Senator Barack Obama

My sister called me today, very excited. Senator Barack Obama spoke at the college campus she works at and used her office to meet with state officials and sign books.

Understand, Nicole and I are both HUGE Obama fans.  Put him up for President and watch me vote for him. Nicole spent quite a bit of time talking to the staff person who was with the Senator and she said, "I think he should  run for President." The man's response was, "Okay, I can't really tell him that but YOU certainly can."

Nicole got to stay in the room for Obama's meeting and spent a little bit of time talking to him as he signed books. She said, "I have to tell you this," and he kind of looked up at her and she said, "You were hilarious on the Daily Show." He laughed and she said, "We Tivo'd it and watched it over and over."

When he was leaving, the Senator looked at Nicole and said, "Thanks, Nicole. Tell your husband I said hello."  So Nicole races to the phone and calls Grant at work and says, "The senator wanted me to be sure and tell you he says hello."

It Warms A Mothers Heart

I arrived home today after a long day (16 hours) and an even longer rainy drive home. (Tip to NC drivers: When a car approaches and you see their headlights in the distance, that's the time to dim your brights. Not when you're almost right on top of me).  As I hung my coat up in the front room, I noticed Lucy in her new favorite resting spot--on top of our new bedroom comforter. The comforter is folded over and laying on the front guestbed, away from the dust of the renovations.  We just discovered last night that this is Lucy's new hangout spot.  Actually, Blair discovered it.  He saw her on the comforter and said, "Hey, you're not supposed to be on there" in the cooing voice pet owners use when we're pretending to be upset but we're really not. But then he gasped and I heard "Oh my God.  Look at all this hair."  Apparently Ms. Lucy has been making herself at home there, unnoticed, for some time now.

Anyway, I get home and decide I need some kitty therapy so I walk over to pet Lucy. It takes a few strokes before I glance behind us and notice Olivia, curled up in a little ball beside the comforter, keeping an eye on Lucy.

 SO SWEEEET.  My babies!  You have to understand. I don't have cats that hang out together.  I think Olivia would like to, but Lucy barely deems to tolerate her. So it was so touching that both of them were curled up on this bed, just like buddies.  It improved my mood instantly. I cooed and fussed and gave Lucy kisses. "Your little sister loves you," I told her. "Doesn't that make you feel good?"

She said nothing in reply, but I think she understood me.

As for me, it's almost 11:30 PM but I think I'm up for awhile.  I'm extremely tired but also wired just from being on the go for so long today.  I'd love to run a hot bath but it would wake Blair up. Given the amount of construction dust that has drifted into our bedroom from the bath (the cats are writing "WASH ME" in the dust on the floor with their paws), we have moved to the upstairs bedroom until renovations are complete.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go check and see if the Tile Guy was here today.  Then I think hot tea and a book and maybe--finally--sleep. 

Decorating Diaries - Almost A Shower

Here are some pictures of where we are with the shower. It's slowly coming together.  Still waiting for the counterop to the cabinets to come in--we were told maybe this Friday but I doubt it.  I'm hoping for next Friday.  Also praying the tile will be done by next Wednesday. Which means we can get the drywall guy back in, which means I can clean, prime, and paint. Then the plumber, then the electrician (if we ever make it to a store to pick out light fixtures) and then--gasp--we're done!

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos:

Eventually, the back wall of the shower will mirror the tile pattern on the floor. 

Cut outs in the back wall for shampoo and bath products.

 

A Day for Dogs

I was on the phone this morning with Melody, who is designing the new web site for Spotlight Publishing (soon to be unveiled). I glanced at the clock and my blood pressure shot up.

"It's 10:45," I fumed. "The guy doing my tile told me he'd be here at 8.  I'm calling his supervisor as soon as we hang up."

No sooner were the words out of my mouth than call waiting beeped in.  "Melody, hang on," I said. "This is the tile guy."

I was much chastened when I returned.  The reason Tile Guy was late was that driving in (he lives an hour away), he noticed some puppies abandoned on the side of the road. He pulled over and this malnourished dog (SO CUTE though - he took a picture with his cell phone) came racing over, eager to be petted. The mama dog was more standoffish, but the two puppies were all over him. He had some dog biscuits in the car and the dogs just wolfed them down, like they hadn't eaten in days.  So he called Animal Control and was waiting for them to get there, which is why he wasn't at my house.

If there is ever a "all-is-forgiven" excuse in my book, this would be it.  "You're a good person," I told him.  "I'm so glad you stopped."  The cop who came out wanted to just lock the dogs in a pen that was by this semi-abandonded house where the dogs were in the front yard. The yard was littered with beer cans and the house was in ill-repair.  Tile Guy stood firm and pointed out the dogs were thin and starved and not being cared for, so the cop reluctantly agreed to take them to the area vet or pound.

When I finished relaying all this to Melody, I said, "That noise you hear is the sound of the Universe smacking me down."  Here I am all upset the guy is late when he's out doing this good deed that I wish more people would do.   

Two straight days involving stray or runaway dogs--wonder what the message is in that?