Showing posts with label normal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label normal. Show all posts

Monday, January 28, 2013

Back to Blogging after a Four-Month Hiatus!

It has been four months plus since my last blog post.  You know how people always say things like, "Oh, I can't believe how much time has passed?"  Um, I am not going to say that!  I can completely believe it.  We've had a crazy busy past four months and I'm actually glad that things have finally calmed down enough that I have the time to blog again. 

Let me catch you up:

Superman is home for good!  Woot!  Yes, indeed!  After almost three years (!) of contracting overseas, Superman came home.  Best of all, we managed to "sneak" him home a month earlier than the kids expected!  We pulled off the last, best suprise of the journey.  The kids thought their dad was coming home on December 1, so imagine the surprise when the two younger kids registered the sound of my car pulling into the garage, registered the sound of the door opening, didn't even look up when someone walked up the stairs, and then caught sight of their dad!  It was amazing.  We kept the surprises going by inviting Charming to meet up with us for dinner and got to see the look on his face when he walked into the restaurant and saw his father!  Seriously, being able to surprise your adult and almost adult children is NOT easy and oh-so fun...

The spider knew my secret!

The next night we had dinner at the house and the boys decided to play around with Nagle family deadlifts.  (Seriously, Crossfit families are just weird!)

Boys will be boys...the hardest part?  Holding on to the bar!
Charming deadlifted Superman...

"I've got you, Dad!"
Then Valiant stepped up to deadlift Superman...

Valiant was up next...
Then Superman deadlifted little Buttercup.  With...


Buttercup had no problem holding on!
...and without the bar!

But she found it a little more difficult to be the bar!
Then life began to settle back into normal-for-us Nagle5 craziness.  Man, it is good to have Superman home!

I hope you'll enjoy the ride as I fast forward you through the holidays and the projects and the other good stuff that makes up a normal life...I'll give you a few hints of what is coming up:  Scrabble, stairs, bed, hearts, and frames!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

"Chaos reigns" or "We're back to normal"

Well, I had terrific intentions to get caught up with Photo Friday Flashback and Shoot Me, but a few "things" tripped up my schedule.

Furry, sweet, adorable things with claws...

Meet "Ninja" - she's roughly six months old and was lost. Charming found her wandering his college campus on Thursday evening and he couldn't get her to stop following him...long story short, we headed over Thursday night and picked her up to save her from a sure fate as coyote food or a future destiny as an owl pellet. She never stops purring and fell asleep in Buttercup's lap in the car. A quick trip to the vet to check for a microchip and we had to decide. No microchip and not fixed, as well as a bad case of ear mites meant very little chance of finding her owners. What decision? For us, we'd already decided. She was ours if we wanted her. We wanted her.
She's all black and has topaz-colored eyes. She's so beautiful and sweet-tempered. Ninja has adopted Buttercup and Buttercup has adopted Ninja. She now has a microchip and will be fixed on Wednesday. She put a smile in our hearts...a sincerely joyous, lit-from-within smile.

But wait, the story gets better. You might remember that we lost One Lucky Baby last summer. We were heartbroken. Then we fostered Oliver and Slinky in the hopes that they'd be a good fit. They weren't and we returned them to the vet to find homes that they'd be happier in. We put getting a kitten or two on the back burner, telling the veterinarian to put us on the list for a kitten in spring, when kittens are abandoned to them in need of extra love. Well, it is spring.
When we walked in Friday morning, they seemed to be expecting us. It turned out that they were because Cajun was ready to go home. Yep, they'd left a message on the machine Thursday night asking us if we still wanted a kitten and we hadn't yet listened to Thursday's messages. Isn't that funny?So, meet "Cajun". She and her litter were dumped in a trash bin (!) at roughly 4 weeks. Only Cajun survived. When she was brought in, she weighed 13 oz. Now she's a brawny 1 lb 13 oz and roughly 7-8 weeks. She's got six toes, greenish-grey eyes, and tiger coloring that normally goes to male cats. The vet told us she's special and they were right. She's amazing. She's Valiant's baby (but that is Buttercup's chest she's sleeping on). She is not wasting any time hiding, this little bit of kitten. Instead, she's decided she's going to slay dragons, she's such a scrappy little thing.
So far, we've been really fortunate...Sam I Am is tolerating the new arrivals and the dogs and the cats aren't fighting. We've only had one "oops" and that was no big deal. As you can see, the babies are playing. What you can't see in this picture. Cajun was charging Ninja, not the other way around! Charge and retreat with the tiny one going after the bigger one. It makes me laugh to watch them together.


So, yes, chaos reigns at the Nagle5 house...and, you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way. We now have 3 cats, 2 dogs, 4 koi, 1 hamster and 3 birds. 13 pets and they make us happy. Go figure.
P.S. I'm learning just how difficult it is to take pictures of black cats...unless they're up against something really light, they just don't show up.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

It is always the same...

at this time of year. I'd have to say this is my favorite time of year, but... by the time Christmas has been put to bed, I am feeling so overwhelmed by the "things" we have, that I am chomping at the bit to clear them out. Superman and the children have put their feet down and the Christmas tree MUST stay up until New Year's Day. So that means my furniture is rearranged and normal is not yet attainable. Instead, Christmas decorations disappear a little bit at a time...slowly, slowly, so I don't get caught and accused of "not being in the spirit". The stockings and holders are put away, the singing angels in Buttercup's room are put away, the Advent Christmas tree that was in Valiant's room is packed up, as are almost all the kitchen decorations. Christmas music isn't playing all the time and the tree is not lit.

Like this post from Generations Gone By, I'm trying to get back to normal, predictable, even routine and pedestrian are fine! So, the sheets are in the dryer, another load is in the washer, the bathrooms have been cleaned, and Superman is back in the garage doing some amazing garage thing. It is back to paying bills and thinking about groceries. I'm wrapping up year end paperwork, getting things cleaned out and decluttered for the new year.

Yes, we have two birthdays in February, as well as Valentine's Day to think of, but for now, we're back to being just us with a Christmas tree.