chillin' with my peeps

Well, I guess we can call it McCalico Kat's Farm these days! After adding a dog, we have now built a chicken house and filled it with two chickens - Marigold and Hazel. No pix yet, but I'll get some and post when I do.

They have settled in very nicely and seem to like their home. I'm hanging out at www.backyardchickens.com and learning everything I can about making my girls happy and keeping them healthy. Maggie and I pulled a lawn chair up to their run last evening to sit and watched them pecking around in there. It's amazingly peaceful and relaxing -- who knew? I also got a dozen strawberry plants set out in the larger of two raised beds in our yard. Some might not make it, but 5 of them look fabulous! Don't know if they'll produce their first year, but we're crossing our fingers.

Mom and Jim were here for dinner last night, and headed home to Florida today. We had a nice visit, and the girls got to spend the night with Gr'ma at the hotel last Saturday night so they were thrilled.

Saturday afternoon, Max took Gr'ma and I to see "Riverdance" --- ok, he bought the tickets, I drove the car ;) It was fabulous! Mom had seen it in New York and said this production was just as good, and the soprano singer was even better! It was just fantastic and we enjoyed ourselves.

Today, the license branch - oh, joy and rapture. My plates need renewed and I need a new license. Should be a great time, ha ha. If I don't make it back here, someone please come call my number at the BMV, ok?

Dreary days . . . . April Showers suck ;)

Seriously, haven't we had enough of these dreary days? No sunshine, clouds, wind, not warm enough to go without a jacket, and rain off and on. Bleck! I might not notice it as much in the days BM (Before Maggie) but AM (After Maggie) it is apparent that she isn't getting enough pretty days to go for walks. Luckily, she isn't the type of doggie to go out and get all muddy and dirty, just damp paws from walking to her potty place in the grass. But the girl would like some honest to goodness walks! Mr. Weatherman is talking sunny and high 60's by Friday, so we'll wait and see.

She's doing really well though ;) And it turns out that a king-size bed is just right for a mommy, a daddy, and a big dog! I'm taking her to the vet on Monday for a check-up and I guess we'll have to get a new rabies shot, since there's no way to know if she's had one. Since she's going to be indoors, we'll get her started on Revolution for the fleas/ticks/heartworms too. I need to get some for Shadow the cat too, once we open the windows, she's in the house too. I wonder what she'll think of the new gal living inside?? That might be fun to watch ;)

Just feelin' grateful today ;0)

Gosh, read a friend's blog and found out her DH lost his job a month ago. He had a good job with Cummins, got to travel overseas and everything. I was shocked to hear it was gone. The cool part is he and wife are having more time together (he was gone travelling a lot!) but now he has to find a job in a really tough market. It's a real probability that they may have to move from Columbus :( They LOVE this town, that would really be hard for them. So, adding them to my prayer list and finding myself grateful that Tim & I both have a job, and my quilting business is steady.

More dog crazyness ;)

Well, I think I may have to quit my job.


See, Maggie misses me during the day . . . . . . A LOT . . . . . . A WHOLE LOT! Marci was home from school sick today (she caught what Ellen had, and so the cycle starts *sigh*) and after a short nap, she had to look all over the house for the dog. Found her finally, lying on my side of the bed, with her sad face on my pillow, awwwwww poor little dear! So you see, it is inevitable. I must quit my job to stay home and love on the doggy ;)

I have gone over to the DARK SIDE~ save me!!!

First . . . .
you must sit down to read this entry to my blog!


MUST SIT!

Don't make me tell you again, this is shocking news and it will knock you over!











I'm sleeping with a girl.














more shocking than that, this is what she looks like

Somebody dumped this beautiful, HOUSEBROKEN, well-trained darling on a county road about 2 miles from my house and we found her Saturday afternoon all scared and shaking. As my one friend would now describe it, I am "ate-up" with this dog! I slept on the floor in the foyer with her Saturday night, for about two hours . . . then decided I was too old for that and headed to bed, leaving Maggie with Ellen keeping her company ;)
The next night I solved the problem by patting my bed and saying "Hoppy up!" what do you know? She did! Monday I got her that cute pink collar you see in the picture (that's a picture of her lying down, waiting on me to finish the dishes and then go sit with her on the couch and love on her) and a pink polka-dotted leash. Tuesday I took her for a ride - which she LOVED! - to the pound to see if she was a missing person. Nope. And she got scanned, and no microchips in her either. The lady said she is a yellow lab, about 5 - 6 years old and very well taken care of. So, they took down our info and will call if anyone is looking for her. By that time though, the old owner will have to have a very good story about how Maggie ended up in the woods on a lonely road out in the middle of no where with a rainstorm coming! I'm not going to give her up easily ;)

I know, if you are still reading this you are saying "OMG! Never saw THIS coming!" Rest assured, me neither. But now I gotta go. I need to check this year's calendar to see when "Bring your doggy to work day" falls ;0)

OMG ~ long time no bloggy, eh?

Yeah, well, let's just say January through March are simply not my times to thrive! Seriously, couldn't someone find a way that I could crawl in bed sometime in January and hibernate until the daffodils are up???? We can put a man on the moon, I just want to put a mom in bed ;0)


So, weeks have gone by, laundry, dishes, kids bickering, work, quilting, and a new van. That sums it up! Tim was laid off again, but took a spot out in production instead and got called back in only two weeks. They were like dog years though in terms of wear and tear on his body! Poor thing, arthritis sucks and spinal cord damage only makes it worse (and he's only 44). He hears another lay off is coming in April. So we'll wait and see.


Kids are on spring break. That means report cards next week. That should be fun. Marci will be fine, Ellen I'm not sure and Max, well I'm hoping for C's and above. Marci started Cheerleading with a local gym. She went to tryouts and made the Jr. team - pretty good for never cheering! And you know you are screwed when at the parent meeting, the coach gets up and says, "We know that this is a very expensive sport." UGH! So if I know you in real life, don't be suprised if I'm asking you if you'd like to buy pizza kits, suckers, flower pots, etc.!! I'm just a mom trying to defray $2,600 in costs so my kid can chase a dream ;) You know, Marci is aware that it's an expensive thing too, she came to me before the tryouts and said "Mom, I'll do my best to get potty trained over night so you don't have to buy pull-ups anymore, that will help, ok?" How sweet is that! I said, "Never mind squirrel bladder - we'll manage" LOL! Yeah, that's one of my pet names for her. She has the smallest bladder ever installed in a human, I'm sure of it!


Oh, yeah, and we got a new van. Actually it's pretty freaking awesome! It was only $5,300 - yeah, I'm a super negotiator (or there is really bad stuff wrong that we can't see . . . . .) it's a 2005 Chevy Venture with 81K miles. This vehicle is so smart it scares me! I wish I could ask it to do Max's homework and turn it in. The van always wins at the "guess the name of the song and who sings it" game. It knows whether it needs to turn on running lights or headlights when I start it. And it even stops me when I push the wrong button and try to open the side door as we are travelling down the road! I'm trying to adjust to the luxury of two side doors, easy folding seats, power locks and windows (yes, we had crank windows before -- they still make 'em!) and side windows that vent open in the middle - I've thought that needed to be invented for years! The really cool thing about this van, it's burgandy. I can use a matching color of nail polish to touch up tiny knicks to the paint along the door, you know, where you accidently open the stupid door right into something! Oh, PUHLEASE! Don't tell me you've never done that! I know better ;)

















All three of the monster applique quilts are finally done. One has been delivered (she loved it.) and the other two go in the mail today. I'm just glad they are done! They turned out well, it's just they were major headaches and time commitments. I surely didn't make any money on them by the time you look at the hours I had in them! But here are some pix of one to show off my hard work ;) This was the very formal applique for Martha, mom's neighbor in Florida.


Just discovered: ACKKK! I don't have any pictures of the cool art quilt with the cats & birds in attic windows - SUCH A BUMMER! Ok, new resolution - TAKE PIX OF ALL QUILTS!!!

Happy Birthday To ME!!!!!

I turned 42 yesterday, and I have to say it was uneventful and that's ok. I had to take Max to work, so no sleeping in -- that part was a bummer. Then there was a meeting at "Work" church at 11:30 am. After that, picked Max up from work at 2pm and went to the funeral home for a viewing. That took forever! And I really liked this guy and his wife (he died, not her) and so I dressed up . . . . . . and wore heels . . . . . . and paid for it dearly!!

By the time I got home, MIL had already been there and left my card (with some CASH in it -- just my size too ;0) -- woo hoo!) & then we had cake, yummy! And that was my day. I got to talk to Mom & Jim, and "AuntDianeFarAwayInMichigan", and Aunt Karin, and my seester of course. That was nice, and it's always fun to have folks call and sing to you.

I watched about 15 minutes of the super bowl, saw the Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head commercial and thought it was a hoot!