Home Sweet Home

We're still getting settled into our new place and I promise pictures will come soon, but we want to get everything set up and the boxes kicked out first. We can't wait to have people over soon for a housewarming, just trying to figure out the date right now.

If you are are coming in from out of town and need a place to stay, we have a guest bedroom! With a door! And a 2nd bathroom! Yep, we're pretty excited about the extra space. The kitties just don't know what to do with themselves. I seriously think they get lost at times. Every once in a while, I'll find Calliope staring at Patrick's closet and meowing (yep, we now don't even have to share a closet!!)

Looks like a couple trips to Ikea, Target, the Natural Gardener, and Home Depot are in store for us over the next few weeks and this right after I've made 3 or 4 trips to Salvation Army to donate things we wanted to get rid of. Weird how that happens.

Chair of My Heritage

After finding out about a little resale shop called Homegirls in Apartment Therapy, Patrick and I spent a Saturday afternoon browsing different shops down Burnet. But we just couldn't stop thinking/talking/lusting after this little "mid-century modern, Danish" chair. We even put it on hold to dream about it for the night. But we knew (Patrick convinced me) that it belonged in our home. And I think the kitties are quite convinced as well.

Chair with back cushion

Chair without back cushion

The Bell Pepper

While waiting in line on opening weekend to see The Dark Knight (which I highly recommend), some friends joined Patrick and I in entering a contest for the FN Dish where you were supposed to send in a picture of an impersonation of the Iron Chef Chairman. Someone you know did end up winning, just check out the end of the slide show and this results page!

Back in the ATX

Had lots of fun in L.A. but always good to come home to an amazing husband and two cuddly kitties. Will post a summary of the trip along with some visuals soon, but in the meantime wanted to share some exciting news....

Noooooo....not that.

Tiff's Treats will soon be in North Austin and available to deliver in the area!!! This makes me way too happy. And very reminiscent.

It's been awhile...

It's been over two months since I've written a post. And a lot of things have happened since April, so I'm going to continue my bullet style of last time in no particular order

• We flew to South Carolina to attend Patrick's cousin's wedding and got to hang out with a lot of family, eat some amazing food, and drink a lot of Newcastle. I definitely want to go back when we have more time to see more than the hotel room and visit the fam out there. Patrick's cousins are amazing people and I would love to spend more time with them and their kids since we rarely see them.
• For Mothers Day, Patrick and I trekked up to Arlington to spend it with both sets of parents, Laura, Eric & Sophie and some of my extended family. We got to surprise Mamaw (my Mom's mom, the last grandparent for both Patrick and me) with a homemade Trifle, assembled in our hotel room.
• We did not see the Maxwell/Scott clan in a hotel room for a third weekend in a row.
• Patrick got a promotion! He's now the Operations Manager, the #2 guy in Austin for his company. So, needless to say, he's been working crazy long hours.
• My 19 year old cat Lily passed away about a week ago. She lived a very long, good life and will be missed.

Rachael and Lily cuddling quite a few years ago

• After Lily's passing, and some begging from Rachael, Hagan and Rachael adopted an adorable kitten. Meet Professor Pork Chop! (Now Chloe and Calliope have a cat cousin!)

Professor Pork Chop

• To celebrate my birthday next Monday, I'm heading out to the West coast to visit Courtney. A week long vacation and I can't wait! It will be so nice to get away for awhile, but I'll definitely be missing Patrick while I'm gone. Although, I'm sure he'll be fine playing a bit of Madden and enjoying some golf.

(Both photos stolen from my Sister)

Absence, Update & A Plug

I guess I had a lot to say in February and the beginning of March. But I feel like I've been incredibly busy over the past three weeks and haven't had much time to write. So, since I last wrote:

• Patrick and I have become obsessed/addicted to trying new wines and finding local vendors that sell our favorite Texas wines, thanks to the Hill Country Wine Trail. And now looking foward to the Austin Wine Festival!
• I traveled up to DFW metro to have some much needed girl time with both Amy and Courtney. And got to see Courtney's great-niece!
  
• Easter came and went and for the first time since I was a kid, Patrick and I dyed eggs!
• Our little niece Sophie turned the ripe old age of 1 year old, and apparently has grown teeth and visited the White House.
• The kitties became very interested in our storage closet that holds our water heater. Later, I found out we had a "visitor." After waiting a day in hopes that it would find it's own way out with no luck, I had to extract the scared little bat.

***And a plug for my sister: please visit and comment often on the FN Dish. She's the associate producer and we want her to keep that position! If you check out last week's video, you get to see Mr. Tony Bourdain rant on the Food Network - love that clip!

Bird Watching

The Kitties love watching Planet Earth on the new TV!

Our First Tree

I was trying to take pictures of our first Christmas Tree, all decorated and lit up, but Calliope wanted some attention and posed for me too.

Calliope stretching for a belly rub

Presents are all wrapped! I think Patrick is excited that he hasn't had to do any wrapping and that all the presents are actually tagged this year - that way he knows which one is his. See the homemade tags?

The Birthday present is for my sister - a Christmas Eve baby.

For our niece!

Chloe decided to help with the ornaments for the tree. She likes playing with the brass bells and loves attacking the soft cloth ornaments. When I come home from work, I usually find them somewhere in the middle of our living room floor.

Chloe "helping"

Lately

Things are going well here, it just seem pretty busy. Patrick's working crazy long hours and working on online school work, so he doesn't usually come home till after 9pm every day (and sometimes later.) So, on the weekend we don't do much other than sleep, eat, watch football, and as of late, shop for Christmas. While he's at his office I'm filling up my free time cleaning the apartment and trying to do this Couch to 5K training thing, but not really training for a specific run.

Kitties: Chloe's being much more cuddly as it gets colder and Calliope is just getting fatter - as confirmed by her latest vet visit...She's 13 freaking pounds!!! The Vet wants her at 11 and so I think she should started training with me. We could both stand to lose a couple.

We bought our first Christmas tree over the weekend and that's been a fun experience. I've never had a real tree before and the kitties have never been around one either. As Patrick brought it in our apartment, Calliope hissed at it. I'm not exactly sure what she thought it was, just that it was a foreign object occupying her space. Now, they both just like to eat the needles and drink the tree's water. I'm just glad that they haven't tried climbing it....yet.

Right now, we have white lights and about 7 ornaments on the tree, and a topper in waiting. So, it looks kind of sad unless you look at it really up close. Just waiting for the box to arrive with the rest of my ornaments, then I'll post pictures. It's nice to finally have a tree, it really makes it feel more like the Christmas season. In the past, Patrick and I would be gone for such a long time around Christmas, that it would have been just a hassle. But with a shorter trip this year, I had to have one.

Wake Up!

Patrick and I cannot stop laughing at this video. This is our life times two.

How It All Started

Eight years ago today, Patrick pulled me aside in a 1942 house on Peck Avenue and spoke those words that I will forever remember as bringing us together: "Would you like to go see a movie?" He later told me that after much contemplation and thought of how to go about asking me out, all the plans and clever words went out the window at the last moment.

The movie would have to be put off till the following week, as I was heading up to attend the TX/ou game in Dallas that weekend. And he was going up to Dallas as well, but to see one of his best friends sing. I stayed with a bunch of friends Friday night and went to the game the next day, where he picked me up and promptly told me that I stunk. I had just spent the better part of 3-4 hours in the heat surrounded by other sweaty Texas fans, what do you expect??

We didn't end up seeing Mike sing that night. We got lost and finally showed up right as they were walking out of the building. I couldn't have even imagined that night that almost 8 years later, his friend whom I just met, would be singing at our wedding reception.

I mentioned to Patrick that I was going to be meeting my parents for brunch the next morning, so I'd need to go get my car from my friend's house fairly early. He responded, "Oh, I get to meet your parents?" So, only 4 days after he asked me to the movies, Patrick and I ate blueberry pancakes with my parents and my very talkative sister who probably helped relieve any anxiety or nervousness of meeting my parents for the first time. All a little unorthodox, but hey, we got it out of the way.

So, here we are: two Austinites who have been together for eight years, married for two, living with two neurotic cats in a "little place near Lake Travis," as Patrick likes to put it.

Happy Eight Years Honey!

Still on My Mind...

It probably has to do with the fact that Patrick and I have been Netflixing Six Feet Under and Ghost Hunters recently, but it still kind of makes me question my sanity. We had been away at a friend's wedding over Memorial Day weekend and upon coming home, I was putting some clean dishes away. When I opened a drawer to put up one of whisks, I saw a spatula that had been missing for weeks and weeks laying across my drawer organizer. I called to Patrick, celebrating that he had found our wonderful spatula and we can now stir things up to 500 degrees on our stove again! And he looked at me and said "What??"

Yeah, he didn't find it. And I would never put a utensil across an organizer instead of in it, where it belongs! (Just ask Patrick about folding towels, and you'll soon find out how particular I really am.)

So, who or what did this? Chloe? Calliope? Honestly, I just don't think that have that much talent in them. I mean, I love our cats, but Chloe can be kind of an idiot sometimes. What cat do you know who trips over her own feet?

But really, kinda weirded out by that whole experience.

Passing the Time

A weekend of staying up late and waking up early makes for a difficult Monday morning. Combine that with rainy weather, a view from my cube of gray clouds and wet feet and all I want to do is go home, curl up on the couch with my husband and cats while watching the last two episodes of Sports Night.

On the drive back from the retreat this weekend, Patrick called his sister who answered with a "No baby yet!" Yesterday was the due date, but it appears that our niece is not quite done cooking. I'm sure the future parents are just on the edge of their seats anticipating their new arrival, because I know we are and the Lord knows Patrick's parents are!!!
***Just a reminder, at our wedding, in his toast to our marriage, Patrick's dad stated that they would have to resort to making their own grandchildren if they didn't get any from his kids soon.*** So, I'm glad it didn't have to come to that because I'm not even sure how that would work.

In other news, the bluebonnets are blooming here in Central Texas and they are beautiful! I am so sad that I forgot to pack my camera over the weekend because the road to the retreat was lined with a sea of blue and green, speckled with reds, yellows, and pinks. I love how gorgeous Texas gets in the springtime.

A Kitty Christmas Adventure

I stayed up until about 12:30 am last night folding clothes and packing my suitcase. And today, after I leave work and do about a million errands, Patrick and I are going to pack up the truck and head to Houston, then a few days later, to Arlington. I can't wait to see family and friends, especially ones that I haven't seen in over a year.

It will be interesting travelling this much with two cats. We've done it with one a couple of times, but riding in a vehicle with two cats can be a little much. They feed off each other. One will meow, then the other, it almost sounds like they're talking (or yelling) to each other. I guess it's just another thing to prepare us for having kids, kind of like what happened last night...

To get them all pretty for Christmas, we gave the cats a bath last night. Well, I helped with Calliope, who didn't complain too much, and then while the bathtub was filling up for Chloe, I started dinner. Then, a good friend who I hadn't talked to in awhile called, so I was a little distracted. Even though the bathroom door was closed and I had closed the door to the bedroom, where I was on the phone, I could hear Chloe meowing pretty loudly and even Amy could hear it over the phone. Finally, Patrick walked out with a swaddled up Chloe and I eventually hung up with Amy. A little while later, he told me that Chloe had done something she had never done before while giving her a bath. She peed on him. I guess she wasn't too happy about getting in the water, or maybe she was just that excited.

Kitty go down the hoooole...

For the past month or so, Patrick and I have been in the midst of toilet training our two cats. We had been wanting to do it for a while now but everything we had read about it just seemed so cumbersome to me. And then one day I heard about the City Kitty and that night Patrick and I ordered it and hoped for the best. A life free of litter scattered on the bathroom floor? Yes please!!

We made the mistake of jumping right in and start using the City Kitty without any sort of preparation of our cats. They were used to relieving themselves in a box in the linen closet of the bathroom. Not two feet off the ground in the middle of the bathroom. The next morning, Patrick had the delight of waking up to find all the litter scooped out of the CK and our older cat, Calliope, peeing on the toilet seat. Not exactly what we had in mind. Patrick had been thinking that this would be easy, like magic, they would understand exactly what we wanted them to do. And Poof! They would be toilet trained. Not so much. And I now feel for my parents who had to toilet train me. At least this has given us a taste of how it will be having to do this with our future kiddos. Its definitely a big lesson in patience!

So, we had to back up and start by moving their litter box from the linen closet and putting it next to the toilet. Then, a little while later, on top of the toilet seat so that they could get used to hopping up there. Coming home to find the litter box wedged between the bathtub and the toilet with litter and poop spread out on the floor is just oh so fun!

So, once they got used to that, we placed the litter in the CK and put that between the toilet base and seat. Chloe caught on much faster than Calliope, who would try to hold it till one of us got home from work and would yowl while sitting in front of the linen closet. And once we sat her on the CK, she would finally go. It took much longer than we expected, but eventually, they got used to it as well.

So we cut the first hole and have been doing pretty well so far. At first, the cats decided to scoop all of the litter down the hole and into the toilet. It reminded me of that Tiny Toons cartoon where baby Plucky duck kept shoving toilet paper and anything else he could find down the toilet... "paper go down the hooooole, teddy go down the hooooole, Plucky go down the hooooole..." Every once in awhile I'll be in there when one of the cats is "occupied" and actually does her thing down the hole. But while I'm jumping up and down saying "good girl, you did it!" she's looking down the hole as if to say "where'd it go?"

They say the slower you go with each step, the easier it is for the cat in the long run, and thus easier on us. So it has been and will be baby...er... kitty steps for us for awhile.

No, she's not your Mama

It seems silly to think that I was worried about the cats getting along. I mean come on...
Calliope seems to think she's the mama cat constantly cleaning Chloe (yes, I love alliteration)

and Chloe seems to think so too...she keeps shoving her face into Calliope's stomach like she's trying to nurse

It is kind of nice to have two cats fighting for your attention...

but I like it more when they concede at just being content on sharing it.

Chloe the Kitty

We think she looks kind of like a koala with the gray fur and white chin...

The past couple of weeks have been quite interesting getting two cats aquainted. The first few days, we kept them separated, but that didn't last too long...

I am amazed at how quickly they have grown to not only tolerate each other, but play and cuddle as well.

New Addition to our Family...

After about a two weeks of looking online, going to animal shelters and visiting a dozen Petsmarts in three or four cities, 3 counties and the state of Texas, Patrick and I finally found another cat that we can adopt. It seems that every time we found one that we liked and seemed interested in us, they were either already adopted or about to be by someone else. Until we came across this little "blue" and white skinny kitty.

She's about 6-7 months old and so sweet.

We get to pick her up tomorrow evening after she's spayed. This will be an interesting few days getting the two kitties aquainted.

The shelter is calling her Maxine, but I think Maxine Maxwell is just a little too much. Got any suggestions?