"A Smile Busted Out!"

It's a miracle! The sad little nut is sad no more! His friends made him happy. Read all about it here.

Pets In Clothes: Yay or Nay?

Is it wrong to dress pets in clothes and costumes? Christopher and I have differing opinions on this topic. He says no way, no how. I say…if the article of clothing in question is a good price…and it will make me laugh, then sure! Why not? For instance, I found this penguin hat at Petco after Christmas for $1. That’s right – ONE DOLLAR! How could I not purchase?

(Buster Cat Nixon did not like it - I think you can see that. I laughed. Hard. Good value.)

Target sells doggie t-shirts (that just happen to fit cats) for $4.99. That sounds like a good price to me. Buster got this stylish T last Halloween.

(He tolerated it very well.)

Christmas came a couple shorts months later!

(Also tolerated very well.)

So – this brings me to part II. Target has pet Halloween costumes. The costumes are $9.99. Normally, that would be too much for pet clothing, but this is an entire costume!!! It would be hilarious to dress a cat as a squirrel!

(That’s nuts! HAHAHAHAHAHA)

(Or a banana…)

(Kitty lobster? I mean - that would be funny, right???)

What do you think?

The Sadness Continues

Check here for The Sad Little Nut update. Spoiler alert: he’s still sad.

Put on 4 My City

I just HAD to carve out a little time this morning to get this posted. It could not wait until this evening. Today I pulled into the parking deck, and this car turned in the deck in front of me. The picture below doesn’t do it justice. I mean – it was lifted so high, I think the entire front end of the X-Terra would have gone under it. And I know you can’t make it out from the picture, but that’s a city skyline decal on the side. Not the Winston Salem skyline, mind you, but a skyline nonetheless. Above the skyline, was the line “Put on 4 My City” (like the Young Jeezy song). The font? Papyrus, I believe. OH! And the sound. How would I describe the sound? Uhm…monster truck. Definitely monster truck.

Sticky and Susie

It constantly amazes me how cruel people can be. There are awful stories on the news every day, but some of the ones that break my heart the most are stories about abused animals. I came across this story this afternoon about a guy who, for no reason, duct taped a cat from neck to tail and threw it in his neighbor’s yard. “Sticky” the cat is going to be okay.

Or what about this story that was on the news last night. Susie the dog was burnt and abandoned in a park in Greensboro. The Guilford County Animal Shelter rescued her. She’s going to be okay, but she’s still waiting to find a home.

The amazing thing: these animals want to be loved just as much now as before they were abused. The video of Susie shows her playing, licking faces, and wagging her tail.

And what a touching piece of Suzie’s story – the foster family’s neighbor, Nate Deardorff, a boy who couldn’t be more than…12? 14? spends a couple hours each day playing with Suzie, and spent his allowance to buy her toys! Twelve year-olds don’t have a lot of money, and dog toys aren’t cheap. What a wonderful person!

These stories break my heart, but thank goodness for the people and organizations that come to the rescue in these situations. For as cruel as some people are, others are equally as kind.

The Story of the Sad Little Nut

My friend Ouida posted the absolute cutest little story EVER on her blog last night. You have to go read it HERE. It's the story of the sad little nut. (Okay, so maybe you have read a cuter story somewhere, but not about a nut. This is the cutest story you will ever read about a nut.)

(this is the sad little nut, incase you didn't believe me)

Everything Is A Little Better Fried

It’s almost that time of year again – FAIR TIME! The one time of year when it is socially acceptable to eat fried soda. Yup, you heard me correctly. If you didn’t see it last year, I feel certain you will see Fried Coke this year. My mom is cringing right now if she is reading this.

I try to make health conscious decisions when it comes to food, but at the fair…it’s just so darn hard! Each year there are probably five new fried items to choose from. You may try them with the thought “I’m going to try it just to try it…it won’t be good. How could that be good?” But it is almost always good. To date, my favorite fried fair finds would have to be pickles and Snickers. Not together, of course. I’m STILL waiting for someone to fry olives and Twix (again – not together). I think I would thoroughly enjoy both of those items.

(My friend Tina actually took this picture at the NC State fair a couple years ago! Isn't it cool???)

The Dixie Classic Fair starts on Friday, and the North Carolina State Fair starts two weeks later. So start planning – what’s it going to be? Fried Twinkies or cotton candy? That big gross turkey leg or fried dough? Alligator kabobs (gag) or a caramel apple? You can’t possibly eat it all!

Healthy Kitty

We went to Raleigh yesterday for the NC State game AND to take Buster Cat Nixon to the vet for his yearly exam. I know we have been in Winston for over a year and have had plenty of time to find a veterinarian…and I actually have found a veterinarian; I just like our vet in Raleigh so much, that I’m kind of bummed about having to switch.

I was thinking that JUST MAYBE he would behave himself a little better since it had been a whole year since he was last there. I was wrong. We had to do the usual “turn the carrier on its side” to get him out. At this point I foolishly still had hope. Then the vet tech came in and my hopes were dashed. We always have the same one, and she is so nice. The minute he saw her, he hissed. Terrible. Things just went downhill from there.

Jennifer (vet tech) had to check him for internal parasites. For those with animals, you know – they take a sample…from an unpleasant place. Well – Buster Cat Nixon was NOT having any of this. She couldn’t get anything – he just wouldn’t let her. His eyes were the size of saucers, and I could see every tooth in his mouth. We let it go (for the moment).

Dr. Price came in and checked his eyes…he still needs the drops (blast!), gave him his distemper vaccine, checked his teeth, and then actually got that elusive sample. He hissed the whole way through each procedure, but he’s clear for internal parasites and vaccinated. They are so nice to him there, and I hope they don’t hate to see him coming because he is so hateful (he has never tried to bite anyone, thank goodness). I also hope they don’t think I am terrible cat mom. I can’t help but laugh at him. The fuss he makes is sad, pathetic, and terribly funny all at the same time. Since it’s not so sad, that I would actually cry for him, the only visible emotion is humor. I’m not even sure why I find it humorous. I’m not even sure it’s technically funny…it’s just that he is not typically like that. He’s normally so sweet. The more I think about it…I may be a bad cat mom. Geeze. If I was at the doctor and had someone laughing at me while someone was trying to poke my bum, I would smack them. Poor Bust-man. :-(

We dropped Buster off at the house after the vet and headed out to the game. We even saw Dr. Price at the game! It turns out her seats are just a section over and a few rows down from us. State played Gardner Web, and won – woohoo!

(Here's a pic of Buster after one of his first trips to the vet. You can see how his ear fur is kind of greasy from his eat mite medicine. Eeeew.)

The Pumpkin Spice Kiss

Has anyone tried the Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses? I know they might sound a little gross, but they are surprisingly good. We found them last year, and I had completely forgotten about them this year until Christopher picked up a bag in Target yesterday. I think they might even be a little pumpkinier (new word) than they were last year! 

(I did not expect the middle to be white.) 

In Related news: The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks. Yuuuum. 

What Can I Say? It IS the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I know it was just yesterday (literally) that we were talking about fall, but I have to say… it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I’m sorry. I just can’t help it! I LOVE Christmas. I think I probably love Christmas more than 98% of the human population. I love Christmas more than most kids love Christmas. I STILL, to this day, have a hard time falling asleep on Christmas Eve. I make Buster Cat Nixon love Christmas. 

I saw these at Lowes TWO WEEKENDS AGO and had to take a picture. 

And I saw all this pretty ribbon at Costco this past weekend. I'm just saying...

So – I will go back to embracing fall for now - pumpkin pie, jack-o-lanterns, candy corn, pretty leaves, costumes, mums, and NEW EPISODES OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS. But just remember there are only 101 days left until the big guy comes! 

Don't Forget the Pumpkin Pie!

My friend Ouida posted a list of 11 reasons to love the fall. They were great reasons, but I think she might have left off one of the best reasons of all…PUMPKIN PIE! In my humble opinion, it's one of the best kinds of pie. 

Additionally, I would like to add: 1) Candy corn – sure, it’s not the most delicious candy in the world, but it is one of the most attractive. It’s one of my favorite Halloween decorations. 2) Apple Cider. And mulled cider…with rum. 3) The smell. Sure, it’s rotting, decomposing leaves, but they smell wonderful! I can’t think of any other decomposing object that smells as good. (Eeeeew.) 

THE Dog House

Oh! And I almost forgot! While I was at Lowes buying the fence things, I found the cutest dog house! I immediately knew that it must live in my backyard (whenever I get a backyard). This is the doghouse: 

(Now I just need to find the dog...)

No Augers, No Jackhammers, No Rental Equipment of Any Kind, No Fire Ants, Woohoo!

We did it! We finished the fence yesterday, and it looks fabulous! This is the most wonderful fence in the world because it is going to sell our house. 

I'm most thankful I don't have as much to report from this trip as I did from the last fence trip. Everything went quite smoothly! I was a little worried on the way down that we would get there and some neighborhood hooligans would have pulled the posts out of the ground or something, but everything was in its place. 

You can see from the pictures below that we (mostly they) did a most excellent job! 

(Christopher, Christopher's dad, my dad, Jon)

(Is it level?)

(The outside)

(The inside. Isn't it beautiful?)

(The gate)

(I went to Lowes and bought these post topper things. Aren't they just perfect?)

Buyers: You may commence with your offer making. Let the bidding war begin! 

Dynasty Furniture Has A Lot More Than Just Furniture!

I had the most pleasant surprise yesterday at lunch. JB and I went to this furniture store she found online. She called me in her office, showed me the website, and asked if I wanted to go. It was part furniture store, part antique store, and part cat/animal rescue! Uhm – yeah, I wanna go!!!

It’s called Dynasty Furniture, and it’s on Peters Creek Parkway. I have to be honest with you, they may have nice furniture, but I wouldn’t know. I kept my eyes peeled for kitties the whole time we were walking through the store.

When we got to the back of the store, I spotted them. If you aren’t looking for them, you may miss them all-together. The lovely people at Dynasty Furniture are foster parents for AARF Winston! They have done such a great job creating a home for these cats until they can be adopted. They have also done a really good job at keeping the cats far from any furniture. I, personally, don’t get it, but lots of people don’t like cats and probably wouldn’t want to buy anything a cat touched. Fear not: the furniture is cat free.

These cats have a whole section to roam; they even have their VERY OWN TV!!! The TV plays videos of gerbils and butterflies and other little nature things that would catch a cat’s eye. Everything was clean and there were even air filters!

The cats were all super friendly, but I fell in love with this one fluffy yellow cat. I want him. And his brother. (You can see him in the second picture down on the left here.) If you are ever sitting around one weekend and have nothing to do, you should definitely take a trip over to Dynasty Furniture. The cats alone are worth it, and while I completely ignored the furniture, I did notice some of the antiques on the way out. There are definitely a wide variety of interesting items! I will spend a little more time looking next time I go. 

Marketing Dollars

For those of you who don’t also follow Ouida’s blog (the one who strong-armed me into creating my new blog…which I am actually kind of digging), she had blogged, several posts ago, about a letter she received from her insurance company. More specifically, how this letter seemed to be a good example of a poor allocation of marketing dollars. You can read the post here, if you are interested.

After reading her post, I started to take more notice of advertising that is completely wasted on me. Since my job IS marketing, I am always noticing good marketing, but crappy marketing usually gets chunked right in the trash without a second glance.

I have these two…two and a half items to share:

1)  I got a card from Nationwide. A card, as in a greeting card: glossy, heavy stock, four-color, flowers, “handwriting” font on the envelope, the whole shebang. Oh how I wish I had saved it so I could scan it and share it with you! They were sharing with me how they are such a wonderful insurance company because of their “accident forgiveness.” 

Here’s the rub on their whole “accident forgiveness” spiel: there’s this thing called the “North Carolina Safe Driver Incentive Plan.” It’s a North Carolina Department of Insurance thing, not specifically a Nationwide Insurance thing. As long as you don’t have any accidents on your record in the past…three years, I believe, and your claim is under $1500, you don’t get any points on your license. Regardless of your insurance company.

Plus – Dudes, I already know about it. Remember that small accident I had last year that you forgave? Thanks! 

2)  I received an email today at work. They were trying to sell me talent management software. Helloooo! One glance at my email address will tell you that I work for a talent management software company. Clean up your database! Additionally, I am always quite honest when I fill out my title on forms. Find me a company that puts their marketing team members in charge of finding their talent management software.

2.5)  Finally, I’m not going to count this as a whole example because there is no way this company could possibly have known, but: I pulled a piece of Christopher’s mail out of the mailbox yesterday. They were advertising “FREE $100 gift card to WALMART for your participation.” This to the guy who, in his own words, “would rather be hit in the face with a baseball bat” than go to Walmart. Just had to laugh. 

Augers and Jackhammers and Fire Ants, Oh My!

Our house in Raleigh has been for sale now for over a year. About 96.9% of the people that have viewed the house have taken issue with either the location of the master bedroom and/or the back yard. Aside from sealing the master bedroom door and installing a fireman's pole entrance from the second floor, there is nothing we can do about the bedroom. As for the back yard, Christopher and I decided it was time for a fence! We enlisted the help of my father, Christopher's father, and Christopher's brother-in-law, Jon.

The original plan was to use posthole diggers. Then we decided it would be a lot better to rent an auger. After all, we - eeer - THEY were going to have to dig 18 two-foot holes in the yard. 

Sunday morning we got up at some indecent hour and drove to Raleigh, hit up the Home Depot for the auger, went to Lowes for fence materials, and then got to work!

(Jon, Christopher's dad, and my dad drilling the holes)

Four holes in, the guys hit some rock, and I went out to pick up some lunch. I wasn't worried, I mean - how bad can it be? Did you see that auger? I mean - it could get you straight to China! (So I thought.) Leaving Quiznos I get a call from Christopher saying he was going to need that Home Depot paperwork and tool rental price list. They were going to either need to rent a jackhammer or pack it in and forget about the fence. Jackhammer it is! 

Jackhammer rented, they go to work breaking up the massive chunk of rock. 

(Christopher breaking up rock)

Two hours later, Christopher has hammered a mere 11 inches into the hole.

(You can see – it’s pure rock…and not very deep.)

While Christopher worked on the stubborn hole, the rest of us went to work setting posts. That’s where I ran into the fire ants. Ugh and grrrr. I can’t even bend my three toes they are so swollen. Don’t worry – I won’t post a picture of them! 

Long story short, by the end of a long Sunday, we had the posts set! We are ready to hang the fence panels when we go back down next weekend! Hopefully that will be a bit of a smoother, rock and fire ant-free operation. 

Webdings?

So while setting up my first blog entry, I spent some time trying to decide which of the eight fonts would most appropriately represent the blog. (Trebuchet. Thank you, thank you. I thought it was a nice choice as well.) Webdings was an option. Say what? Why??? I mean, Why???

Nixon Notes!

My friend and coworker, Ouida, instructed me before I left work this afternoon, that I was to create a blog. Ugh. Well you see, I had a blog for a brief time. In fact, I had an ENTIRE WEBSITE. I know, I know – you don’t believe me, but it’s true! My brother and sister-in-law created this wonderful website for us when Christopher and I got engaged. It didn’t work. I mean – the website worked. Keith and Bethany know what they’re doing. I just couldn’t keep up. Eeeeh – I couldn’t get the pictures to align the way I wanted them to. I probably only posted six…maybe seven entries.  Shameful, I know.

After we got married and the wedding stuff was no longer relevant, I thought I would redesign the site, but let’s not kid – if I couldn’t align pictures, I certainly wasn’t going to redesign a whole website! Keith provided me with all these cool tools and instructions followed by “oh, wait…you like to use that Mac, don’t you?” Grrrr.

Anyway, ChristopherandGinger.com no longer exists (go ahead – you can check for yourself), so without further adu, I present you with Nixon Notes! Well, Nixon-Notes to be more accurate. NixonNotes was taken by some dude named Jeff that has a weird thing for Richard Nixon. Whatever.