Mother Nature is a Dirty Tease

So it was unseasonably warm for about a week. Now we have payback....

While I waited for my boss to meet me at the bank to reset the vault since we don't have power and can't open....

On my way home from working at a different branch....

In my "backyard", aka parking lot....

And in case you were wondering...yes, I AM still afraid that this tree is going to come through my bedroom wall, especially with all the ice build up, thanks for asking! :)

On the bright side, I am fully stocked with sandwich fixins, cookies, leftover pizza, and beer. So if we get all the way iced in, we're good to go.

How Knuckles Helps Erin Take Pics for Ebay

Pirate Cat Hearts

Today I got a super adorable Valentine's Day card from my bestie, Angel.

It is full of things that I love! Cats, pirates, hearts, sentiments...

On an unrelated note, has anyone else been watching the new Hawaii Five-O? Because I love it. And it makes me want to go back to Hawaii. Although I would totally want to go back if that show never existed. Seriously, I've been having dreams about Hawaii on a weekly basis.

Speaking of shows, my sister has recently discovered that Drake, the rapper, was on Degrassi. So I had to explain to her that Degrassi is a show that has seemingly been on a continuous loop on the Canadian channel for the last 30 years. And now we are watching it on the Netflix Instant Queue. Did you know Drake's real name is Aubrey Graham? Fun fact of the day. Even though no one who reads my blog probably listens to Drake. I only know who he is because of Kyle, and because of him being in videos with Rihanna on CoolTV. Cause I do love me some Rihanna, and I even more love me some CoolTV, which is the best TV channel ever.

White Out

So in case you haven't heard, it snowed a lot in the Midwest and- well, most of the country- recently. Then it got really cold. Then, this weekend, it got warmer! So me and my mom and Abe- my dog/not my dog/but still my dog went to the park. I knew the snow was going to melt, so I kept trying to get pictures of how deep it was by showing the snow in comparison to Abe.

But it's hard to get dogs to pose for pictures...

On an unrelated note, this is a picture of the tree that might come through the wall of our bedroom someday. See that awesome lean? That wall it's resting against is the other side of the wall of our bedroom. Our bed is on the other side of that wall. The apartment complex says they will take care of it "soon".

On another unrelated note, my cat's favorite place to sleep is a shoebox.

Man, that's cold...

I posted this picture to remind myself that I was once somewhere that was warm and snow did not exist.

Also, I cannot figure out how to edit the part of my blog that says I live in Toledo with my boyfriend. Since he was my boyfriend 2 titles ago, it seems like it should be updated, but blogspot won't let me, so...boyfriend it is!

Speaking of boyfriends, I broke up with snow on my Facebook page, but judging from the mountains of it everywhere I turn, I don't think the break up took...

P.S. I also don't have roommates anymore...unless you count Husband and Knuckles...but Knuckles doesn't pay rent and won't clean his own litterbox no matter how many times I beg him to, so...

....

Angel and I were 11 years old when we met at a mutual friend's birthday party in the middle of the summer. We hit it off, but didn't see one another again until the first day of school. I was in the middle of a crowded hallway, amidst a sea of unrecognizable faces, when all of a sudden I saw Angel pop up over everyone else, meet my eyes, and yell, "Hey, I know you!" And the rest, as they say, is history.

I remember going to her house when we were younger, and her sisters had matching bob haircuts and her mom drove a giant yellow Cadillac. Her brother was barely a toddler. I remember finding out that her mom was in college, studying to be a nurse. I remember being so impressed by that, because she was the first mom I knew who was in college, and I couldn't believe she'd been out of school for so long and had the guts to go back. And I could see how hard she worked, while still taking care of four kids. That was unfathomable to me at that age. When she started working at U of M, I used to wonder, "Now if I have a baby, would it be feasible for someone to drive me all the way to Ann Arbor to deliver it?"

I remember their old cat, Kermit, who her mom was convinced was a boy. We kept telling her, "Um, I think Kermit's pregnant." And I think up until the kittens were actually born and looking at her, her mom would answer each pregnancy assertion with, "No, he's not, he just ate a rabbit."

Kermit birthed many litters and one of the kittens from those litters birthed my cat, Knuckles. Angel's brother wanted to keep Knuckles because he looked different than every other cat in the litter, but Angel's mom insisted that I take him home, because she knew he'd lose interest in the cat before I would.

I remember family vacations, and being invited along and taken to beautiful cabins in Hocking Hills, and fed delicious food. I remember getting in trouble in high school, and never being judged by her, always being accepted...

When Angel moved to California, there was an ice storm back here in Michigan. I lived in an apartment with well water and we had no power, but on day 2, I had to go back to work and desperately needed a shower. I called Angel's mom and she said, "Yup, we have power, come on over!" Without Angel even on the same coast, she welcomed me over to intrude on her morning in a house full of people who I'm sure also needed the bathroom.

When she got sick, and Angel would visit, she would still be kind and generous, never letting on that she was exhausted, and in pain. I remember going to her house last summer, and even though everyone kept telling her that she didn't need to, she would ride around on a golf cart and pick the vegetables that had grown on the farm. Then she insisted that I take a carload of them home, and come back whenever I wanted more. I kept meaning to make zuccini bread out of the giant zuccini she gave me, but never quite got around to it...

And even in her last weeks, I remember sitting on a stool in her room, laughing about her dogs with her and shaking our heads at each other over sibling rivalry happening in the other room. Always smiling, even then...

Thank you for all of your kindness and generosity over all of these years, Tina. The world is a worse place without you in it.

Half-A'd Update

I noticed today that I have not updated my blog for a really long time. And that I always say that. I am a blog slacker. But I have been working my regular job, and working a second job, and being married, and not cleaning my house, and there were all these pool parties I had to attend...

As you can see, my slack-y-ness is not my fault.

I will try to visit you more often...