the one about my sweet friend

Since we got home from Wendover, I have had a nasty cold. In Fact, everyone has been asking me if I have swine flu. No, its not swine flu! Just allergies/cold crap. I get it a couple times a year and the sucky part is that because of my heart issues, I cannot take ANYTHING to relieve it. So I usually have to spend a couple of days in bed, then I start feeling better. That is exactly what happened this time. Anyway, they other day, Tara came by to check on me and she brought me the sweetest gift! She brought these cute tulips, a Diet Pepsi and some Oreo cakesters. I hadn't eaten lunch yet that day and it just hit the spot. My tulips are still super beautiful. Thank you Tara for thinking of me.

I am so sad for the Galley's today. Last night I got a call from Tara. She was hysterical. Her 2 youngest kids were down at my house playing. Tara had just walked outside and saw Winston, their cat, in the road. He had been hit. She didn't know what to do. This was their first pet tragedy. I went right down and we made a plan. Brett came down a little bit later and dug a hole so we could bury him. We gathered all of the kids and told them. They were all able to pet him, tell him goodbye, then Brett took care of the rest. It was so sad. We babysat Winnie a few times and we loved him like he was our cat. He was actually Itty Bitty's brother. We got them at the same time. :(

This is Winston and Itty Bitty at Christmas. We were decorating for Christmas and they had climbed clear up Tara's tree and they were wrestling in it. It was so funny. Poor babies.

So again, thank you Tara and I am so sorry for your loss.

the one about the New Year

Happy New Year!!!
I know, I know. I haven’t been very good about blogging lately. I don’t know what it is, but my life just hasn’t slowed down. I keep thinking that it will any day now, but it’s just not. Anyway, blogging is truly one of my favorite things in the world so I am trying so hard not to get too far behind in my blogging world.
I don’t really have any good reasons, but I am excited to start a new year. 2008 was a good year for us. I was so excited for 2008 to start, because 2007 was so rough. Mike passed away, Brett had his motorcycle accident and I lost my wedding ring. So 2008 came and now it is gone. I know this might seem weird, but I have always welcomed change. I love to experience new things and I don’t really freak out when big changes come my way. I look forward to the future and anxiously await new things. I am not really big on “resolutions,” so I don’t generally set them. Of course I have the standard ones… Lose weight, get healthy, be more organized, blah blah blah. But instead of worrying about what I will and will not do in 2009, I would like to reflect on 2008.
Here are just a few things that happened in our little world last year.
Quayd started indoor soccer, and later started AYSO soccer. He found a new love for this sport and really has no desire to try any others.
We got TONS of snow in 2008. It was the longest winter in the whole world!!
I joined the working world again. I hadn’t worked since before Quayd was born, so it was a huge lifestyle change for all of us. It has been good though. I substitute taught for awhile, worked in lunch lady land and now I am at the Holiday Inn Express. In fact, I remember mentioning a few months ago about a possible promotion. I got it by the way. I am the Front Office Manager. It has brought many new responsibilities, but I am loving it. Schedule is still good. I am home before Quayd gets off the bus.
We had major construction in our front yard this summer. They filled in our ditch and we got a sidewalk, grass and our own driveway.
I got a new bike!!!
Brett took and passed the EMT class. YEAH Brett!
I got my very first iPod. I have since upgraded from an iPod shuffle to and iPod touch.
I went to the Panic at the Disco concert in SLC.
Quayd rode his 4-Wheeler ALL SUMMER!!!!!
My friend Janice moved clear across the country to Kentucky. L
We took a weeklong vacation to Lagoon. We took our camp trailer and Brayden and had a blast!!
We all loved watching the 2008 Olympics.
Quayd started first grade.
My Great-Grandma Karren passed away.
Quayd turned 6!!!!
Brett and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary.
Brett spent 10 days in Washington DC.
I turned 30!
Ga got super sick and spent weeks in the hospital. It took quite a toll on all of us, especially her, but I am glad to say she is doing much better now.
Brett’s brother Brandon and his wife Brynn had a new baby, Brycen. And he is SO cute!!!!
Itty Bitty Kitty. Nuff said.
So that is kind of our year in a nut shell. We are excited to see what 2008 brings our way. Thank you for reading my blog. I promise that in 2009 I will try to be better about keeping everything current. But that is not a resolution!!!!

the one about updates

I am so bugged. I didn't get to see Twilight. :( I got super sick on Wednesday night. I ended up going to the Doctor Thursday morning and I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. I got an antibiotic and finally last night (Friday) I started feeling a little better. Today, I am still dragging a little bit, but I can tell I am on the mend. I hate to use my "heart stuff" as an excuse and I am not at all seeking pitty... but ever since that all happened to me, when I get sick, I REALLY GET SICK! My body and immune system aren't as strong to fight off infection, and I go down... hard and fast. Then it screws up all of my other medicines and I seriously feel like I have been hit by a train. Thank goodness though, I think I have seen the worst of it.

My poor grandma is still in the hospital, but she too is on the mend. She will probably be there for another week or so. I feel so bad for her because she was chosen to be the Grand Marshal of the Christmas Parade here in town. It takes place the day after Thanksgiving. She was supposed to ride in a horse drawn carriage and now she is not going to be able to do it. She is pretty bummed about it. I haven't seen her since Sunday because I have been so sick and haven't been able to get out of bed, plus I have hated to risk her catching something. I have talked to her on the phone about everyday though and I am planning on going over this afternoon.

Itty Bitty is doing so much better on her potty-training!!! I tried new cat litter, more boxes and I have been better about scooping them every day. No accidents for awhile and I see LOTS of pee in the box. Phewwww..... She figured it out at the perfect time. Well, perfect for her. Perfect for me would have been a little earlier! ;)

So one of my most favorite things in the world is Bingo!
I really love it. The Catholic church puts on a HUGE Bingo event every fall. You pay admission and buy as many extra cards as you wish. They serve food and drinks. All of the money goes to local families for Christmas. They have awesome prizes. We never win a thing. EVER! But we still go every year. Brett, Gleneita and I have gone together forever. This year, Gary and Tara invited us to go as couples with another couple, Jeff and Sherry.
Of course, Gleneita wanted to come, so she brought a date!!! She is pretty cute, huh! ;)

Oh! So this is exciting.... I won a turkey from the local radio station the other day. That was pretty cool. They give a clue about a local business and the first person to enter that business wins! Yah, it was me. I was so excited. I actually got a gift certificate to buy one, but that is good enough for me!!!

I am super excited that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I love Thanksgiving. I love being with our families and pigging out on awesome food. My mom makes the BEST stuffing EVER!!!!! And I can't wait to sink my teeth into it. I always make her cook a HUGE batch so I can have it for leftovers for awhile. Yummmm-O. We are pretty sure Ga will be home by then, so my mom and I are planning on fixing dinner at our houses and taking it to her house. I think it will just be Ga, Pop, my mom, Brett Quayd and I. Then later, we will go to Aunt Debbie's with the Lane's. She makes a great dinner too. I love it. And I love that it kicks of my FAVORITE time of year!!!!! I am planning on putting up my Christmas tree this week. I like to have it up before Thanksgiving. We will see if I can keep feeling good so I can get it done.

In case I don't blog before then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I love you all. I am thankful for you. My blog stalkers! :) Hugs and Kisses!!!

the one about Itty Bity's near-tragedy

So poor little Itty Bitty escaped tragedy the other day.

Allow me to elaborate.

So she has been having a really hard time potty-training. I know. Sick, huh. Seriously, I have had hundreds of cats in my life and I have NEVER had a hard time training one. Even stupid Orange figured it out. (Sorry Orange. I love you, you are a great cat but you are really dumb!) I had to throw that in here, just in case he logged on and read my blog while I was gone. Anyway, she will totally poop in the box, but sometimes she doesn't pee in it. She prefers blankets. Nice soft warm blankets. Sometimes, she even likes to find a nice, soft, warm blanket that someone is sleeping under. She has peed in our beds a few times, and when you are the one getting peed on... well, just imagine.

Brett was getting fed up with it and told Quayd that if she peed out of the box again, she was going to the pound. Well Quayd and I have worked REALLY hard with her and she has been doing really well. She sleeps in her own bedroom, downstairs. complete with food, water, bed and litter box. We haven't noticed any messes for a few weeks. Then all of a sudden, last Tuesday night, we hadn't get her in her room in time and she peed on Quayd. Brett was SO mad and he told Quayd that he was taking her to the pound on Wednesday morning. I was so bugged that she did it, but I also didn't feel like she was totally un-trainable. She is a baby and she makes mistakes. And she is SO cute!!! So I told Brett that if he was going to do it, then it needed to be done while we were gone and that we just wouldn't talk about it again. So when I got home from work on Wednesday, I expected her to be gone. But she wasn't. I called Brett to see why. I figured that he just chickened out. He said he had just been to busy to leave work but he was going to take her after he got home. Quayd and I were so upset. We were crying and everything. It was also the day that Ga went back to the hospital so I was super emotional anyway. By the time Brett got home, Quayd and I were in full hysterics. Brett let us have a "moment" with her, then he loaded her up in the car.

They drove off.

I was so upset and so was Quayd. We were laying in my bed sobbing, cursing Brett and our hearts were broken. Then the phone rang. It was Brett. You will never believe it, but the pound is CLOSED on Wednesdays!!!!!!!

So he brought her back home.

He was SO mad!!! Quayd and I laughed right in his face, and cuddled our little kitty all night! She has been so good too. No accidents. (OK. Maybe one, but Brett doesn't know about it ;) )

I was SO embarrassed though, because Michele stopped by right in the middle of the whole thing and I was SOBBING. I felt so stupid talking to her because I was crying over a cat. Of course I had to tell her the story, and I know she must have thought I was totally nuts, but she was sweet about it. So embarrassing.

So anyway, that is the story of Itty's near-tragedy. It is so funny to me now, but at the time it was horrible. But can you just imagine Brett getting to the pound and seeing that it is closed? Like... what would you do? He said he considered dropping her off there and leaving, but he knew that was too mean. He also considering taking her and a gun somewhere and.... well.... you know. But he could never do that. So, he just turned around, ate a little crow and came home. (tee hee hee.) Seriously, that kind of stuff only happens to us.

another one about my annoying cats

I realize that nobody else cares about my cats, and I also realize haw lame I sound for even mentioning them on my blog. Yah... I get it. But I have to tell this story and post these pictures. It was so funny.

So the other night, I was in my living room and heard this huge ruckus coming from my kitchen. I went in there and saw this. Yes, it is Itty Bitty on top of my fridge. She was FREAKING out trying to catch something. (You can sorta see it on the fan in this picture. It was really dark and HUGE!) I figured it was just a little moth or something. I look towards my ceiling fan and see this.
So I decided to help Itty Bitty out, because who really wants that monstrous of a moth in their kitchen. NOT ME! So I lifted her up to the fan in hopes she would just catch it. Well she totally went ballistic! She lunged out of my hands and caught the fan (Don't worry, it was off) and caught her claw on one of the blades. It swung her around and then she was scared because she was about to fall. So she was trying to get back to me, meanwhile I was trying to adjust my stool so I could get to her. I finally caught her, and as she was reaching for the moth again, the moth flew into my armpit!! It went in my shirt and I started freaking out, but I had to be careful because I didn't want to drop Itty Bitty.I was jumping around on the stool, holding Itty and not wanting to put my arm down for fear the moth would get that powder stuff on me or bite me or something.

The moth flew out of my pit and Itty caught its wing with her claw, scratching my underarm as she got it. I totally had the heebie jeebies. Quayd was the photographer, by the way and he was laughing so hard that he nearly peed his pants. When the moth was in my armpit violating me, Quayd was like, "Mom, you have to stay calm. The more you freak out, the more it wants to hurt you." Seriously, what 6 year old has to tell his mom that? Just Quayd! So anyway, once Itty had the moth, I sat her down and she had so much fun chasing it around. Orange had to get in on the action too, but Itty Bitty is the one who finally finished it off. And by "finished," I really mean FINISHED. She ate it whole. Sick, huh.

the one about itty bitty kitty

Brett and I are such suckers. Look at what Quayd talked us into. It was kind of a funny story. It came from my sister-in-law Danette's mom's house. Her mom, ReAnn, ALWAYS has kittens. Seriously. You would think she would get the dang mother fixed.... anyway. Danette had been wanting this one, but knew my brother wouldn't let her have it. She went to her parents to get some corn stalks to decorate for fall. With the large amount of cats at her parents house, he dad was really bugging her to bring one home. When they were loading the corn stalks in the car, her dad put the kitten in there too! She didn't even know until she got home and there was the kitty.

Now let me rewind a bit...... A few weeks ago, ReAnn brought a couple of the kitties to Danette's because one of her friends wanted one. Quayd saw them and BEGGED us to let him have one. He hasn't forgotten and begs us all the time for one. We kept saying no.

Ok, fast forward to last Friday. Danette and Brandon were unloading the corn stalks, and "SURPRISE!" There is the kitty. Brandon was, of course, annoyed. Quayd walked over right then and saw it. He said, "Danette! I didn't know you got one of the kitties!" and Brandon jumped in, "No. It's not Danette's. ReAnn sent it for you. It is your Birthday present." Everyone had a good laugh, but Quayd took it serious. He was SO touched that ReAnn would give him a kitty for his Birthday. He loves ReAnn, by the way. So, he came home with it, and we didn't have the heart to make him give it back. Danette and Brayden were a little sad, I think because they really wanted the cat. Brandon, however, was not on board. Sooooo, now we are the proud owners of three cats.

Brett wanted to be really mad about it all, but look what I caught them doing a few days ago....

Orange loves the baby too. They are together all of the time. Its pretty sweet. Look how cute they were all cuddled up the other day. They love this Lightning McQueen blanket and my pink neck pillow.


We finally decided on the name Itty Bitty. As she gets older, I am sure we will drop the "Itty."