Quiet Observations

Nieces and nephews

2011-08-14T23:44:00.003-05:00

Colin - 9

Cora - 12

Ridge - 7

Emma - 9

It is hard to believe that my nieces and nephews are now 12, 9, 9, and 7! My parents had them for a week recently. They had fun going to the pool most days and playing the wii. Cora just got a cell phone about a month ago and was LOVING it!

My cats

2010-12-04T21:54:00.003-06:00

I almost never see my cats sleeping so close to one another anymore. They used to all the time when they were little. I thought they looked cute tonight.

Calendar pictures - part 1

2010-12-04T21:09:00.002-06:00

Did not get the best shots in the world of my caledar pages for 2011, but...

My Grandparents

2010-11-30T06:48:00.003-06:00

I LOVE this picture of my grandparents that was taken several months ago by one of my cousins.

Fascinated

2010-01-30T08:15:00.003-06:00

The cats were fascinated with the snow and freezing rain we had yesterday! One or both of them stayed in my bedroom window for quite some time.

Do people lose their brains in December???

2009-12-21T20:26:00.002-06:00

People are crazy. No, insane really. It seems you can't even go buy a gallon of milk right now without at least fighting the crazy crowds at the store and the traffic to get there.

Anyway... somebody could have killed me tonight on my way to a basketball game. I was on a windy two lane road that the speed limit was 40 mph on and going probably somewhere between 45 and 50. (and it is dark outside) The moron behind me decides I am not going fast enough and pulls out to pass me in a curve and of course speeds up as he comes out to pass. When he goes around the curve he meets a set of headlights that are awful close to him. I'm thinking I'm going to get killed when these two cars collide and one gets thrown into me. The two cars slam on their brakes and are sliding everywhere and I go off the road a bit to get out of the way. Thank God nobody hit anybody and I took off again. The bad thing was the guy behind me turned off that road not long after all this happened. Why are people in such a big hurry???

When Mom and I went to see Mannheim Steamroller we stopped in Cullman to eat at Cracker Barrel. (more about that in a minute) When we left, and were getting ready to turn on the interstate this guy comes up behind me and starts honking his horn at me like there is no tomorrow. The light IS green but I am turning and there are cars coming the other direction that I guess I was supposed to just run into. He kept honking and getting closer and closer to me. Then when the light turned red he honked some more. I must confess there was ONE break in the traffic where I might could have gone but with him carrying on back there I wasn't about to. He could have given an old person a heart attack the way he was honking like that. IDIOT! Pure nonsense!

Our waitress at Cracker Barrel was not all that great and the food wasn't too great either. Mom ordered coffee but they usually will also bring water or ask if you want some but they did neither so she asked for some water and I asked for a straw. So, she comes back and puts a straw in front of me and water in front of Mom. No straw for Mom. Mom just looked at me and I had to laugh. She didn't ask for a straw - only I did! Then I order a bacon cheeseburger and she brings it out and there is no cheese on it. I wasn't paying attention so she left and then we called her back and told her there was no cheese on my bacon cheeseburger and she asked if that was all that was wrong with it. Then she turns around to leave without saying anything else. I said hey, wait a minute. What are you going to do? Are you bringing me a whole new burger or just a piece of cheese or what is your plan? Because I don't want you to just bring me a piece of cheese. I want it melted on there. So, you want me to take your burger and melt some cheese on it she says. I said well, yeah unless you are going to bring me a whole new one or something. She was something else.

Then tonight at the basketball game I went to some guy got kicked out of there! The ref made a bad call and this guy was ugly and mouthing off and so then the ref consulted with another ref that was watching and sitting where they were running the clock. The ref apologized and corrected the bad call - gave the ball back to the right team and the guy is STILL carrying on. I mean, come on. He apologized and reversed his call. So get over it. No harm done. Mr. Hot Head just could not let it be though and carried on and so the ref that was just watching the game told the guy to leave. I thought some people were going to get in a fist fight there for a few minutes. This is at an 8-9 year olds girls basketball game. I feel sorry for the kid whose Dad that was and pray that somehow she doesn't follow in his footsteps. Sad really.

I'm just glad I made it home tonight! (and from Mannheim Steamroller too) It was a good concert and we made it there to our seat with 5 minutes to spare before it started. Mom got to get a cd signed so when we got back to the car all the traffic was cleared out and getting back to the interstate was a piece of cake!

Now I just wish I could stop all this coughing......

Calendar project part 3

2009-11-14T19:35:00.002-06:00

I am officially FINISHED with this calendar project. YEAH!!!! My back is killing me. Now I just need to finish the other 2 in time for Christmas.

Calendar project part 2

2009-11-14T17:09:00.002-06:00

I now just have one more month to go on this calendar project! YEAH! I'm going to need to get more adhesive tomorrow so I can work on the 2nd calendar and just got a
3rd one so I will be working for awhile on these projects. Still have a few other projects to complete as well.

Calendar project part 1

2009-11-13T23:07:00.004-06:00

This is a calendar project that I am working on for Mom for Christmas. I got one for 2009 but never completed it so I am trying hard to finish this time. I will probably try and finish the 2009 calendar when working on my scrapbook for 2009 and put those calendar pages in the scrapbook so at least they will get used for something.

Women of Faith weekend

2009-11-09T06:26:00.006-06:00

This past weekend was awesome. Mom and I went to a Women of Faith conference in Greensboro, North Carolina.

When I was packing for the trip, Chance climbed into my suitcase and made himself comfy!

When we got to the hotel in Greensboro, their electricity was off! Someone had cut a line and they were working to get it back up. The lobby had some lights as well as the halls since they were on an emergency generator but the rooms had no power at all and so of course the elevator wasn't working and they had us on the fourth floor. SO.............I decided that we would just go eat first and then come back and hopefully they would have power again. (Mom has a bad hip and it would be very difficult for her to walk up all those stairs)

We programmed a restaurant into the GPS and took off and wound up downtown. We decided that wasn't a good thing after dark and Mom said she couldn't parallel park a strange car in a strange place. SO, we headed back in the direction of the hotel and got off on a food exit along the way. It just so happened that there was a Carrabba's at that exit. YEAH! We ate and went back to the hotel only to discover that their power was STILL out. We were ready for bed by that time. I asked about getting a different room and we found out the lobby was on level 2. They had a room on level 3 and asked if Mom could climb one flight of stairs and they would bring our suitcases up. She said she could so off we went with a flashlight they gave us at the front desk. When we got to our room I realized we would probably need a 2nd flashlight so the guy that brought our suitcases up went and got us another one and brought it to us.

We were in the room for a little bit and the lights came back on. We unpacked and then Mom went to get in the shower and the lights went out again. UGH! Not sure how long they were out. I was asleep when they came back on.

We had to get up early to go to the pre-conference on Friday. Marilyn Meberg, Steven Arterburn, and Sandi Patty did the pre-conference. Sandi's oldest daughter Anna was the emcee for both events!

The main conference was Friday night and Saturday. We saw Patsy Clairmont, Mandisa, Steven Curtis Chapman, Lisa Whelchel, Sheila Walsh, Luci Swindoll, Marilyn Meberg and I think that was it. I will try to post more later on some highlights on some of their talks. They were all awesome.

We did not expect to see Patsy this weekend. Her oldest son Marty is in the hospital in ICU. He was admitted about two weeks ago I think with swine flu and double pneumonia. He is on oxygen and in a medically induced coma. Just in the day or two prior to the weekend he had tested negative for swine flu and was showing slight signs of improvement. So, Patsy flew in and spoke friday night and then flew back out saturday morning to be with Marty. After Patsy's talk on Friday Anna shared about Marty being in the hospital and how serious it was and asked that Sheila Walsh lead us in prayer for Marty and the family. Her porch pals surrounded her and 11,000 women prayed for Marty. Words cannot even describe that experience. Right around that time when he was being prayed for, Marty's fever broke for the first time in two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How awesome is that? He has continued to show more signs of improvement since then as of the latest update I've seen.

Left Greensboro yesterday. After we got settled at our gate I went to the bathroom and on the way back noticed an owl sitting on top of one of the bridge extension things. He/she stayed there the entire time we were there. I couldn't resist getting a picture.

The rest of the story...

2009-09-04T22:07:00.003-05:00

The "pair" of shoes in the previous post are the shoes Mom wore on the balloon ride. One is more worn than the other - you can tell by looking at the labels inside.
One is dirtier than the other.
One looks wider than the other.
One is leather and the other is not.
Mom didn't bring any close toed shoes so she had to borrow some from me. Guess I should not have given her two different pairs of white shoes to choose from since she wound up choosing one of each pair! Don't think anyone noticed though.

Shoes

2009-08-20T21:43:00.006-05:00

Notice anything odd about this pair of shoes in the two pictures below??? You may want to double click on the first picture to see them better.

This lovely knot below in my shoe was fashioned lovingly by Lil Loveday! She told me that she did something "really bad". I knew she was messing with my shoe(s) but just thought she had untied one of them. I didn't notice the knot until the next morning when I went to put on my shoes since I never bother to untie them before slipping them off at night.

Birthday Balloon Ride

2009-08-17T19:42:00.009-05:00

I went on a hot air balloon ride to celebrate my 40th birthday this year. I invited my Mom and two good friends to go along with me.

Our balloon all laid out and ready to be blown up. I couldn't believe how big the balloon was. We blew the balloon up with a fan! It is 80 feet from the bottom of the basket to the top of the balloon and the whole contraption weighs about 400 lbs!

The balloon all blown up and ready to go. Notice how big it is next to the school. We took off from Westminster Christian Academy on Mt. Zion road.

All in the balloon and ready to go. It wasn't super easy getting in the balloon or out of it either. Mom had the toughest time due to her bad hip but we/she finally figured out how to get her in there and she loved every minute of the experience.

Tommy distracted by something. The other guy in the balloon is Jeff - our pilot.

Check out our shadow. I thought that was too cool and glad I could get a good picture (or several) of it.

We went up to 3100 feet and landed close to someone's back yard in a field with hay bales. Tommy had to jump out and help walk the balloon over to the driveway of the person's house we landed behind which happened to be the neighbor of one of the guys in our chase crew. Mom, Sherry and I got to ride for that. I thought that was cool. I was hoping the balloon would lift the guys off the ground so we could get a picture of Tommy dangling but that didn't happen.

After we landed and helped pack the balloon back up we had "closing ceremonies". We had some water/soda and finger foods while hearing some info about ballooning and the history of it. Then we had a prayer and a toast with champagne (alcohol removed).

We were taken back to our car and told some interesting balloon stories on the way there and then we all went to Cracker Barrel in Madison for lunch. Tommy said we roasted him but he loved every minute of it!

My foot hurts :(

2009-08-09T21:17:00.004-05:00

I think it even looks painful. It was itching so I was scratching at the pool on Friday and scratched the skin off. I've done this before but I don't remember my foot looking quite as bad afterwards. It sure does hurt though.

I thought this was a cute picture of the kitties in the window. They both turn 1 within the next month or so. Hard to believe!

David Ring

2009-07-28T15:02:00.002-05:00

I went to see David Ring on Sunday morning. I have seen him a few times and his story always gets to me. Anyway, he mentioned that he wanted to live each day as if it were his last and in such a way that when he wakes up in the morning that the angels salute him and the devil is not happy that "trouble" is up. He then asked a question of us. Does the devil even flinch when you wake up? I've never heard it put that way but Wow!

Does the devil even flinch when you wake up?

I'm done.........

2009-07-18T21:54:00.002-05:00

at least for now! The rafting addiction is officially over!!!!!!!!!!!

This picture was taken on the upper section of the ocoee on the olympic course and yes, it was as bad as it looks! It was pretty scary. I would return to do the middle section again but most likely wouldn't do the upper part again.

It's official!

2009-07-15T22:42:00.003-05:00

I have now lost my mind! I don't even like flip flops but I spent $20 plus tax on these. I don't like pedicures either but I do like the end result and I cannot paint my own nails.

Food for thought

2009-07-09T22:06:00.001-05:00

Who I am and what I struggle with are NOT the same thing. - Jennifer Rothschild in Me Myself and Lies.

Fourth of July Fun

2009-07-05T17:38:00.007-05:00

Scary (and potentially dangerous???) rides up and down the mountain

Hanging out

Eating

Fireworks

Treasure hunting

"Papa duck and his ducklings"

Storytelling

Card playing

Fishing

One month to live Day 2

2009-07-02T21:02:00.002-05:00

In today's chapter of OMTL, they talked about the Someday Syndrome. I think many of us use the someday syndrome. Someday...................I will...............
We think we'll really take time to enjoy life when we have more money or get a better job or get married or have kids or just whatever. If we knew we only had a month to live we would make the most of every single moment we had left.

If you knew life as you knew it would end in just a few short weeks, what would be your biggest regret?

In what areas of life do you suffer from the someday syndrome? Try not to put things off for someday. TODAY is your someday.

One Month to Live Day #1

2009-06-30T22:30:00.002-05:00

I'm reading the book "One Month to Live" by Kerry and Chris Shook. I started it a few months ago and got to day 12 I think and then went out of town and never got back to it. So, I am starting again along with a couple of friends.

I think the overall message of the book is to live your life to the fullest and make everyday count. I will turn 40 in August of this year and January of next year marks my 20th year of having diabetes. So, it will not be long before I will have lived more of my life WITH diabetes than without it.

When I look back over my life I realize how often I have let things hold me back in life. I see myself sitting on the sidelines WAY too often. I think I am slowly learning to live a bit more and enjoy life. Too often I have let my shyness, or my weight, or my thinking it wasn't the right time to do/have something (like pets), etc. get in the way of really getting in the game of life and enjoying it.

The first quote in chapter one of the OMTL book is "Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." - Alan Sachs

From the book - when most people are faced with terminal condtions, they make radical changes as a result of their awareness of their terminal condition. They take license to say what they really feel and do what they really want. They ask for forgiveness and forgive others. They no longer think only of themselves but reach out to those they love and let them know how much they mean. They take risks they never would have taken before and allow themselves to lay worry aside and gratefully accept each new day. They seem to gain a new clarity about their priorities like their relationship with God and leaving legacies that will endure.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to spend your life so that if you discovered you only had a month t live, you wouldn't need to change a thing?

Be brutally honest with yourself. Your time on earth is limited. Shouldn't you start making the most of it? If you knew you had one month to live, you would look at everything from a different perspective. Many of the things you do now that seem so important would immediately become meaningless. You would have total clarity about what matters most, and you wouldn't hesitate to be spontaneous and risk your heart. You wouldn't wait until tomorrow to do what you need to do today. The way you lived that month would be the way you wished you had lived your whole life.

If you knew you had one month to live, your life would be radically transformed. But why do we wait until we're diagnosed with cancer or we lose a loved one to accept this knowledge and allow it to free us? Don't we weant all that life has to offer? Don't we want to fulfill the purpose for which we were created? Wouldn't life be a lot more satisfying if we lived this way?

One of today's challenges it to quickly without thinking about it too much make a list of 5 things you would change about your life if you knew you only had a month to live. Choose one to begin changing today.

Rafting fun

2009-06-27T08:57:00.003-05:00

Whitewater rafting is AWESOME! I was kind of sad when it was over. The river was packed that day too so the guide couldn't do as much as he could if it wasn't so packed but we had a lot of fun. I even got out of the raft and into the water when he said we could go in! The water was cool and it felt so wonderful. We are talking about going back to do the full river trip. We had one person go into the water when she wasn't planning to but everyone else stayed in except when they wanted to be out of the raft. There were two opportunities to get out. The first one was in calm water to just swim/float around and the second was at a rapid where you could climb on this big rock and jump into the rapid and it would take you under and spit you back out. The current would carry you a ways down from the raft if you couldn't swim pretty strong to get out of it.

In the pictures Carlos is 'riding the bull' as they call it sitting up front in the raft. There were two opportunities to do that. Maybe one day I will try that???

I'm ready for the next trip! It was a blast!

Who knew????

2009-06-18T23:49:00.002-05:00

Who knew marshmellows and duffel bags could be so much fun!

I was eating some marshmellows tonight and I typically let the cats sniff what I am eating as they always act like they are just SO deprived to not eat what I am. Usually they just sniff and walk away but they were a bit more interested in the marshmellows. Chance wasn't quite sure what to do with his but finally decided it was good for eating. Gracie thought hers was good for playing but she must have licked it or something as it kept getting stuck on her foot and she kept trying to sling it off and then when she would get it slung off she would go chase it and bat it and chase it again. She kept stopping to look at Chance eating his like she was wondering why he was eating a perfectly good toy. It was funny to watch them but I didn't get any good pics of that. Didn't think about the camera soon enough. :(

The picture below is Gracie in one of my duffel bags. I did NOT put her in there. She just got in herself and scrambled around awhile trying to get comfy I guess. You couldn't even tell she was in there until she stuck her head out to look around.

The cats sure have changed things around here!

Family

2009-06-18T07:13:00.002-05:00

This is my nieces and nephews with their great-grandparents. I thought the picture turned out pretty good. The kids seem to be getting SO big lately. My grandparents have aged a good bit in the last few years - especially gramma.

Ever have days like these???

2009-06-01T20:34:00.001-05:00

I LOVE this! It just cracks me up! I remember this going around by email some time back and I just saw it on someone's facebook tonight. Too funny.

Hair, toes & kitties

2009-05-27T20:21:00.002-05:00

Look how long/big she is now!

I love this picture of them looking out the front storm door.

My toes! I have never had them blue before.

My new hair do. I have highlights for the first time and a different cut as well. It is sort of hard to tell in pictures but it looks a good bit different to me. I'm thinking with this type cut I may need to try pierced ears again but not sure. They have never really done well pierced. Seem to stay infected most of the time which is no fun at all.

The Graduate

2009-05-25T11:58:00.003-05:00

My cousin Stephanie's graduation was this weekend. She was an honor graduate and will be going off to college in the fall with a biology major. She has an interest in marine biology but would likely need to go out of state for that. She is a smart kid and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. I am sure she will do well and the family is proud of her.

This is my little cousin Aiden. (Stephanie's nephew) He is so adorable and such a happy baby. He knows no stranger which is amazing to me. Danielle could not have gotten a better baby.

one day old kitten

2009-05-20T20:17:00.002-05:00

This is the little kitten I helped take care of today. It was born yesterday and wasn't moving around very much so the mama cat pushed it aside. Tomkat found it and thought it was dead but then it moved. He tried to get the mama to take it but it would not. So, he took it in the house and tried to feed it himself but it would not eat anything. It would not eat at all yesterday but has been eating today. I'm amazed the little thing is still alive! I think it may be dehydrated though. If it is still alive in the morning maybe I can convince the tomkat to at least go get it some fluids under the skin so it has a better chance at survival. I had to do that with Chance when I first got him and wasn't even charged so surely it wouldn't be too much money???

When Godly People do Ungodly Things

2009-05-18T20:24:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed this bible study more than I thought I would and decided to post the five points that were made by Beth Moore in our last video session.

1. The sin that is different from ours always seems worse.
2. The Word of God never teaches us to break fellowship with the repentant.
3. We cannot go on in our sin. The Holy Spirit will convict us.
4. How do we go on from here? We go on blessed.
5. A true, healed Had is so scared of herself that she will never live anywhere but before the face of God.

I've had some conversations recently with various people about whether or not we can lose our salvation. My position is that we cannot. Romans 8:38 says "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I do not believe that God would ever turn His back on us. Yes, we can turn our backs on Him and go off in our sin for awhile but I believe point #3. We cannot go on in our sin. We WILL be convicted by the Holy Spirit and we will turn back. The prodigal son did. The father was waiting and watching for him to return and he was greeted with open arms. The father didn't send him away. He didn't say you've gone too far this time. He greeted the son with open arms.

What would be the point of the cross if He ever intended to turn His back on those whom He has saved??? I'm afraid in our flesh and the sins we commit and continue to commit He would have turned His back on every last one of us by now if that was the case.

God Speaks your Love Language

2009-05-17T11:49:00.002-05:00

I bought this book by Gary Chapman not super long ago and really enjoyed it.

Basically, there are five different love languages. They are:
#1 - Words of affirmation
#2 - Quality Time
#3 - Gifts
#4 - Acts of Service
#5 - Physical touch

One thing that I got out of this book was that if I am not feeling loved by someone it is because they are not speaking my primary love language. It isn't that there is something wrong with me for not "getting" it, it is simply that they are speaking another language and it is one that doesn't communicate love to me in the same way that my primary love language does.
I took this whole concept a little further to realize that if I have someone in my life that does love me but I'm just not getting it then I probably am not very effective in communicating my love for them either since we are obviously speaking different languages based on my own "I'm not feeling the love type feelings".
Because God speaks my love language and your love language, He speaks all five love languages. If we are created in His image and we're to become more and more like Him and we are to love one another then it makes sense that we need to learn to speak all five love languages as well.
From the book "Scripture is clear that making the God connection is not a culmination, but rather a beginning. It also becomes clear that this love relationship with God involves an ongoing association with other members of the family. So as we learn to receive the love of God in all five love languages, we also begin to speak those languages to other believers as well as those not yet in God's family. Expressing love using your primary love language will come naturally for you. Learning to speak the other four love languages may require more time and effort. However, we must remember that we don't generate the love, but simply channel the love that God provides. We do not love others in order to be accepted by God; we love them in response to God's first loving us and graciously accepting us into His family. Learning to communicate love in all five love languages enhances our usefulness in the community of God. When love prevails in the Christian community, the non-Christian world will beat a path to our doors, for they desperately long for such love. Again, hear the words of Jesus: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another". Love is the distinguishing mark of the Christian. When God's love flows through us in all five love languages, we become surprisingly effective instruments in helping others make the God connection and enter His family. Despite any other challenges or obstacles we may face, love prevails!"
I think this is where we miss the boat so often as Christians. We don't love one another. We judge. We condemn. We shoot our wounded. We turn our backs on those we once claimed to care about because we don't understand or we don't agree or we get scared or just whatever. We as Christians are the church and the church should be a safe place where we can be real. But, so often it isn't and that is sad. And we wonder why the non-Christian world isn't beating a path to our door.

Morning after the sleep study

2009-05-03T18:54:00.002-05:00

It looks like I had a rough night! Look at how red the side of my nose is from the mask. Talk about sore. The red marks on my forehead are where they wrote on me with a washable marker. They wrote all in my head too.

Frankenstein

2009-05-03T18:34:00.003-05:00

I looked pitiful all hooked up for my 2nd sleep study with the cpap machine. I had to wear those two "belts" around me all night and I had four probes connected to each leg as well with the wires going up each pant leg and up my shirt to be gathered with the rest of the wires behind me. I just wore the box with all the wires connected to it around my neck so I could go to the bathroom once more before being hooked up to the machine and going to bed. It took FOREVER to fall asleep (even though I had taken an ambien as well as the "good" cough medicine) and morning came way too soon but I was more than ready to potty and get unhooked.
They want you to wait to take the sleep aid until you are all hooked up but for me I do better to take it an hour or so before I want to go to sleep but I minded and did what they said. They say they have literally had people fall asleep while hooking them up when they have taken the sleep aid too early for them I guess. I can't see me doing that but one never knows.

burnt bananas

2009-05-03T18:26:00.003-05:00

I'm not exactly sure what happened here but I think I burnt them with a hot pan when I was pouring my Ramen into a bowl. Ruined the whole banana. :(

I'm fascinating..............

2009-04-24T08:49:00.002-05:00

Well, at least the cats think so! (every once in a blue moon)

I was shaving my legs the other night and they both seemed to be fascinated with what I was doing - especially Chance. At least neither of them fell in this time. Last time Chance went in face first!

Took the cats for a ride around the neighborhood today. I thought it would be good to have a short ride without the vet at the end of it. NOT! Gracie meowed and panted like she was dying and Chance was in the backseat with as much as he could get of himself under my seat.

Sleep study pictures coming soon..................maybe.

Decorating

2009-04-17T21:25:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago a friend helped me do some decorating in my living room. The walls were primarily empty except for a picture over my entertainment center that another friend had given me. I hosted a pampered chef party in my home and didn't want the walls to be bare. This was the first time I had ever hosted anything like that in my own place. I still have a few places that need something but I must say it is looking pretty good I think.

Kitty fun!

2009-04-11T21:36:00.004-05:00

Chance loves to be upside down on this thing.

Gracie loves the scratching post.

I love this picture of Chance.

Look Mom, I'm gonna get her! She doesn't look too concerned does she??? I don't think she moved at all the whole time he was climbing up!

THE hike

2009-04-10T20:35:00.006-05:00

I went on a LONG hike a few weeks ago. SEVEN miles of hiking. We went to the walls of jericho and it was a really pretty hike. Going in wasn't too bad although I tense up even when walking downhill as I am always afraid I am going to slip and fall. Most of the hike "in" was downhill except the last half mile or so which was mostly uphill and ROUGH! Coming back "out" was tough as it was mostly uphill and I started cramping pretty bad in BOTH legs (thigh area) with still about a mile or mile and a half to go. I wasn't sure I would make it out but I did with lots of stops. (and help here and there) Some friends from work, friends of friends from work, and my friend's daughter K went on this hike. I was definitely glad that I did it. It was quite an accomplishment for me physically and realizing I can do that makes me think I can surely do other things that I might otherwise have thought that I couldn't. I plan to do this hike again once I am a little lighter and in better shape - maybe a year from now when the weather would be ideal again for it and by then hopefully I will be in much better shape than I am currently.

Tommy, K and I. It looks like I am half dead!!!!!!!

John, K and I. This was taken my the group ahead of us. Shows how steep the walk was at times as they weren't super far in front of us as far as distance goes.

Most of the crew - taking a break after crossing the "foot bridge".

Tommy on the foot bridge. See how it leans towards the water? I didn't like this bridge much. The railing seemed loose in places and I would have loved a rail on BOTH sides. But, the water was not that deep so wouldn't have been 'bad' to fall in I guess. We had to cross two of these bridges on the way in and then again on the way back out. The 2nd bridge was a bit better than this first one.

This is John. He was SO helpful on this hike. He used to be a survival instructor so he knew just how and when to help and encourage.

When I do a long hike like this again I realized I need more water and lots less food. I also need an extra pair of shoes or waterproof shoes and some extra socks and a walking stick or sticks. K's mom thought to tell us to take bandaids which was a good thing as I bandaged up my feet before hiking back out. I was getting blisters but the bandaids saved my feet (and John's extra dry socks) and I didn't wind up with lots of blisters on my feet like I usually do after walking for long periods of time. K and I hiked thru some water and wound up just going IN the water rather than fall off the slippery rocks so my shoes and feet were rather soaked on the hike back out.

We topped the day off with a stop at Joe's Pizza in Woodville. I'm not positive that is the right name but it was really good pizza there. Not much sitting room at all but it sure hit the spot after eight hours of hiking. I was thrilled to get to a bathroom too! Who knew I could go so long without going potty? I sure didn't as I NEVER do any other time.

New clothes & shoes

2009-04-10T16:38:00.003-05:00

This is what I wore to work today. It has been quite some time since I have done any major clothes shopping. But, this year I have two graduations to attend as well as a wedding (or 2) and maybe a rehearsal dinner (or 2) for the wedding(s). So, I needed a few things and everything I've been wearing lately was a size too big. I may post a few other pics of the other clothes later on.

The above two pictures are the new shoes that I got late last night at Walmart. I didn't expect to find any shoes in there for some reason but I came out with four! I probably put at least that many back too that I had pulled out that I liked.

I had fun on the shopping excursion. No telling what I would have wound up with had I gone by myself so it was good to have some help from Sherry and Brenda. I am NOT an easy person to shop with. I was handed lots of things and told "just humor me". I think I left the walmart parking lot around 11pm last night! I was beat!

Oops...........I overslept!

2009-04-06T10:24:00.002-05:00

I just got up not super long ago. I guess my alarm only allows you to hit snooze so many times before it just gives up on you. I really need to go to work but I really don't want to because I really do not feel good. But, such is life. I guess I will get in the shower and get moving.

Too bad I don't have the energy of my cats this morning. They are running all over the place chasing each other. Now they are in the garage. They like to go "out". I guess that seems like a treat to them since they are indoor cats and I won't let them outside.

Interesting

2009-04-01T08:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. Went to pick up a friend for lunch since she had a flat tire and couldn't meet me. Her hubby came by and filled the tire full of air and we could hear it coming back out so we held our breath while she drove the car to drop it off for repair. The hubby went back to work and we went to Pizza Hut to relieve some stress. :)
Then, we went to the Christian bookstore where I spent too much money. (relieving more stress) It is dangerous for me to wander around as I always go out with more than I went in for since I see things I either didn't know were out or things that just jump out at me.
After that venture I dropped my friend back off at work and went for my allergy shots. Then afterwards I thought it would be a good time for a krispy kreme treat. I LOVE the glazed cream filled donuts. I bought a couple and some milk and set off back to work to enjoy my heavenly treat.
You know what was inside those cream filled donuts????????????????????????? NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO CREAM!
I kept taking a bite and looking at it and turned it around to see if anything was coming out the backside and NOTHING. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CREAM.
Not that I really needed the cream or the donuts themselves but I was so disappointed.
Later that evening I got a text about going to dinner at one of my favorite Mexican places so I went. It was good, but I didn't need it either. Hung out at her house afterwards for a little bit and came back home to do a few things and crashed.

The bad thing about the cream donut thing was that I got this crazy idea (from someone else) that I would ask God to show me how much He loved me that day. None of us really 'get' God's love for us I don't think so I thought that might not be such a bad idea to ask Him to show me so maybe I will 'get' it better. So, I'm looking at this cream donut with no cream going 'is this it?????????????????????' Hmmmmmmmm

I did however find a book at the Christian bookstore entitled "God Speaks your love language".

Spring Quiz

2009-03-25T07:26:00.001-05:00

You Are Baseball Games

You like old fashioned things. You're one of those people who values tradition.

You enjoy a slow pace of life. You believe that life is all about enjoying every moment.

You love the changing of the seasons, and you look forward to what each season brings.

You are smart and a bit obsessive. You become very immersed in your interests.

What Part of Spring Are You?

Comfy kitties (I guess)

2009-03-09T23:38:00.003-05:00

I was looking around for the cats the other day and when I looked under the bed this is what I saw.........

It was kind of weird just seeing one cat at first and the legs of the other sticking out from under him!

My second look under the bed........

Gracie looked content so I guess she thought that was comfy too!

Friday "fun"

2009-02-27T16:44:00.002-06:00

This was my fun for the day. I got on base and got about half way to where I work and I heard a noise followed by "boom boom boom boom boom" as I drove. I pulled over and didn't see what was wrong so I continued on to the office. When I got there I found the problem so after breifly entering the office I took off for the Toyota place since I was due for an oil change anyway. I had a book in the car so I relaxed and read for an hour while they removed the screw in the tire, plugged it up and changed the oil.

Sunday afternoon fun

2009-02-23T06:05:00.002-06:00

My Gracie Girl is 'wide open' most of the time! We were having fun with her Sunday afternoon. That cat can jump and she'll run one direction and jump and turn the other direction while in the air. It is a hoot to watch. I did take a video of this but for some reason it won't upload - I keep getting error messages.

I finally did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-18T21:01:00.002-06:00

I finally got my wii fitness age to come down a little. It is now 54 which isn't something to brag on really I guess since I'm 39 but it WAS 73 so I'm making progress. It is kinda hard though because it tests you on picking up spares in bowling, returning balls in tennis, and hitting a home run in baseball. I'm not really in to playing sports. The last time I bowled it was with "A" (who was 8) and she asked me if I wanted her to go tell them to put up the rails for me as well. Yes, it was THAT bad. Pathetic really. Never played baseball/softball/t-ball or tennis.

My wii fit age was 41 the last time I checked it so isn't too bad off.

Thoughtful

2009-02-14T13:01:00.003-06:00

Some thoughtful person sent me a Valentine's Day card from the kitties. I am not exactly sure who did it since there was no return address or anything but I have a few suspects! I just wanted to say thanks to whoever thought to do that.

Worth checking out

2009-02-11T21:33:00.002-06:00

I'm currently reading "Crazy love" by Francis Chan. I've just read thru the first chapter but I think it is going to be good. There is some info on the book at crazylovebook.com. Check it out and check out the youtube video below. Definitely something to think about.

Is it too much to ask????????????

2009-02-06T19:59:00.002-06:00

...........................To be treated with DIGNITY AND RESPECT?????????????????

I must be getting a bit braver in my old age as I have found myself standing up for ME much quicker than I used to.

Are we cute or what???

2009-02-03T09:05:00.002-06:00

These were taken in the summer of 1973 so I was probably a few months shy of 4, Janet (my cousin) was several months shy of being 5 and David (my brother)was 18-20 months.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

2009-02-01T10:27:00.002-06:00

Went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with the girls yesterday. I really enjoyed it except for the periods of time where I was zoned out or not in the room due to a very low blood sugar. I had a granola bar with me but it didn't do any good. My friend had a blow pop with her and I ate that while they went to get me a coke during intermission. Of course the ushers would not let her bring it to me even though I'm sitting there ready to pass out! I got to the door and drank the coke and managed to get downstairs to the bathroom and check it and it was 59 at that time. I got another coke and a reese cup from the concession stand and sat downstairs for awhile until I felt better. Went back to the bathroom and checked it and it was up to 90 so I went back upstairs just as my friend was coming to check on me. That was a rough one. I don't remember feeling so rough in quite a long time as I did with this low. I had checked it before we went in to be seated and it was about 170 so I figured I would be fine thru the show. NOT. My WHOLE MOUTH was numb: tongue, lips, check........... I felt like I couldn't hardly talk because my tongue was numb and felt so thick.

The funny part of this was that my friends went to the bar to get my coke! They were walking in there with my friend's 8 year old and half way in the room it dawned on her that she was taking her child into the bar so she told the other friend to "GET HER OUT OF HERE". Then that friend while standing outside the door saw another friend that we knew was going to be there and told her that B was in there getting a drink!

Then on the way home we had another adventure. We had just dropped A off at her spend the night party and B got a wild hair which shocked S and a word we weren't expecting just slipped right out of her mouth. I think poor S thought we were about to have an accident and B was wondering if S said what she thought she said. You probably really had to be there but it was funny at the time - or at least we thought it was.

Why everything is harder now.

2009-01-31T21:16:00.002-06:00

This is why everyday household tasks are so much harder now. The cats are almost always underfoot. I trip over them, have to make sure I haven't locked them up somewhere, have to get them out of whatever I have opened, etc. They are SO curious I guess they just have to go and check everything out. Gracie has no fear at all. Chance is a little more careful in his adventures but Gracie is teaching him how to get in all kinds of trouble!

I heard a voice

2009-01-15T19:25:00.002-06:00

When I left work this evening and was driving away from the building I heard a voice. I thought that was a bit odd since I was supposed to be alone in the car. A few seconds later I heard it again and thought surely nobody is in here. I turned on the light in the car and looked around and I was the only one there just as I thought. Then I heard the voice again. It was a bit unnerving to hear someone talking and not know where it was coming from. Finally I figured it out when the voice said "you have reached your destination". It was the GPS. Somehow the power button got bumped in my wild driving I guess! Whew!

A MUST see.......

2009-01-13T18:29:00.002-06:00

Gracie

2009-01-09T21:53:00.005-06:00

Asleep in the other container of clothes in my room.

Peeking out from under the hope chest. I was chasing her around the house and she finally went behind the hope chest and then under it. I left the room and then peeked back around the corner and she poked her head out to see if the coast was clear or not!

She decided she would nap UNDER the covers today! I did not put her in there. She did that herself.

Gracie is healing pretty well now from her surgery. She was spayed the same time Chance was neutered. She has been back to the vet a few times since the surgery. She was pulling stitches out so she got an E-collar. I found out real quick she would do way more damage with it on than off so she didn't wear it much at all. Probably no more than a few minutes total. She reacted a bit to the stitches so she was on antibiotics but she took her last dose today. I took her to the vet today to get her ONE remaining stitch out.

I hope to not have anymore vet visits for quite some time. It would really be great if we didn't have to go back until time for shots next year.

Chance

2009-01-09T21:37:00.004-06:00

I LOVE this picture and the bottom one. He is sleeping (or trying to if I would quit disturbing him!) in a container of clothes I was going thru. You can see that better in the third picture. He and Gracie both love sleeping in those containers of clothes.

He's slightly ticked I think! I'm not sure he is fully awake just yet but he and Gracie were playing.

Chance is doing pretty good. He seems to be healing okay from his neutering surgery. (I will spare you the picture on that!) He is a little red and slightly swollen still but he doesn't look too bad.

My first turkey

2008-12-27T23:58:00.002-06:00

I made my first turkey today. It turned out fairly well I think. Both of the cats liked it.

Tomorrow needs to be a cleaning day. I have TONS to do.

Christmas Day

2008-12-27T22:54:00.004-06:00

We all got stockings on Christmas day! Chance and Gracie got a can of tuna and can of condensed milk and lots of balls and toy mice and some treats.

I got a game for my ds, perfume, stuff to do my fingernails with, chocolate covered pecans, air freshners for the car, a big candy bar, etc.

That ball Gracie is playing with is her favorite. They had a green one like that but it no longer has the metallic strands on it at all.

Gracie likes spaghetti!!!!!!

2008-12-27T22:40:00.003-06:00

I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore. She acts more like a dog than a cat when it comes to eating. She hasn't refused too many things I have offered her. I figured she would eat the meat out of the spaghetti but she was eating the noodles too!

Speed limit sign

2008-12-27T22:35:00.002-06:00

I must have seen this sign before as I have been to Opry Mills Mall before but Mary pointed it out to me this time. I don't EVER remember seeing a 24 speed limit sign. Mary said it is probably so they can give out more tickets for going 30. She said cops typically won't give you a ticket for going 5 miles or less over the speed limit.

ICE

2008-12-27T22:16:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, December 21st my friend Mary picked me up around 9:30 and we headed off to Nashville. We decided to do ICE first and then eat lunch. I really enjoyed that. It was definitely worth seeing. The colored ice didn't look like ice to me but it was.

We enjoyed lunch at Macaroni Grill and then headed off to the Summit Center where we were going to see the Trans-Siberian orchestra. I really enjoyed that as well and it was about a three hour show! They didn't allow picture taking during the show and even said they wouldn't let you in the door if you had a camera with you - to take it back to your car. We got there right as it was supposed to start and both had our cameras on us and we had walked an awful long way but we managed to hide them and got in the door. I felt like a criminal for sneaking it in but neither of us took any pictures even though we saw tons of camera flashes thru the concert. A guy two rows in front of us kept taking pictures with his cell phone even though he got caught and was told he couldn't take pictures.

After the show we headed back over to Opry Mills Mall and had some snacks at the Rainforest Cafe. We were both disappointed a bit because the items we wanted they no longer had on the menu. I was looking forward to a banana cheesecake they used to have that was to die for. Mary was looking for a salmon dish I think. We wound up each getting a smoothie, splitting an appetizer, and then we shared a bananas foster dessert which was HUGE and very good.

My family Christmas

2008-12-25T11:44:00.003-06:00

My brother and his family and I had our Christmas with our parents on Saturday, Dec 20th. The big hits for the kids were remote control cars for the boys and the wii that my parents and I got David's family. The look on Cora's face when they opened the gift was priceless. A sports pack comes with the wii and then we also got them mariokart for the wii. It is a pretty cool game and very popular this year. I went several places to get one for me and they were completely sold out!

David went out to get BBQ for our Christmas dinner.

I got a tom tom GPS from my parents and David got me a gift card to lowe's or home depot with the idea that I would buy paint stuff with it and he would help me paint some in the house.

David and I got mom a really nice TV for her new kitchen and we got Dad a tool box for the truck.

After my parents left, Cora and I came back to my place and both kitties did pretty well with her. Chance was traumatized when the rest of the kids came with David about an hour later. David wanted to watch the Dallas game so they stayed until almost 11pm! Had to be up by 7am Sunday for that day's adventures. Stay tuned.....

Wrapping gifts is much harder now...........

2008-12-23T20:37:00.003-06:00

I dumped a bunch of webkinz in the floor to decide which one I was giving to which kid and Gracie decided hers was the lion and she thought she could take him!

Chance attacking Gracie who is attacking the lion.

I am not a very good gift wrapper at all. Looks like a kindergarten job usually! Now with two kitties on the loose it is even harder. They kept trying to get inside the paper as I was wrapping.

Orange Cranberry Loaf Cake Cookies

2008-12-23T20:32:00.001-06:00

All I can say about these is YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found them at kroger and even the kitties liked them!

Christmas kitty!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-23T20:26:00.003-06:00

I found this cute little santa hat at petsmart. I don't think Chance liked it very much!

Life is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-15T22:09:00.002-06:00

Last weekend was another busy one. I had to take both kitties to the vet on Friday and run an errand and then hurry back to the house to get as much cleaning done as possible before my parents arrived around 3pm.

We went to dinner at Carrabba's that night and it was good but it tore my stomach up big time. I think it must be the spices they put in the oil you dip the bread in because today I went to lunch with Tweety bird there and had the exact same thing except I didn't eat very much of the dipping stuff this time and I did have a different salad also but only because someone dropped the house dressing and it must sit for 24 hours after they make it our waiter said so they didn't have any of that. I used to really like the italian salad and dressing too but either it just wasn't good today or I don't like it that much anymore.

Saturday my parents and I went to see the Rockettes in Birmingham. Their Christmas show is really good. I had never seen them before. We were up in the nose bleed section but it wasn't too bad.

Sunday we were all heathens and slept in instead of going to church. They left around noon to head home and I just kind of vegged out for the rest of the day for the most part. I did manage to dig one box of winter clothes out of the garage and start some laundry.

Tonight I went shopping after work and spent way too much money! Maybe tomorrow night I can get my Christmas cards done or mostly done I hope.

Good post

2008-12-15T08:48:00.002-06:00

Check out THIS POST

Vet visit

2008-12-12T11:51:00.003-06:00

Today Chance and Gracie both went to the vet for their last round of shots. YEAH!!!

Chance weighs a whopping 5 lbs now! The leg is doing fairly well and we have decided not to do anything else to it for now. No more splints and no surgery for now.

Gracie weighed in at 3.4 pounds. She was up 1 pound exactly from the last visit. She doesn't really feel like she weighs that much though.

The tech got their temps and weighed them and stuff and then it was a little bit before Dr. White came in. They both went back in their crate and they HATE that thing. They were done though. They were ready to go back home.

They are both scheduled for their spay/neuter surgeries on the 29th of December. They would likely have gorgeous kittens but I don't want to pass along Chance's birth defects. Plus it might be hard to get rid of some of the kittens with there being such a surplus of cats around here that nobody wants.

Fingernails & Dirty Santa

2008-12-10T19:06:00.002-06:00

I got my fingernails done today! I was going to get a green color but it wasn't what I thought it was. I didn't like it when she showed me what it would look like. So, I went with the red that is on my toes. If you double click on the picture you can tell what is on my thumb a little better.

Today was our division Christmas party. We went to Beauregard's and the bosses paid for all of our meals! That was a nice surprise. We played dirty santa and I wound up with a pair of ear muffs. I wanted to steal the alabama shirt but it had already been stolen 3 times and that is our limit. Then I thought I would get the mannheim steamroller cd that I brought but it got stolen for the third time before it was my turn. :( Nobody else wanted the ear muffs but there wasn't really anything else that I wanted either. One poor guy wound up with some auburn flip flops and a little auburn football and he is an alabama fan. Rickey who was running things wouldn't let anyone take it from him as he was determined that was a great gag gift for an alabama fan and he needed to go home with that.

Then I had dinner out at Logan's after getting my nails done. I discovered that I do like cheese fries with ranch dressing. I would not have thought I would like those.

Weekend adventures

2008-12-09T20:16:00.002-06:00

This past weekend Tomkat, Shades and I were supposed to go to Medieval times in Atlanta. Shades suggested that we also shoot on up to Pigeon Forge and see the Christmas show of the Dixie Stampede. Tomkat and I had already discussed it and thought it might be too much but then after Shades suggested it we decided to go for it. Well, when Tomkat told Shades that we were going she didn't seem real happy about it. Well, a day or so went by and she called the Tomkat to say that she was sick and would not be able to join us. (actually she was mad but that is another story) I told Tomkat to ask his youngest - childling #3 if she would like to join us. She said yes and was very excited.

I got up Saturday and headed out to Woodville to Tomkat's house. Tomkat walked out of the house and locked the door and shut it and then realized his keys were not in his coat pocket like he thought. Luckily he had everything he needed with him so we just jumped in my car and picked up K. We stopped for a bite to eat in Scottsboro after picking up his childling and then we were off to Atlanta.

Atlanta drivers are INSANE. We were in our own lane minding our own business when some moron decided he wasn't missing his turn even though he had to move two lanes of traffic out of his way but he didn't mind honking at us to tell us to stop and stay out of his way. That happened to be our turn too and we missed it. We got turned around and finally found the castle where medieval times was. The entrance to it is actually in the mall there.

We wandered around the gift shop and found lots of expensive stuff we would like before they let us go in to be seated. It turned out to be a pretty good show and afterwards we waited while Tomkat secured a Christmas gift for his son-in-law.

Then we were off to head towards Pigeon Forge. We got maybe half way there before we decided we needed to stop for the night. The next morning we got up and got ready and headed out for pigeon forge. We got there a little less than an hour before the show and watched the pre-show and then went in for the stampede. We enjoyed this show as well. Tomkat and I liked it the best and K liked Medieval Times the best.

We were going to hit the scrapbook store but it was closed. :(
So, we headed back home. Tomkat had to call Shades on the way home to see if he could stop by her place to get his spare key so he could get into his house. She didn't seem real happy but said okay.

We dropped K off and then headed to H'ville to see Shades. She was definitely not a happy camper when we got there. She came out the door handed ME Tomkat's keys and turned around and hussled back in the house. I think the only thing she said was "here" when she handed the keys over. Tomkat and I just looked at each other and said "Whoa". We thought we were lucky she didn't come out with her gun the way she was acting.

That was my adventurous weekend. We had fun in spite of almost getting run off the road in Atlanta and meeting up with Shades when we got back.

I've been watching some things unfold between Tomkat and Shades and there are definitely lessons to be learned there. It has been said that what you fear you create and I can see that what Shades fears is exactly what she is going to create.

Christmas toes

2008-12-05T21:44:00.003-06:00

Got my toes done today. This may be my favorite design. The white dots on the toes is supposed to be snow in case anyone is wondering.

Look Mom, I got her!

2008-12-05T13:58:00.001-06:00

Why I don't wear skirts/dresses

2008-12-02T19:05:00.003-06:00

Monday I met the Tomkat at Carrabba's for lunch. When we were getting ready to leave I realized I needed to make a pit stop at the restroom as I felt pretty certain I would not make it back to work. When I was walking back thru the restaurant to leave I realized I had a problem. I debated on what I should do. Go back to the restroom and fix the problem or just keep on going??? Hmmm. I opted to just keep going since it was cold and I had a coat on so I figured nobody would notice my little problem. When I got out to the car I made some adjustments to get my undies back in their proper position. Yes, I would have lost them completely had I not had pants on! After that I went to Walmart to get some ibuprofen which I badly needed at this point and was not too far into Walmart when I realized I had a problem yet AGAIN!!! By this time I was sportin a tude!!!!!!!!!!!

So see, that is why I just cannot wear a skirt or a dress cuz stuff just happens sometimes!

I tried something new!

2008-12-01T23:01:00.003-06:00

To celebrate the first of the month, I went to Carrabba's for lunch today. I actually got something different this time! I got the pasta carrabba and it was pretty good. I still like what I always get the best though.

I ordered some photo cards today too. This is the first year I have ever done a photo card for Christmas cards.

Thanksgiving was good. My parents were not able to come up due to having to get their kitchen window properly installed. Dad was in the process of doing that when he cut his thumb so they came back and sealed it up the best they could after his emergency room visit. They have been working on the kitchen about a year now so hopefully they can get it finished up before too much longer. I know they still need counter tops and flooring and probably a few other things.

I went and had Thanksgiving with several single friends this year which is different than what I usually do. We had a good day hanging out, talking, playing with two kittens, and watching a movie. When it got dark we went to see the lights at the botanical gardens. We saw several things this year that none of us remembered seeing last year. We talked about going on one of the walk thru nights next year. I think that would be fun and maybe we could even get a decent picture or two.

I also shared an early Thanksgiving meal with a friend and her family this year. I am especially thankful for the people that I shared Thanksgiving meals with this year as well for the other ones that extended invitations to me.

Events of the day

2008-11-26T22:41:00.003-06:00

Tried out a restaurant for lunch today that I either have never been to or only went to once many years ago. I went to Beauregard's. I would go again. I especially liked the fried pickles.

I saw the young lady today that stole packages off my porch when I lived in the apartment in Madison! I never thought I would see her again but hopefully she is staying out of trouble now. I'm not sure she acted alone but she was the only minor involved so she took the blame for everything knowing that even if I pressed charges she wouldn't get in too much trouble. I chose not to press charges and what she still had she returned and what she didn't she paid for.

Spent lots of money today at walmart and Lifeway and petsmart. I just got food at petsmart and just needed items at walmart and well, lifeway............

Oh, I also went to gamestop and got a game for the wii that may go to D&T and family to go with their new wii my parents and I got them for Christmas.

Got my vehicle registration renewed on the arsenal today. I was reminded when I went in the gate after lunch that Monday is Dec 1st and it expired the end of this month and of course the badging office is closed on Friday of this week as well. This caught lots of people unawares I guess according to the badging office. It was standing room only when I got there. Luckily I had a book in the car to keep me occupied while I waited.

Kept messing with a sore spot under my nose and it started bleeding and I thought it might NEVER stop. Thankfully it finally did though.

Newsflash

2008-11-24T09:50:00.002-06:00

Carrabba's has holiday hours starting this Friday. They open at 11am everyday thru the end of December! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait to have some lunches at Carrabba's over the next month. Maybe I will even try some new things??? Don't hold your breath though!

YUCK, MEDS!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-19T21:29:00.002-06:00

My kitties do NOT like Benadryl! Chance gags and Gracie foams at the mouth. It is a good thing I read on the internet that Benadryl reacts with the cat's saliva and can cause them to foam at the mouth or I would have been flipping out. Gracie didn't seem to like that experience at all. I thought it was rather amusing since I was prepared for it.

On Purpose for a Purpose

2008-11-19T07:28:00.002-06:00

I just started an online bible study with Shelley Hendrix called On Purpose for a Purpose at www.atlantaencounter.blogspot.com. It is a study on Esther.

In her introduction online she talks about how she believes that each of us are here "for such a time as this". We are here at this time on purpose for a purpose. All that is true about us and all that has happened in our lives both good and bad God allowed on purpose for a purpose. I guess I had never thought about it in those terms before.

On Purpose for a purpose. Hmmmm. I'm just trying to let that sink in.

Chance & Gracie update

2008-11-17T23:30:00.002-06:00

I took both kitties to the vet today and that actually went fairly well with them both there. I took them in the crate though as I don't think I could hold on to them both at the same time without one or both escaping.

They both got shots. Gracie meowed like it hurt but Chance just took it.

They did NOT hear a heart murmer in Gracie this time so hopefully that was just a fluke thing and she doesn't actually have one.

Gracie weighed 2.4 pounds and Chance weighs 3.4 pounds.

I mentioned the sneezing Gracie does and Chance sneezes or coughs some too and she told me to give them benadryl and how much so I will pick up some of that tomorrow and see if that helps any.

They didn't change Chance's splint but I have all the stuff to do it and actually put this last splint on so I took it off when we got home and it is still off right now. I am not sure what is best - to put it back on or leave it off. It seems to be growing some and maybe slightly stronger since he got this different splint where the paw sticks out of it. It is kind of a catch 22 situation as far as leaving the splint on and taking it off.

I saw Dr. Johnson again today and saw Dr. White on the way out. He asked about Chance and I mentioned the surgery Dr. Johnson told me about and he commented that yes, there were some other things we could do so maybe I will try to see him the next time we are there if he is there. I don't want to put Chance thru a ton of stuff but it may be worth it to put a pin/plate in there to stabilize the foot a little better. I have some time to think about all that though since we can't do that until the growth plate closes up which will probably be several months down the road.

Unless they have problems before then, I do not have another appointment until we go back for shots in three weeks! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! And, my next appointment is on a Friday morning so maybe I can get back to the water aerobics on Monday nights.

November scrapbook challenge

2008-11-14T12:15:00.003-06:00

I got three pages out of the stuff in our November challenge kit! I still need a soccer ball brad that a friend has for one of the pages but they are basically done.

I was supposed to get my oil changed today and get allergy shots but I haven't felt super well today so I decided I would just stay home and rest/relax until time to go out for the crop tonight. I have been extra tired for some reason lately.

100 things about me

2008-11-11T16:25:00.002-06:00

This is my 100th post and I'm told you are supposed to post 100 things about yourself on the 100th post so here goes........

1. I am a Christian
2. I will turn 40 on my next birthday
3. I have four nieces and nephews.
4. I have one brother.
5. I am the oldest.
6. I wanted to trade him in for a sister. (he wanted to trade me for a brother)
7. Mom said it didn't work that way.
8. I have twins in my family. (niece & nephew)
9. My grandfather was a pastor.
10. I was in the marching band in high school and played flute.
11. I was glad I didn't play tuba because the flute got very heavy after awhile.
12. I was born with a dislocated hip.
13. It wasn't discovered until I was several months old.
14. They hung me up by my ankles in the hospital after it was discovered. Only my head and shoulders touched the bed.
15. I wore a cast from my waist to my ankles for the first year of my life.
16. After that I wore a brace that kept my legs miles apart for about another year.
17. I'm told the cast and brace didn't really slow me down much.
18. I had my first kiss at the age of about three with an older boy in Germany.
19. The pictures suggest I initiated it!
20. I'm not quite sure what happened to that kid. (me)
21. I LOVE to read.
22. Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors.
23. I enjoy scrapbooking.
24. I like having pictures but I don't really like to take them or be in them.
25. I've been on a cruise to Alaska. (this year)
26. I almost drowned once in a wave pool hanging on to the side.
27. I went to a private kindergarten.
28. I've lived in three states - Alabama, Texas (briefly), and Missouri. (one year)
29. I LOVE to travel.
30. I would like to see all 50 states.
31. I don't like to clean.
32. I'm taking water aerobics and love it.
33. I have diabetes. (insulin-dependant)
34. I like the smell of ink.
35. My favorite restaurant is Carrabba's.
36. My 2nd favorite restaurant is Olive Garden.
37. I was paddled in the 3rd grade - along with half the class.
38. I flooded my apartment once. (well, the kitchen)
39. I left the water running in the kitchen sink.
40. I was filling it up to wash my uniform for work.
41. I got distracted watching my soap opera that I watched at the time and forgot to turn the water off.
42. My roommate wanted to know why every sheet and towel we owned was soaking wet in the bathtub when she got home.
43. I've been camping - once.
44. That was enough.
45. I took piano lessons.
46. I played clarinet for a year.
47. I hated it - couldn't stand the reed. It was like that sensation of someone running their fingernails down a chalkboard to me.
48. I took gymnastics.
49. I hated that too.
50. I did cheerleading (pep squad) for a year or two around the 4th grade timeframe.
51. I am a pet owner for the first time as an adult.
52. I have two kittens.
53. I have a male orange tabby named Chance.
54. I have a female black & white cat named Gracie.
55. I didn't come up with the names for either of them.
56. I love going to women of faith conferences.
57. One of my favorite memories as a kid was seeing the Harlem Globetrotters.
58. I think I'm addicted to frappacino's.
59. I don't know how to sew.
60. I cannot sing (well).
61. I'm a little afraid of heights.
62. I want to get two dogs once I get a fence.
63. My favorite movie is Shadowlands.
64. My most recent nickname is rubber duckey.
65. I almost never remember my dreams.
66. When I do remember them it is just bits and pieces and I usually think they are weird.
67. My dream vacation would be to go on a cruise back to Alaska and do some things we didn't get to do before.
68. My dream house would be one that cleans itself!
69. I'm afraid of snakes.
70. Roaches and mice gross me out.
71. My grandmother used to call me her little angel when I was growing up.
72. I went by the name Shelly until I started 3rd grade.
73. I hate to be called Shelly now.
74. I wanted to go by LeAnne (my middle name) starting in 4th grade but my mother wouldn't let me change my name that I went by again.
75. We had dogs and cats when I was growing up.
76. The pet we had the longest was a german shepherd dog named Thunder.
77. I like to spend my days off with friends or family or just vegging around the house in my jammies doing something relaxing like reading or scrapbooking.
78. I plan to go on a hot air balloon ride for my 40th birthday next year.
79. One of the stupidest things I have done was when I was about ten and I jumped up into the air and landed flat on my bottom on purpose.
80. Knocked the wind right out of me and gave me an instant headache.
81. One of my most embarrassing moments was when I was sliding down the stairs at my grandmother's house on my stomach and my pajama bottoms didn't come with me.
82. I bought my first house a few years ago.
83. My favorite ice cream is blue bell strawberries and homemade vanilla.
84. I enjoy an afternoon nap when I have the opportunity.
85. One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 8:38-39.
86. I have a webkinz account.
87. I like to watch Dancing with the Stars.
88. I enjoy playing Sudoko.
89. I'm currently reading the Yada Yada Prayer group series and they are very good.
90. I'm also currently reading The Uncommon Woman and it is good as well.
91. I can't wait to do Beth Moore's new bible study on Esther.
92. I enjoy doing counted cross-stitch but haven't done it in awhile.
93. I love bath and body works stuff.
94. Don't wear perfume much anymore but when I did my favorite perfumes were Red Door and White Diamonds.
95. Most recent movie I saw at the theater was Fireproof.
96. I bought my first pair of reading glasses about a week ago. (lowest strength)
97. I'm a huge procrastinator.
98. I'm a very sensitive person which I've found is one of my greatest strengths and also my biggest weakness.
99. I love banana milkshakes from red robin.
100. This was NOT an easy task.

1st place

2008-11-09T18:41:00.002-06:00

Cora's team got first place in the soccer tournament today. It was a very close game today and actually went into overtime! It was a good bit cooler outside today than it was yesterday and the other kids were freezing. They had on two jackets each but didn't have hats or gloves or anything. Mom, Dad, and I wound up each having one in our laps to try to keep a little warmer. I had Emma this time which surprised me. Ridgey is Gramma's boy so she had him of course and Dad had Colin. Mom, Dad, and I went to Arby's after the game and then they they headed back to Ozark and I headed to Kroger and then home.

I think I am going to get to stay home for the next two days. I hope to get a bit more cleaning done which I have been SO far behind on as well as some reading and my scrapbook challenge for Friday.

Cora's soccer tournament

2008-11-08T18:56:00.007-06:00

My oldest niece plays AYSO soccer and she had a tournament today. They played two games in Cullman and won them both so she has another game tomorrow. I think that is the last game regardless of whether they win or lose. They played really well today - even Cora and she wasn't feeling too good.

The boys were "falling" over backwards in their chairs and thought that was so much fun. Ridge would hold onto Gramma and Colin would hold on to me while they pushed themselves over backwards.

CHOCOLATE TIME!!!!!! Gramma ALWAYS visits with chocolate of some sort and the kids love it of course.

Colin was trying to show me the candy in his mouth but I never got a good shot of it. (I'll have to admit I was sneaking him candy today)He also got $5 for finding Gramma's lost earring!

The kids are growing like crazy. I noticed that Emma seemed to be getting really tall and Ridgey has grown a good bit too. It is not too easy to pick him up anymore.

Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!

2008-11-07T16:35:00.002-06:00

I just went to get something out of my room and this is what I found.......

New toy

2008-11-06T19:03:00.003-06:00

This is the new toy I got the kitties this afternoon. They are not spoiled in the least!

Gracie update

2008-11-04T20:02:00.002-06:00

Yes, the black kitty now has a name! Gracie seems to fit her somehow.

The vet thinks she has internal parasites even though none were detected in her stool. She is on a liquid dewormer for five days, an antibiotic liquid for 14 days, some probiotic stuff you sprinkle on their food and special food until her stool improves. The special food will probably be the biggest challenge since I will have to be careful to remember to pick up Chance's food so she can't get to it for awhile. The special food they gave me is canned so not sure what I will do about leaving them tomorrow...if I will just leave them both put up or just not leave any hard food out??? I don't think Chance really eats too much typically while I am gone anyway, but......

She has gained 0.4 pounds since she last went to the vet last Monday so that is good. She weighs 1.8 pounds now.

Chance update

2008-11-04T07:16:00.002-06:00

Chance saw Dr. White yesterday and he put the splint back on. He felt some curvature of the bone this time with the splint being off several days. We're going to do this for a few weeks and see how he does. He doesn't have full support in the splint but enough to allow him to use it more than he could with the full splint. His leg may be as good as it is going to get at this point. I just hope it doesn't revert back to the way it was to begin with. It did develop a little bit more of a curve while the splint was off but he still walked on it like he is supposed to. He gained 0.4 pounds since last week and is up to 2.6 pounds now.

He did pretty well at the vet this time. He still gets scared but this time he walked around on the table and sniffed everything and even played with the tech some! Usually he acts pretty spooked the whole time so I'm glad he seemed a bit mroe relaxed this time. The techs were fighting over who got to call him back! I am glad they like him there and shower him with love and attention.

He continues to act like he feels good and is pretty active these days so hopefully whatever was wrong was just a virus or something that made him so lethargic several weeks ago.

Her white spots

2008-11-03T07:19:00.002-06:00

I forgot to upload a picture showing her white spots. She has a little place under her chin that is white also and stray hairs throughout her coat that are white as well. She is a pretty cat.

Various kitty photos

2008-11-01T19:59:00.002-05:00

I love this picture! Yes, I gave her a bath. I didn't like how she smelled when I got her home. She still gets pretty stinky though! I am changing her diet to see if that helps any.

They almost look like they like each other here! It took some doing to get a decent shot of them together where they were not fighting.

I love this picture too. He and I were playing when I took this one. This was before the new kitty came along.

Chance was actually grooming the new kitty today! Of course that didn't last too long before he was biting her instead. It seems like they are having fun together even though it seems they play pretty rough sometimes - especially Chance. And I was worried about him getting bullied but it seems he is more of the bully.

Relatively straight

2008-10-30T18:23:00.004-05:00

I took these pictures this morning after Chance got the splint off. The vet I saw this morning refused to put it back on. He thought it was more detrimental to him at this point than it was helpful. He was a jerk and unprofessional in how he handled things in my opinion. I will not see him again. I have an appointment Monday afternoon to see Dr. White who put the splint on to begin with. If it seems to go downhill between now and in the morning I will see if I can see Dr. White tomorrow. Dr. Nelson said it couldn't get any worse when I asked what if it gets worse. He can put his paw down on his pads like he is supposed to now and he could not before so I do feel that there has been an improvement. There isn't much muscle tone in that lower part of his leg/foot but there wasn't much to begin with anyway since he wasn't using it. He lifts that leg up a lot more now with the splint off but hopefully he will use it more and things will improve rather than go back the other way. I guess we will see what Dr. White has to say tomorrow/Monday and go from there. I think we just need to stick with Dr. White as it gets very frustrated to deal with multiple doctors and their differing opinions.

I spoke too soon!

2008-10-30T07:59:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I was telling someone that I was surprised that Chance had not yet gotten the splints off of his leg. Well..........now he has. I noticed it looked like it was slipping down his leg some this morning but wasn't sure but then a little while later it was quite obvious that it had slipped even further down. So, I put him in my bathroom to keep him from running around on it anymore and making it worse and called the vet to see about getting him in to re-bandage him. When I went back in the bathroom to check on him I found the splint off and him madly trying to clean that leg. It looks like they are right and the leg is not growing. I haven't looked at it up close yet though since he was busy with it. When I left the bathroom to call work to say I'd be late I found the other kitty sitting in my chair at the computer. I guess that means I spend too much time here since she seemed to know where I would show back up soon.

The fighting begins

2008-10-30T07:49:00.004-05:00

They started fighting more this morning. Chance would jump on top of her and bite her tummy and stuff. She kept coming back for more though!

Interesting resting place

2008-10-28T22:15:00.002-05:00

I still haven't figured out a good name for this little kitten. She is quite vocal, climbs everything including me and has some interesting places she likes to rest. I was doing something at the computer and she climbed up on the back of my leg and just laid down! She moved around a little while I was trying to get a good picture to show where she was at.

I seriously thought I might have to return her but I think perhaps things will work out okay between the two kitties after all. At least they haven't tried to kill each other yet. They swipe at each other sometimes and growl at times but that has been the worst so far.

It's a miracle!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-28T22:04:00.003-05:00

I couldn't believe they got so close to each other to eat and drink. They were in Chance's bathroom and she was eating his food and he was drinking some water.

The other picture is forced. I put them both in the cat bed and both were making "I don't like this" type noises. They played pretty well together tonight I think. I hope they are both worn out and will sleep well.

My poor hands

2008-10-28T21:59:00.003-05:00

I have scratches all over the place from these crazy kitties. (mostly the new one)

My new "family"

2008-10-28T21:14:00.000-05:00

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Not too sure about each other

2008-10-27T15:23:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Chance and the new kitty. They are still not sure about each other. Both went to the vet today and got their first shots. The new kitten has a heart murmer. Leave it to me to find two cats with a problem. But, it appears she has the kind that doesn't cause any or much trouble. She goes back in three weeks to check the heart again and get her 2nd shot. She weighed 1.4 pounds today. Still no name for her yet. The vet suggested spotlight and the vet's daughter suggested blackie. My Mom suggested Emmie or Emerauld.

Chance got another splint today and it has even less support than the last one and we'll change it next week and see how it looks the week after that. His thyroid test came back normal but the vet is perplexed that he has gotten better on the meds. So, we are going to taper off of them and then see how he does and if he has problems again we will do further thyroid (more in depth) testing and probably liver bile testing as well. He weighed 2.2 lbs today so now he has more than doubled his weight since I got him. His leg that is in the splint still is not growing so not sure what his prognosis will be there just yet. The one vet said he didn't see any reason to amputate even if he has a little neme type limb as long as it isn't such that it causes problems like it was initially. The other vets in that group say to just amputate it. I am like Dr. White in that I don't see the need to do that unless it hinders his getting around and/or causes other problems for him.

New addition

2008-10-25T12:22:00.002-05:00

This is my newest addition. I really hope it will work out okay. This one is a girl and they called her Be Bop at the shelter. I think I will change that. Any name suggestions for this one????????

She seems like a sweet kitty but she was going ballistic on the way home - trying to get out of the crate and meowing like crazy. She hasn't had any shots at all or anything so I am keeping the two separated until she goes to the vet on Monday.

I looked at the Ark yesterday but the ones they had were all bigger than chance.

UGH - she just had a very loose stool. Gross. It was outside of the little box too. :(
I hope this is just due to nerves???

I think I am going to escape to Walmart soon.

October Scrapbook Challenge

2008-10-24T16:08:00.002-05:00

I got it done. It is really simple this time but I like it.

Chance is feeling better!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-22T21:26:00.002-05:00

Chance had another long day at the vet today. He was given fluids and they are now leaning the most towards thyroid problems and so they did a blood test and sent it off so I do not know for sure yet if he does have a thyroid problem or not but we started meds for that today. I guess the thing causing him the most discomfort in the past day or two must have been the constipation. I went with friends to dinner tonight and when I got back Chance was his old self again! When I went to change out the litter boxes I noticed he had done some major stuff while I was gone. I'm so glad he seems to be feeling so much better. I just hope this continues. It has been a rough 4 days. It has been hard to see him so miserable and not to be able to do much for him even though we have been trying so hard.

the latest on Chance

2008-10-21T21:11:00.003-05:00

Chance spent the day at the vet's office today since he was quite lethargic this morning like he was on Sunday. It could just be that the antibiotics he has been on are not working. But, they are looking at 3 other possibilities as well. He could have water on the brain, liver problems, or hypothyroidism. They were leaning towards thinking it is a liver problem but are now also equally thinking it may be the thyroid. He seems to have more of the liver problem and hypothyroid symptoms than he does the water on the brain from what I have been able to find out on the internet. He is eating and drinking tonight and actually FINALLY had a bowel movement. He even has played some tonight. I had them do x-rays and it appears he is/was constipated and they also found some other abnormalities in the x-rays. He has a hip bone that is smaller than normal. He has several vertebrae fused together in his upper spine and the ribs on his right side (same side as leg that is missing bones) are not all equally spaced like they should be. He has a little bit of curvature of the spine due to those things I guess. The doctor didn't seem to think those things would be causing his current problems and didn't seem to think they would cause any long term problems for him either. We switched antibiotics just in case the other wasn't working and it appears they already gave him a dose today. So, I will probably dose him again at midnight for his morning dose tomorrow since he isn't supposed to have anything but water after midnight for his testing tomorrow. It may be okay to give him the antibiotic but I forgot to ask about that, so I will just do it at midnight. I hope we can get to the bottom of things SOON. The doctor said he was going to read more about the hypothyroidism tonight and decide which route to take in the morning as far as testing goes.

They changed his splint again today and supported it differently. The one doctor is still optimistic about his leg but the others aren't optimistic about it at all. I like him the best out of the doctors we have seen there thus far.

The only thing I was charged for today was the x-ray and the medication even though they also boarded him for the day, examined him, observed him thru the day, splinted the leg again, and did one blood test. That certainly helps since even though any one visit hasn't been horribly expensive he has had lots of visits and they are adding up.