Thursday, May 29, 2008

Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

Cripes! It's been nearly a month since I blogged last. I think this is the longest I've gone in between posts (whereas Katt is going for the record & hasn't blogged in over 1 year [hint, hint] yet still has her blog up for us to look at & wonder if she's ever going to do anything with it. You never know...). Anyways, I promise I'll try better at keeping it up-to-date. Bah, who am I kidding... You'll get your updates when I'm good & ready to post 'em.

So, what's new?

Last I posted, we let Shiggy out on the kitty leash. We attempted to let Tubbs out recently & he squirmed out of the harness & tried running away. Bad kitty.

One of my friends had her baby at the beginning of the month. I met Derik for the first time last Friday & he's so stinkin' cute!! A big boy, too! In the first 12 days he'd been out of his momma's womb, he's grown a whopping 1 - 3/4"!!

My parents-in-law + Jeff & I met up with Steve & Airi for a Steve-prepared BBQ lunch a couple weeks ago consisting of halibut, steaks, shrimps, caesar salad, asparagus, mushrooms & probably something else I'm forgetting. I say it everytime Steve cooks for us - YUMM-O!! Steve is the Grill Master & I long to be just like him.

Speaking of Grill Masters... Last weekend, Jeff & I picked up a new CharBroil Dual Fuel BBQ. It's Dual Fuel because it can either be hooked up to a propane tank or to the natural gasline attached to the house. Finding this grill was a bit of a challenge & I don't know how many miles were wasted going back & forth trying to find a grill that would support both propane & natural gas. Much of Saturday & part of Sunday were spent assembling the new grill. Next on the to-do list is finding out if our grill model is compatible with the conversion kit we bought to go with it.

While doing all this driving to find the *perfect* bbq grill, I had seriously contemplated getting rid of my Xterra for a more fuel efficient vehicle & then thought better of it. While the X is still a "gas guzzler", it's very close to being paid off. I decided having no car payments for awhile would benefit me far more than having car payments for the next 5 years. Perhaps I'll sock away a little stash of moolah & use that for my next vehicle rather than finance 100% of it.

I'm all set to go to Salt Lake City for a Stampin' Up convention at the end of July. This will be my first time going to convention & the primary reason I'm going this year is because it's SU's 20th anniversary & I just feel they are going to do some extra special things for the demonstrators in attendance. I could be wrong, of course, but I just have this gut feeling that I shouldn't miss out on this one particular convention. Besides, I don't foresee myself being a demonstrator during the next big anniversary celebration (5 years from now).

I'm really proud of my old buddy, Scott, who trained for & ran his first (full) marathon in Memphis a few weeks back. He raised money through Team in Training for leukemia (I believe). He's really taken to this running thing & has signed up to do another marathon, this time in San Fran. If you've got a spare dime & wish to donate to yet another wonderful cause, feel free to click his link above. I'm sure he would appreciate your support.

I too have taken up a (small) liking to running. It all started over a year ago when I said I think I might want to try this running thing. Trina & I ran a VERY short distance at the March of Dimes walk in 2007 (because I was carrying a camera, a medal I had won, keys, etc. - not very conducive for running). This year at the March of Dimes walk, we ran quite a bit further (I left the camera in the car this year, therefore very few pictures were taken). Since then, I've actually gone on my own a few times around the neighborhood.


Today, I am thankful for:

1. So You Think You Can Dance
2. Stimulus packages
3. Aspiring to be the next Grill Master
4. Becoming friends with other people's friends
5. Summer is virtually here


What irks me today:

It's been quite sometime since I've posted "what irks me today". Today, I was totally annoyed with people who were just unaware (unaware = rude) while walking outside today. One man was so enthralled with his conversation with his pal that he nearly ran me over in the crosswalk. Another guy wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings that he just about walked in front of me (I ended up going around him the other way, otherwise, I would have ended up walking into a tree). Grrr...

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Chains of Love (Erasure)

Last Saturday was a special day for one of our kitties: Shiggy got to go outside. In the 4 or so years that we've had him, the only time he had been outside was when we took him to the vet.

It was a pretty nice day outside. Jeff, Randy, Trina & I were sitting outside, enjoying cool beverages along with some chips & dip when Trina asked about letting the cats outside.

We had a leash, but the last time we tried putting the harness around Shiggy, he was so squirmy that we never tried again. This time, Trina helped & Shiggy squirmed, but we were able to get it on him. He was a little wary at first, but was mostly just curious about what was going on outside (smelling EVERYTHING!!). I don't think he'll try to escape the indoors like Tubbs does, but we won't let Shiggy out every day either.

And no, we didn't tell Tubbs that Shiggy went outside, nor did we let Tubbs see Shiggy out there either. Don't wanna have jealous kitties.


Today, I am thankful for:

1. Que Pasta Mexican Mac & Cheese
2. Blooming shrubs & trees
3. Not having allergies
4. Receiving SU goodies
5. Kitty leashes