Amber & Birthday Sister

My sister, Candice, is a super person. I am incredibly proud of how kind, funny, and spirited she is. When she was a little gal, she was also the most adorable baby.


Can you believe those picture-perfect eyes? She grew up way too fast and, before I knew it, was graduating from college.

A little known fact about Candice is that she majored in Pirate Studies. Here she is after having landed her first job on board a ship.


The pirate life isn't all stealing booty. Here she is during some down time with her co-pirate, Gina Of The High Seas.


And, of course, pirates spend a good amount of time on land. Here she is exploring fierce jungle with her special pirate friend, Bernardo.


I am sure glad she has someone special who appreciates how beautiful she is, both on the insides and her Pirate Outside, too.


Here she is winning a pirate trophy.

She took first place in the Plank Walking competition. But, the great thing about Candice is that, despite all of her hijinx as a Pirate, she is still incredibly sweet. I remember how good she was with Woody when he was having an asthma attack as as an example.

I love Candice. She is a super important person in my life.

P.S. A special birthday ball of love for Amy, with whom my sister shares this special day. Like Candice, Amy is beautiful on both sides, both in and out, and I am super glad to know her.

Amber & Candice

I want to say a very public thank you to my wonderful sister, Candice, for being so helpful and supportive during my dad's aforementioned health drama. Candice visited my dad at the hospital every day and was just so incredibly helpful to me when I visited. She even printed out directions to the hospital for me and then bought groceries for my parents when my dad was released.


Candice has a good heart and is very responsible. She also has the prettiest smile ever.

Thanks, sister bear!

Amber & Birthday Ladies

Two very, very special ladies are having birthdays today.

The first is my darling sister Candice. I am super proud that the little cutie pumpkin I met 27 years ago has turned into such a fantastic lady.


Next is Amy Bee, pictured here with her charming husband, David, and delightful daughter Miss Hazel. Amy is the most caring, friendly and sincere people I know. And, she is super fun and a real beauty.

Other than having birthdays in common, both of these ladies are people I love. And, I also stole both of their photos from their Facebook profiles.

Amber & You Are What You Eat

RIP, SpaghettiOs Man.

If it wasn't for you, Candice and I might not have survived to adulthood. Or, maybe the will to not starve would have been strong enough, and we would have found something better to eat anyway and been healthier adults?

Amber & Six Things At 6 am

1.  What can possibly happen when you are on bed rest and leave your chewy beast alone with two rolls of paper towels?

Shreddy mayhem.  What are those blurs under the drying rack?  Why that is Ginger and Woody rolling around with crazy head in piles of shreds.

2.  Not being as active as I usualy am, I was thrilled to discover this use of my skills while prone.

I am going to excel at this.  I wonder how to interpret Mrs. Tiggy Winkle while asleep.  I bet Miss Tiggy Winkle can help me.

3.  Why am I craving a chili dog at 6 am?

(Photo of my hertiage food, a Capitol Lunch dog, by Candice)

4.  Who knew some kitties had boggled eyes?

5.  What did we do when we had insomnia before LOLcats?

6.  Remember when we went to the River House last year and Pickles was the bravest and came outside to explore before any of the other cats?  Think he'll be that brave again this year?

Amber & Goodnight, Kitty

Thanks to mom and dad (and Candice for the idea) for the sweet dreams.

Those are Hello Kitty heads, people.  Close up:

Amber & Technology

I want to take today to acknowledge what I think are the top five greatest technological advances or inventions of my lifetime. These are all monumental leaps forward which both have improved the quality of my life and are just plain amazing artifacts of human achievement.

1. The Internet

No surprise here. When I was born? There was no Internet. I had an AOL account and a dial up modem with my IIsi back in 1993. We've come a long way, Internet Baby. I really don't know what I did before e-mail or Google or iChat. The Internet has had a monumental effect on every aspect of my existence.

2. The Swiffer

How did I keep my floors clean before the Swiffer? I didn't! It would be impossible to own so many cats without out both the Swiffer Wet and the Swiffer Dry. Sure, the little pads end up in the landfill, but they save electricity and the cat-terror induced by running the vacuum. And, the swiveling head is amazing. The Swiffer makes cleaning so easy, I can't help but clean.

3. Cell phones

I still think the technology is not quite there to support the widespread use and reliance on mobile networks, but remember when you had to stay close to the wall in the kitchen to talk on the phone and the cord would get all wrapped around stuff? Of course, now you have to stay away from the dead zone that is my couch, and your iPhone earbud wire gets all wrapped around your sunglasses. But still: progress!

4. Fresh Direct

Old meets new: food delivered to your house that you order over the Internet. What more could a hungry girl who lives in a fifth floor walk up possibly want?

5. My sister Candice

Not exactly technology, but definitely invented in my lifetime. And so, so nice to have around.

Amber & It's All In There

This weekend, a new kitty environment was added to my household.

This Super Fabulous Kitty House really sums up the weekend.  It was made by my fantastic sister.

Candice is seen here prepping for her trip to the Gulf where she helped out with the oil clean up efforts by wrapping herself in toilet paper and then rolling around on the beach.  See?  She is not only very giving of environments to the kitties, but she also helps out the other Al Gore kind of environment.

In addition to being made by the birthday girl, out of the box which contained an air conditioner present from my parents which made my apartment completely livable again, which they gave me on their visit, and which my dad and Bernard installed, the Super Fabulous Kitty House also reminds me of all the fun games the cats played in it all weekend which reminds me that I had a super fun time watching the World Cup Soccer game on Sunday with Nick and Diana after brunch at La Palapa.  And that reminds me of huevos rancheros con salsa verde.  And that pile of green stew and white creamy stuff on an egg makes me happy.

See?  The Super Fabulous Kitty House is really quite representative of my whole weekend.