And Kitty Makes 3‏

Yes folks, there are three of us now. Me, Sylvester, and our newest family member, Jax. Courtney & I met Dr. Robin at the vent clinic on Saturday evening and after seeing him I just KNEW I had to have him. He's so cute & spunky. He jumps around as if he doesn't always have control of his body. He also seems to have springs on the bottom of his feet. He is very curious, but how could he not be after living in a cage for over a week. He has freedom now! Dr. Robin hooked us up with some kitty food, bowls, toys, and a picture frame. We are set! After getting the crate out of my car, bashing my head into the metal blood and urine box on the outside of the door, and grabbing the kitten we were ready to head to mom & dad's. Jax cried the whole time he was in the crate. I guess he thought his freedom had already been taken away. We got home, set up his food and water and he was exploring the room we put him in. I don't think there was a corner untouched. It was a like a jungle to him. He enjoyed playing in the bookcases and once Grandmama raised the blinds he was having a grand old time, minus not realizing there was glass in the window and plowing into it. Takes after me. :) He was definitely not the most fun sleeping companion. He wanted to play. He LOVES toys. Sylvest doesn't care for them that much so this was funny to me. He loved them. He also loves my hair. I think he thought it was an actual rat's nest. He would walk on it, lay in it, start to chew on it and bite it. That was not tolerated and he got in trouble. He is a big biter. He likes to bite at your hands when you pet him. I immediately started punishing him. Those little razor teeth kinda hurt and no one is going to want to play with him if he bites. After jumping all over me, slamming into my face multiple times, and playing with all the toys he calmed down enough to let me rub him which finally put him to sleep. He needed to sleep right at my head though. I don't know if he needed to feel me breathe or what. He would snuggle all around my neck before finally finding a spot to park it. At one point he was sleeping on my neck. Of course since he only weights 2.4 lbs I didn't mind. I decided on the name Jax last night. I explored a bunch of other names but ended up not liking any of them. Jax just fits best with his spunky little personality. He cried most of the way home last night. My talking to him didn't calm him down either, it made him louder. lol. We got home and then it was time for the awaited introduction to Sylvest. I had to put the carrier down so I could unlock the door and Jax let out a cry. Dang. I knew that would draw Sylvest right to the door. Sure enough I open the door and his head pops out. I push him back, get in and get the door shut, and set the carrier down again and the first big hiss and growl from Sylvest comes out. I wouldn't have expected anything less. He does this a few times. I take the crate to the bathroom and park Jax in there so I could get two litter boxes and food ready. Jax would cry and Sylvest would hiss & growl. After a few minutes Sylvest just left. I thought "Oh great, did he go to pee on my furniture?!" I went into the living room and he was sitting on the arm of the couch staring in the direction of my bathroom. After a little while I picked Sylvest up and carried him to the carrier but that was just more hissing and growling. He left the bathroom and sat at the foot of my bed just watching Jax's crate. I finally got everything settled and let Jax out in the bathroom and shut the door. The rest of the evening and this morning Sylvest could be found sitting on the ground in front of my bed staring at the bathroom letting out the occasional hiss. I hope this is short lived and Sylvest wakes up tomorrow and thinks "I'm going to love that new kitty now!" Fingers crossed. I'll keep you updated!

Cat Contemplation‏

Sylvester & I are contemplating extending our family. We've had a family meeting but the jury is still out until I meet the new possible member this Saturday.

Dr. Robin stumbled upon an 8-10 week old kitten last Thursday at the sale barn in Decatur. No one was around to claim him so she brought him to the vet clinic so that he wouldn't be run over or eaten by another animal. He is in good health; just a few scrapes here and there, and his nails and pads of his feet are worn down like he has been trying to climb up something, possibly a tree. She asked on Saturday if I wanted a new kitten. She's asked a few times in the past when the opportunity arose and my answer has always been NO, however, this time I am actually contemplating it and leaning toward YES. Sylvester is 5 now and it would be nice if he had a playmate. Plus it's just plain fun to have a kitten! :) And look how CUTE he is!!! So why am I contemplating you ask? Sylvester. Sylvester is the drawback. Sylvest is a little punkeroo that is full of attitude. You just never know what you are going to get with him. Sometimes he is sweet and precious and other times you would swear he was the devil. Life has definitely been more interesting with him around. So do I want to add another kitten to the craziness? Will Sylvest hate the new addition? Will we all survive? We'll know after Saturday.

Showering Baby James

We threw a baby shower for Elizabeth & Baby James on Sunday, August 2nd in Houston. It was a lot of fun and Elizabeth & Kevin received lots of things for James. He will be a very well dressed child. :-) We played the dirty diaper game where you fill diapers with melted chocolate candy and have everyone guess what the candy is. They are able to touch, smell, taste, etc in order to figure it out. We also played the baby food game where everyone tries to guest the type of baby food. And lastly we had everyone fill out bingo cards with what they thought Elizabeth would receive as presents and then everyone played bingo while she opened gifts. We had snacks, punch, and some awesome cake. It was so very fun getting to shower Elizabeth. We can't wait for Baby James to arrive sometime around Sept. 16th!!!

Isn't she glowing? :-)

Deborah, Mommy-To-Be Elizabeth, & me

Diaper cake & onesie cupcakes.

Invitation, onesie, & prizes for the games.

Yummy cake, that matched the invitations.

Dirty diaper game.

Elizabeth opening gifts for James.

Kevin enjoying going through the gifts after the shower.

Summer Escape : it's like a spa for your soul!‏

At the end of July I attended Summer Escape at my church, Stonebriar Community Church. It's a yearly event put on through the Women's Ministries. It's a place to "Escape from the heat. Be refreshed by the Word." This year I helped with registration and clean-up. Those of us helping with the event got together the Friday night before the Saturday event and made sure we had name tags for everyone who had registered, as well as placed their session information and lunch selection on the tag. We arrived early Saturday so that we would be ready for all the women who were attending. We had a really great turn out this year!

Registration Girls - Stephanie & Jessica

There were sessions you could choose from that fit your personal and spiritual needs. These "treatments" lasted about an hour and ranged anywhere from "How to get through trials" to "Hip Hop for Jesus", which were the two sessions I attended. Breakfast and lunch were included in the $10 cost. It was a great day of fellowship with other Christian women; some I knew and some I just met that day.

me & Jessica

I really enjoyed the sessions I attended. "How to get through trials" was very informative and I thought I'd share. I know everyone can use this info at one time in their lives or another. I attended a bible study the other day where the person leading said that we are always going though storms/trials. We might be in one right now, we might have just went through one, or we might have one coming up, but there are always trials in life. The lady leading my session at Summer Escape said that a trial is any circumstance that knocks you off kilter and they never go away. She referenced Hebrews 12:4-11. We suffer because we resist. We reap what we sow, Galatians 6:7-10. Every trial demands a choice. We can choose bitterness & worry or we can choose to trust God for strength & wisdom. God allows trials as a way to test our faith and develop perseverance. We must trust God. We must respond to trials with prayer, asking that God remove them and heal them. We must persevere; have staying power. Romans 8:35-37 says "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us." We experience inner joy by following Christ. Joy does not equal happiness. Joy is an inner quality beyond our circumstances. Last, but not least, faith is like gold. Faith stands the test of time.

Showing of their hip hop poses: LA, Nina, Joy, & Renalee

After that wonderful session, which I got a lot out of, I attended Hip Hop for Jesus. Eric, our hip hop leader, started the session out with devotional time and then taught us a dance routine. It was hilarious watching everyone try to learn the moves. I was having a pretty difficult time with the hip hop, as I am most definitely not very coordinated. I was also wearing a long skirt that day which didn't help either. I muddled through and we all learned the routine. It was a pretty great workout. I was sweating bullets! :-) Not sure hip hop dance suits me, but it was definitely fun.

Summer Escape was a huge success this year. I invite you to all be a part of it next year!

American Idols Live!

I really got into American Idol this year. This was only my second season to watch, but apparently I got addicted on a very good year with lots of talent. I really liked both the finalists, Adam & Kris, and would have been pleased no matter who won. Of course Kris won the competition this year and I even went to iTunes and bought one or two of his songs. When I was given the opportunity a few weeks ago to go to the American Idols Live! I jumped at the chance. Keelie & I got free tickets from a friend of a friend and we headed to the American Airlines Center to enjoy the concert. We had to go to Will Call to get the tickets, which I'd never done before. I was so afraid there would be some snafu and they wouldn't be there. Thankfully they were there and even better than we expected. We were in Platinum Club. Whoo and hoo. We had our own special entrance into the AAC, had our own special escalator up to the Platinum Club section, and had our own special concession stands. Needless to say Keelie & I felt VERY VIP. The seats were great; in-between the boxes. We had a good view of everything. The concert lasted about 3 hours and I was honestly sad when it was over. The idols performed in the order they had been voted off, starting with #10. They all did a great job performing. They were very comfortable on stage and with the audience, something that was not so natural for them when first on Idol. We thought they all sounded better than when they were on the show. I guess they have had a lot of practice and coaching, and of course you've got to feel more comfortable when you aren't being judged. :) I thought their appearances looked more rockstar worthy too. The guys were all sporting the faux-hawk. Megan resembled something similar to a Barbie doll when she first entered the stage in a bright pink mini dress and platinum blonde hair. The idols sang some songs together, which was fun to see. I especially liked the dueling pianos of Matt & Scott. Adam was definitely theatrical as usual. He had on the darkest green eyeshadow, but of course it was SO him. I loved Kris' smile. Makes you want to melt. He was great on the piano as well. I think a lot of these idols will make it big. They are definitely talented. I'll for sure buy some of their music. Thanks for letting Keelie & I have a great night with the idols and for letting us feel very VIP, Lindsay! :)

Contestants 5-10

Adam Lambert

Kris Allen

Top 10 Finale

Sippitydoodle

Last night Leah, Leigh Ann, Margaret, & myself went to Sippitydoodle in downtown McKinney as a pre-birthday celebration for Leigh Ann, who turns 31 Monday. Think paint-by-numbers, except not. :-) You just bring yourself, your favorite beverage/snacks, and some friends and "Drink in the Arts". An artist has already drawn a picture on the canvas for you and you paint the picture while an artist guides you step by step on what to do, but you are able to add your own flair to your creation. They furnish all the art supplies and you just create! Last night's artwork was 'Fireflies in a Jar' (professional artist's photo above). It cost us $30 (regularly $35 for 2 hours, but we had an email coupon) and it was lots of fun. I would recommend it to anyone who wants something different and creative to do. We are already talking about going back in September or October to work on some fall pieces. If you attend 6 sessions you get your 6th one free. It was fun to see how different our paintings turned out, even though we were working on the same thing. It was a great way to explore our creative side!

the before

Marge hard at work!

I'm creating!

LA & Leah did a great job!

My finished product!

With the artist.

me, LA, Leah, & Marge...we are as good as the professionals! ;-)

So irritating!‏

Okay, so LOTS of things irritate me, but this one has REALLY been bothering me lately. Bare with me as I rant. I cannot stand it when people rush onto an elevator before the people who are ALREADY on it have a chance to get out. Sounds like a little thing, I know. But I work in a building full of elevators and I experience this on a daily basis. It's rude! Wait. Wait your turn. Give it a second to see if the people on the elevator are going to step out of it. Most of the time people don't just ride around in them for fun. Step to the side, give them some room. It's the courteous thing to do. Today was the breaking point. I'm on the first floor and I pressed the button to go up. A woman walks over to the elevator and stands waiting as well. We had to wait a bit longer than normal. As soon as the elevator opened up on the first floor, half full with people, she pushes her way in. All but one of these people were wanting to get out of the elevator and had to wait, and then maneuver around her. Really? Seriously? Woman you are rude. Oh, and to top it off I wait for everyone to pile out and am about to get on and the doors begin to shut. Do she and the man on the elevator press any buttons to keep it from shutting? Uh, no! So I stick my arm out to make the doors stop shutting while making a face and a slight sound. Rude. Rude, rude, rude. Okay, I'll stop now. But if elevator doors open and I'm on there you better hop out of the way and let me off before you jump in! :-P

Little Ones

Yesterday my day was full of little children. I attended Emma's 4th Birthday Party at a splash park in Frisco. Below she is sampling the sand (sugar) that surrounds her awesome flip flop cake.

Emma is showing her little friends the scratch on her arm after being accidentally knocked down at the splash park!

After the birthday party I headed to Southlake to meet Ashlee & Dylan for lunch at Cheesecake Factory. This was my first time to meeting Dylan, who was born 2 1/2 months ago. Isn't Dylan just precious? :-)

After lunch in Southlake I headed to Gunter to see Keelie and the kiddos. I hadn't seen Jonah & Glory in quite a while and a visit was long over due. I realized on the way that I didn't have my usual present for Jonah. Thankfully he didn't inquire about it when I arrived. He was too busy being a goofball. In the picture below his shorts are on his head, which he was resisting putting on. Jonah did end up with a toy after our visit to Cracker Barrel. He wanted to know if I had enough money for the toy in his hand. I asked him how much it was. He told me $2. I looked at the tag and told him it was $6.99. He asked if I had that much! LOL! How could I resist?! Keelie & I did talk him into the $4.99 train set though. Oh, that boy!

Glory was so cute and she's getting so big. She'll be one next month! She does this precious little nose crinkle when she smiles. It's just great. She kept doing it and cracking me up. Oh, and she LOVES her big brother. She laughs at him a lot. She's getting close to walking. She's a speed crawler and is pulling up on everything.

Not So EZ‏

I do dumb stuff. It just happens that way. I don't mean to, but pretty often the dumbness sneaks in.

This latest incident happened on Saturday in Houston. This past weekend was Elizabeth's baby shower weekend. Deb & I got to Elizabeth's parent's house on Saturday to get things set up and decorated for the Sunday shower. After we were done we headed to Elizabeth's, in Katy, in my car. We hopped on Beltway 8 (my Dallas toll tag will work in Houston) but I didn't get over to the EZ Tag lane in enough time, as it's a tricky part of the highway, so we just went through the tollbooth. As we got into the lane we didn't notice that it didn't say EZ Tag. Most tollbooths are either/or so I didn't think much of it. Bad, bad, bad mistake. We were in a line of cars and not paying much attention. Deb & I don't exactly compliment each other well in the goofy/dumbness category. We really bring out the worse in each other. How we ever made it through college as roommates I'll never know, but I digress. It was our turn at the toll and as I drove up to it I saw that the arm was down. In Dallas we don't have the arm things, at least not usually. I assumed my tag would register and the arm would pop up. Nope. Not the case. Turns out we were not in an EZ Tag lane but in a coin only lane. WHAT? Coin only? We didn't have $1.50 in change. Deb and I looked at each other and began to freak out. Again, we do not help each other in these kinds of situations. Neither of us remained calm. As we were yelling and freaking out we both grabbed for our purses and started digging for change. I KNEW I didn't have $1.50 in change and was pretty sure I only had a few pennies. I started throwing handfuls of coins into the thing. Deb would hand me her coins and I'd do the same. I was in PANIC mode. In the meantime Deb proceeds to ask me if I'm kidding. After about the third time she asked that I screamed "I'M NOT KIDDING. I HAVE NO MONEY." Yah, I wasn't doing that just for fun. We threw, and threw, and threw in our money, most of it being pennies. We cleared out our wallets and were lacking 28 cents. 28 CENTS?! We didn't have 28 CENTS?! We were freaking and didn't know what to do. Oh, did I forget to mention that the cars, which had formed in the line behind us, were playing a nice little ditty on their horns. Yes, this didn't help matters. At one point I considered just driving through the arm and breaking it to get away. My car is only about a year and a half old though so I quickly decided against damaging it like that. I told Deborah she HAD to get out and go ask the lady behind us for 30 cents. She looked at me like I was joking but I think the look I gave her back showed her I WASN'T. She ran back to the car, obtained 50 cents, I threw it in (to which Deb thought I missed at first), the arm went up, my heart started beating again and Deb yelled "Drive, drive, drive...before we get shot!!!!!" I drove, drove, drove trying to get far away from anyone in line behind us. Deb said the lady that gave us the money was trying her hardest not to laugh. After we regained composure we began dying laughing. We could not believe what we had just done. REALLY? Who does that?! And the stinkin' tollbooth workers didn't try to help AT ALL. Boo to them. In the minutes and days since this incident we've retold this story many times, however, no one finds it as hilarious as we did. Guess you just had to be there. Oh, and side note, everyone said that the coin thing doesn't take pennies. Thank you God it did last Saturday for our car!