Naughty Paws

Jordan can be quite a pain in the @$$, as such, she's earned many pet names: Evil Kitty, Pestaroonie, several that shall not be noted here, and most recently Naughty Paws. She continues to get into the cupboards and today discovered that she can safely jump onto the mantle. This does not please me at all. I thought the fireplace mantle was the one safe place to display vases and other fragile items. Clearly I was wrong. I don't know what to do with this creature! I thought perhaps I could constructed a kitty-backpack and load it up with a little weight. When Jordan was at almost 17 pounds she didn't get into as much trouble, she was limited in her actions. While she'd love it if I let her eat herself into oblivion I just can't allow it. She has lost weight and is right where she should be... so what to do? With my luck, if I did create a backpack and strapped it onto her, she'd probably become abnormally strong and get into more mischief! Anyone have any ideas?

Happy

I'm losing weight! Down at least 20+ pounds - woo hoo. I was really working at it, then I gave up, and now I'm just making better choices in general and it's working. Still seeing results without having to deprive myself of chocolate.

Made a ton of cards yesterday, some for gifts, many thank you cards, and I started my Valentine's Day cards. Too fun! Of course it took a lot of hand washing to rid my fingers of ink stains, but it's worth it. I even scanned in one card and uploaded it to Splitcoaststampers.com. I hope to add more card images. It'll be so handy to see what I've made for people in the past so I don't duplicate a card for them.

LIGHTING! The lighting dudes are here right now installing a fixture in the room we've deemed to be the dining area. There was no fixture so it was quite dark. We strung up some cute out-door lighting fixtures to add a little extra light, but it wasn't enough. So, for the Winter Solstice, the hubby is giving me light! I couldn't be happier. We enjoy playing board games and now we'll be able to read the Trivial Pursuit cards without all that annoying squinting.

Hubby. I'm fortunate to be able to spend my life with my best friend. He's sweet, thoughtful, funny, witty, charming, honest, loyal, and just plain fun to be around. I love ya darling!

Healthy critters. The girls all seem to be doing well. Perhaps Jordan is excelling at this? She's been getting into the cupboards, people food, cat food... As a result, she's been spending a lot of time in the clink. Poor kitty, if only she would behave.

Long 4-day weekends are good. Sleeping in is good. Chocolate is good.

It's a wrap!

This past week at work I've been wrapping presents for co-workers. It's a "Thank You" to the employees from the Volunteer Committee. I really enjoying wrapping gifts, but when I'm the only committee member doing it, I get lonely. Today I was overwhelmed with presents to wrap so a couple members helped out. We finished in record time and it was fun to have some company.

It'll be interesting to see how many gifts will need to be wrapped tomorrow. I'm sure a bunch. Tomorrow is the last day we're offering this, so those last minute shoppers had better get busy tonight!

Ungrateful

The Team Leads at work wanted coffee and pastries for the employees to express gratitude for a "great year." I made all the arrangements, purchased baskets and other decorative items to house the creamer, sugar, hot coco packets, etc. Then, this morning as I was setting it up, some employees just hoovered over me, and even asked "Is it ready yet, can we dig in?" If it WAS ready, would I still be setting things out? Hello! Pay attention people.

Anyway, I realized if I wanted to retain my limbs I best move out of the way. As soon as I did the vultures descended upon the goods. Not a single, "Thanks Beck, it looks great" or "Yum, this is wonderful." Nada, bunch of ingrates. At least they didn't complain about the presentation or the quality of the food and coffee. Ugh.

Since I'm technically an employee, but not on the phones like the others, I do all the behind the scenes stuff (purchase gift cards, food and snacks, decorations, or whatever it is the Team Leads want) so it's easy to feel left out and unappreciated. Sometimes my job is fun and provides many creative outlets. Other times, like today, it can be frustrating. Of course, that would be true of any position. Oh well, such is life.

Whew!

We did it! All holiday gifts have been wrapped, boxed up, and shipped out. We even have the upcoming birthday gifts sent out with the holiday items. Of our 4 parents, 3 have b-days within a week of Christmas?! One held out until January, but no matter, her gift was sent too.

Next I'll start making some valentines, maybe after that some Mothers Day cards. Then it will be our parents anniversaries (both in June), Fathers Day then the hubby's b-day... so many wonderful card making occasions! And in January the new Stampin' Up catalog comes out. Oooooo I can't wait to see what new stamp sets will set my heart a flutter.

I'm hoping that maybe in the spring, when the weather is nice, we can take a little trip to Wisconsin to visit the folks, Grandma, Bernie and Tim. And, with any luck, maybe the in-laws could swing on up to WI and we could all spend time together.

My one class starts in Feb. and the other in April. Both classes end May 31. Perhaps Spring won't work... but summer. We could go to Wisconsin at the height of mosquito season - oh joy! Humidity and bugs, what a lovely combo. Oh well, we'll survive, we're troopers.