Best Saturday ever!

Saturday started with a bright and early trip down to Orlando Executive Airport for my inaugural flight as a licensed Private Pilot. Against mine and my instructors better judgment, Ian talked me into flying him up to Deep Woods Ranch. It's not that it's too far or beyond my capabilities...the instructors at my school just thought it would be best to do it with an instructor first in case something unusual came up. The day before the flight I designed my flight plan and decided it would be fine...I didn't' have to traverse any major airspace and I have GPS (or so I thought).

Fast forward to Ian and I in the helicopter. I'm doing my preflight and programming my GPS to what I thought was Deep Woods Ranch...well, it turns out that since it's a private airport it's not loaded into the GPS so I would have to trust my flight plan and actually use my chart in order to locate the tiny airstrip located somewhere amongst the National Forest (insert panic here).

It came up at the party the night before that we'd be flying up so Justin said that he would be there to take pictures...cool! So Ian texted him to let him know when we were airborne.

Oh, I forgot to mention that while I was getting dressed I had the brilliant idea that we could scatter Maizee's ashes (yeah, I know it's been around 2 years, but we were waiting for that perfect moment to come along).

So, back in the air. I start to follow my flight plan and would you believe that my navigational skills were smack on! My calculated timing between way points was as close to exact as possible...I actually amazed myself. We passed by Locals Tower and could see the roof of the hangar just ahead. I told Kim that I would do a flyby before landing so I came around and flew down the runway and there were about 15 people out in front of the hanger yelling and cheering me on! It was awesome to have all those people there to support me and who thought I was cool ;o).

After shutting down we chilled for a bit and had a cup of coffee before taking a few people on rides. Almost everyone who got a ride had never even been in a helicopter before so it was awesome to be the one to share that experience with them!

It's time to head back now so Ian gets in the helicopter and gets Maizee ready for her release. I climb to 600 feet and fly back down the runway. Ian releases Maizee for an eternity at the Ranch with my Mom. :o) It was cool that I could be the pilot, but I didn't get to see it so thank you so much for the awesome pictures Justin!! I will post a few as soon as I get them.

When we got back to the airport my instructor presented me with a bottle of wine, a balloon and an awkward Norwegian hug :o).

From here Ian took me to lunch at Bahama Breeze where the food was awesome and I was able to enjoy my favorite Mojito. What a great way to end a great morning...except, it doesn't end here.

Mary Beth is selling a house that has a pool out back. I don't know how long it's been since the house has been occupied, but the pool is totally green and infested with hundreds, if not thousands of tadpoles in different stages of development. The pool boy was scheduled to come out on Monday to shock the pool. Mary Beth thought it would be really cool if we could save the tadpoles from their looming fate. So we showed up armed with nets and buckets and managed to save several hundred. We relocated the lucky ones to a tiny pond out at the Ranch. I feel really bad that we couldn't save them all. I'm hoping that many of them finished developing over the rest of the weekend and made it to safety before being burned to death by nasty pool chemicals.

And finally from here we made our way to meet Hannah & Joe and Kay & Ron for sushi dinner at my favorite Thai restaurant.

I can not remember ever having such an uplifting, happy day in my entire life! Thanks to all of you who were able to share it with me!! I'm still trying to wipe the perma-smile off my face!!

Doggie Bling

So I just picked Morgan up from her new groomer. As with her old groomer she came home sporting a cute neck bandanna...this one, pink, is a tad girly...but hey, at least now everyone knows she's a girl.

After unloading her from the car I wanted to check her ears because they said they cleaned them really good. As I grabbed her ear flap I felt something rough, which made me immediately think that she had another injury that would probably require another expensive vet trip. But as I looked down I saw that it's wasn't a cut or even a band aid...it was sparkely flower bling! No freakin' way!

Big Debate - need help deciding what to do

Pita got out again last night. It was my fault...I didn't close the door to the garage all the way. I don't know how long he was out, but I didn't realize the door was open till at least an hour since I had last gone out. Initially I thought both cats were gone, but "the fat one" came running when I busted out the bag of treats.

I took the treats out side and called his name but there was no sign of him. I came back in and locked Madi in the bedroom so that I could leave the garage door open in case Pita decided to eturn. Within 5 minutes of me calling him he was back in the house torturing a poor defenseless lizard, which he caught on his outdoor adventure.

Pita spent the entire rest of the evening meowing incessantly at both doors...begging to get out to get more lizards and annoying the hell out of me.

So, the big question...Should I get a cat door? Pros and cons are vast, but here are a few:

Pros:
He's a cat, born outside
He craves the out doors: this might calm him down and make him less of a PITA

Cons:
He could get killed
He will bring in lizards to dismember

I don't know...need help. Should I keep him indoors or allow him to venture outdoors?

A couple of freakin' wussies!

I just got these cool new automatic cat feeders so that when I go on vacation the cats will not eat themselves to death. (side note: also so that at 6am when Pita gets up he will be occupied with food rather than meowing incessantly till I get up.)

So, I got up promptly at 5:58 this morning to monitor the automatic feeders (setting was a chore to get them to feed simultaneously, but I had Justin program one while I did the other...they are about 2 secs off!! Awesome! Thanks). Would you believe that it scared the crap out of both the cats???!! Pita was a bit more ballsy than Madi and ended up chowing down within 5 min or so. (Madi went ape shit and scratched the crap out of me when I tried to put her down in front of the food). I can't believe them...both of them had their paws up in there trying to get the food yesterday when I set the damn things up...now, the food finally comes and they run like a bunch of pansies!!

Will never understand cats....but I do LOVE them :o)

Great Escape Artist

His name didn't happen by accident...PITA is a complete and total Pain In The Ass! A very intelligent PITA, but a PITA none-the-less.

This started a couple of weeks ago when I kept finding the back door ajar. I couldn't quite figure out why because if I pulled it securely tight I couldn't just push it open...the handle actually needed to be turned. One evening we came home to the back door wide open and Madi sitting on the back porch checking out the sights (PITA was in the bedroom looking out the window as if he had no clue as to what was going on). The next morning I caught PITA jumping up and grabbing on to the leaver type door handle, putting all his weight into it in order to open the door. I was a little agitated, but very impressed with his ingenuity. Needless to say, I had to replace my door knob with one that requires opposable thumbs to operate.

This past Friday evening I'm sitting in the living room chilling before my trip to Vegas when I see PITA run across the living room with a lizard hanging out of his mouth. Luckily, the lizard was still alive and given his freedom back by returning him to the great outdoors. Not five minutes later I hear an unrecognizable noise coming from the bed room...as I get up to investigate I see PITA run across the living room with another lizard hanging from his mouth. The first thought that goes through my head is that my Florida room has some how become overrun with lizards. This can not be happening...I don't like lizards! especially dead, bloodied ones!! As it turns out, however, this is the SAME lizard that was just set free mere minutes earlier!! Well, looks like the great escape artist has found a new way out...through the accordioned partition between the window sill and my a/c unit!! He just busted right through, went outside, reclaimed his lizard and brought it back inside to play with!!

Thinking quickly, the hole was covered with a cookie sheet and duct tape (what can't it do??). Now I just need to come up with a more permanent solution and/or a cat door :^O (which goes against my beliefs in keeping the kitties home safe and away from dogs, bears and tire danger - Kolla IS moving back to DeLand).

Irregardless...he's a crafty little bastard that makes me shake my head and smile.

Stay tuned for my Vegas adventure!!

M & M Diaries, "Hostile Take Over"

Free to good home...

Meet PITA (pain in the ass) aka Miles. He's our newest 11 month old addition. I thought that as he got older that he would settle down, but that's not the case at all. The little bastard gets into EVERYTHING. His favorite thing is digging in my house plants. Every time I come home there's a new pile of dirt in and around my bed. I've started filling the plants with those little glass gem stones, but that's his new favorite noisy toy (and it's not like he's lacking in the toy department by any means). He kept me up till midnight last night batting the damn things all over the Florida room. On top of that he likes to get up at 5:30 every morning and torment me and my other cat Madi. If it wasn't for total cuteness, he'd be out of here already!! Any ideas or suggestions for subduing the little monster?? Know anyone who wants a charming little mini-cat?? LOL - I can hear him digging in my plants as I blog!! Little glass gems hitting the floor. :o(