Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Crazy Cat Ladies...

Ya'll, I'm just happy right at this moment.  I'm not sure why - but I'm kinda wrinkling my nose and smiling.  Maybe because I feel accomplished at work: I'm getting the job done and feeling like I'm doing it well.  I'm managing some folks under me that will help take the load off by covering training classes for me and I just held an honest to goodness meeting where we covered everything I wanted to cover and it went smooth.  Let's hope that continues next week when they start teaching. :)

I'm also happy because I have a FITBIT! I'm so not into technology - I don't have internet at my house and the computer is so old I'm shocked it works.  Well, it used a modem to get online at some point but lightning fried that so... yeah anyway.  Fitbit.  I went to the DR and he basically said - your A1C is 6.5 and that's the threshold for medicine.  UGH.  HORRIBLE NEWS! Not what I wanted to hear at all!

Since 2014, I swear that June election tried its best to kill me.  Seriously.  Two ER visits. Thought I was having heart attacks.  I now have stomach issues.  I went from 2 medicines too 6 meds to try and get everything leveled out.  So when he said more meds, I just wanted to cry.  I knew I'd been being even worse than usual.  I really did.  I could feel it sucking the life quite literally out of my body.  But please no more meds.

So we made a deal - 3 months to get my life back in order and healthier.  I did something I so rarely do - I spent money on me. A Fitbit Alta and I love it.  I am not walking as much as they tell you to walk, but I'm walking more than I ever have been.  One of those reasons I'm happy today - I found a place to walk that is usually empty-ish, air conditioned, and big enough to make some laps around it and you know you've accomplished something.  They have a gym, too, so I'm hoping I can hit it after work a few days a week.  Free Free Free! (Part of the training for the police officers).  So I went on my lunch break today and did several laps before having a salad and chili for lunch. I'll keep you posted on how this continues.

Of course, it was Mother's Day this weekend.  The first picture is Macy and Katie, ready to go to church. I thought they were just so cute and we were late because I insisted on pictures. :)  But it is a great photo of them.  Below that is Katie, Macy and Mom - the three generations photo.  This one also needs a frame! I love it! Katie and Roger added a nice deck to the side of their house and bought patio furniture, this covered swing and a grill.  So Roger grilled for everyone for Mother's Day and it was DE-LI-CIOUS.  The weather was great, it was so relaxing.  Very thankful for a good day with family.   The picture below is what I made my profile photo for Mother's Day - me, my mom and my grandmother.  Another three generation photo from way back yonder.

My friend, Raynore - ALWAYS remembers me on Mother's Day.  It's really awesome, actually, because there isn't an Aunt's Day or anything like that.  But I so very dearly love my nieces and nephews and spend a lot of time with them (at least Macy right now! AH is a teen and is busy busy.  The boys I try to see when I can!) So it's very special to have someone recognize the love I have for my nieces and nephews on Mother's Day.  Her cards always bring happy tears to my eyes.

And look! I am a mama! To FIVE kittens. Oh yes.  Five.  One-two-three-four-FIVE.  I'm totally going to lose my mind if I don't find a home for these babies.  So stinkin' cute! But holy moly, I'm going broke in cat food!  But aren't they precious?  Yes, I'm smitten but not so much that I don't welcome a happy home for them...

I need to get home and figure out what halfway healthy thing I can eat tonight.  Tomorrow I teach a night class and will be home late, so maybe I grocery store run is in order to find food for the rest of this week.  Tomorrow morning I get to go with Macy to Muffins with Mommy (Katie is a teacher and they are in the middle of standardized testing, no way she could get off for this!). MawMaw is going with me, so she'll have extra "mommies" ... yummm... muffins. Ok, food is needed.

Night ya'll!  :)

A Squeaky Clean Nap

Just woke up in the tub. Accidentally turned my relaxing bath into a nap! Not unusual, I often wake myself up with the sounds of my snoring echoing of the walls :)

I attempted soup tonight- it's cold, everyone is sick and it just felt right. I gotta say, it's ok. Not exciting but yummy in my tummy! With my incredibly crumbly cornbread. ;)

Last night didn't work out quite as well. I was so excited for the barbecue beef I'd tossed in the crock pot before leaving for work. Called mom, texted the b-i-l and had it arranged to feed everyone some BBQ beef. I walked in the house after work- smelled delicious! ... Until I discovered a meat paper/pad in the crock pot with the meat! I'd cooked it nine hours with my BBQ! Didn't trust it to be safe so it was all dumped and we had take out BBQ instead. :) Daddy to the rescue! Thanks Pop! 

Have you seen my stray kitten, Noelle, lately?  Isn't she beautiful? Tonight I was talking to the neighbor at the mailboxes and who came up grousing for her supper?! Sure enough, she came after me and got me moving so she could have her kibble. Cracked me up! What a clever kitten! 

Serious focus on crumbling crackers into soup she didn't eat. 

No new pics of the sweet nieces. They've had the crud for a while now and haven't felt like pictures. Baby sweet niece is in the terrible twos and wow, it can be impressive. But then she'll throw me a dozen kisses as I leave for work in the morning. Or say things like, "I like PawPaw a bunch."  Adorable! 

Since my bedtime is 10:00pm and it's pushing 11, I better get moving to bed. Night friends, and sweet dreams! 

2014 Wrap Up

2015 has already been quite eventful, and I haven't even had the chance to wrap up 2014 yet! So let's do that before 2015 totally overtakes me and I just blow off the 2014 wrap up all together.

January - It seems I started doing a photo a day in January.  Here is the first post. I'm not sure how long this lasted - I guess we'll find out as I move through the year.  I kinda hate I quit because it's great to look back and see what you were doing on a day by day basis!

February - February brought snow to the South.  Yes, we kinda lose our freakin' minds when it snows because we don't see too much of the fluffy white stuff around here.  So photos galore and happy children playing in the snow is the theme of this Photo Challenge Wednesday.

March - I was pretty darn happy in March.  The ice and snow melted and Spring slowly started to emerge.  Lots of fun photos of pretty sunsets and flowers and all things nature. And sweet niece voting! See more here from one of my Photo Challenge Wednesdays!

April - I love otters, did you know that? I think otters rock! I also love Spring, flowers, mild/warm temperatures, and cuteness on babies. :)  April I only posted three times - all three Photo Challenge Wednesdays, which I find impressive.  Check one out here.
























May - Spring time photo shoot with the chappies!  Sweet niece #1 is a perfect princess to pose for photos. She is really photogenic, too.  Sweet Niece #2 ... well it's a bit harder.  You can check out some of the pics here. Just looking back over May, I can see how work was pushing me under without a breath, trying to drown me!

June - Things got ugly in June.  June was sickness for me and about 8 doctor visits?  June was sickness and emergency surgery for my sister, too, which was obviously stressful.  And an election, which is what my job is all about.  Read some here, which was written before we realized she would have surgery.  It also shows photos of my house all cleaned up!, thanks to the goodness of my mom and sister. But there was a lot of good in June, too, as this post shows. Painting party being one of them!

July - Let's finish up the medical drama, including mom getting shingles, in this first post.  You'll also get fighter niece! HI-YA! And then, because I know no one wants all that drama, I shared fun photos of both kids and great scripture verses.  

August - Ahhh... August.  With August came EDISTO.  (Or Edislow as it's called).  Man, if we all didn't need a break to soak up salt water mist and melt into warm sandy beach.  Yes, Edisto is good, and you can see how good here and here. I also got crazy crafty with my LOVE canvas here and the office-grown pumpkin, fru-frued up for the fall holidays, which is featured here. :) 

September - It's my birth month! But during an election season - yeah, it's not as much fun.  But I got Downton Abbey so WHOOPIE!  Also took Baby Sweet Niece to a pumpkin patch - loads of fun! Check it out here! 

October - Man I love autumn and the beautiful leaves of the season.  Love it.  Enjoy lots of it here. And a stroll down a Friday's Letters Lane here. 

November - This is a very excited Ellie! She's part of this Friday's Letter! Along with Shrek, Sunsets, Macy baking cookies, ... all kinds of funness.  And one little Thanksgiving blog with no photos here. 

December - Obviously, the Election is over bc I finally caught up on Halloween and Thanksgiving here!  A new kitten appeared in this post "Run Faster, Catch Up With Life!"

And I think I will end it there.  Of course there were dozens of posts outside of those highlighted here, but eh, that's the past! Onward to the future! :) And to the first post of 2015! :)  Thanks for joining me on the journey. 

Happy Christmas & Such!

The holidays are here and gone! And for a person who absolutely LOOOOOOVES Christmas, I can't tell you how happy I am it's OVER.  I was actually excited to come back to work today because it gave me a break from my disaster of a house.  Sheesh.

I'm so disappointed in myself this Christmas because I allowed myself to completely lose sight of the true and only meaning to Christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord.

I'm already looking ahead to next year and ways to put this first and foremost in the Christmas celebrations because I never want this to happen again - or to have this completely empty and lonely feeling.  I'm exhausted and ready to pack up 2014 and start fresh with 2015.

 
This said, of course we had a good time with family and watching a 2-year-old find such joy in every single gift she opened.  She loved every one of them. But was totally overwhelmed and didn't even open all her presents.  At one point I asked her if she wanted another present and she said, "No thank you, I'm fine."  And went back to playing with her old toys. :)  The 12-year-old was so gracious for every gift she opened and showed appreciation for them all.  It does make you feel pretty good about it.

I'm truly looking for ideas to bring the focus back on Jesus next Christmas and would love to hear your ideas.  Seriously.  Share.

Part of our problem was sickness kept us from many events - our family get-together, our church services and church program - we have quite a bit hitting the family right now. I'm asking for prayers for every single immediate family member because each one of us are battling with issues right now. I won't get into the details, but do ask for prayers.

I had to add this picture of my Dad.  My sister-in-law gave him this squirrel that fires foam "nuts" from its nose or mouth.  He was attacking us throughout the day with that thing! And he figured out to load it so the ammo would really travel! It was quite hilarious.

My mom's beautiful tree.  Loved the gold beads she added this year. And tucked in the branches are stuffed animals! It was really neat!  

My vet cousin and princess Macy.  These two (and one other vet) were so cute dressed up in one of their Christmas Eve presents.  So stinkin' cute!  We managed to stuff about 20+ people or so into my mom's house for Christmas Eve.  I'm so tired of cooking - I think everyone is because no one really ate all that food we made.  I don't want to think about how much of it is going to be tossed out.  

I have to tell you I'm excited about my Christmas present - a Brother SE400 Embroidery/Sewing machine.  Holy cow, I don't even know what I'm going to do with this beast of a machine. Put monograms on everything Macy owns! hahaha!  If you know anything about it, give me some pointers! I need help! But I'm so excited to have a good sewing machine so I can attempt some quilting and monogramming.  I'll never see my dining room table again. 

Ya'll, I hope your Christmas was blessed and beautiful, I hope your 2015 is filled with happy memories.  Thanks for joining me on this adventure called life via my blog and thank you for each and every comment you leave or prayer you send up or just happy thought/smile you give as you read.  It's appreciated!!! 

*hugs* to you!

Beth

PS - My kitten is still visiting me, although she's still a little skittish. She's my bright spot, I'm so happy to have her! :) 

Run Faster! Catch Up With Life!

I feel like life is leaving me behind and I'm running after it, so excuse the randomness that will be this posting. :)

Saturday was an adventure of Macy in Wal-Mart.  We actually had a VERY good time. We went early so it wasn't as crowded and she ran up and down and up and down pretty much every aisle of the store.  Made it interesting to attempt shopping while keeping up with her.  The highlights of the trip: her hugging the bag of marshmallows like a treasured baby doll for at least 3/4 of the trip.  Visiting the pre-lit Christmas trees and petting every one.

...And accidentally running into Santa.  I didn't even see the man there until Macy started jumping up and down, chanting, "Santa! Santa! Santa!"  Oh my, she was star struck.  She told him how she wrote him a letter last night and blew him a kiss.  It's ok that Santa resembled one of Duck Dynasty's cousins... he did a great job with her.

I hate her mama wasn't with me to see it, but she was at the doctor. Because, you know, every sickness passing through our neck of the woods attacks our family.

Anyway, Sunday I loaded the two Sweet Nieces up and headed to church for Sunday School because I was NOT missing another Sunday of the Christmas Story in detail.  So glad I managed to get there, but didn't stay for preaching.  Everyone else was SICK, so we packed it up and went back home.

Celebrated Katie's birthday, where she finally opened the canvas photos I had made for her! They look SO GOOD.  I'm glad she liked them - I'll get pics and post/review those two companies soon. CanvasOnDemand and EasyCanvas.

Sunday night I kept baby sweet niece while Sweet Niece #1 went back to her mom's house. Can I tell you how bad I am - I let her fall asleep. EEIK! I didn't mean for that to happen! I'm fired as babysitter for sure.

Monday - work work work.  Tuesday - work work work. Wednesday - took off to take care of baby sweet niece, since Dad had a dr appointment, Mom had another steroids shot (please pray for her neck), and the babysitter had the flu.  We had a BALL.

Do they come any cuter than this?? I don't think so!

Every hug needs a kiss, right?

Called Uncle Clay to come have lunch with us and she wrapped him up around her little pinky.  She was so good all day - I'm so thankful.  I love moments like this, treasures to store up.  (How responsible am I as an aunt, I went a bought a bib to keep her new shirt clean! uh-huh, I'm good!)

So I don't think I told ya'll that a sweet kitten adopted me! Or if I did tell you, just pretend to be excited about it.  She showed up, totally claimed me, hopped up on my lap - she's got me wrapped. I've named her Noelle and I think she's adorable.  An outside kitten right now, but maybe she'll make her way in the house. I need to do a vet check first, but holy cow, it's only CHRISTMASTIME so that might just have to wait.  But I'm happy with her.

Let's not even get me talking about the medical company that charged my entire remaining bill on my debit card this week, completely without my permission.  Seriously? The week before Christmas and, of course, it takes 3-5 business days to reappear on my card.  So it has the potential to get wrapped up in Christmas, which pushes it into the week after Christmas. Really? *sigh*

But ya'll, blessings abound in my family.  We've gotten good news on my dad twice now, my mom's shot is hopefully helping her neck AND she agreed to buy a turkey from a catering company.  We have so many things to be thankful for, so let's all CHEER! :)

Holy cow this turned into a novel. Sorry about that. Just happy to share some happiness.  Especially at a time where the holly jolly-ness of the holidays is running a little thin and we are all feeling squeezed by the pressure to have the perfect holiday, right? This holiday, ya'll, it is perfect.  It is - perfectly beautiful, brought to you by the most amazing miracle birth of a baby savior.  It's beautiful, so shrug off the man-made stress and send up a word of Thanks for the lovely miracle given to us from God.  :)

And on that note, I'll hush! Merry Christmas, ya'll!