Welcome to July at the Antiprocrastination Coffee House!

[Bama]

Taking a break from paperwork and wanted to update y'all on the cat situation.

We took Mama Cat (tuxedo female), Lil Man (similar to tuxedo but more white on legs, chest, face areas), and Star (dark gray with white paws and neck) to be fixed, wormed, and immunized on Tuesday. Set the traps up and it took all of five minutes to catch them. We picked them up the same day, kept them in their carriers overnight, fed and watered them, both kittens did well, Mama was curled in a ball all of yesterday, and I was getting worried about her. She finally came out last night, ate, drank, and pottied. She is now back to her old self, thank goodness. She's the wildest of the bunch but I have high hopes for her. I don't have to tame her but I'd like her to not be afraid of me. I haven't released her yet. According to the vet and cat association, you're supposed to release them the next day but that sounded cruel to me. Have major surgery and then be thrown out in the woods the day after? No pain meds for anyone either, ouch! I'm keeping her in the bathroom for a few days, we don't use it much anyway, and then I'll let her back out, and continue feeding her as in the past. We caught them just in time too b/c I found out from the neighbor that the cat lady's son called the shelter to trap all the cats and take them away. He said his mom could only keep one cat and it had to be fixed. Now why didn't he say that years ago? Anyway, I'm glad these three won't be going to the shelter and can now live a fuller life here.

[Roo in the city]

I got back a bit ago and i'm very hot and really sore! I am having a hard time walking now that I got off the bike!! I rode and rode and rode. I stopped a couple quick times to take a pic or two, but otherwise I just kept riding and after awhile realized I really had no clue where I was any more! I was way out in the middle of no where and so I used my gps on my phone and believe it or not it looks like I made it about 20 miles out and of course that means 20 back, so I rode about 40 miles today! We have gorgeous bike trails... Wisconsin is just so beautiful! I did start thinking about running into a bear or something out there though, or maybe one of those guys off the movie "Deliverance"! I know I got a bit overheated because I am now shivering and have goosebumps all over me. I swear I can barely move though. I had some yogurt quick and maybe I'll go take a mobic and a couple Tylenol just as a preventative. Wow. I can't believe I got that far!

Hello, Bama! I enjoyed the ride while on it, but not as much now that I've stopped and my body is catching up with the workout!

Flyer, you have the worst luck with that car!!!!!!!!! So sorry, does it HAVE to be fixed?

OK, well, I better get up and try to walk again. I got up and took mobic and tylenol a few minutes ago when i wrote about it, so hopefully that will help. Later gaters~

[Roo in the city]

These are off my cell phone from my bike ride today;













We had a lot of rain recently so some of the streams are still a little flooded and so the water is still stirred up and looks brown like this, it will settle again and be clear soon.







I wish you could see what I saw in these pics, but you just can't see the layers of tree lines and such as you can in person, it's just gorgeous. We surely have more trees than anywhere! This was a beautiful spot. There are rivers everywhere it seems.

[AlleyKat]

I love Wisconsin. I go visit a friend north of Green Bay, and it is so beautiful, especially in autumn.

Has anyone heard from Leah?

Flyer, did the rock just make a chip? There is an alternative to replacing the windshield. They just shoot a resin under high power into the chip and it keeps the windshield from cracking. The down side is you have to do it before it starts to spread.

I agree with keeping them an extra day or two, Bama. I know they like to go off by themselves to heal, but how well can an animal protect themselves after they have had major surgery?

Supermama, have a good work week, I'll think about you on Saturday

Now it is off to find something for supper. Hubby is gone again so my choices have expanded to include such items as a bowl of cereal or a microwave dinner...something I never get to do when he is home LOL. Of course, he usually cooks on the days he doesn't work and I do.

[atlanticflyer]

makes me feel a little better but they won't pass inpsection here if there is a small crack. mine is the upper right corner and I can see excellent. can't believe how much it costs!

[Supermama]

Nite nite she friends!!!

[atlanticflyer]

night supermama

lol morning friends! I am up and at em. going to go in early to work as it is the best time of the day to get things done but will leave early as well to go get groceries before the holiday rush, also have to pay a large bill, payday and all

[countrycook]

Hi everybody - missed posting yesterday -one of those crazy days - wond up driving almost 100 miles with lots of stops in between . Had physcial therapy apt-was so glad it was yesterday after I had gotten so sore from wokring non-stop on computer for hours,then taking hours picking over 15 lbs of blueberries . My back and neck are so much better today -it's wonderful . Got to behave and not stress it out again . busy day around here - need to do some baking while it's still cool , going to run down to see my mother in the afternoon -take a birth cake and presents.Then it's hustle back home, make pizza for Ds and Dgrands coming over for supper plus Ds will help Dh move mattress and box spring into spare room .Have our former pastor and wife coming for dinner Sunday and I really need to do some house rescuing before then.
Been a bit anxious waiting for official notice from Pampered Chef that I made the requirements for the other award. Note to self - don't keep checkig web site every 5 minutes
roo- beautiful pics, remind me a lot of some places here in Maine. Wow- did you really do 40 miles on bike .And you were able to walk afterwards. How's Katie doing at camp ??

af- that's a shame asbout the windshield .My dh has put some of that sealer stuff on ours before and worked fine ,wish yours could be fixed that easily .

Alley - sounmds like an easy supper

Bama- glad you're giving the cats a chance to recuperate a bit more. My kitty is only 4 1/2 months old but she's definitely starting to drive us nuts.Her latest thing is to climb ontop of a straight back wooden chair ,curl herself around it and try to catch her tail . This morning she just started with a loud meow , went to check thought she was hurt or something and she was just standing in the middle of the kitchen floor

Super- glad you got the home alone time , I really treasure that time nowadays .

[Roo in the city]

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Good morning!
HaPpY
fRiDaY!!!!





Mornin' glories! It's already the end of July! Wow. But it's been a good month with lots of activities for me, simple summer things like biking, tubing, etc., but I've enjoyed it all.

I realized that my hormones must be talking the last couple mornings... I seem to have pms=y type stuff going on, but it's mostly in the morning and then kind of leaves as the morning goes on, so I'm going to be careful to watch what I talk about in the mornings until this passes! Ahhh... perimenopause, gotta love it!

I woke up with such a flatter stomach!! Definitely not the norm for pms time, but all that biking yesterday really worked on my body. I feel no after effects either, so that's good. I took mobic and tylenol to be safe. I don't know if I'm just so out of shape and there are a lot of hills and that's why the rides are such a workout, or if it's that I just seem to work too hard, or that I'm not using the right gears on the bike. I think I need to work on using other gears a bit more. I use 3rd gear and then usually switch between the 5-7 to make it a bit easier and go back to harder, but I never switch it into 1rst or 2nd gears and they are the easier gears I believe. I'll play with it and maybe read the manual to really get myself used to them and understand them better. I've always been a 3 speed bike person, so these 21 speeds and such are quite confusing to me. I got a little scared once yesterday when these two guys passed me. They looked really kind of scary and I kept looking back to see if they were turning around. Being out there in the middle of no where all alone is a bit unnerving for me because of being assaulted before, so I think I need to figure out some kind of protection to bring with, just to help ease my nerves a bit if I'm going to go off on these adventures alone. Any suggestions? Pepper spray? A stun gun?!! A machine gun?!! At one point I thought of a bear lumbering up onto the bike trail... and then chasing me. I was imagining calling 911 and as the thing was chasing me and getting closer I was telling the woman on 911 who I wanted to take care of the kids and all... Yeah... my mind is a strange but magical place to be some times. So, I also need bear repellent. Oh yes, and black panther protection, I was also picturing black panthers wandering through the woods watching me...

Good morning' Flyer! I can hear that, "It's payday friday" tone in your voice this morning!! A bit of happiness and ... "holiday rush"... ??? You're already Christmas shopping?!! Nah, let me look it up... hmmm... August civic holiday? I didn't see anything else that might fit.

I paid a large bill yesterday. ($269.00 to the electric/gas company) The man on the phone said, "Oh I see you're a full time student" I told him that yes I am and also a single Mom and am working part time on campus. We started chatting and here he's got two degrees and he's working in a call center now. I hear more and more of that lately. More reason to keep myself fit and in shape... I need to appear as youthful as possible. He said it's tough out there, especially once we get older. YIKES!!!!!!!! He was a sweet guy, stuttered a bit and once we got talking, it really came out more, but we ended up talking for about 20 minutes!

Good night and good morning, SuperM! (and no, Bama, I did not call her SperM!!!!)

I'm a bit happy that its Friday, can you tell? I would have to be running around right now, getting ready for work, but instead I'm just sitting here, chatty and happy and in no hurry at all. NICE!!!

I need to start working my stomach muscles now. I know that they are getting worked through the walking and biking and all, but I mean specifically target them. I'd like some kind of machine for that as well, but maybe I'll just start doing my modified crunches and situps and get faithful and serious about it. I need something for my chest and something for my stomach. I'll have to use the old fashioned situps and pushups for now. Any of you remember when we were young when they had all those "Mark Eden bust builders" in the back of our girls/womens magazines?!! So funny. I don't read magazines any more, maybe they're still in there.

makes me feel a little better but they won't pass inpsection here if there is a small crack. mine is the upper right corner and I can see excellent

I'm not understanding why that would have to be fixed so quickly, Flyer. Would you be fined for something that little and unobtrusive if you were pulled over or something? Like Bama, I've had cracks in windshields that were actually quite large and rarely do police ever say anything about something like that. Maybe it is different there though.

I love Wisconsin. I go visit a friend north of Green Bay, and it is so beautiful, especially in autumn.

Yes, it really is gorgeous in Autumn, Alley! People drive here to see it during the peak of the color change and it's just amazing to see. I can't wait to go biking during that time as well. I love autumn in Wisconsin, it's just too short lived!

Has anyone heard from Leah?

No, and we were emailing for a long time but then we just both got busy. I'm sure she's just crazy busy with, and enjoying her new home.

My beloved city.... you know when you live in Eau Claire (Eau Cleezy to the cool dudes) you have your own brand of fun, most of it outdoors. We're outdoor people here, tons of bike trails and sledding hills and rivers and lakes. I thought I'd show you some Eau Claire recreational activities... you'll see why jake ended up in rochester hospital for the fractures in his spinal column, Sam has multiple stitches, zach had two broken bones in his arm...

This is a place the boys hang out at A LOT. It is pretty crazy high, higher of course then it looks it he video because you can never quite get that depth perception in video. Sam first jumped off these cliffs at 8 years old! We went there to see it, just to look at it and suddenly in Sam style, he just ran and jumped over the edge! I was petrified, but as we all climbed to the bottom, there he was swimming back to the rocks. He's been there tons of times this summer as well. You might not want to listen to the music, they tried to be cool and mixed it with a rock video, but it shows "the cliffs" as they're called, pretty well. As you can see, the scarriest part is that you can't see the bottom because there's a ledge of cliff that sticks out and obscures where you land. Only the first video is longish, the rest are pretty quick. Just wanted to show you my city- I'm kind of proud of it. you have to wait a second for the jumping to start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFISGLEZoOg


Here's a tv commercial about our city, out city was the safest city in America, it's still very close to the safest now. (probably because we have 5 cops for every one person!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szhKIcpT ... re=related


This is our ski jump, a couple miles from my house.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rmmW-T ... re=related


Trying to sled down the huge hill on campus on cafeteria trays!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz4xVbHt ... re=related


http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=28463695


Excuse the beginning and the one bad word graffit, this looks like a bunch of "punks" but actually, they are all good kids, mostly college kids in the area. The main guy, Mikey, is the boys cousin and got sponsored for his blading. Most of the street shots are in my neighborhood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIEOboFa ... re=related


This is the river 1/2 a block from our house where Katie and I go floating... listen to the birds singing in the video, so peaceful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQufS4HFp0


The annual Fatfar... not peaceful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpNxAZUx ... re=related


I actually did this when i was a kid! You have to wait for them to introduce themselves and then you see the video- its pretty cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvbiop-O9j0


Our local Skisprites- they perform all summer long on one of the city's lakes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__L5WRZZ6fQ

Parks...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Ico7fzKyA

Big one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhFad16J ... re=related


One more, my university~
http://www.youniversitytv.com/video/vie ... eau-claire

OK, I have totally wasted a bunch of time showing you my hometown!! Well, I could do that though because it's my morning off and I just wanted to sit around and so there we go. Sorry! I know you don't have the time to sit and watch all of these either! Oh well... it was enjoyable.

I'm off to get things going. The department picnic is today and I need to figure out what I'm going to bring!

Peace, love and positive energy to you all~





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1. I'm grateful for my city
2. I'm grateful that its friday!
3. I'm grateful that Katie has had so much fun at camp! I've heard from her every day so far.
4. I'm grateful for all my blessings! Financial and otherwise.
5. I'm grateful for my life because it is amazing!




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For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get. ~Frank A. Clark

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! ~Henry Ward Beecher

Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live. ~Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear

Praise the bridge that carried you over. ~George Colman

If you count all your assets, you always show a profit. ~Robert Quillen

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ~Epictetus

What a miserable thing life is: you're living in clover, only the clover isn't good enough. ~Bertolt Brecht, Jungle of Cities, 1924

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. ~William Faulkner

If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. ~Gerald Good

Gratitude is the least of the virtues, but ingratitude is the worst of vices. ~Thomas Fuller

There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance. ~Joseph Addison


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_________________ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKe0DFw ... re=related

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[Roo in the city]

Good morning, CC! I was so busy looking at my hometown videos that i didn't see your post!

[Bama]

Good morning!

I'll have to check out those links tonight, Roo.

LOL @ kitty, cc. Hope you get your award!

Have a good day at work, Flyer.

Waves to everyone else!

Life is weird, ain't it?!

[sandyleew]

Good morning all!! I have spent the morning setting up an aquarium for some frogs that we captured. We got them last night and just put them in an empty aquarium. We went this morning and bought a couple plants and some stuff for the bottom and some crickets for them to eat and then came home and put it all together. We were rushing all around because today is a day that DNieces ar supposed to come over. Once we got home, SIL called and said they won't be coming today.

I have a big mess to clean so I had better get busy.

[Roo in the city]

Its been so quiet in here lately!

Sandy, enjoy your frogs! Sorry your nieces aren't coming last minute.

Bama... why is life weird? In reference to what? Share, share! I love weird life events.

I just got back from the cancer center- took off my bandage and had a river of blood coming from my arm, so am thinking I might be a bit thin. The boys were totally grossed out and freaked out by it. I have to get it low for my oral surgery on Tuesday.

The department cookout was nice. I didn't eat any of the meat, but I had some potato salad and some kind of salad with whipped cream and apples in it, that was good.I helped make up the burgers and set up all the food. Some of the guys played football and it was just a nice time. I'm glad I went.

OK, well, time for me to get busy with other things, like my housework!! YUCK!! It's kind of a mess in here. Tomorrow morning I go get Katie.

Hope you're all having a nice day so far.

[atlanticflyer]

wish i can say i have been having a nice day roo, will tell you later why not. my large bill was almost twice yours lol. will look at your links later. yes is is the civic holiday here on monday, I never Christmas shop til the last minute, no money. they won't pass a car with a small crack ehere so definetly will have to replce it before the next inspection and yes the cops can fine you, safety inpsectionsa re insane here.

CC did you get the award? they said the crack was past fixing with sealent

bama do tell!

sandy at least you can now have me time

okay for my day, terrible! coworker backed into my car by accident with the company vehicle. bashed the side in on the drivers side. of course they will cover it when fixed but right now it is in the shop. they gave me a company vehicle to use until mine is fixed. was in an okay mood and hubby was fine until supper, he didn't like what I sereved and has been sighing loudly ever since, i want to screme! that man definetly has some kind of mental disorder, yelling at him does no good as he shuts down. I was fine even after having my car bashed in but this will put me over the edge

[Supermama]

Afternoon folks!!!

'sup Bama?????

Hi Roo! Glad you had fun!

Sandy- how was the rest of your day??

Go CC!

Payroll was nice. Went in search of pickling cukes. everything is a month early here. Ordered a 11 quart basket for Sunday and then will take the kids to a beach near there on Lake Erie. We mostly go to Lake Huron.
Friends of mine are singing at a coffee house, so may go there for an hour tonight.
Also need to go get some keys. we are fish and cat sitting this weekend.


((((((((((((((((((((((((((AF))))))))))))))))))))))))) arg!!!!!

[Roo in the city]

(((flyer))) sorry you've had the bad time with hubby, but the car thing isn't TOO bad, it will be fixed and you have a loaner, so that is all mostly positive, but then hubby afterward and the sighing... yeah...


Sam is still PMSing much more than I EVER have or could, so I decided to clean house and then I'll get ready to go out to eat with Dex. I don't have much money so will not be eating too much at our fav restaurants, but I'll be danged sure to save enough for a couple good glasses of wine if nothing else!! He's gonna pick me up sometime between 6 and 6:30, so i will be ready at 6:00, which means i'll start getting ready at around 5:00 because I really have no clue what i'm wearing yet and it will be fun to wear something nicer and do up my hair a bit more and such. That gives me about half an hour or so. I am SOOOOOOOOO in the mood to get out of here for awhile and get into a different environment.

Sounds like you are gonna' do the same SuperM? Enjoy yourself at the coffee shop! I love pickling cukes, but especially love them before they are pickled. I love to eat them raw, they have such a nice flavor, don't they?

Well, what next? Oh I got a nice complement today. I have been working hard to lose weight, so it was nice when I was joking about all the food we had and said, "Well I'm not going to lose weight this way!" and he said, "You do not need to lose any weight!!" Normally, people have been joking back with me about it, in other words, not disagreeing with me about my needing to lose a few pounds. I think I must be getting there now and that feels pretty good after all this time. I'll keep working at it though, its not like I've reached my goal weight or anything, it's just that I'm "getting there", moving towards it.

OK, I'll clean a bit more before I go figure out what to wear. I want to feel grown up, a bit sexy and just "adult and free" tonight. I need it. Dex said he'd pick me up so I can have a couple glasses of wine, too, so I don't have to worry about driving.

Well, later gaters~ have fun with the fish and cat, SuperM!

[atlanticflyer]

enjoy your evening out roo! the car looked horrible so it was bad but i don't have to pay thankfully. my employers are so caring, the maintenance supervisor got the young guys to clean up the glass and the loaner vehicle (it is theirs and was full of tools). my co worker felt so bad and kept apologizing, i never once lost it, tried to joke to make her feel better, the last thing I said to her before the big crunch was "I can't believe i have to pay 300 for a crack on my window" guess that is put into perspective, if I wasn't so darn honest i could have claimed it was caused by the accident

supermama are you going to make dill pickles? i love to pickle but it is early here.

roo I have people tell me I don't need to lose weight all the time, up until this summer i believed them. work is providing a free wellness clinic this summer and if they say i am fine then I will believe them and just enjoy life. due to past bad experiences with dieting (the anorexia) i still refuse to diet, I don't do too bad so i am fine, the doctor tells me I am healthy.

hubby gone to bed early, maybe he wasn't feeling good. i am so exhausted, emotionally and physically, just going to read a book and maybe shift laundrey

[Costumelady]

Roo - your phone camera takes amazingly clear pictures - what beautiful scenery and you have a good eye as well.

Flyer - when do you have to have your car inspected? If it is a while away - maybe you could save up for the windshield so it isn't such a hard hit financially.

Just found this from last night - I have had a terrible time being sidetracked lately and stopping things in the middle.

I will need to catch up and post later but must get ready to head to the theater.

[atlanticflyer]

CL not til next spring but need to check and see if it is legal to drive it with a crack. the guy doing the work on it now may give me a better quote. right now it is the least of my car worries

still reading

[atlanticflyer]

checked out some of the links Roo! nice! did you grwo up in Eau claire? hubbys cousin is in his second year at eau claire

[atlanticflyer]

http://www.hibouphoto.com/blog/2010/07/ ... illiam-nb/
here are some pics of where I work. At one time I had to stage and clean every room you saw, now it is my job to know where all the artifacts are. warning the pics load slow

[Supermama]

AF- our pickling cukes are a month early. Usually I make pickles the end of Aug, beginning of Sept.I will make dills and bread and butters.
peaches will be ready soon too. i will do jam and sliced canned peaches with them.

I loved your pics too Roo. Looks a lot like Ontario too. Interesting since our weather is often the same too.

[atlanticflyer]

supermama that is when we usually pickle too, the end of August. i love bread and butter, chow, lady ashburnems, there is no better way to celebrate a cucumber then in a pickle!

restless tonight, read a little, get up and check FB, starting a new book, Ken folletts World without end

[countrycook]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner - it was a mad dash to get everything made and out the door to get to my mother's boarding home. Of course, this would be the day that the caramel frosting for the maple walnut cake just didn't want to set up good . I had to leave quite a mess at the house ,so of course I came home to a mess but had to quickly get some pizza made for the hungry hordes that were coming . Supper is over, Ds was very pleased that I made the famous blueberry pie for him-he likes it so much that he has it instead of a birthday cake .Now I'm watching and half listening to my Dgd talking to cat -"sillykittie, don't bite my sweatshirt,kitty is turning round and round on the chair". Dgs just came in from "helping Dh and Ds work on Ds' truck . He came in to get his sweatshirt as it's getting chilly outside. I had him put on one of Dh's hats, take Dh's lunch pail and saunter out into the yard swinging the lunch pail saying "I'm off to work " .
I have been interrupted 6 times since statrting this -maybe I'll get it finsihed tonight

Yes, I finally got the official notification that I won the award -finally .

Will try to check in later ,and cuop,after they are gone

[AlleyKat]

Ahhh, Friday night and the weekend stretches out before me. I really need to make a list, because there are several things tha I really want to accomplish in the next two days, and most of them are time consuming.

#1 I will get the #@$%^& living room finished! I am still amazed at how long I have been working on it, and it still isn't finished. This is only the second room that I have painted, I still have at least 3 rooms that have to be done immediately, then the master bedroom, bathroom and sitting room can wait a bit. I have resorted to bribing myself. I have been looking at bedding sets, and I promised myself I would buy one as soon as the living room was finished 100%

#2 Mow the yard, both big tractor and push mower. May have to invest in an electric weedwacker. I can't handle the gas powered one, and it wouldn't start when Hubby tried it last time

#3 Bathe Bailey

#4 Wash and vacuum the car

```~~***Warning***~~~``` The list making just got interrupted by internet browsing. How do I do that? I had a quick question so I typed it into the search engine, and an hour later I am at http://www.cafepress.com looking at funny T-shirts {However, this little excursion did get me thinking ahead to Christmas.}