Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!

Our Motto

This was on our (dc and I's) table at Bubba Gump's Shrimp in Colorado over the summer... and it is so true and fitting... so we have adopted it as our motto, because, you know, it is funny how things work out.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our furry family to yours!

Dreams

Quote

I stumbled upon this quote today and I really like it...

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. –Dr. Seuss

One More...

damn already... this has been my mantra for a few days now... today will be a good day...negativity get behind me!

Today

I "borrowed" this from Sweet Blessings

Checking In

I’m not even sure where to start… dc and I have been so busy working on the kitchen… it’s looking really good though… we’re making excellent progress!!
Poor Murphy doesn’t seem to be taking all the construction too well though… he hides under the couch pretty much all the time and only seems to come out at night… it’s making me so sad but I don’t know what to do about it right now. (All I can do is just keep working on the kitchen, the sooner we get it done the better!!!) My daily kitty calendar said, “Because their sense of security is linked to their territorial instinct, cats make mental maps of their personal space. It may take a cat cartographer as long as 6 months before he feels he can settle down comfortably in a new home.” So poor Murphy hides all the time and Mazzy is out and about, always inspecting and wondering what’s going on; we have officially dubbed her the “project supervisor”. Last night dc had his drill bit set open on the floor and Mazzy was all over it, rolling around on it… she is nuts but apparently she loves chaos!!! Up until the construction got crazy both of the kitties seemed to be taking the move very well… so I’m really hoping that after all is said and done Murphy will be back to his old self.
There hasn’t been too much going on besides the kitchen… I’m working on dealing with the stress of having the whole house an absolute wreck and I think I’m doing ok… I’m very OCD and anal about everything… everything has a place and having sheetrock dust everywhere (nothing is clean!) and not having a kitchen is a little stressful but at the same time I’m learning to deal with it (I think!)…
Anyways, it seems there was so much else to say until I actually sat down and started writing and now my mind has gone blank (too much damn sheetrock dust!)…

Gerbers!!!

Awww!!!! For our anniversary dc wanted to get me some flowers… he said he’s been thinking on it and he knows that gerber daisies are my favorites so he decided on those… and instead of just sending me flowers he thought he would buy them for me for the house so we could plant them and they would live longer than just a few days… bonus, they come back year after year… so.. here is what we did on Saturday… we cleaned out the flower beds and planted my gerbers… I love them! They are so pretty!!

!

Updating... Kitty Claws

Update on my dilemma with the kitties… I called the vet this morning and talked to them about having the kitties de-clawed… in a way I am relieved because it’s a no-go… they are too old and the lady said that they wouldn’t do it because of their age… apparently if they de-claw older cats there is a higher chance that they will quit using their litter box…. So my vet won’t do it… which is fine by me… so I’ve spent all day researching alternatives…. I’m going to get a spray that is supposed to help stop them from clawing furniture and carpet and stuff… I’m also thinking about maybe a catnip infused scratching post… the soft paws/claws seem to be an ok idea (if you can get them on) but I’m going to try the spray first… the soft paws are about $20 a package and each set will last for about 3 to 4 weeks on average and there are 40 in a package… the vet will put them on for $25… I’ve read that you can put them on yourself but I honestly don’t know how well that would work… the kitties hate having their nails trimmed, I can’t imagine trying to glue the caps on, dc has to hold them by the neck just so they don’t scratch me to pieces… we decided we would try the spray and other stuff first and see if that would work… keep your paws crossed!!!

Ideas? Anyone?

I kinda feel like I’m stuck and I don’t really know what to do… I’m about to drive myself crazy over-thinking this… it’s the kitties… and their claws… when I moved into the apartment the lady that lived there before me had a dog… the apartment didn’t replace the carpet before I moved in and the kitties were constantly clawing/scratching it… I thought maybe it was just the dog smell that they were after… they have a scratching post, I’ve actually had several for them, vertical ones, horizontal ones… Murphy won’t use it and I’ve tried to “show” him how to use them… Mazzy uses it but she has also started using the back of dc’s couch… Murphy (and sometimes) Mazzy are now clawing at the new carpet in the 2nd bedroom… then, when Mazzy goes outside and freaks out she slices you to pieces… (I got cut again last night, other arm, when I let her outside… she immediately darted off towards the back of the yard and I had to chase her down… needless to say she is not allowed outside anymore!)
I have always been vehemently opposed to having kitties de-clawed… to me it is inhumane and completely unnecessary… there is absolutely no medical reason to de-claw a kitty… the past two days I have found myself thinking about having the kitties de-clawed though… I have even gone as far as to call the vet and see how they did it in town, what was involved, and the cost… de-clawing the kitties doesn’t sit well with me at all… I feel so extremely guilty even thinking about it… I honestly can’t believe I am thinking about it… considering it… calling on it… I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get them to stop scratching the “wrong” things though… I’ve tried spraying them with water, spanking them, showing them how to use the scratching post, and I am out of ideas… I’m going to get some of the spray that’s supposed to stop them from scratching- I tried it in the beginning at the apartment … but that’s the last thing I know of… the vet I called today suggested those nail caps but the kitties hate having their nails messed with so I’m 99.99% sure that’s not going to work… I don’t want to not do anything just because what we have now isn’t “that” nice because I don’t want them to think it’s ok to keep scratching… you know, in case we ever get new furniture or nice carpet… but I really don’t know what to do… my arms hurt like hell from Mazzy’s razor blade like claws and the back of the couch is and the carpet in the 2nd bedroom is getting scratched up… The kitties (and I) would greatly appreciate any and all thoughts and ideas!!!

The Move Is Over!

So the move is over with… we took the last load and turned the keys into the apartment office on Sunday. I can’t even begin to explain how nice it was last night after work to just go home. No moving anything from place to place, no having to leave after we get done working to go back to the apartment and go to bed… just going home from work and putting things up. Last night we got the living room set up, tonight we’re working on the bedrooms.
The kitties are doing well in the new place. I think they’ve smelled every square inch of the house, every closet, everything. They spent all Saturday night exploring. We let them outside in the backyard Sunday and then again last night after work. Murphy does really good; if he starts to wander off you can call his name and he’ll stop, turn around, and look at you. Mazzy on the other hand always has to push the boundaries… last night she jumped thru the gate and took off down the drive-way. I yelled her name and I’m pretty sure she started running faster. A car drove by, scared her, and she stopped running. I went to get her and she hid under dc’s truck. I finally ended up half dragging her out cause she wasn’t coming out on her own! She clawed and hissed the whole time. The t-shirt I had on has holes in it and my left arm looks like I got in a knife fight (and lost horribly). Needless to say, she ended up back inside after that little escapade. Murphy on the other hand just hung around outside; he laid on a concrete slab in the yard soaking up the sun, wandered around eating grass, enjoying being outside. Too bad his sister couldn’t act the same way.
dc’s sister is having a garage sale Saturday so we are in the process of going thru everything that we moved over and deciding what to keep and what to sell… man alive we have a lot of junk!!! I’m just hoping that the majority of it sells!!!
Ever since the move in December 2007 I’ve changed my address every 6 to 9 months, so I’m really hoping that this is the end of my nomadic journey for a while…

Feeling It

I am feeling the stress… the stress of remodeling the whole house in about 2 months and the stress of moving… for me moving is stressful enough… add in the remodeling and I’m out of control!! Last night dc called me his "little stress ball" and that fits perfectly. This past week I’ve felt like I’ve been just having a constant panic attack. Everyone says, don’t worry, don’t stress, you’re ahead of schedule. That’s great that everyone else feels that way but when you’ve got your stuff strung out between a house and an apartment and the house is almost done but not quite I’m going to be stressed. I also feel bad, and more stressed, because the kitties are feeling my stress and are stressing themselves. They know something’s going on because dc and I have been moving stuff out all week long. I wish the kitties understood when I tell them, don’t worry, you’re going too, just not yet!! Poor Mazzy has been all over me when I’m at home, like, hey, what are you doing, don’t forget about me, I’m still here!!! Murphy has spent most of his time under the couch or staring out on to the balcony.
The apartment is pretty much empty now except for the big stuff, you know, the washer & dryer, couch, tv, bed, dresser, and chest of drawers. We are supposed to be moving that stuff this weekend so hopefully the weather will cooperate. We had a cold front blow in and have a chance of snow today and tonight. If I wasn’t trying to move I wouldn’t mind at all but I’m not really looking forward to the weather being nasty (side note, it’s been in the 70’s lately and of course the weekend we are supposed to move stuff with the trailer the weather is not cooperating). I’m really hoping that getting moved will take the stress level down about 100 notches for me. I’ve already decided that I’m going to schedule a massage after the move is over. I was going to wait and schedule it after we got the kitchen finished but I don’t know if I can wait that long. Something has to give soon because I don’t like this all stressed out me… the always angry, irritated, or way upset me.

More Work...

So dc and I have been working on the house non-stop pretty much and I must say it’s looking very good!! I’m really proud of what we’ve done so far!!! We “officially” started moving last night after work, we took two loads of stuff over… technically we don’t have to be out of the apartment until Tuesday so we’ve still got a week but I’m ready for the move to be over and done with. We can’t really do anything else, except demo, on the house until the kitchen cabinets come in. We ordered them last Wednesday and they said it should take 2 – 3 weeks for them to come in. The kitchen is all we have left to do. The carpet was installed in the 2 bedrooms on Friday and we finished the bathroom over the weekend… well, finished except for re-finishing the bathtub but we are going to tackle that one night this week.



The Bathroom- Before:




The Bathroom- After:



Our Bedroom & Closet:



Guestbedroom:

Hindsight

You know what pisses me off more than anything… well, maybe not more than anything but right now it’s my more than anything… when someone can’t take care of something that is going to affect someone else… and it’s something so simple that one little phone call could take care of the whole situation… unfortunately it’s not something I can take care of though… believe me, I’ve tried calling, letters, faxes, but I don’t have the “authority” to remove myself… that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but whatever… but then, the situation gets even better shall we say… the person doesn’t understand why what happened between you two happened… it couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you “took care” of everything else like you took care of this situation… you put absolutely no effort into anything and just hoped someone else would take care of it for you… your relationships, your work/business, everything… that’s how you approach life… to me that’s sad that you don’t even care enough about yourself to try to take care of your own life... you try to act dumb (or whatever excuse you are using now) but it all boils down to being lazy and not wanting to do anything that would require you to take any action whatsoever until you have no choice but to take action… let’s rely on everyone else but the person best suited to take care of your life… I only wish I would have seen all of this sooner but they say hindsight is 20/20…

Bits and Pieces

dc and I are working on the rent house we are moving in to when my lease is up in March, if not before, depending on how long we can tolerate the people who moved in below us- and the only moved in yesterday but they are quite noisy!!! The rent house is coming along good… so far we’ve changed out all the plugs, switches, and covers… they are all nice, new, white, and they all match now!!! dc changed out all the doorknobs so those all match too… we’re almost done painting, all I have left to do is 2 closets, the trim in the 2 bedrooms, hall, and living room, and 4 doors… then we’re onto more major projects… we’re putting in an awesome closet system… we’re also in the process of demoing the bathroom… the only thing staying in the bathroom is the bathtub and the tile he just put up around the bathtub… we’re putting in a new light fixture, pedestal sink, toilet, mirror, and medicine cabinet… the bathroom is really dated so this will help a lot!!! lastly, the kitchen is going to be completely gutted and redone… I’m not sure if we’ll have time to do that before we move in but it is going to have to happen… we’re taking out one pantry (there are currently 2) and putting the fridge in that area, adding more counter space, changing the layout, putting in new cabinets, lights, and floor, tearing down part of a wall to make a bar area (not like a wet bar just a regular ‘ol bar), adding a dishwasher- there is currently no dishwasher and that stresses me- I’ve always had a dishwasher!!!- and changing out the stove/oven that’s in there for one with a microwave/stove/oven combination… oh yeah, there is no microwave currently and I honestly don’t think we have room for one… the kitchen is a really good size but the way it’s set up right now it isn’t very functional (kinda like the bathroom)… like I said, it’s going very well and pretty fast so far and once we get all the smaller projects done we can really focus on working together on the big projects… I love home improvements and it’s really nice when you’re working with someone else who helps out and likes doing them too, not someone who just wants to sit on the couch and have you and your parents do it… we’re having a lot of fun and learning stuff in the process!!! I so kept asking dc to remind me to take before and after pictures but of course I failed to take before pictures… I suppose I could still take them although you wouldn’t get to see all of the ugliness that we’ve fixed so far, lol…
um, Valentine’s was really good… we cooked dinner for his parents, my parents, and his aunt and uncle… everyone already knows everyone (thru church) so that took a lot of the pressure off of the situation… we cooked brisket, cheddar stuffed bacon wrapped jalapenos, potato salad, bread, and sopapilla cheesecake… it was so yummy!!!!
We’ve been working on the rent house every chance we get… and we’ve got our February dinner party coming up on the 28th which I am really looking forward to... I suppose that’s about all the excitement in my life lately which is fine by me, I'll take that!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love is not finding someone to live with, It's finding someone you can't live without.

- Rafael Ortiz

You may conquer with the sword, but you are conquered by a kiss.

- Daniel Heinsius

Self-Love Day

Ok, today (well, actually tomorrow since it’s Valentine’s) has been declared Self-Love Day (thank you Ilax and Hilly)!! So, I decided to participate this year…

The Rules:
1.) Post a banner on your blog and declare February 14th as the day you not only love your one and only, but the day that you love yourself!
2.) Post one nice thing about yourself……then ask others to post one thing that they really like about you.
3.) Enjoy yourself!

So I decided to participate now I’m having some trouble coming up with one nice thing to post about myself. Let’s see… I love that I am working hard to become the person that I want to be, that I’m learning to relax (about a lot of things!), that I’m no longer scared to stay “stuck in a rut” if something’s not working and am willing to try something new; I love that I discovered that being happy is something that everyone deserves and that I will take the steps I need to take to make myself happy!!!
I suppose all that came from everything that’s been going on for the past year… I’m learning a lot about myself and I’m really learning how to be happy. It’s amazing how much better life is when you’re happy!!
On a side note- I don’t want anyone to feel pressured to say something nice about me, I feel weird “asking”…

Deep Breaths

Hopefully you can’t just feel the ugh coming out in this post… today has been one of those days when everyone just manages to crawl all over your last nerve!!!! I think that all the idiots of the world are in town today and are either calling or coming by to bother me… it’s just one of those days…
I took my car in today at lunch… the air bag light is still on (from since oh, November-ish) and the part they were supposed to order in December never got ordered and no notes were mad as to what the problem was… so they asked me to bring it in again to have it re-tested… I know, it’s not like I’ve just been on them about the problem either… I’ve been procrastinating… I have no idea why it’s such an “ordeal” for me to take my car to the shop, it’s not like I have to do anything but take it in and drop it off.
More “good” news… I found out yesterday that if someone isn’t paying their taxes, like payroll, unemployment, sales, or whatever (if they own a business) and your name is on the taxes somewhere that can go on your credit and affect your credit… which brings me to…. The ex hasn’t been paying any of the taxes for the restaurant since I quit taking care of them (figuring and paying them)…. The restaurant is a sole- proprietorship but my name was on the unemployment tax so I’m not really sure if it’s anywhere else… luckily km’s sister is taking care of the tax situation for me… he’s also not paying on his part of the debt from the divorce and the company doesn’t honor divorce decrees so even though it’s his debt per the decree since we both signed the loan papers and he hasn’t refinanced it it’s still going against me… I can only hope he’s still making the house payment since the mortgage company doesn’t honor divorce decrees either… normally I try not to be a “number dropper” but in this case I’m going to be… my credit score at the beginning of September was an 816… a freaking 816!!! Pretty damn good if I do say so myself!!!! I don’t even want to know what it is now as I am constantly getting letters “reminding” me of the payment that is past due… I just need to keep reminding myself that even though my credit may suck (cheese) balls I am much happier now and I can deal with this, I will take bad credit over happiness in this situation… (I think this is going to be my new mantra)… ok, enough of the bad and negative…
Um, positive and good… positive and good… we still haven’t been to the gym, lol!!! (ok, maybe that’s not good- I was just joking!)… Saturday I get to go to a birthday party for jw’s twins who are turning 6!! I can’t believe they are already going to be 6- I remember when she was pregnant with them!!!! (mental note- charge the camera battery) so as of now I think the plan for Saturday is dc is going to work for a while, I’m going to go to the birthday party, and then we are going to find something to do to enjoy the weather!! The weather this weekend is supposed to be in the 70’s! YAY!!! Another positive- in a little over a month time changes and that is all kinds of goodness in itself!!! That means warmer weather is on the way and it will start staying light later!!! Plus, golf season is right around the corner AND I get to use my pretty pink balls with my initials on them!!!! Ok, I’m feeling better now!!! Much more positive!!! I should have blogged earlier and got all the negativity and ick out here sooner!!! I just hope the nasty doesn’t stick on you my fellow bloggers!!!

1 Month Down...

I really can’t believe it’s already February… one month of the new year is already over… I almost feel like I’ve had bloggers block lately… I’ve had a list of stuff to blog about but it doesn’t seem very interesting… then again, are any of my posts just really that interesting, lol?!?! ok, so what’s been going on… um, in January I had jury duty, although that seems like an eon ago now… it was ok… I’d only heard horror stories about jury duty but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be… (maybe it’s been long enough that it doesn’t seem that bad now)… I learned a lot about the court system and how people can get away with stuff- let me clarify that… the defense attorney objected to everything- he was trying to get the case thrown out on a technicality and I can see how that happens… anyways, it was a learning experience…
I saw my first 3D movie… dc and I went to see My Bloody Valentine in 3D and it was awesome!!!! not only is 3D super cool but the movie was really good!!! it was a good scary movie, not cheesy like some of them are… I highly recommend it!!
Lately dc and I have been joking about getting old… you know, things like, you know you’re getting old when… two of our “getting old” signs… we went to a dinner party in January and had a blast… a group of my friends from junior high (we’re all still friends) decided to have a monthly dinner party… there are 5 of us and each month one of us will host it at our house… I’m not sure what we’re going to do when it’s our turn since the apartment and the rent house are not big enough for 10 people but we’ll figure something out… maybe someone will “loan” us their house… anyways, we had a blast!!!! The dinner party was so much fun, I absolutely can’t wait until the next one!!! (as of right now I’m not sure if dc will be able to go to the February one- he may be moving his stuff back from Corpus that day- which I’m not happy about but at least that will be taken care of!)… and our second “getting old” sign… we started making cheese… he got me hooked on fresh mozzarella cheese, it is so good!!! we’ve tried to buy it at the store but it is kinda expensive so we were researching how to make it and found a cheese kit… we bought the kit and Friday night we made our first batch of cheese!!! The directions said if your first batch doesn’t turn out good don’t get discouraged but we were really impressed!!! The cheese was good!!! so now we are cheese artisans!!! We were hanging out with his sister and her boyfriend yesterday, along with some golf friends, and they were making fun of us for being cheese artisans… it’s ok, they’re just jealous, not everyone is cool enough to make cheese…
One final note I suppose… we really need to get back to the gym… bad… I wore a pair of shorts Saturday and they didn’t fit near as good as they did about a month ago…. Not good…

Happy Days!!

Happy days are here again!!! I found Murphy last night!!! The apartment complex has several big like semi- truck containers out in the back (they are redoing the apartments) and he was hiding under one of them… dc had put some food out yesterday morning and last night after work I went back to where the food bowl was at (for the 2nd time), got down on my knees to look under the container, and he stuck his head out… I thought I was going to have to drag him out but after he stuck his head out he just started creeping out really slow… normally he’s not big on being carried around but I picked him up and he just latched onto me… I cried the whole way home I was so happy!!! Mazzy on the other hand has been hissing at Murphy and I both since I brought him home… she is not a happy kitteh… poor “little” Murphy is worn out and last night he was sleeping in his bed and she walked over to him, started hissing at him and slapping his ears… he was so tired he didn’t even move but she is being mean!!! Back to her “old” self I suppose… she’s acting the way she did when we first brought him home… I know in time she’ll be ok with him being back but until then she’s just going to have to get over it… (I know, I’m such a mean momma)… Murph is covered in dust so today at lunch I’m going to buy him (and her) a new collar and make new name tags with the correct phone number on them… I’ve also got to get some kitteh shampoo or some shampoo wipes or something, I think they have those- shampoo wipes… he’s like a big dust ball!!!! You just pet him and your hand is covered in dust… I tried brushing him last night and then dc and I tried to clean him with a wet paper towel but it’s going to take more than that… I don’t care though!!! I’m just so happy he’s home!!!! I just had to share the good news!! Thank you ALL for all your positive thoughts!!!

Cat-astrophe

So this weekend I had my first major catastrophe… Murphy ran away… silly as it sounds, I guess he jumped off the balcony… my 17.5# kitty jumped off the balcony… that’s the only explanation dc and I can come up with… the last time we saw him was about 7:00 Saturday night… we’ve walked miles and searched for hours… we’ve driven around… I called the animal shelter this morning but they didn’t pick him up… I’m about to make some fliers to put up in the apartment complex and put an ad in the paper… I’m so worried about him… he’s never been outside before, not like this anyways, it was always “supervised”…
About how he “escaped”… the lady who lived there before us had put chicken wire up over the balcony slats to keep her dog from squeezing out… one corner of it had been pulled back and for the longest time I always watched Mazzy & Murphy while they were outside… they’ve only been going out on the balcony since I’ve lived there- about 7.5 months… they never did anything outside, just sat in the sun or looked out the slats… dc and I are guessing that he squeezed out of the slats and chicken wire… saying all this, he had to really work to get out…
We put food out where he jumped at, hoping that he will realize hey, this is my food, this is home… nothing yet… none of his food is gone… there are so many places that he could have gone… the possibilities are endless…. Into several neighborhoods, across the street to the golf course, under bushes or cars… like I said, we’ve searched and searched, both at night and during the day…
Mazzy on the other hand is back to her “old” (read: pre-Murphy) self… she’s happy and content now being the only kitty… I just hope she’s not the only kitty for long and that he comes home soon… I keep looking around for him, thinking I’ll see him somewhere… that he’ll just be sitting there…
I’m devastated to say the least… I can’t quit crying and I feel so helpless… Saturday night when dc and I were driving around I kept thinking, so this is what it feels like when your child runs away…. I’m hoping Murphy finds his way home or that we find him… I just want him to come back home!!! I keep thinking, did I treat him so bad that he just had to run away… is there something I could have done differently? I hope he knows that I’m searching for him endlessly and that I’m not happy that he’s gone… please send out good thoughts for Murphy… that he comes home soon!!!

2009

Happy (Belated) New Years to everyone!!!! Here’s to hoping that everyone has a most excellent 2009!!!
Vacation was good and so far 2009 has been stellar!!! Over vacation dc and I went skiing in Colorado… we had a blast (gotta love credit card miles)!!
Other highlights, I found out that I got the one thing I was really wanted for Christmas, dc to move back!!! He hasn’t moved all of his stuff back yet, we’re going to go down one weekend and get it because his roommate is using it right now, but, he is back!!! YAY!!! I met all of dc’s family over the holidays and they were all really nice, not that I was expecting anything less… we got to play golf one day!!! I hit a 189 yard drive and got my first par!!! That was exciting!!! I can’t seem to find my motivation as far as exercising goes… it’s been gone and doesn’t seem to be coming back… I’m really ready for the time change and warmer weather… there is so much more to do outside… being cooped up inside the house all the time makes me not want to do anything… I had a whole ton of stuff that I was going to blog about but now that I’ve actually started blogging it has all just escaped my mind… so, with that being said I’ll post some pics of our Colorado trip... you can see the rest (actually, all) of the pics here.

dc and I at the Ore House in Vail:


Frisco: where we stayed






Me skiing:


dc skiing:


Looking up the mountain:


Looking down the ski trail (Wrangler):




And... borrowed from Post Secret....