Watsons (not so) Great Escape

Silence greeted me this morning -no meowing cat demanding breakfast at 5:30AM. Hmm, wonderfully interesting, I thought to myself. I then proceeded to get ready for work and it wasn't until I was getting dressed it that  hit me that watson still had not made an appearance. I'm thinking she's still sleeping, and proceeded to check any and all hiding spots.

Nada. Nowhere. I lean over my balcony and check to see if Wendy's door is open- it's closed. I take a cursory glance below the balcony and don't see any furry remnants. I call her name and shake her food to no avail. I check the hallway. Nothing.  I'm thinking the only logical explanation is that she's slept over at Wendy's or has gotten inadvertently locked in there. I email neighbour Wendy, subject line: Watson's Whereabouts. I ask if they had been hanging out this morning. I leave for work and get on with my day.

Lunch time rolls around. I check my emails and there is a reply from Wendy stating that she kicked Watson out last night at about 8 and hasn't seen her since. Insert pale face followed immediately by a look up, trying not to cry face. I had a work errand to do, so I left the office, dropped some stuff off and raced home. I head to the back of the building, all the while searching for the Watsonator. I check the bushes under my area of the building and don't see anything. Crushed. I'm pretty sure she's run away from home. I design a Lost Kitten poster in my head.

I continue to search the bushes along the walkway and suddenly I see a gray and white furry blob. Insert puke face. I call out a tentative "Watson?" and hold my breath. A small little meow is her reply. A flood of relief flows through me and I tromp through the (rather prickly) bushes in my (not super long) dress. She is hunkered down against the wall looking super terrified. I kneel down and move up to her slowly as I'm scared she's going to bolt and also that she might be hurt. I kind of give her a pokey jab to see what her response will be. No cry or hiss or much of anything, so I take it as a good sign and haul her up into my arms and run into the building.

In the stairwell, she launches herself from my arms and runs into the corner. Huge scratch across my stomach- ouch. lucky i am super in love with her at his point and I do not get mad. I collect her and manage to get my condo door open before she does another flying leap away from me. Scratch number two. insert swear word.

The first thing she does is walk up to the patio door, which i promptly close in her furry little face. I shake her food bowl and she runs to it and starts chowing down. I give Watson her obligatory brushing. I pretty much only brush her while she is eating. I started this habit as I realized that while she is eating she is too busy to attack me, so the brushing is usually a painless event.

I head out the door to go back to work, quickly sending Wendy an email to let her know that Watson is OK. She lets me know that she would be happy to take her to the vet and pay any vet bills. I thank her for her very kind offer but reiterate that Watson is unhurt. I decide to let Watson once again roam the balcony, so that Wendy can see for herself that the Miss is alive and well. I heard them chatting outside, so I think Wendy is appeased.

Since her escape, the furry girl pretty much won't leave me alone. I think she realized how awesome she has it up here on the third floor with a pretty decent mom and super great surrogate neighbour mom! I think we will go cuddle in bed now.

xo. shelly & watson.
PS. Stay tuned for the unavoidable, but surely entertaining Future Adventures of Miss Watson!

Christmas in July.

Oh.... you don't celebrate Christmas in July? *insert awkward silence. I would explain it to you, but I don't think you're ready for it.

We are a Christmas family. This past Christmas we switched things up and went to Mexico. I will take the liberty to speak for the rest of the family and say it was the best trip ever, but that we all felt a little Christmas-blues. No turkey on Christmas? It's blasphemous. I'm pretty sure Jesus would frown upon that. We had Italian food. it was delicious. It absolutely did not taste like Christmas. We spent the day drinking margaritas at the beach, seadooing and playing (and winning) bar games. Carol, god bless her, found us a mini pink and purple Christmas tree. She decked them with smarties balls, which was mind blowing! Smarties balls are a total re-hash scenario from the only other Christmas the Little's spent away from home- Whistler circa 10 years ago -another Christmas fail. The only part about our Mexican Christmas that felt like the holidays was the hangover I felt in the morning!

And all that rambling brings me to the point of my story...we need a DO OVER on Christmas, and no, we absolutely can not wait until December to make this happen. Christmas in July, folks! The second annual! Attended by various friends and family, this event features a FULL TURKEY DINNER and a sick amount of Christmas baked goods. I am hoping that someone either finds egg nog or goes to town and makes it from scratch!

 I was super excited at the prospect of breaking out my Xmas cookie cutters again and was debating between gingerbread and shortbread. Unfortunately, I was told that cookies were taken, so I defaulted to cupcakes. Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter cream. Total cheater cupcakes- I used a box cake mix and doctored up store bought frosting. I will not let you hold that against me, they are adorable and allowed me to also get my car washed and laundry done tonight!

THE SECOND ANNUAL CHRISTMAS IN JULY CELEBRATION IS UPON US! Coming up this Saturday, I am stoked for delicious treats, turkey, fake Christmas trees, and out of season decorations! Tis the (fake) season! Happy holidays. xo.

Behold.

Michelle's Christmas in July Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Guest Blog: KT in India

Happy Friday and welcome to a fun new game called "Guest Blog!" Pretty straight forward. Essentially, I will be stealing writing from my friends and posting it as my own. Fun, right?! 

Today's guest blogger is my dear and (not-so-near) friend Katie, who is currently traveling in India. Here is an email regarding her day trip yesterday to Chandi Chowk, which is one of the oldest and busiest markets in old Dehli...

This is why we are friends,
she can pour two drinks WITHOUT looking! mad skills.

I, leading the group, turn the corner from the main road, we’re on a hunt for the biggest mosque in India, but we get much more than we could have ever imagined. Slumdog Millionaire had come to life before our eyes – the India we had all expected to see was right in front of us.

There were buildings all connected, with power lines taking them over, stray dogs wandering everywhere you look, goats eating whatever lay around and sleeping on cars. I’d turn to see a cart full of fruit, then glance down to see a woman rolling on a board – no legs to stand on. I’d turn back often to make sure everyone was together. Through all this poverty, all the eyes looking toward the white tourists, we had a sea of smiles. It was incredible to me. The blind man shaking his cup of coins, the man with a hand cut off, the young girl with no hands, all smiling at us. They looked at us in awe and enjoyment.

There was a jumble of twenty or so motorcycles, half pulled apart, parts scattered along the road and a dozen or so men leaning down trying to sort it all out. As we passed, one head rose, followed by the rest – smiles on every face.

Through the distinct smell of urine, there were kids walking and chatting excitedly. They were so excited to say ‘Hello!’ and put their hand out to shake a white hand.

Motorcycles holding entire families were whizzing in and out between the bicycles towing loads of ladders and propane tanks, as we walked down the street getting honked at to move over further in the single lane that was infringed by street venders and people napping on a blanket behind a bike or two.
It was nothing any of us had ever seen before. You’d think one would leave such a place feeling depressed and sad, but we all walked out of Chandi Chowk wondering where all the smiles came from. It just shows that there are people all around the world that are much happier than us, with so very much less. Lesson received India.

I hope everyone can take something from this. We are very lucky to live the lives we do. Enjoy it. xo Michelle.

Cinnamon Buns

Ever have a block of cream cheese burning a hole in your refrigerator? Wait a minute...I think "burning a hole" wasn't an apt phrase for the topic. Re-write.

Ever have a block of cream cheese screaming at you from the fridge USE ME! USE ME!? Last week I sure did! I pretty much only use cream cheese for one thing: frosting. It is the gravy of the baked goods realm. You can smother cream cheese frosting on anything and it will be delicious. Guarencheesed.

Cream cheese doesn't usually last long in my fridge before I scheme up an idea to use it. My latest baking adventure: cinnamon buns.

I really can't believe I've made it 25.5 years without attempting these. Its crossed my mind a million or so times, but I was always leery as I am super set against using yeast in baking. Too tricky for this girl.

But guess what! Cinnamon buns do not need to be made with yeast in order to be effectively delicious. A quick google search brought forth a great recipe off a foodie blog called IowaGirlEats. No yeast, basic ingredients and straight-forward, non fussy directions.

I doubled the batch with unusually great forethought and boy am I glad I did. The smell in my condo was unparalleled. They looked incredible. It took all my willpower to wait 2 whole days to eat one as they were made especially for our long weekend trip to Osoyoos. They were well received by the group.

Pretty sure these would give Cinnabon a run for their money. Also pretty sure I will get diabetes in short order if I keep making (and over eating) sugar laden treats like this.

Feast your eyes: 

 

Interrobang?!

Interrobang... Sounds kind of dirty, right? Or maybe that didn't even cross your mind and my mind just dwells in the gutter.

The interrobang is celebrating it's 50th birthday this year, which I learned from my boss's birthday card -a delightful little handbook detailing out all the fun things that happened way back in 1962! Of course the only useful thing I gleaned out of that card was a fun fact about punctuation. Pretty sure that makes me a dork. I think the reason this struck a chord with me is because I often speak in interrobangs- it seems all my questions end excitedly (aka squeekily high pitched). Anyhow, here's your learning for the day (courtesy of Yours Truly & Wikipedia, of course):

The interrobang (often represented by ?! or !?), is a nonstandard punctuation mark used in various written languages and intended to combine the functions of the question mark and the exclamation mark or exclamation point (known in printers’ jargon as the “bang”).

American Martin K. Speckter conceptualized the interrobang in 1962. As the head of an advertising agency, Speckter believed that advertisements would look better if copywriters conveyed surprised rhetorical questions using a single mark.

Here she is, the interrobang. Feast your eyes:

The interrobang failed to amount to much more than a fad, however. It has not become a standard punctuation mark. Although most fonts do not include the interrobang, it has not disappeared: Microsoft provides several versions of the interrobang character as part of the Wingdings 2 character set.

End of learning.