Weed Wacker Vs. Lawn Mower?

I have this guy who lives across the street from me and cuts his grass with an electric weed wacker...ALL of his (and his neighbors) grass by hand with this weed wacker attached to a really long orange cord leading into his garage. So every time he cuts his grass I get really annoyed because its this choppy humming/cutting noise. Start. Stop. On. Off. Vrooom. Vroom. Reeeehhh. Reeh. Errrrrr. Reeeeeerrrr.

My question is: It IS weird to cut your entire lawn with this tool, correct? I mean honestly...I grew up at a house with a couple acres...and all those homes around me also had a lot of grass, so it was always riding mowers or at least push mowers. Then I lived in a college town where there wasn't any grass because we always just walked all over it and killed it. Then in the city...well there isn't much grass in the city and if there is I probably wouldn't have thought anything of someone using a weed wacker to cut the grass because it's the city and I've learned not to question anything anyone does down there. But it is weird, right? Generally you invest in some kind of mower that's more efficient than a weed wacker when you cut your grass every week?

I'll let you know when he's done and it's back to peace and quiet so we can all open our windows/doors again!

Chaz

I posted some pictures of my boy, Sammie. So now I post some pictures of my other baby, Chaz. I got Chaz just 3 days after my childhood cat, Sylvestor had to be put to sleep. I didn't mean to go get a new cat but I somehow ended up at the Anti-Cruelty Society. Chaz picked me out, crying and begging for attention so I took him out of the cage and he was crawling all over me, purring up a storm and sneezing every other minute. I told the volunteers that I didn't really come in to bring a cat home, so I would go home and sleep on it and if on Monday he was still there, I would know it was meant to be. But being that Anti-Cruelty is NOT a "no-kill shelter" and Chaz already had the cat equivalent of the "kennel cough" they assured me that if I waited even one night, he may not be there in the morning but instead in kitty heaven. So the choice was made and I was sitting in the "check out" just a few minutes later signing the papers to have him neutered and would be picking him up just 24 hours later. I found out he was about 4 or 5 years old when I got him...and he was originally found in DuPage County. (aww, that's where I grew up!) That's really all I knew about him except that he was FILTHY dirty, covered in mud and other unknown substances. It was suggested that I take him in for a professional bath but when I took him home he was way too sick for a bath. Honestly, I will never understand why he was there for any more than a day...he was the friendliest cat I've ever met at a shelter! I was so blessed that he was there when I got there...he's made me SO HAPPY!!

I'm pretty sure there is no better fit for me than Chaz. He needs a lot of attention (just like me.) He gets lonely really easily, (just like me.) He loves to sleep and takes naps (just like me.) and the list goes on. Chaz isn't your typical cat. He is more like a dog. He literally fetches...you can thrown him a ball and he will chase after it and bring it back to you. He ALWAYS comes when he's called. He ALWAYS greets you at the door. He follows me everywhere I go. I panic if I am sitting in the living room and realize hes not in eye sight. That's how often he's around. He also does this weird "Chaz thing." It's normal for cats to knead, but he does it for long lengths of time and purrs all the while. Fortunately, Jason clips his claws for me, otherwise it's really annoying.


He's just chilling. :)


When I shower, I generally clean my ears with q-tips...and from the first day I had Chaz, I learned that when I threw the q-tips into the trash, he would bat at them and try to knock them out, so it's become sort of a game. I throw them to him and he catches them with his front paws, then puts it in his mouth, jumps down and carries them out into the living room. He's gotten pretty good at this and generally catches them on the first try. Weird, I agree!


Another favorite past time for Chaz is to unroll all of the toilet paper when I am not looking. This picture doesn't really capture it well but basically he unrolled the rest of it and then sits there all proud.


This one is from last week...I let him out on the porch/baloney. He loves it out there, but I don't trust him very long! I'm sure it won't be long before he'll be jumping onto the landing next to the balcony where the squirrels tease him from.


So I have a bunch more pictures of him all cute...but I'll save those for another post. Chaz really is my baby, I love him more than I think is healthy for someone to love a cat! But he's my bud and once you've spent any amount of time with him, you'll probably agree he is one of a kind! :)

Well Said...

I was standing on the corner of Fullerton/Lincoln/Halsted on Saturday afternoon waiting for Jason to meet me at the Taste of Lincoln and I happened to notice this note on the stoplight. It reads, "You are the example for the next generation." Thought it was pretty cool. Please correct me if this means anything else...I swear I am the last to know about the "kids these days" and their dirty meanings behind things. LOL! I thought it was really cool. :)

Rascal Flatts at Wrigley - 7/18/09

I have been looking forward to Rascal Flatts at Wrigley Field all summer and though it was NOT your typical July weather (BRRR!), the night did not disappoint! They were phenomenal, playing all their hits. They brought a girl up on stage to help them sing "My Wish" after they had shared their involvement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Of course, I had tears streaming down my face as she sang. (I'm getting teary just thinking about it!) They came back for their encore and did two songs, one with Darius Rucker and ended with "Life is a Highway." It was amazing! I am so glad I got to experience a "night of history," seeing a concert at one of my absolute favorite places on the planet!!

Sophie's QUICKLY Growing!

Thought it was time to post some pics of my favorite puppy, Sophie. These were taken last weekend at my parent's lakehouse. She is so precious...never runs off (unless one of her other puppy friends are out next door, then she just can't resist!) She loves the boat, the beach and the golf cart while we have our camp fire. I can't wait to see her in the water once she's old enough! I just LOVE HER!

Sam - The White w/ Grey Cat

Sammie was crawling all over me while I was trying to do my study tonight which made me realize that my boys are not anywhere on my blog!! How do I not have any pictures up of my 2 babies!?

Since it was Sam who was responsible for making me have this realization I'll share about him tonight and Chaz will be soon!

Sam has a very odd personality. I always say my cats are dogs trapped in cat bodies, but Sam definitely has some cat qualities in him.

One of Sam's favorite past-times is that he loves to be "up" on everything and anything, as long as his paws aren't touching tile carpet or wood floors. However, Jason cannot stand the cat hair on anything and it's like Sam knows it and immediately climbs onto his bags the second he sets them down. Ahhh, Sam is comfy! Personally, I see him like this and it makes him all the cuter!! :)



As I said, Jason cannot stand the cat hair and is constantly "threatening" me to shave them...especially Sam. So one day he told me he was going to give him a hair cut. I heard the scissors snipping away but I thought he was just kidding around. These pictures don't show nearly what my poor Sam ended up looking like. Jason assured me he would have looked much better if I'd have let him finish. Poor Sam! I was just glad Chaz didn't beat him up for looking funny!





Lastly, as I said, Sam loves to climb all over me when I am on the computer or reading. So here is some cute ones of him needing more attention than the study I was trying to do. I got a little annoyed after about the 3rd time of pushing him off but he really makes me smile!





song-of-the-day|Party all the Time|by Eddie Murphy/Rick James this has been the song 2 days in a row?! It doesn't get any more random that this!! Shawn...remember when we were playing that "game show" and you played this song and I kept saying, "party all the time, party all the time, party all the time"...and you told me that wasn't the name of it...and then moved onto the next song!? LOL

First Baby Tomatos!!

The tomato plant seems to be dying but two babies arrived today!! I already ate them...they were delish!!!

"Potty" in the City

While on a run today I realized how hard it would be to take a recently potty-trained child anywhere in the city! I always have to go to the bathroom. I am absolutely terrible on road trip's because I have to go after a sip of anything. We had to stop 4 times in 3 1/2 hours on our way home from Des Moines on Sunday. (jason is so patient w/ me!) But today after trying to hydrate before the run about half way through, I really had to go! I happened to be passing a park with a few little ones running around...right about the height of "big boy/big girl underwear" aged. Obviously, I'm an adult and know I have to hold it until I can get to the bathroom but there wasn't anywhere I could just pop in and use the facilities, unless I bought something and then asked for the key. So I wonder when you have kids how the heck do you plan your day? Would you only go places which have unlocked public bathrooms? I mean do those even exist in Chicago? Or else, I guess you just bring extra money and plan on buying the cheapest thing in the restaurant/coffee shop/book shop/gas station, etc. Just made me wonder...

song-of-the-day|"Desire"| by U2

Poor Kid!

Seriously? Who would do this to their child?! They're excited to finally get their learner's permit and mom and dad have to announce it to the world! I was laughing pretty hard when I saw this and feel so bad for whoever the "new driver" is!!

My Tomato Plant is GROWING!

I LOVE tomatos. Could eat them like an apple with every meal. (don't really care for them on sandwiches, burgers, etc.) I planted my first tomato plant last year and was very successful with the cherry tomatos, but this year's plant is off to a really good start!! Many little guys popping and a few regular/apple-sized tomatos as well!!

song-of-the-day|"I Gotta Feeling"|by Black Eyed Peas (probably because I listened to it about 15 times yestrday on my way to the city!)