California Cat Sanctuary...

My sister sent this to me and I just
have to share it with you...

Cat House on the Kings

More Snow.

More of the white stuff on the way.
Gary will drive right into it on his way
home from South Dakota. YIKES.

I'm officially done Christmas shopping as
of today. YAY! Well, that doesn't necessarily
mean that I won't shop more, I'm just done with
all the required gift buying! ;)
Now it's onto the fun stuff..ME!

Let's see, I already got myself the flip video
camera which I am aDORing! But I think that's
what everyone should do, just go out and get
themsELVES a little somthin' somthin' and call
it a day...I think that's why the word "elves"
is in "themselves"..hmmmmmmmmm~ good one!

I'm posting a video that I shot with my flip.
It's Boo and his first Christmas tree experience.

Best Cat Videos EVER!

Seriously...
You have to check this out...but before you do,
you may want to hit the restroom first!
I warned you!
Click HERE

Then, click HERE

And finally, HERE

This is Shadow.

While I was over at the Hess Farm on Sunday
photographing Allison for her Sr. portraits
I met Shadow. A barn cat that i wish was my
own..a real cool cat.

I wanted to introduce you to him because, well,
I love cats and this one was pretty neat.
He kept walking up to my lens so I shot these
all by holding my camera down at his level with
an 85 1.8 - shutter speed @ 350, 4.0 @ 1.8 at
an ISO of 100! No flash.

Sorry Allison, I'm easily distracted by cats!

Working with idiots.

I ran across this story this morning.
I thought I'd share it...cuz it's funny.
Do you work with IDIOTS?

Oh, and here's another tid-bit that was
passed on to me by my sister-in-law, Kiki.
It appears that our beloved state fair is
taking on yet more stupid fair foods.

Food officials are introducing:
~Pig Lickers
~Pickle Pops and
~Big Fat Bacon.

There was some hesitation about allowing something
called Pig Lickers to be sold at the fair.
But Charlie Torgerson, who co-owns several Famous
Dave's Franchises, says the chocolate-covered bacon
decorated with some sea salt is the best meat out there.

Next, if you want the bacon but not the chocolate,
you might try the Big Fat Bacon. It's one-third pound
of bacon, fried and caramelized with maple syrup.
It's, of course, served on...you guessed it...
a stick.

And lastly, a Pickle Pop? It's simply pickle juice
frozen in a push-up sleeve. Fair vendor Preferred
Pickle came up with the idea after years of serving
deep-fried pickles, again.....on a stick.

One of my favorites at the fair..."weather on a stick"
at the WCCO booth. I'm going to miss Paul Douglas
at the fair this year!

The Minnesota State Fair runs August 21 to September 1.
Might I suggest that if you want to avoid a lot of
hassle at the fair, don't go while the RNC is taking
place. I'm told that candidates will be showing up
and the security will be crazy!

Gary and I sat outside last night and chatted it up
with our neighbors Ron & Cindy. I must say that
had we not sprayed the lawn and shrubs with this stuff



we'd have been carried away by the mosquitoes!
This stuff works AWESOME!! Don't go another summer
day or night without it!

Boo is still not so sure about the grass. It's pokey.


Here's Ron & Cindy's baby, Reggie..




Mom Update.
She stayed one more night at the hospital
and will come home today. Her leg pain is
completely gone and she has been up and walking.
All great news! Thank you so much, everyone, for
all of your prayers!

Later today, I will go with my sister Anne up
to Wyoming (the city) and pick up Emily. She
has been there for two whole weeks at camp
Ajawah.
I can't wait to see her!!

Getting some much needed rain today.
Pray that my Arboretum wedding doesn't get
rained out tomorrow afternoon! :)

RNC!

Kim Martin made a follow up call yesterday
while I was out. CRAP! Her message was that
she had some more questions for me regarding
the Republican National Convention taking
place here in St. Paul this summer.
They WANT ME!!!!! This will have to go on my
"top 5 list" of things I've done. I'm so excited!
Thanks to Heather at Starkey for recommending me.

Huge success with Cory yesterday regarding
my web site. I'm jazzed about the changes
and I know you will like them too.
Just have to hammer out some text swapping
and add some more images.

Oh, and as for this blog...I just got an
itch to change it too.

Here's Cory's babies...

Gerty...



And here's Alice...





I just love them so much!

In closing...I stole this from Gary Fong today.
I absolutely LOVE this...


Life is pretty simple when you think about it.

Observations:
The two most vibrant factors in your
day-to-day existence would be~
a) your finances and b) your weight.
It may sound shallow but when you think
about it, when you can't pay your bills,
or you can't fit in your jeans...
doesn't it wreck your day?
So here's simple advice:
1) always eat healthy and
2) spend less than you earn.

Thanks Gary, I'll just add that I'm going
to get off my ass and go for a walk!

Thursdays with Owen

Apparently, Owen decided that he needed to come
and see me for a haircut yesterday so I squeezed
him in! He is becoming quite the talker...I mean
this guy can talk you into a coma and it's like
being in a trance. You just listen so carefully
and next thing you know...he's told you all about
something that either he has already done or is
going to do. Sometimes he tells you stuff that
he did a month ago. It's really pretty funny.

Anyway, here's Owen 3 days before he turns 3!







The hat is from his dad (my brother, Mike).
He went to UMD and his broomball team is also
the Bulldogs!

Today's Minnesota Miracle at the Hilton is going
to be an early one. The family is taking the bus
down due to the fact that their car is apparently
not reliable enough to make the trip so Bob
is going to pick them up at the bus station and
then Cheryl, Mike LeSage & I will greet them back
at the Hilton around 11:30 for a Noon check in.
Shawn Anderson (resident miracle worker and sales
manager at the Airport MOA Hilton) is making
certain that they are able to check in early!
Today's guest is a 4 year old boy...I don't know
what type of cancer he has but I can't help but
transfer that to like my nephew, Owen or my
friend's son, Will. How sad for a 4 year old
to be going through all this.
It's why the MOMF started the Minnesota Miracle
weekends with the Hilton. I'm so proud to be a
part of it. I count my blessings everyday!

If you are unfamiliar with what the MOMF or MM
does, please go to their link under "check these out".

Meeting with Cory later today regarding my web site.
Which also means I get to see
Gerty



& Alice!



Maybe even Bob!



TGIF!

Kittens

Popped over to Anne's to see Spice's kittens.
OMG! I don't quite know what to make of them
yet. They are still sort of in that "rat" looking
phase. But the personalities are coming through
already. June (Nicki's mum), you would just love'em!

One is pure white and the other will be a richer
taupe color. The teeny tiny "meow" that comes
from these two is just nearly edible. That's
right, I said edible!

Here's the proud mama...




here's the all white one...



I think the smaller darker one looks like Yoda!



Mama feeding the babies and resting.

Disappearing act...

I'm not sure what exactly happens to images on my blog.
From time to time an entire post of photos just plain
disappears! All I can really do is go back in and re-
place them. Cut & paste is of no use. It's really a
downer. The shots from the House of Fun & Fur were so
much fun that I've just decided to put a couple up on
today's entry instead of fixing yesterday's...you know,
'push forward' let the past go! ;)

So, here goes...

This is the very handsome, Ringo...and oh,
yea, he's not real excited about the pink collar.



But he loves me. He kept running and jumping into
my tripod bag...it was pretty funny...like it was his
safe place.




Here is the newest addition to the house, Daisy...



And the hostess with the very, very mostess, Jane..



Gary and I are going to spend the afternoon together.
We have decided that we will go see Juno finally and
then hit an early dinner.

Supposed to almost it 40 today and tomorrow.
So much for the ice sculpture contest at the St. Paul
Winter Carnival!

Celeb 4 a day....

So get this~
I contacted the folks at Celeb 4 a day yesterday
and I asked them "why not Minneapolis?" and they replied
that they would be on the Today Show this morning.
I set my DVR to record last night so as not to forget.
I woke this morning & had received a note from Tania Cowher
(C4D) and she wrote that they got bumped, most likely due to the
untimely death of Heath Ledger.
They will be on the Today Show this Friday morning.
I"m looking forward to watching the segment! Please tune
in on Friday! Food luck Tania!!


Okay, seriously, this must be the last day of sub-zero
temps or I am no longer going to be held responsible for
my actions! Last night was the coldest night in forever!
High of 13 is expected today. At least the sun is out, right?

Cold update...I slept for and hour & a half between clients
yesterday, then I slept for 2 & half hours around 4
when I was done for the day, then went to bed at 11 and
slept until just after 8. So, FYI? I now answer to the name
of Rip Van Winkle too. I'm working on the beard. ;)

Now, are you a cat fan? Well, I have a treat for you
today...I have a client who has forwarded me the url for
this woman in Germany who attaches a camera to her cat's
neck and it takes a photo every 15 seconds...cool, right?
Click here for the cat's photos.

Huh, if I put one on either of my cats, I'd
get comforter, comforter, comforter, butt, paw, food,
comforter, ceiling, ceiling, ceiling, floor, stairs
hallway, litter box, hallway, stairs, comforter!
Not sure my cats are ready for YouTube just yet! LOVE them.

Remember the "House of Fun & Fur"? I'm going back there
tomorrow to shoot some Valentine's Day images with her
furry friends! Gonna be sooo fun!

bye.

oh, mom, I'll get some Zicam on your recommendation!