Cats, Kittens and Tigers! Oh My!

People talk about their pets way too much.

Which is why I'm devoting an entire post to my cats. Because I'm just like everyone else. I can accept that.

Plus, Andy and I spend much of our time observing the cats and if I'm going to be discussing my life and times, that's (unfortunately) a big part.

I don't have children, and (sorry Mom) I don't plan on having any soon (unless by accident). I feel that having a kitten is somewhat similar to having a child. At least, having a kitten is more work than I was anticipating and I'm assuming a child (who can't poop or eat for itself) would be more work. Those of you who have children are probably saying, "It's nothing like having a child, they're totally different." Which may be true. Children don't have fur or pointy ears. But let me illustrate some similarities.

I have an older cat and a kitten. I have to teach them how to share. Both cats can play with the chew toy. Only one cat at a time can fit on my lap. Buster needs to learn that people are not chew toys, which is a difficulty I am facing as I write this. I'm not sure how, but Buster needs to be taught how cover his poo in the litter box. Buster is learning that the laptop is a place for writing, not napping. He's learned the hard way that just because it's in a glass, doesn't mean beer is delicious. Tipper is desperately trying to teach Buster that her tail isn't a toy. She fails in this mainly because she flicks her tail in his face.

I also have to worry about our new kitten, Buster, hurting himself. As I was trying to learn how to use a sewing machine, Buster thought the needle looked like fun. I'm not sure how he didn't get sewn to my wannabe skirt, but I panicked and he hissed, but no blood was spilled. The next day he fell off of the counter and encountered an end table on his way to the floor. Both instances he was back to normal after about 10 minutes. Which is one way that kitties are better than babies.

Time for adorable cat pictures.

Tipper enjoyed a variety of toys and liberties prior to Buster's arrival.

Buster arrived and became very self-absorbed.

Tipper was then relegated to playing with large-type books and pens.

This was a short-lived peace. Bedtime is peacetime for the cats.

Buster is ultimately Andy's cat, and any social problems he has, I blame on Andy.

Fireworks

Andy and I have been busy this summer and it's bee a lot of fun. Here are some highlights, from oldest to newest.

Fireworks are more legal in Tennessee than they are in Minnesota. Which I feel makes my neighborhood feel like Kabul on the 4th of July. I've never heard so many explosions before without the sound of police sirens immediately after. In the spirit of this new found ability to set fire to large explode-y things, Andy purchase a couple of large fireworks. I went for the traditional sparklers. Video to come.

Many of you may know that Andy and I enjoy cooking, and cook we will! But did you also know that we now make beer? So far we have 2 bad batches and one going to be good batch currently carbonating. I thank my brother for passing his great beer making desire on to me and hopefully one day we will be able to reward you with a beer that won't give you lead poisoning! It takes a lot of time to make beer, but it's interesting when you do stuff. My favorite part is capping the bottles. Crimp crimp! I could do that all day and not get tired of it.

This is our set up for boiling the beer.

The Natchez Trace is a super long roadway that brushes up to the Nashville area, and it's really good for bike rides. Andy and I thought it'd be a great idea to drive out there and ride around at noon when the temperature was about 100 degrees. It was a short ride. There is a super pretty bridge that we rode over, which gave us an excuse to stop and rest.

The Nashville equivalent to St. Paul's Science Museum (The Adventure Science Center) had an evening where adults (21+) could enjoy the exhibits... free of small children. I had a blast, as this sort of event has been a dream of mine for a long time. I ran, I climbed, I pulled levers, I learned how blood flows, and when I got tired, I drank free beer. It was awesome.

Recently Andy and I have been canning a lot and one of his coworkers invited people over to his farm to pick wild blackberries. Small fruits, such as blackberries and raspberries, are quite expensive at the market; and I've been wanting to make jam ever since we got our canning cookbook. So this was the perfect opportunity to collect enough (free!) blackberries to make an inexpensive jam.

As a Minnesotan (I think that's my excuse) I didn't realize that one can get chiggers from picking berries. I was under the impression that chiggers were in weedy parts of lakes (and so agrees everyone from MN that I've talked to about it). That is wrong. Chiggers are horrible. I wanted to scratch my skin off for three days straight. Plus, it's been over a month now and not all the bite marks are gone. Lesson learned, wear bug spray when going into tall grassy places.

White water rafting seems like something people put on "bucket lists" and if I had such a list, it would now be checked off. We went rafting with a group from Andy's work and it was loads of fun. My face hurt from smiling so much, it was that fun. Andy was a little nervous about it, but I didn't think it would be dangerous until we rode up the route in the bus to get to the launching point. Then I didn't understand how we'd get back down the river all in the raft. We managed and no one fell out! I highly recommend this activity (with a properly trained guide of course).

That night Andy and I stayed in Blue Ridge, GA and saw the sights the next day. It was really pretty in the mountain-y area.

In addition to all this good clean fun I went to the Nashville Brewer's Festival. I've never been to an event like this before and it was super fun. We got to try all sorts of beer. The worst part of it was that I couldn't try all the beers I wanted to, and I kind of forgot a lot of beers that I tried. But if you talk about them, then I remember. There were a lot of good beers there, local and national kinds. I learned a lot about the benefits of having a a refreshing beer in 95 degree heat!

More to come! Andy and I have also taken in a stray kitty we call Buster. And since people talk too much about their pets, there's another post to come about the joys of having a kitty. Also I have ideas for a book post, kind of like my brother. But my books are different!

Amanda's Amazing Diet Plan

I have no dietary authority, just opinions and ideas. So you don’t have to listen to my amazing diet suggestions. But I strongly recommend you do. Because they’re awesome.

WARNING: This is an explicit post.

Amanda’s Amazing diet plan consists of two simple rules:

1. Don’t eat shit
2. Move your ass

It’s explicit because you need tough love to get the idea across. Plus, who wants to eat shit?

I’m sure you’ll have many questions regarding these two rules.

Question 1: What counts as shit?

Good question. Shit is most anything that comes from a fast food restaurant. Even salads. I just don’t trust them. Fried chicken shouldn’t be on a salad. Shit also counts as eating too much of any one thing. I saw a TV show where an overweight man couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t losing weight. “I’ve been eating oranges!” he exclaimed. Eating 16 oranges for a meal doesn’t count as eating healthy.

Same goes for 16 brownies, sliders, and beers. Vary your food and eat it in moderation. If you eat a small amount of a variety of food, you’ll probably have a meal with more complete nutrition.

Question 2: What doesn’t count as shit?

The lines between shit and non-shit are blurry (as with the previous orange example). There are many distinctions you’ll have to learn for yourself. In general, you should up your fruit and veggies. Did that meal you just ate have any fruits or vegetables? If not, it was probably a shit meal.

Just about anything you cook for yourself at home is not shit. There are some examples of cooking shit for yourself that isn’t good. Case in point, I made some sodium-laden fried gnocchi and I could feel my arteries working harder as I ate. Just because I peeled and mashed the potatoes myself doesn’t mean it was healthy. Additionally, if all you make for yourself are cinnamon rolls and chocolate cake… that is also shit.

Bonus time! Cooking for yourself helps accomplish rule 2, “Move your ass”. While cooking you’re up and about, going hither and thither, while if you eat dinner sitting at a restaurant well, you’re just sitting. Also, when cooking you become more conscious of what you eat, good and bad. Plus, it allows you to really enjoy your food because you put the effort into making it. You’ll realize you’ll start thinking things like, “I put too much time into this damn pizza crust and we will scrape this doughy mess off the wax paper and eat it raw if it kills us!” One exception to the “Don’t eat shit rule” - if your homemade recipe turns into an inedible disaster, getting take out is OK.

Question 3: What’s a good way to “Move my ass”?

Move your ass means stop driving around the parking lot for 10 minutes to get the closest spot. Just pull into the lot and pick the first spot you see and walk the extra couple of yards. It won’t kill you. Also, work activity into your day that makes you more active. Get up and talk to someone at work instead of calling or emailing. Take the stairs when you can. Go for walks, after dinner, after breakfast, during your lunch break.

Flexing your abs while you watch TV doesn’t fulfill rule number 2. Speak of… turn off your damn TV. It’ll suck you in until you didn’t realize its midnight and you haven’t moved for the past four hours. I know because I’ve been there. Gyms and stuff are nice, but our skinny-assed ancestors didn’t go to the Y four times a week. They just worked hard and were thin because there was no other way.

At this point I realize this is not really a diet plan, it’s a lifestyle plan. There is overwhelming evidence that says you can’t be healthy by improving just diet or exercising more. You have to change both at the same time to improve your health.

One last tidbit and it’s something that really irks me: STOP MAKING EXCUSES. “I’m too tired, we don’t have all the ingredients, it’s too late, I have a cold, I’m in a hurry.” It’s all bullshit. If you keep making excuses, you’ll never make it a habit and you’ll never get where you want to be.

Now go outside and play.

Literary Nightmares

Twice since we've been in our new house, I've woken up in the night yelling. I have these vivid dreams that feel like they are taking place in my bedroom. The dreams somehow seem to be related to the book I am reading at the moment.

My first dream came while reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I dreamt that a little boy was standing over me while I was sleeping. I noticed this and found it entirely too creepy and kind of scary. So I yelled at the boy and threw Nap at him as he ran out the door. The next 20 minutes Andy spent searching the house for an intruder and I failed to tell him it was a little boy. In my haziness I couldn't understand why my reality wasn't matching up with what I dreamt was my reality. We finished the night sleeping with the light on.

The next literature dream came as I was reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (an attempt I have since abandoned). As you can possibly tell from the title, the book is about genes and chromosomes, science-y stuff like that. My dream was that someone was adding an unwanted "gene" (pillow) to Andy's side of our "double helix" (bed). I'm not sure what I yelled about this time, and Andy has stopped caring and being surprised at my outbursts. This dream was a decidedly dorky dream to dream.

Later that night I had another vivid "in the bedroom" dream. I had gotten up early and decided that I was rested enough to start my day. I went to the bathroom to get ready, had the lights off and tried to be quiet. Andy came in shortly after and said that he too was well rested and wanted to get up early as well. When I actually woke up I was confused as to why I was back in bed and why I was just getting up when I thought I had been up and ready for awhile.

I've always had pretty vivid dreams, and if you know anything about my diet, it's not because I eat a lot of spicy foods. Usually my dreams don't involve scary stuff, and I'd prefer that they stay that way. Maybe I just need to get used to the new room and my dreams will go back to being about chorus lines and skiing.

Living in TN - Musings

I have lived in a few different places, Minnesota, Mexico, Indiana, and Ireland (I classify "lived" as by staying in a place, getting mail and doing laundry). But no place I have lived (besides MN) has been as permanent as my new home. I'm not sure what the significance of that is, but it seems very new and different to me. I really enjoy this new place and it's not what I expected.

When I think Tennessee, I guess, when I thought Tennessee before, I thought the area would be more country-bumpkin, with tons of country music and not a whole lot going on. I really wasn't a fan of the south (for a variety of reasons) and I'm very happy that my previous notions were wrong. At least Middle Tennessee has a lot going on, it's very beautiful with the hills and the weather. People are really nice, and that's not an exaggeration. Andy and I went on our first bike ride on the Murfreesboro Greenway (which is nothing like the Midtown Greenway) and his chain broke. Some random stranger rode past us as Andy was working on the bikes to ask if we needed help. That doesn't happen much in Minneapolis.

When you go to a new place do you ever think that your first day there feels entirely different from how you see it after awhile? This place certainly does and I'm starting to get my bearings. It's tough to get situated geographically with Andy though because he can never drive the same way twice. So I'm not entirely sure how to get around all the time, but I'm getting there. Overall, this place has been really fun and I'm very happy we've made this move. Life down here is a lot different than our life in Minnesota though, here are some examples.

Slow Pace: Granted government-run anything isn't quick but the time it took to get my driver's license was ridiculous. Especially since I spent a 1/2 hour watching some supervisor stand around in different positions and drink his coffee. Additionally they drive below the speed limit here. Earlier I mentioned that they drive the speed limit due to cops being very active. But I toe the line and I pass about 75% of those driving. I just don't get it.

Because 25 mph is just too fast

Horses, ect: On the way to work for Andy he can pass horses and cows grazing in the fields. I can guarantee you that didn't happen on the crosstown. When I was doing my job search today I saw someone riding their horse up to the stables on the "block" before you get to our townhouse development. When we drove to Chattanooga the other weekend we saw adorable cows with white tube tops on. I enjoy seeing the livestock.

Weather: When we left Minnesota, spring was starting. Spring is my least favorite season in Minnesota because it's so wet and mucky. I like to go outside and spend time hiking around but sometimes it's difficult to wade through the mud and stay on a path. Spring in Tennessee is like it should be. Stuff grows when it's "officially" spring time. Spring break comes at a logical time of year. Heck, as I write this I'm sitting on my front step wearing a tank top, shorts, and sunscreen with no shoes/socks. It's refreshing.

Dirt: Some of the soil here is red, which really throw me for a loop sometimes. We live kind of by a little cemetery (near where the neighbor horses are kept) and the fresh graves have piles of red dirt. It's just weird.

Music: Granted Minneapolis has it's own solid music scene, it's nothing compared to Music City! And I love that. Andy and I saw a bluegrass band play at the Station Inn last weekend. It seems that on any given day in any old bar there will be some form of a band playing there. And I like that. Even if it is country. Speaking of country, I haven't heard a lot of it since being down here. In our first couple weeks, Andy and I resigned ourselves to listening to country in the car because we didn't know where the good stations were. We've found a lot of good music stations since that I really enjoy. Plus, there are two public radio stations next to each other on the dial. That's just the checkers.

Off the Wagon, allegedly the tallest Bluegrass band in the world.

Out-of-doors: I would classify Minnesota as an outdoors-y state. I spent most of my life hanging around outside, reading, hiking, camping, canoeing, taking the dog out. There's a lot to do outside in Minnesota and I would say the Boundary Waters is one of my favorite places to be. However, generally you have to go aways from the cities to get to any fun type of country. And let's face it, Minnesota is pretty flat. Not just outside of Nashville! A couple weekends ago Andy and I went on a hike to Shake Rag Hollow and had a marvelous time traversing the hilly terrain. The road to get to the trail head stopped at cliff with no guardrails, just the hope that you'll be too much in awe to keep driving. There's going to be a lot of camping and hiking down here.

Vistas!

History: We're surrounded by history here. Everywhere we go there's a sign on the road for this battle or that. It's fun to be a part of an area where so much happened to shape our country. Even on Andy's way to work he drives by a Civil-War Era cannon, who can beat that?!

Crops: Much of out state Minnesota is devoted to the cultivation of corn and soybeans. Which makes for a boring road trip. Here, there's cotton! I've never seen (at least that I've remembered) a cotton field until now. And I'm more excited to see what it looks like in full and glorious bloom.

I was given a history of the Cotton Gin at this point.

I look forward to exploring more of what Tennessee has to offer. It's good to be wrong sometimes about a place and just taking a chance.

Not in Minnesota Anymore

Many of you might not know this, but my blogger link is amandainminnesota.blogspot.com. My previous blog when I was in Ireland was amandainireland2.blogspot.com (there was already an amandainireland, so I was the second). So my blog name is based on where I am currently located. So it would make sense for me to have a new blog now, amandaintennessee.blogspot.com, but I don't want to. That's too many blogs and for the sake of simplicity I am keeping what I have. I did update the format of my blog and now I don't lie and say that I live in Minnesota. So my theme is going to be exploration of Tennessee and all the (exciting) things that I may do.

Also, if you haven't actually visited my blog site and just view the stream on Facebook, I encourage you to check it out. I used a new template in blogger and I would like to know what you think. Do you like the new look and layout?

More explorations to come later when my camera battery is charged!

Living in TN - Our Home!

Since it may be awhile before many of you will come and visit Andy and I, I'll take you on a photo tour of our new place. Some points to note, this place is huge to me. I think it may be the biggest space I've had to live in since moving out of my parent's house. The spaciousness of this place astounds me from time to time. Plus, sometimes I get annoyed that things are so far from where I'm currently at. Which is good to keep me from being too lazy. I apologize for all the comparisons to our old house, but I keep making them in my mind.

First things first, when you come through the door. You'll be introduced to our airy and open living room.

Welcome to Hitherwood Hollow! (Andy's name creation)

You can see the window opening to the kitchen.

This is the view from the dining room.

As you can see the couch, rocking chair, LoveSac, bookshelf, and secretary desk all fit in the room, with space to spare!

This is our dining room.

You can see our bikes and the table/swing out back on our patio.

The kitchen opens up to the right.

There's enough room in here to have the table open all the way, all the time!

Best of all, a giant kitchen!

Andy and I love to cook, but when we were both in our old kitchen it's surprising we managed to get and stay married!

I once cooled cookies outside because there was no more space in our kitchen/dining room for them.

The kitchen is so big it takes 2 pictures to show the whole thing.

See that butcher's block in the middle of everything?

I thought that would be really annoying to be there, but it's been a great addition.

If I need to bring a glass (from the right) to the fridge to get some water, I can place my glass on the butchers block to rest half way.

I'm not used to things being more than two steps away from each other.

Before we leave the first floor, we must take a bathroom break!

This is our smallest bathroom, which if it had a tub, would be about the size of our old bathroom.

See me squished in the corner back there?

That's about how much space I had to brush my teeth with Andy at night.

This is our guest bedroom/office.

This is my job search central, I enjoy looking out the window while applying for jobs.

Our guest bedroom has it's own bathroom!

Finally... the master bedroom!

There's so much room around the bed to walk, it's great.

No more banging my shins on th bed frame.

The attached master bathroom.

This room has a separate tub and a good-sized shower, in addition to all that counter space.

Last but not least, a walk-in closet!

Andy and I can keep our clothes in the same closet, much less the same room.

This is the closet that I laid down in because I could.

Imagine that I slept in a room not much bigger than this just a few years ago.

Overall, this is a great place to live. I spend a lot of time here since it's job search central. I can be upstairs or downstairs. On either level I can go to the bathroom. I may get tired walking all around the house, but it's a matter of getting used to it. Going up and down the stairs is good exercise and I'm excited that I have stairs to climb.