Busy, Busy Life!

Man, when did my life get so busy?? It's my own fault really. Not only do I work full time, but I've gone back to school at Murray State. I'm taking six hours this semester, English 102 (trying to get a D off my transcript from a decade ago, when I didn't take school seriously) and a fine arts elective (Introduction to Theatre). I'm enjoying the Theatre class, other then the fact that I'm WAY older than everyone in the class, including the teacher! I still feel pretty young, well, I did, until I started this class! This is the first on-campus class I've taken in a decade. I've taken online classes, but that's it. (Wait, actually in Cincinnati in 2001 I was in broadcasting school, but there was several classmates who were my age and older, so I didn't feel as out of place as I do now!) Anyway, back to this class. Last Tuesday, we had to perform in front of our classmates in pairs. We were all given the same "open" script, but had to make it our own, including props, costumes, scenery, etc. So my partner, Jacquiline and I, came up with a plan. We were at the airport. I was a rocker chick, she was a pretentious chick. Well, I decided I was gonna go all out. So I talked to my hairdresser and made an appointment to get my hair and makeup done. Lisa went ALL out! She even brought clothes for me from her 16 year old daughter's closet! When she was done, I looked AMAZING! (If I do say so myself!)

As I showed up at class on Tuesday night, I was hoping not to draw attention to myself. (My friends would say "Pshaw" at that, as I'm usually very happy being the center of attention with people I'm around all the time. But with these "kids", not so much.) Anyway, I figured they never paid much attention to me anyway, and they wouldn't notice. Well, as I was walking up to the Fine Arts Building, people outside practicing, kept saying, "Wow! You really went all out!" One was walking in the door in front of me, and got in the lobby of the theatre and yelled, "Jacquiline, here's your partner! Look at her!" Everyone was in the lobby as the teacher had not opened the classroom yet, so all eyes turned to me. I was mortified. But what could I do? I had to go to class and I had to stay where I was. So, I just smiled shyly and found J. It ended up going off without a hitch. I did drop a line, but it was OK. The teacher called me out before class started saying "You get an automatic A for your costume! You look fantastic!" After class, she said I did really well and said I could be an actor. I'm sure she was just saying it, not really meaning it, but still! So, here's a picture. Don't laugh too hard. I ended up really digging the hair, not the makeup so much! And the outfit...I LOVE! I really started feeling young!



Well, I guess I should go as I'm putting off writing a 1,000 word paper for english right now. It's due on Tuesday. Plus I have a test on Tuesday for my theatre class that I need to study for. Yuck. Why am I going back to school again?

Stamp Club & Craft Club

Well, I really lucked into a cool thing a couple of weeks ago. Some friends and I have been talking (for years now, even when we lived in Cincinnati) about starting a craft club. Basically, a group of people to get together and do crafts. In the beginning, we were going to have different people host each get together and teach some kind of craft. Well, the craft club kind of became a reality last week. I sent out emails to everyone I knew who I thought might be wanting to get together to do some crafting. It didn't matter what type of craft either. Scrapbooking, stamping, whatever you wanted to do. Just a time to get away from home and kids and focus on crafting. I sent an email to my friend Candee, thinking, "Well, I don't know if she's crafty, but I'll send it anyway. She'd like to get together and socialize anyway." Well, she emailed me back and told me about a Stampin' Up! stamp club she was in. She also asked me if I wanted to come to one of her classes! It was so much fun! I made the most beautiful card I have ever made! I never would have learned how to make that beautiful card if I had not emailed Candee. Here is this card:


and the inside:



Here is the other card we made. It is beautiful too.


I think I could have come up with that idea on my own, but the flower card? No way. I didn't know of this technique (huffing) until I met up with these ladies. Tonya is the demo, and she has a ton of great ideas and products!

Well, back to Craft Club. Everyone emailed and told me they would be interested and what days were good for them. So last Friday night was the first ever Kim's Craft Club. OK, so it won't really be named Kim's Craft Club. I just couldn't think of a name for it, and since I initiated the email to get this thing going, well, right now that's what it is. Once we get a little more formal and designate certain dates that we're going to do this, and get more people to come, then I'll come up with another name. We met at Aurora Baptist Church, Kara's home church. We've crafted there before and it's a great place to meet. It has a kitchen, bathrooms and lots of tables for crafting! It was a great night for all who attended. I ended up getting four or five pages done in my Lucy scrapbook, but that was it. I was too busy socializing and seeing what everyone else was doing! We are going to have to do it again sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm waiting for the next Stamp Club class, which is on Sept. 11. I'm too excited. Tonya came to the Craft Club the other night and I told her how I didn't use heat emboss powder too much, basically because I was no good at it. So she said the stamp club will then have lots of projects that involve embossing so I can practice! I think that will be cool. Plus, more ideas!

Just a quick note on the above photos: I was in a hurry when I took them, so they are not really that great. Kara and Jenni got me this really cool photo box type thing to set up an item and take really good pictures, but I was in a hurry and trying to get back to lunch on time. So for now, that will have to do. In the future, I'll use my little "photo studio" for all of my crafts and maybe they'll look better.

Well, we are leaving to go to Cincinnati this weekend to see the inlaws. I'm excited and ready to get out of town. J had to work late, so we're getting a later start than we wanted to. Oh well, they were gonna go to bed anyway and just leave the light on for us. So I guess it doesn't matter what time we get there. We just need to be quiet when we come in! Well, everyone have a safe and happy Labor Day! Kim

Heartbroken!

Yep, I'm heartbroken as I write this. I'm sure it will mend, but it will take time. Last night was just terrible for me. I got home from work, and our neighbor has a wonderful little tom cat named Tom. He is the sweetest thing and every time I see him I stop to pet him.

Well, after petting him, I go inside and feed Lucydog and then go to wash my hands. (It seems I've grown a bit allergic to kitties as my eyes and nose itch if I touch my face after touching them. Who'd thought? I grew up with three indoor cats!) Anyway, as I was washing my hands at the kitchen sink, I see a little kitty outside coming up on our back porch. She looked a lot like Tom, except her colors are exactly opposite. He's mostly white with large black spots all over. She is mostly black with white boots, white chest and neck and a small white mustache. Cute as can be...but she's limping. And from the window, 10 feet away, I could see what I thought was a wound with bone showing. So, I watched her from the window for a little bit, and finally had to go outside to see how bad off she was.

Here's where I got sucked in. She was the sweetest little kitty. She purred the entire time I was petting her. Her wound looked pretty bad, and her paw was swollen about 2 1/2 times larger than normal. As I'm rubbing her, I feel of one of her front legs, and it's obvious she was either born with some kind of disability and her leg grew wrong, or she'd been hurt before, because her "elbow" was sticking out sharply, but was covered in fur and obviously an old injury. So, I'm bawling my eyes out as I feel like she's hurt really bad and I don't know what to do. I call the animal hospital (who knows us...well, LUCY, very well because of all the stuff she eats...see this post for a quick story on that!) They tell me I could bring her in and incur the costs myself, or call Animal Control and see what they could/would do. So I call Animal Control. Of course, it's after hours, so I have to leave a voice mail.

The longer I sat out there with her, the more I cried and decided I had to do something. I called the animal hospital back to see exactly how much an exam would cost and if they could see her. They said just an exam was $37.50 but yes, they could see her now. As I'm crying to Jason, asking what I should do, Kitty sits down right beside me, placing her two front paws on my leg and looks up at me like I'm the only person in the world who could help her and it broke my heart! Jason said at that moment, "Oh Kim, you know you gotta take her!"

So, I packed her up and took her in. At the time, I didn't know if she was a she or he as I didn't want to handle her too much with her yucky wound. Well, after arriving at the animal hospital, I found out she was a little girl, at least a year old. Once the doctor came in to look at her, he found a lot of things wrong with her. The first thing was ear mites. No problem, those can be treated. Then the original back paw wound. No problem, 21 days of antibiotics, daily hydrotherapy (which means holding the paw under a steady pressure of water for several minutes...and you know how cats love water!), drying the wound, applying scarlet oil once a day, applying ointment twice a day! Whoa! I think I got it all. Then they broke the worst news to me. She's pregnant with two little kitties. She's around two weeks and the gestation time for cats is 9 weeks. He said he could still spay her but he needed to do it before she reached 6 weeks. How would I ever make that decision to kill her babies? (Side note: I am very pro-life as my biological father (or sperm donor as I call him) wanted my mother to have me aborted when he found out she was pregnant. If my mom hadn't of stood her ground, I wouldn't be around. Luckily she packed up and ran back home and into the arms of Dad, the wonderful man who raised me as his own, along with my older sister when he was just a kid himself! Love you Dad...even though I know you don't read!!)

OK, back to kitty. I bring her home and give her food and water, along with the antibiotics and patched up her little paw (luckily they did the hydrotherapy at the vet so I didn't have to do it last night) and then decided I was gonna see if she had a home. She was just too friendly not to have one. I started with the family that lives in the other half of our duplex. She has a son who's always playing around the neighborhood and keeps track of everyone. He and his mom thought they knew who it belonged to and offered to go over there with me to see if it was theirs. So, we walk over there, and there is a couple sitting on the steps with a toddler playing in the parking lot. The woman looks up and says, "What has my cat gotten into now?" So, I told her I just got back from the vet and she starts acting a little more concerned. By the time this was going on, the cat was peeved cause I had been holding it too long and it just wanted down. So, she saw it as she was running under the car. I told her what all happened and that I had medicine I'd bring over for her if they'd take care of it and she said they would. Then, I told them she was pregnant (and the girl was pregnant herself, smoking...but, who am I to judge?) and she said, "She's pregnant again? I've only had her a year and this is the second time she's gotten pregnant. I just got rid of the litter she had before." So, at this point, I start getting peeved. She said she was planning on getting her fixed but they didn't have the money and now that she was pregnant she would have to wait until the kitties were born. Then I told her that the vet said he could spay her before she got to six weeks and she said that was just "disgusting." And then she brought up the money again. I told her that I knew someone at the humane society that could give her a 1/2 off the price of a spay or neuter as long as it was done at a vets office here in Calloway County. I told her that meant it would only cost $35. And then I offered to help her pay it if they didn't have the money. She then said, "Oh, no, I thought it would be more than that, I could pay that." I think she felt a little insulted, and I wasn't trying to insult her. I just wanted the kitty fixed so we wouldn't have more cats in this world. So, then, my Schwann's man pulled up and I told her I had to go, but that I would get the medicine and food and instructions and bring them back shortly.

As we were walking back, my neighbor and I looked at each other and had the same thought. We hope she'll take care of them. We were trying not to judge them on our first impressions, but it's kinda hard sometimes. She looked pretty rough, like don't want to meet her in a dark alley kind of way. Well, I spent a little too long talking to the Schwann's man so it was probably 30 minutes before I got back over there. It was dark and they were already back inside. So I rang the doorbell and waited. Nothing. Evidently their door bell does not work. So I knocked a little bit. Didn't want to wake up any kiddos or anything. (I also didn't want the girl coming and kickin' my butt!) Well, the guy answered the door. He was very thankful for everything that I did and told me he would pay me back as soon as he could but that he just got laid off from his job, and just got another job, down on his luck...yadda yadda yadda. But, as I was asking questions (are you from here, where'd you live before you moved here, etc.) he told me he was in the military (Air Force) and was a trained surgical technician. He got burned out on it, so took some time off and got into contracting (I think that's what he said) but now he's a chef at a local restaurant! He said he was trying to get back into surgical because the money was good, and I don't think the girl worked. Anyway, as he was telling me this, I started feeling a little better about them taking care of the cat as he has medical training and maybe he would know how to do all of the stuff that needed to be done.

So, that's it. I spent too much money on a stray cat, who ended up not being a stray but owned by someone in my backyard. The thought that is comforting to me is that if I had of found the owners before I took her to the vet is that they might not have taken her, and she wouldn't get the medicine and care she needed. So, if they take care of her, then I've done a good deed. I didn't want recognition or even reimbursement for the care. I just wanted that sweet little kitty taken care of. And I hope they do. I'm in the process of getting the spay voucher to them, and then hopefully I can check up on her from time to time. I'm such a sap when it comes to animals. It breaks my heart when they are sick or injured, because they can't tell you what is wrong or how I can help them. I just love on them and try to comfort them as much as possible. I'm in such a funk today. I know my broken heart will mend. I've been praying a lot since last night. I'm not much for saying prayers a lot, but I needed God's help and wisdom and I felt like He helped comfort me last night. I will continue to pray about this and other things in my life that I have not been able to get control of myself and maybe things will get better. Maybe this was God's way of telling me to pay more attention to Him and every thing around me. WOW, sorry if I got a little deep there. Keep me and Layla (the preggo cat) in your prayers...we're gonna need it! ~Toodles! Kim

I passed!!

Well, I finally finished my Chemistry class. I'm SO glad it's over! I made an A, so I'm excited. Hopefully that'll help get my GPA higher. I'm taking English 102 and The Theatrical Experience this fall. I'm ready to take more classes. But this time, I'm not gonna wait until the last minute to do my assignments!

I'm ready to get back to crafting! This evening, I'm going to Cardio Blast at the gym, then coming home and cleaning my neglected messy home! Then, I'm crafting! I'll post some of my new creations soon! ~Toodles! Kim

I've been crafty!

It's been a while since I've posted. I've wanted to post, but I've had nothing to share. But now I do. I've discovered altering composition books. I've really become obsessed with it. I've got a ton of them, ready to decorate. I'm even teaching a class at the local scrapbook store. Here's my favorite so far:



And now my second favorite:



I made this one for my Shawna for her birthday. Sorry it was a little late Shawna!



And here's the card I made with the left over scrap pieces! Yay for me!



It really isn't one of my favorite cards. I used a rub on tape for the faux stitching. I didn't like it much. Looks too fake.

Hope you enjoy looking at what I've made. Maybe I'll keep making stuff and posting. I've been busy trying to finish up my chemistry class before next Friday. I have a bit left to go, but I'm sure I'll get it done. I'm going to Nashville tomorrow to visit a friend who's just had WLS. I've talked to her sister and she's doing great! While I'm in Nashville, I'm getting to see my old massage therapist and I'm getting an hour and a half massage!! I'm so excited! It's been a while since I've had a good massage!! Toodles! ~Kim

Happy 4th of July

Hello anyone who's reading! We had a wonderful weekend! On Friday, my hubby and I went to some friends house for a pool party. They have it every year and it was last year when I saw them last. It was great catching up with everyone! I have some pictures of the kids showing off.





Then, on Saturday, we had a definite experience. I ended up bringing Samantha home with me and boy did we have fun. Our friends, Dinker & Dozer, asked us to help them with a job. They own a catering business called on the mark catering and event planner and they were hired by the radio station to cater for the Freedom Fest concert. We were catering in the artist hospitality room. That meant we would be serving Jason Meadows, Tracy Lawrence, and the Charlie Daniels Band. So, Sami & I got there right before lunch. So we helped serve band members (we're assuming as nobody really introduced themselves our anything and I didn't ask.) At about 1:30, everything slowed down. My friends left to go get the food for supper. So it was just me, Sami & Mikey. Then Mikey left so it was just me and Sam. Then this gorgeous lady and pretty cute guy walked in. The guy said he needed to get "this lady something to eat." So, by that point, lunch was pretty scares. So, she ends up getting a little salad, as the guy is sitting there humming, walking around. So, I compliment her hair, as it is absolutely stunning. Then I ask if she's with one of the bands and she said "Yeah, I'm with Jason." and points to the guy who was with her but walking out the door. I asked her if that was Jason Meadows and she said yep. Dang it! A famous person and I didn't know it. She just laughed! Then his bus driver came in and we talked a little bit, but Sami really took a liking to him. She was sitting with him talking the whole time he was eating. Then, he came back for supper, and she kept going and getting his dirty dishes for him and talking and being cute. He left, and then came back with a ball of something. He told me to "give this to that youngin". It ended up being a Jason Meadow T-shirt. I thought it was so nice. I told him that she said she wanted to ask him if she could see the inside of the bus, but chickened out. He told me to tell her to come find him and he'd let her see it. Well, then I said that I was her guardian and I'd have to come too and he said that was fine!! He said look him up once Jason was on stage.

So, after that, a lot of people started coming in to eat. We were feeding people and then all of the sudden there was this cute little puppy running around. So Sami and I started playing with it.



Isn't he a doll?? We were playing with him and I asked who owned him and this guy sitting at the table closest to us said it was his. He told us his name was Tank and he was an english bulldog and he was 9 weeks old. So we just kept talking to his owner, and then my friend's son came and whispered in my ear, "You're talking to Tracy Lawrence." I told him he was a liar. I mean, the last time I saw Tracy Lawrence, he had long blond hair and this guy wasn't him. He was wearing a ball cap, and some glasses and just didn't look like him. Until I kept talking to him and then all of the sudden it hit me and I could see it. I'd been talking to him like crazy and didn't even know who he was! So, here's a photo of Tank, the dog of Tracy Lawrence.



After that, we went out and hung out at the concert until it started. Then, we saw Jason's bus driver sitting over by the tour buses, so we went over to see him. He had us pull up some folding chairs and have a seat. We talked with him while the Froggyland Idol was singing. Then we saw Jason's band come out of the bus and start walking to the stage. Then, out pops Jason. It was pretty cool. So we sat there for a little bit and then walked back over to the front, and then walked back over to where he was sitting. He had gone up to the stage to do some stuff, but then came back. He told us his name, and where he was from. He's married and even has a grandbaby! He's driven tour buses for quite some time now. He's driven for Neal McCoy and even Gwen Steffani. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, he never mentioned anything about getting to tour the bus, so I didn't mention it again. He was nice enough to let me take a picture of him and Sami. Here it is:



He was super nice and kept us entertained. After we told him bye, we went back over to the concert. Jason was still on stage. I got a couple of photos of him that were pretty good. Here's one of them:



We didn't stay for the rest of the concert. Unfortunately, I started getting a migrane and was tired from working all day. Plus, Sami didn't really care about staying. She doesn't listen to country music and didn't know who anyone was anyway!

So, we went home and waited for the fireworks. I got a lot of cool pictures. The first one is posted at the beginning of this post. Here are some others:



How cool is that photo? Love how you can see the little squiggles. Here's another one:

It reminds me of a sun in the middle with starburst rays all around!

Well, thanks for reading if you've stayed with me this long! Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weeknd! Toodles! ~Kim

Happy Doggie & A Card

I've created quite a few cards lately. Here is what most of them look like. I have finally gotten on the boat and started working with "Inchies". It really was fun. And kind of addicting! I just had a ton of them to put on cards. And it left the cards to where I could put whatever sayings I wanted on there as needed. Here's the photo:



I don't remember what all supplies I used. The photo isn't really good...still haven't mastered the taking photos of my projects thing. But, if you can tell, I did get a little stand to put the card on so my fingertips aren't in every photo! I did add little rhinestones to all of the inchies...almost used all of my rhinestones as I had a ton of inchies!! But, they're all on cards now, so I have 20 or more cards that I have for whatever occasion.

Here's a picture of our happy dog!



She's just panting from her long walk, but it looks like she's smiling! I have this on my desktop at work. She's so adorable.

Well, nothing new is going on with me. Oh, except I'm working out with a trainer now at the gym. She's really tough, but I feel better after working out. I still hate exercising, but I know I need to get in shape. I've put a few pounds back on, so I could definitely stand to lose a few. Of course, if I'd start watching my diet better, control the carbs, maybe I'd lose some pounds! Uggh!

My chemistry class is going OK. I've got a lot of assignments to do, so I'll probably be working on school work all weekend. All I really wanna do is sit in the recliner and veg out. I'm sure I'll be doing a whole lot of that! And playing Guitar Hero III on the Wii. We haven't played in a while, so I'm about to get on it. Maybe sometime this weekend I'll do some crafting. If I do, I'll post something. Thanks for reading my ramblings! ~Kim