Fur Babies

Ok, ok...my absence has been pointed out by several people. Time to get back to it. What have I been up to? I don't know. But I've been busy. Between friends in crisis and a couple crises of my own, blogging just hasn't happened. So, starting with today.

Well, yesterday, to be exact. The title of this post is "Fur Babies," so as you can guess, we expanded our fur family by more than 1. We came home from our camping weekend with 2 tiny kittens. We picked them up from our friends who live on an acreage that was on the way home from the campsite. We had been to their house for dinner last Sunday, and as soon as we saw the kittens on their porch, I think I KNEW we were going to have one. But THEN I saw them all (5 in the litter) playing together, and thought 2 would be better....for some reason...Anyways. Yesterday, Sully and Pepita came to live at our house. Sully (short for Sullivan) is grey with white on his neck and paws...and on his bum. Pepita (Spanish for "nugget") is the runt of the litter, a tiny little calico....well,...nugget. She's sitting on my lap right now trying to play with my fingers while I type...Sully is crying after Aaron...got left on the couch when Aaron went to get a snack. How sad.

Suki is taking it as well as can be expected, I guess. She hisses and growls whenever they get within 5 feet of her. Oh, well. She'll get over it, I hope. That's the only deal breaker. If she turns nasty or starts peeing everywhere, the kittens will have to go back. And that will be sad. We've tried to keep some of her routines the same...she still sleeps with us, the kittens sleep in a kennel in the living room which is closed off from the rest of the house. She still gets to come in the bathroom and sit on the back of the toilet when either of us have a shower (I don't get this one, but she REALLY insists on being there...), and I try to keep her food dish as HER food dish...her space.

I'm a little nervous about having 3 cats in a small space like we're living in now, amid the renovations...so hopefully the basement will at least be livable by the time the babies get to be too big. Until then, we'll be a cozy, happy little family.

We'll see how this adventure turns out.

Fun at "Home"

I haven't been "home" since Christmas. Haven't seen my two sweet nephews since then, either. We got here at about 4pm on Friday and spent the evening chatting with mom and dad and ended off the evening watching a TV movie about an Amish girl on trial for murdering her newborn infant. It starred one of my favourites, Mariska Hargitay, as the lawyer hired to defend the girl. Amish culture has fascinated me in recent years, so I really enjoyed watching the movie.

Today, we lazed away most of the morning, and then headed out to my sister's place, "the farm," to visit her and the boys (and Andrew, but he was working most of the day...). We spent the afternoon playing all sorts of games with Austen, watching Braeden's latest feats (and all the drool and snot coming out of his face...;) ). Austen LOVED playing with Aaron and was constantly giving him LONG hugs...then saying "Thank you, Aaron." Then another hug, another thank you, so on and so forth. We all went outside to try and fly the new kite the boys got for Easter. Sadly for Aaron (the principal kite flyer), the wind was faint and not very consistent. Oh, well. We tried.

2 more days here...can't wait for more fun!

Seriously.

New Blog....

Most people who read this already know Jonny...I think. If you don't, he's an amazing writer of many profound, yet simple, thoughts. He writes amazing devotionals which I hope he will one day publish in book form. He's got a new blog, and I think you should make a habit of reading it.

Check out my other link-ups, too...

Wish I Were Here, written by Jim Thomsen...writer extraordinaire. He works words like an artist works his brush. Usually funny, always interesting.

Aaron the Groove Guru, written by my dear husband. Mostly reviews of CD's he's listening to, with the odd tidbit of his thoughts on other issues, like God and Christianity, money, life direction, etc.

Ambercita, written by former (I won't say old ;) ) college friend, Amber. Amber is living with her husband and 2 kids in Guatemala right now, where she and Zaak are working with a mission organization there. Little tidbits of her life as a wife, mom, and all-round "wish I lived closer and knew her better" person.

My Next Five Things, written by me. Part of a network of people who are setting 5 semi-small goals at a time, to keep life moving forward. So far, mine have been tantalizing, seat gripping tidbits like "clean the ceiling fans" and "get a library card." Links to the other "Next Five-ers" can be found on this blog.

Zaakistan, written by Zaak. Zaak, husband of Amber, has had his Zaakistan blog for longer than I can remember, I think. I enjoy his mix of personal experiences (varied as they are...cycling across Canada, canoing the Mackenzie River, accomplishing his long list of things to do during his life) and his thoughts about various things, deep and not so deep.

Canada Coast to Coast, written by Eric and Rachel, friends who lived in our town for a whole year. We wished they had stayed longer, but the call of the road beckoned, and now we get to read about all of their adventures, backpacking around Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte's, as well as their school bus/eco friendly RV conversion currently taking place in Manitoba.

Roxy's World, written by, well, Roxy. Roxy's blog makes me feel at home. I like reading it, but I sometimes wish she'd write more often...nudge, nudge.

Our Happily Ever After, written by my cousin Jeremy's wife, Annie. All of their adventures exploring their semi-new location on Vancouver Island. Annie NEEDS AN UPDATE, but when I last talked to her, she had so much catching up to do already, and now the two of them are off in the Philippines on a mission trip. Anyways, back reading is interesting on her blog. Oh, the adventures and misadventures they manage to get themselves into!

Butterneck Toad, written by my friend Reese. Reese lives with her fiancee (wedding in April, yay!), dog, 3 cats, hamster and pet skunk (did I miss anyone?). Former title of this blog was "Of Course It's Random, It's My Brain!" That about sums it up! My favorite post to date is the one where her travel pillow melts in the back car window, and explodes when she tries to take it out of the car into the airport. The description of the travels of those little tiny beads is TOO FUNNY.



So, there you have it....description of all my links. Check them out...

All I can do is shake my head....

I sent my resume to the other email address last night. This morning, there was ANOTHER "Out of office AUTOREPLY" message in my inbox. I don't know why, but I find this ironically humorous somehow.

(One of the) Dumb Thing(s) I Did Today

I applied for a really cool job with the local health region, educating in and promoting healthy living for 0-18 year olds in the area. It's my friend's job, but she'll be going on maternity leave soon. I literally threw together a resume during my spare period while subbing today, quickly had Aaron look it over before sending it off via email to the person named in the posting under "application instructions," as the listing closed at 4pm today. I then ran off to an appointment and then taught 3 piano lessons. I came to check my email just now and noticed a new message in my inbox. This is what it says:

Out Of Office Autoreply:

I will be away from the office from March 10 until April 7 inclusive. If your request is urgent please contact Carolyn Germain at 780 645 3396.

I go back and look at the health region's main page for "careers," and find this:

How to Apply

For all job postings or general applications, e-mail your resume to: jobs@aspenrha.ab.ca

If you would rather use mail, mail your application to the address noted on the job posting. If you are placing a general application, mail your application to:

Aspen Regional Health,
10003-100 Street,
Westlock, Alberta
T7P 2E8

Crap. I'm gonna REDO the resume (it's saved on Aaron's account at school) and send it in to this address anyways. They probably haven't looked for incoming resumes since 4pm this afternoon, anyways. I hope. Oh, well. If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be.

WoooooHoooooo!!!

So, the Sock Hop was a blast! I was too busy having fun to take pictures, so I'll post some when my camera-wielding friends get theirs up on Facebook. We did an actual "Sock Hop," with balloons tied around our ankles...last balloon standing was the winner. Then we had a float-slurping contest and learned the Charleston...from an instructional RECORD! Lots of people had to work early in the morning, and since daylight savings time was also starting that night (spring ahead=less sleep), things wound down kinda early. But it was FUN. AND Chey and I learned the Cha Cha Cha from another record while we were cleaning up. Too fun. Now who wants to go dancing?