current worry: Family issues

18. Favorite place to be? Driving through the mountains.

19. Who will you bring in the New Year with? Anyone who RSVPs to LibraryDiva’s invitation.

20. Where would you like to go? To Germany to see Kati, to Australia to meet a cute guy with a sexy accent, to New Zealand to live among the sheep.

21. Name three people who will complete this? Well, I’m the only one here so I guess it’s just me. Sorry if I let you down, MeMe. But I would like to take this moment to tag LibraryDiva, the H.O.P.S.F., and Robert.

22. Do you own slippers? Yes, I do.

23. What color shirt are you wearing right now? Kinky, little email MeMe, very kinky. Gonna ask me what color pants I’m wearing next?

24. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? You don’t sleep on satin sheets…that isn’t what they were invented for.

25. Can you whistle? Why? Would you come running if I did?

26. Would you be a pirate? Who wouldn’t???

27. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don’t sing in the shower…I talk to myself…much to LibraryDiva’s amusement.

28. Favorite Girl's Name? Catherine and Elizabeth

29. Favorite boy's name? Frederich and Edward

30. What's in your pocket right now? Ha ha, silly MeMe, ha ha! I don’t have pockets right now!

31. Last thing that made you laugh? LibraryDiva and I making inappropriate comments about some poor, unsuspecting, innocent bystander.

32. Best bed sheets as a child? MeMe, do you seriously expect me to remember that far back? Besides…they were all just normal sheets.

33. Worst injury you've ever had? In elementary school…while running in slippery shoes…I tripped and fell and ripped open the ENTIRE left side of my face…and the teachers sent me home on the bus like that! They didn’t even attempt to clean me up or anything…my parents took me to the emergency room to get the gravel picked out of my wounds and called the school and chewed the teacher a new one.

34. Do you love where you live? Most of the time.

35. How many TV's do you have in your house? 3

36. Who is your loudest friend? LibraryDiva

37. How many dogs do you have? 0

38. Does someone have a crush on you? Well, I’m pretty sure that the homeless guy hanging around outside the unemployment office thinks I’m a serious hottie…

39. What is your favorite book? Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen…which I’ve read 3 times and was a gift from Kati.

40. What is your favorite candy? Smarties

41. What is your favorite Sports Team? The New Zealand All Blacks

42. What song do you want played at your funeral? This is a little on the creepy side, MeMe!

It Came From An Email

*SQUEAL!!!*
*Sigh*
Sean...


Thanks for the email, H.O.P.S.F.

Trivia Night

Hello boys and girls! It’s time for your weekly Trivia Night update.

Don’t you wish you were me? I mean honestly??? My life is just fantastically fascinating!

Alas, we didn’t do so hot this week…not even placing with our measly 360 points but that’s okay! We had fun and stuffed ourselves with mozorella sticks and pizza. OH! And the H.O.P.S.F. brought her boyfriend along…so we all got to know Dave a little bit better.

At first Dave attempted to hide from the camera…but soon learned that this move was futile. So here’s Dave with JustJulie.

And here’s the H.O.P.S.F. with her honey…which LibraryDiva is attempting to steal for a fourth time.

And here’s the H.O.P.S.F. with her honey…whom no one made an attempt to steal.

And here’s LibraryDiva…the condiment thief!

The Interloping Midget

Once upon a time there was a girl named LibraryDiva, who had a very big heart.

She was so kind and so hardworking that she was willingly bamboozled into working very late one night in July.

While dutifully ‘babysitting’ for a scrap booking class she heard a noise and went to investigate.

The noise was the cry of a lonely kitten who seemed to have been abandoned outside the library (some even speculated that someone may have tried to force him into the library overnight book drop!).

Using a plate of Spanish rice to lure the kitten into a false sense of security LibraryDiva was able to capture the kitten.

Much to her horror she discovered that the kitten was covered in ants! So she hurried the kitten to the library bathroom and washed it with SoftSoap.

The kitten was ragged, dirty, smelly, covered in ants, starving, and refused to be put into a box to wait out the end of the scrap booking class. So he curled up on LibraryDiva instead.

Where the ‘ugly’ creature slowly dried.

She took the kitten home to care for it…hoping to keep the news of it’s arrival from her roommate until the morning.

Alas! The roommate had been awakened by a late night phone call from an advice seeking friend and wandered into the hallway to see what LibraryDiva was up to.

The roommate was not pleased by the arrival of this ‘Interloping Midget,’ who refused to be silent and had no concept of personal space or boundaries.


Weeks passed and the kitten stayed scrawny and ugly…but did become the source of occasionaly hilarity.


And unnoticed by either the LibraryDiva or her long suffering roommate, the needy kitten wormed his way into their hearts, was accepted as a compatriot by Things One and Two and slowly but surely found a home in the little apartment.

Where he has become treasured.

And cuddled.

And has grown into his once unattractive features.

And has become a happy, healthy kitten.

The End.

Pudding Time!

There was an application on Facebook about a year ago, before they introduced the concept of the ‘SuperPoke’, which would allow you to taunt a friend. The taunt most frequently used against me was to ‘tease someone with false promises of pudding.’ See…I love pudding. I make time in my day to sit down and eat my pudding cup. Because seriously…is there EVER a bad time for pudding? Don’t answer that.

Moving on.

IKEA, the Swedish furniture Nirvana, has become my real life version of being teased with the false promise of pudding. Because you see…no matter how hard I try, and no matter who make plans with…I just can’t ever seem to get to IKEA.

Everyone else in the world has been there…except for me.

My aunt and uncle went and promised that they would take me with them the ‘next time’…and it never happened.

My cousin was planning to go and promised she would take me with her. She went without me.

My friends have gone and promised to take me with them…and they haven’t.

See what I mean? It’s the ultimate false promise of pudding.

Last Sunday LibraryDiva woke me up nice and early and told me to ‘get in the freaking car already.’ She said that we had places to go and things to do…but she wouldn’t tell me where we were headed because it was ‘a surprise.’

We drove and drove and drove and stopped to have lunch at Cracker Barrel…

Which is groovy…cause they have really good food.

We got back in the car and drove some more and ya’ll, guess where we wound up???

*Squealing with glee*

We parked in the GIGANTIC parking garage, took two escalators, picked up a store map and a big yellow shopping bag and spent the next five hours wandering through a little slice of design heaven on earth.

I found this cabinet hanging up in the ‘living in 327 square feet’ display…

And fell in love! I want it!!!

We wandered farther and found this…

The kitchen of HistoryDiva’s dreams! *Sigh*

Tucked under the cabinets of another kitchen I found this adorable dry goods storage unit…

…and I’m seriously crushing on it. I just might ask it to move in with me.

LibraryDiva fondled these chandeliers so much that I was a little worried we would be asked to leave by store security.

We sat on sofas and in chairs, we oohed and ahhed over bookshelves and closets and sofa tables and art prints and dinning tables and kitchen gadgets. We compared cabinet designs, countertop materials and lighting fixtures. I bought a wok for eight bucks. It was one of my best days EVER.

We were some of the last customers to leave the store and wander back out to the car.

(On our way back toward the interstate I snapped this picture of some downtown city lights.)