when the cat's away ...

This is what Olive does when I am away -

she waits

she waits on the front porch

she waits by the front door

she lays on the bed in our room and listens ...

Hubs does the exact same thing ... really ... it is just my imagination that he seems about to burst with joy when I leave and he will be home alone.

"Wait, you're leaving - what will I do without you?" - he pretends to be sad while his mind races through the million things he never gets to do when I am here, that he will now get to do as much as he wants to. I have no idea what these things are and I do not really want to know.

I know he eats alot of salad when I am gone - without me - this guy would be so much healthier.

He also sleeps. Alot.

He is kind of the MacGyver of sleeping (thank you Holly for reminding me of this awesome show) - he can sleep through anything - glasses on, boots tied, laptop lying crookedly on his chest - he is out within seconds. But he is a sleep-liar.

He will never admit he is asleep.

ME (quietly taking the remote)
HUBS (eyes closed): *snort* NO! No cooking shows! I’m still awake!
ME: No, you’re not.
HUBS: *snort*
ME: Are you awake?
HUBS: *snort* *snarfle*
ME: You are asleep.
HUBS: *snarfle* No,no I’m not… *snort* *snarfle* What? Who’s asleep? *snort*
ME: You’re sleeping. I’m taking the remote.
HUBS: *snort* Whaa? *snort* Who? *snort* No, I’m NOT! *snort*

NOTE: *snort* = imagine the sound a gigantic pig might make rooting in the mud (not that hubby is a gigantic pig, but if you come into our bedroom at night and close your eyes, you will totally believe there is one in here with us)

So, when I am away and call home - he always claims to be working on some project around the house when I can tell from his voice (snort) that he has just woken up.

He also continually uses the wrong question word - this is totally unrelated, but drives me nuts and I am feeling the need to document it this morning.

So, for example I say "so and so has a new car" and he'll ask "where?" or I'll say "it looks like rain" and he'll ask "who?" - this is obviously a listening to me thing, because I have never heard him do this with anyone else.

DRIVES .. ME ... NUTS.

I am leaving again. I am flying to Seattle on Thursday with Kella and Chris to sell my goodies at Bumbershoot and visit my west coast family for a few days.

When I booked this trip Labor Day seemed like weeks after New York Gift and I thought I would have plenty of time for everything I needed to do. UGH!

For me, the first stress of any trip is the airplane ride. The last time I flew I spent five hours and thirty-six minutes wedged into the middle seat next to a man who spent the entire flight coughing, sneezing, and being as aggressively contagious as he could possibly be without actually licking his hands and wiping them on my face. UGH AGAIN!

(note to self - buy airborne)

Anyhoo, I had better get to work this morning. I got something like 27 new accounts from New York Gift - YAY - but first have oodles to finish up for Bumbershoot.

I will try and post about New York Gift this week before I leave. It was an adventure!

xo all

Olive takes a bite out of the big apple ....

I will post all the details next week, but wanted to get these pics up for now! So happy to be home!

off to NYIGF ... have a great weekend everyone!

Off to New York International Gift Fair - Booth 5001!

Wish me luck - will let everyone know how this goes and post pics soon.

when a bowl of cherries really is a serious thing ....

Yes, I'm still alive

although I should state clearly here, since no one in my family listens to a word I say, and this should be written down somewhere that in the event of my actual demise -

probably in some "gotta get healthy, better eat some fruit" related mishap (which I will explain later) - I want Monty Python's "Dead Parrot" sketch to serve as my memorial, obviously replacing Norwegian Blue with Cat Ivins.

Anyhoo, I have been slowly pulled

(yes, like taffy - my legs are about 6 foot long now)

back into myself by 6 accupuncture sessions, the amazing daily weather - hot, with the most gorgeous blue skies and cloud formations I have seen since I was six years old and would lay in the weeds with my sister finding unicorns and goddesses in the sky and our imaginings -

frequent barefoot walks in the backyard grass

(I have been saying for years that Olive is so smart and conscientious she only poops in this one patch of ivy in the backyard .. I found out many times this week that this is not true, dammit)

- and the Olympic games which I have been crying over for days and days.

(are these not the most amazing people on the planet - good God I love them all - felt so terrible for those Russian gymnasts - wish everyone could win)

I should also say that since I stopped blogging, my blog readership has increased, just another sign from the universe that sometimes it pays to know when to just shut up.

I will have some answers tomorrow on some health stuff which remains unchanged - the accupuncture doesn't seem to have done much for that - it has helped bring back some motivation and focus that I had lost although I have to admit it is still determined to play hide and seek with me ...

I am preparing for New York International Gift Fair in a few days and have never felt so unprepared for anything

(with the possible exception of childbirth, my first driving test - luckily I was an old pro by my third and that time I interviewed for a job and forgot the name of the position I was applying for - note ... it was CASHIER)

The one good thing about dealing with anything health related is that it puts everything else into perspective and my goal for New York is now to "have fun", truly, truly I am going to "have fun"

and stay away from cherries.

(ok time for the gotta get healthy, better eat some fruit story if you are still with me)

I was home alone.

(well, Olive was here, but very determined to separate a toy mouse from its squeaker at the time and paying no attention to me)

I was eating a cherry (gotta eat more fruit) and had the entire cherry in my mouth (stem removed, of course).

I had separated the cherry from the pit and obviously what any normal person would do at that point is take the pit out of their mouth. But what did I do? I took the cherry out of my mouth and swallowed the pit. This all took place in about 2 seconds. I immediately realized my error - mostly because I couldn't breathe

thinking fast (I am a quick thinking Jersey girl after all) - did I try to perform some kind of kitchen chair heimlich on myself, well, no - did I call 911 before I lost the ability to speak? well, no - so what did you do Cat, you are thinking because obviously I am still alive, as I stated in my opening sentence.

Well, I grabbed a pen and wrote CHERRY PIT in big letters on a paper napkin ... so people would know what happened to me and sat down.

(luckily the damn thing popped out of my mouth a second later all by itself - acid reflux has its advantages I guess)

So, I am off to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics - I love these kids!

(I noticed hubs brought home some cherries again today - kind of like tossing peanut butter into the peanut allergy kid's backpack, I think - I'll have to keep my eye on him)

xo all