Good Morning

This is what mornings look like around here lately...sometimes reversed, with Champ in the window and Barley on the chair, and occasionally with both of them sharing the window.

In A Box (Again)

Even after 6ish years, this guy never ceases to make us laugh every day.

I'm in love and it's a sunny day

Not that we ever really froze this winter, but we're certainly starting to thaw! This must have been before we opened the window, because once that happens Barley moves to the windowsill and has his little face smooshed against the screen while he soaks up the fresh air.

The Superman

Pete calls this Barley posture "the Superman" because he has both his front arms stretched out as long as possible in front of him. It's one of Barley's favs, and it's one of my favs for snuggling with him, too. It usually feels like he's hugging me, because each of his paws reaches up on either side of my neck. Except when he's adjusting himself and punches me in the neck and/or face with his furry little paws, then it's one of my least favorite Barley snuggle postures.

Number Four: (day twenty-three) Powerlines?

I totally ignored today's Feb Photo Challenge prompt.

Sometimes instead of soaking up the afternoon sun in the living room, Barley will hang out next to me in the office window and watch everyone walking down the middle of our street.

Number 4: (day thirteen) Makes You Laugh

Barley, when he is not being an outright jerk, is a very sweet clown. When I'm working from home, there is usually a point in the afternoon where he insists on being in my lap, despite the fact that there isn't much room for him there. If I deny him, this is what happens. Well, first, he'll stand on his hind legs with his front paws on the arm of the chair or on my thigh, begging me to let him up. Then when I ignore him, he settles into this stink eye.

It's a really good think he's so cute (and also warm).

Number 4: (day three) Passion

Barley is seriously passionate about getting his snuggles. He follows me around the house when I get home from work, sometimes weaving in between my legs, until I finally sit down, and then he is instantly in my lap. And usually headbutting me until I pet him, too.

Of course, not long after this I was petting him after he was (apparently) done with that, and he tried to bite me.

Champ isn't big on physical contact - doesn't snuggle, doesn't really care about getting pets, and is very skittish so it's hard to even stand next to her. But the other day Pete grabbed a can of almonds for a snack, and suddenly Champ showed up at his feet. Then jumped onto the arm of the couch. Then Pete held up an almond for her to inspect, and she spent a loooooong time licking it and sniffing it and trying to figure out how to actually eat it. After a minute, Barley wanted to know what it was all about, but he had zero interest and left it for Champ.

Apparently the way to Champs heart is through her stomach.

Mom

Mom was working on a quilt while she was here, and at different points of the afternoon she had "help" from both Barley and Champ.

Chilly Weather

Barley loves to snuggle all the time, but now that it's getting chilly he's a zillion times more persistent than usual.

Ready For Some Football?

I was looking for something for Pete and came across a bag of old cat toys. Most of their toys end up under the stove, but I pulled out two that I'm pretty sure won't fit - including Barley's football. He used to carry it around the house in his mouth.

If only he would fetch, it might be Pete's dream come true.

Barley's Busy Day

My Sunday to do list:
- Clean bathroom
- Clean bedroom
- Clear piles off the coffee table
- Catch up on photos/blog
- Run 4-6 miles
- Laundry?
- Grocery store?

Barley's Sunday to do list:
- Nap on bed with Champ
- Clean Champ's face while she is trying to sleep
- Nap in Sarah's lap (x2)
- Nap in Pete's lap (x2 or more)
- Nap on top of orange blanket

While my list is manageable, Barley's is very ambitious. I'm not sure he'll be able to get to it all today.

10 on Tuesday

1. You guys, two years ago today I watched my best friend give birth to a little girl, who has grown into a super adorable toddler. I think I will always feel extra connected to O for having watched her come into this world. Also, when she is older and talks back to me I can totally pull out the "I watched you come into this world and I can watch you go out of it, too!" threat. ;) Not that she'll ever talk back, I'm sure she'll be an angel. Leyre, it has been awesome watching you and Mike as parents! It's going to be super fun watching everything that is yet to come for that little family.

2. Also to note, today is almost exactly the same weather as the day O was born. That's not actually a good thing, because it means cool and overcast. Spring/Summer? Are you there? We miss you in Boston! Come back any time.

3. I canNOT use the word actually without pronouncing it (at least in my head, but often out loud) the way my niece Claire used to when she was in her actually phase - often correcting anything you said, even if she was really just adding on to what you said and not correcting you. I wish I had a video clip so you could hear it.

4. Despite my comments above, this weather is good for one thing...running! Pete and I went out last night for our usual three miles and it was awesome. I haven't run in almost a week because I was letting those shin splints heal and was worried it would be a rough run. Not the case. By the time we hit the two little hills towards the end of our route and Pete was next to me saying "Screw you, hill!" out loud, I was actually thinking just about the same thing. I owned those two little hills, and I felt good while I was doing it. Then, in the last block before home where I often feel like I want to puke and/or collapse, I was all about finishing strong and racing (AND BEATING) Pete to the corner. Turns out that low 60's is my ideal running weather.

5. My awesome run last night almost had me convinced I needed to rethink my goal for the 5k I'm running at the end of July. We ran 9:45 miles last night and my goal for July is 10:00 miles....seems obvious, right? I'm going to stick with the 10:00 miles goal (I ran 10:19 miles in the Corporate Challenge, which was a slightly longer race and crazy crowded) for now and see how I feel when (if?) it really starts to get warm around here, because running in late-July heat and humidity is not my bag, baby.

6. I swear, last running one for today... I've been trying to find one race each month this summer to keep me motivated and running when it's hot out, and I think I just found my August race: The Memphis Soul 5k BBQ Run. I may not be fast enough to win my age group, but maybe I'm fast enough to beat any other females dressed as Elvis? Do we need to start looking into an Elvis running costume? Perhaps!

7. A week from right now, I'll be on vacation. Hopefully it will be warm and sunny and I will be relaxing on a patio/dock, in a hot tub, or fire-pit-side...but I would settle for just not raining. I am really trying to keep myself in check with my To Do on Vacation list, but I keep thinking about it and I think writing it down (typing it out?) might actually help stop it from growing to non-relaxing proportions, so here it is...it's not crazy, right? I swear there will still be plenty of time for relaxing and fun!

• Run (with Pete, 3-4x)
• Do yoga (4-5x)
• Hot Tub (as many x as possible)
• Finish reading Vanity Fair (#9 on Spring To Do List), start reading How Yoga Works
• Celebrate the birthdays of five awesome little people
• Complete a Mark Simmons "Death March" (#5 on Spring To Do List)
• Eat S'mores (7-50x)
• Learn to kayak (#3 on Spring To Do List)
• Crochet
• Create a new blog header (#6 on Spring To Do List)
• Finalize and post Summer To Do List
• Celebrate the bachelorette-hood of one awesome big person with Girls' Day shopping, lunch, and massages
• Take a new group photo to add to the collection (2009, 2007, pretty sure Lana has one from 2004-5ish)
• Have lunch at Smokin' Good BBQ

8. Speaking of vacation, I also have a word document going with lists of everything I/we need to pack. Lists, yes - divided out by food, beverage, games, sports, electronics, clothing, other. It sounds ridiculous when it's explained like that, but it's actually super simple and has put my mind at ease since I'll be packing the car on my own and then picking Pete up at work on the way out of town. God forbid we forget the Rock Band instruments or the ketchup, right? ;)

9. Champ is racing around like a psycho tonight! Usually she only does that when she and Barley are chasing, but tonight most of her kitty crazies happened while Barley was happily Perched on Pete's lap. She never ceases to make us laugh - sometimes with her, mostly at her. There may be times I curse having found her in that car engine

10. Eating dinner at 9:15 is a bit nuts. I went from work to yoga, which was awesome because I was the only one in class. Free 1 on 1 yoga session? Yes please! From yoga I went home, dropped off my bag, picked up Pete, and headed out to meet my running club. Three miles later, we chatted a bit and walked home. Shower, hydrate, etc... It was 9:15 by the time I was clean, in PJs, and sitting down with my dinner. I'm not sure I want to make this a regular routine, but I'm feeling pretty awesome after yoga and running back to back. Also? I'm feeling pretty ready for bed. Would anyone want to place bets on how many pages of my book I get through before falling asleep?? Leave your guess in the comments, I'll send the lucky winner a souvenir from vacation! :)

Snuggle Bugs

Apparently I missed the memo that it was family nap time.

Sunshine Snuggles

These two are ridiculously adorable when they sleep together.

Americas

Back in November Leyre, Amy, and I headed to the MFA to see the Avedon exhibit. It happened to be the opening weekend of the new Americas wing, but we passed on checking it out because it looked super crowded. I am a very lucky person because I can show my work ID and get into the museum for free, so I knew I could plan a day to come back and dedicate to exploring just the new wing...and it only took me four months to do it!

So the new wing...I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I also should have grabbed myself a map, because the new wing has a lot of nooks and crannies that make it easy to get turned around and skip over large chunks of the gallery without realizing you're doing it. I'm much more interested in modern and contemporary art, so of course I rushed through the lower floors and then absolutely loved every second of the top floor. I'm pretty sure I'll start at the top next time I'm there.







The new wing is, itself, a work of art. I love the contrast of the modern wing attached to the original building. They did an amazing job integrating the two buildings. I think some of my favorite parts of the new wing are the hallways along the exterior where you get peeks of the downtown skyline (and there are a few benches and couches where you can get comfy and enjoy those peeks) and peeks of the atrium-like spaces where the original building and the new wing meet.

The courtyard between the two spaces is also pretty awesome, and there was some pretty fun live music that the kiddos were loving. There is also a restaurant in the courtyard, and I would imagine that it's a nice place to eat and soak up the energy in the heart of the museum. There was also a huge Chihuly piece installed in the courtyard (see above) - one of the first pieces of an upcoming exhibit to be installed. It happened to be in my second favorite color, so of course I enjoyed it!


After I made my way through the entire Americas wing, I had to visit my Buddhas. I get cranky when I head up there and find other people...but they usually leave before I've had my fill and I can get some peace and quiet in there. And when I had my fill of peace and quiet, I headed back home and snuggled with this guy:

Aerial View

I came home from work and found Bar Bar like this. He's spent most of the last few days either making the White Cloud Of Warmth into a nest or burrowing under it to sleep.

Under The Covers

There are two things to note here.

First: we own two duvets - one for us and one for guests. The guest duvet is newer, and the down stays evenly distributed. Our duvet is a zillion years old, and the down always ends up at the foot of the bed. At some point it struck me that we should try swapping them out and putting the guest duvet on our bed and use our ancient one for guests when we have them. Brilliant! And even more brilliant, instead of putting the ancient duvet away in the trunk like I should have, I put it on the couch and started using it in place of the throw blanket that usually keeps me warm through the winter. I call it my white cloud of warmth, and I love it. It's giant and I get all tangled up in it and it keeps me cuh-razy warm.

Second: Barley has taken to not just curling up in my lap, but curling up in my lap...under the blanket. I'm pretty sure that I've talked here about how Pete's butt gives off crazy amounts of heat. Barley, curled up under a blanket, is like Pete's butt times ten. He is like a little ball of fire!!! Sometimes when he curls up on top of me under the blanket I end up having to untuck from the blanket to let cool air in.

And now you know all about the white cloud of warmth, which is what you is over top of Barley in the photo above. My legs are in the bottom right of the photo - this time he was curled up against my leg instead of on top of me, which is much nicer than having a little ball of fire on top of you.

Ready For My Close Up

Barley cat was lying on my lap, and I was playing with my new camera....well, he got curious, and this is the outcome. :)

Catshine

Check out this lazy bum, lounging in the warm afternoon sunshine that comes in through the living room window.

It always amazes me how impeccably well timed the cats internal clocks are. Champ has a knack for finding her way from her afternoon sleeping spot in the bedroom into the living room at almost the same time every evening. She also starts meowing and begging for her food at almost exactly 7:45 each night...we feed them at 8:00. In the early afternoon, both cats find their way from wherever they have settled in the morning (often in front of the bedroom windows - Champ in the left side window and Barley in the right side window) and into the living room to lounge together in this sunny spot that shows up just after noon. I'm pretty sure you can set a clock by them and be no more than 10 minutes off from one day to the next.