I'm so charming, it's alarming

I'm an obsessive kinda gal.

(NEWSFLASH to those who know me).

I obsessively collect teapots, faeries, cats, unicorns, miniatures... OK, so I am spoiled.

My latest obsession is Italian modular charms.

I blame Melinda entirely for this obsession. OK, Marcia helped- but it was mostly Melinda. Sweet Melinda used to work for a high-end gift shop, and it is she who first introduced me to the lovely things. In fact, she and her mother gave me my very first charms. I really loved charms even back then, but they were $12-$18 bucks a pop, and the average bracelet is comprised of 18 charms... well, you do the math.

AND THEN I FOUND THEM ON eBAY!!! Mega cheap! Job lots even ! Oh frabjous day!

Not that I went nuts or anything.

I did assemble some nice jewelry, though.

So... what I am presenting today are four works of art. The first two are entitled "Let's Focus on me" and "Quality Family Time". Let's focus on me is about... hmmm, let me think. You may recognize the photo charm as the same shot on my blog. Hey, I am not photogenic, so when I get a picture I like... Anyway, this bracelet celebrates my various interests, hobbies, past lives (pirate), personality (sarcastic smarty pants) and Happy Bunny enthusiasm. Notice the Old Lady Mafia charm to the right of my lovely head.

"Quality Family Time" is a family in-joke. This bracelet celebrates myfamily- my marriage, my kids, my daughter-in-law, and my grand-kids. The top row consists mostly of our various names, while the bottom row consists of various configurations of birthstones (initials for the guys, butterflies for the women, and little girls for the little girls). Of course, it is also a watch- hence the "time" part of QFT.

Now, for your consideration, two bracelets honoring two of my greatest obsessions- faeries and cats.

Bracelets like these make wonderful gifts. It's like giving someone a biography they can wear on their wrist. Mine are double stranded with mega links holding the two strands together, but most of the ones I have created as gifts are single strand and have been very well received.

Looking for the appropriate charm for a person is great fun. My sister called her son "Bamm-Bamm" when he was a baby, and sure enough, I was able to find a "Bamm-Bamm" charm. I found charms of Orlando Bloom, Daniel Radcliffe and Johnny Depp for my adorable god-daughter, who is in love with all three. Dave's sister has been accepted into nursing school- so I found charms of Miss Piggy and Betty Boop, among others, dressed as a nurse.

I could go on, and generally do, but must go. There is a cat-fight going on in the next room; apparently Binx has taken a break from teat-feeding the Five Little Peepers and is attacking Hobbes again. Gee, I hope she isn't a man-hater. Hobbes is NOT the cat who got her pregnant.

Off into battle with the spritzer I go!

By the way.... would you like a kitten?

Hits on the Old Lady Mafia, and the end of the travels of little Mama

It's been a tough summer for the OLM.

Capo Allesandra sold her house after it was on the market for 15 minutes and had to quickly move into a much smaller rental house ASAP. NORMALLY, the OLM would have been right by her side helping her.

Nothing has been normal about the summer of 2007.

In June, da Godmother (me) broke her left arm tripping over her own big feet. (This on the day Mama was moved into assisted living.... more on that later). No pushing, pulling or lifting for Dona Kate until mid-August.

Yvonne (AKA the Enforcer) had emergency surgery on her neck. I have seen the x-rays- what a mess! The doctors fused four cervical vertebrae together and sent her home, where she is making a steady recovery. No pushing, pulling or lifting for her until mid-August, if then.

Consigliore Marcia has been in pain for a week. Lesser beings would have been to the doctor days ago. It looks like her gall bladder has gone belly up and will soon sleep with the fishes. No pushing, pulling, or lifting for her until WHO knows when if she needs surgery.

I knew but didn't know how much we all depended on one another until this bizarre summer. Yvonne and I have been able to help each other out, Yvonne more for me than I for her, but for the most part, it has been every woman for herself in terms of help from the OLM.

Fortunately, we are all blessed with other helpers; Yvonne has her hubby and Kat, a junior OLM, who have taken very good care of her; Sandie has her hubby to help with the move and aftermath; Marcia has her wonderful daughter, Melinda, also a junior OLM. And I have my PA Stephanie, my son and daughter-in-law, Yvonne, and even had the help of my daughter for a couple of days, so we have all come through all right. Still, I can't remember a time when we were ALL laid low at the same time. Hope it NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

In the meantime, God bless us, everyone.

Now, back to the continuing saga of Mama: she had a stroke in April and was in a convalescent home until we could make arrangements to move her into an assisted living facility. When I say we, I do not mean Dave. On June 14, while Kelly was in town, we got Mama moved into her new digs- and I broke my arm. (Thanks to Kelly, Becca, Kendall, Haley, Delaney, Emily, Yvonne and Kat for all the help, by the way. We really got the place looking fantastic!) Mama seemed to love her new apartment, and we were all delighted.

Of course, it didn't last. Mama fell into a deep depression and began acting out- BIG TIME- and then she fell ill and ended up back in the hospital, severely dehydrated, completely delusional and disoriented, with dangerously low blood pressure. She had lost weight because she was refusing to eat. As soon as she regained her physical health, she was sent to Winchester to Senior Advantage, in hopes she could be restored to mental health as well.

She spent almost two weeks there, and is now back at the Assisted-Living facility, where she is doing very well. She is eating properly and taking her medications, she is making friends and "going visiting" with her fellow residents, and her sense of humor has re-emerged. She is suffering from moderately advanced dementia, but the meds they have her on seem to be a god-send. The other day, Mama was trying to figure out how many people lived there with her, and she was using the dining arrangements to make the determination- 4 people per table; she began counting by 4s- 4, 8, 12, 16, clearly trying to visualize the dining room as she counted, until she finally said "There must be at least 36 people living here". I was gob-smacked, grateful and relieved to see her figuring things out. She also explained her schedule to me, rather than the other way around, so... cross your fingers, light a candle, say a little prayer. There may be some good days ahead for Mama. Her daughter Rita is coming for a short visit early in August, and it would be wonderful if they could have a really good time together.

Gotta go. Waiting on repair men and estimates. Sigh.


OH, BY THE WAY... want a kitten?

Binx and my grandkits

I don't know why stray cats always end up on my porch. I must have some weird magnetic field that only felines can sense. Two years ago come November, a sweet little gray tabby nestled into the cushion on my swing and ended up in the house when the temperature dropped below freezing. Someone had abandoned him in the woods near our house, which sadly happens alot. We took the little fella in so he wouldn't die from the weather and he has been with us ever since. Dave named him Hobbes, and, being responsible pet owners, we immediately took Hobbes to the vet where he got his shots and lost his balls. If people would just neuter their pets, there wouldn't be so many abandoned domestic animals being euthanized in "shelters".


About three weeks ago, a dainty little cat with huge green eyes and a slightly exotic face showed up on my porch. This time, hot weather, not cold, brought out the rescuer in me. I started leaving water out for her. Then food. Then my PA Stephanie noticed she was pregnant- the cat, not Steph. Off to the vet we went. I will be honest with you- I was hoping that it would be early enough in the pregnancy to end it.


No such luck. Don't get me wrong, I adore kittens, but it is hard to find homes for them and I really don't want any more than I already have- which is now THREE, since I plan on keeping my dainty, exotic queen Binx. The vet gave her a thorough exam, cleaned her ears, dewormed her, treated her for fleas, gave her her shots, and told me to expect babies in about 10 days.


The very next night, on 07/07/07, Binx gave birth to five teeny little catlets under my bed. I was hoping to see the babies being born but I slept through it. In fact, I fell asleep on the couch and so wasn't even in the room when the miracle occured. I went into my room when I awoke and almost had a heart attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted what I thought was a mouse. Wrong mammal- it was a newborn kitten that had stumbled out from under the bed. I grabbed the cat bed I had for Binx and scooped baby #1 into it. I saw #2 and #3, and did the same with them. Binx then emerged and began taking them back under the bed, so I moved the cat bed under my bench and once again began the cat-and-mouse game with Binx. I had gathered four kittens and thought that was it when #5 started crying for Mama. They are all comfortably esconced in a nest Becca made out of a box and I filled with bedding, with food and water for Binx on a tray nearby and a litter box for her in my bath.


Binx has been so calm, laid back (except with Patches and Hobbes) and sure in dealing with the kits that I am convinced this is not her first litter. It is, however, mine. I am enthalled with the little critters. I find them endlessly fascinating and hysterically funny.



Just like human babies, they are so sweet... when they are sleeping. I anticipate weeks of fun with these little guys/gals (who can tell their gender at this age)? I know Dave (and Patches and Hobbes) will not be amused when the babies become mobile, but I am going to be over the moon! I hope this isn't the start of my descent into my eccentric old cat-woman phase...

My left foot.. no, wait a minute, that was Daniel Day-Lewis...My left arm

10 things breaking my arm has taught me...

1. It is almost impossible to pull up panties with one hand (probably NOT much of a problem for guys, I suppose).

2. Fastening the seat-belt becomes an experiment in terror. So does turning corners. For your own safety, y'all might want to stay off the roads until I am fully healed.

3. Getting dressed is a challenge with only one arm and no one to help me. It's EXHAUSTING!! But it is the closest thing to a sex life I have right now.

4. Did you ever notice that the left hand does most of the typing? I did. Do you have any idea how hard it is to capitalize words one-handed? I do.

5. Cats are uncontrollably attracted to broken arms. They want to sit on them and knead them and launch themselves off them.

6. If you are used to sleeping on your left side and you break your left arm, you have to learn to sleep in a new position. Excruciating pain when you try to sleep in your normal position helps in the learning process, though.

7. You cannot carry a purse, groceries, mail, and a Starbucks one-handed.

8. You can't carry anything and still be able to open the front door one-handed.

9. After the 356,879th time someone asks you "What did you do to your arm?". do NOT- repeat, DO NOT hit them with it... unless they have asked you 356,878 times already, in which case it might just be worth the pain.

10. Small granddaughters are no respecters of broken bones.