It's been really hectic the last several weeks what with school starting back up for the kids and me finishing school. I've head several side projects involving the church website and youth T-shirt design, as well. Feeling a wee bit overwhelmed. Portfolio class is my last class, and for some reason I'm finding it difficult. That could be because the class rubric says one thing and the instructor says ignore that and do this instead. Or it could be that we are having to work on the cover letter and resume - again. I just finished 6 weeks of working on that resume and I don't appreciate doing it again because this instructor says it should be different. He apparently has different opinions than the other instructor on what goes in a resume and what does not. Whatever...
Here is a picture of my kids and grandkids on their way to the first day of school. The youngest one is in 1st grade this year, and was so excited that she ran out of the house and was half way to the bus stop and waiting for the rest of them impatiently. That's her in the pink way ahead, LOL.
Just this past weekend we had some drama in our backyard involving some kittens under the house and one in the shed. Apparently Mama Cat had her babies in the shed and got interrupted moving them to under the house and left one behind. We discovered the babies under the house in the little access "well" and when they saw us looking, went under the house through a small opening at the side of the board that blocks the access hole. When we got back from our trip to Joplin Saturday we heard a kitten crying and after a little investigating, figured he must be in the shed. Actually, I should point out that this kitten was crying so loud that we could hear it when we backed into the carport and Hubby panicked and thought he had run over one. It wouldn't be the first time we've had kittens hiding in the carport. I can't figure out why cats want to bring their babies to our house - dogs live here and they don't appear to like cats very much. It's a mystery...
Anyway, we couldn't find him, so we decided to move everything out the next day after church. I literally got no sleep worrying about that kitten out there all by himself! So the next morning before leaving for church I heard him out there and went to check and he was sitting in the corner of the shed looking at me. I promised him I would get him back to his brothers and sisters and take care of things. At this point we hadn't seen Mama and thought maybe she had abandoned them. We went to WalMart after church and bought kitten milk replacer and some kitten crunchy food and then came home and tackled the shed. We pulled everything out of one half and finally found him. What a little fighter! He hissed and spat and clawed - good thing we were wearing gloves. We put him in the access well and I mixed up some of the milk and put some crunchies in with it and took it out to him while he hissed and slapped the ground with his tiny paws like a big bad "puddy tat". When I went to check on him later, I could hear him meowing, but different so when I peeked in, I saw him and Mama reuniting. Baby was so happy to see Mama and then she caught me looking and did an amazing impression of a bouncy ball by shooting out of the well and banking off of the wall of the house and running behind me underneath the Crepe Myrtle to watch and see what I was going to do. I did the smart thing backed away slowly letting Mama know that I wasn't going to bother her baby. I felt bad interrupting their reunion, but I had no idea Mama was around. I saw her again later that night lying outside by the access well keeping watch over her babies, so now I can relax a little. Although last night we had to move the panel and turn it on end to make the opening bigger because the kittens are getting bigger. Apparently my youngest stops by to peek in on them on his way in from school and said that yesterday they were trying to go in and one got stuck with his butt out and the others trying to get in pushed him on through. Too bad I missed that, LOL!
One day last week I came home and discovered odd shapes in the grass along the side of the road and around the area of the church parking lot that adjoins our neighbor's property in the back. Very strange...they look like...crop circles! Could it be......? No, it's what happens when the guy from the church who does the mowing has a problem with the blade on the mower and doesn't notice. See the shot below? And in the background is our nature-neighbor's oasis of tree limbs and brush that has yet to be hauled off. And her mower which she uses to mow around said brush pile and then proceed to just leave out in the
Here is a word for the day. Use it often:
smarm·y
ˈsmärmē
Adjective,
informal
ingratiating
and wheedling in a way that is perceived as insincere or excessive.
"a
smarmy, unctuous reply"
synonyms: unctuous,
ingratiating, slick, oily, greasy, obsequious, sycophantic, fawning
I had occasion to use this word recently when describing an old guy calling me "Babe", and some people didn't know what it meant. But now that they do, they also know someone they can apply the adjective to :)
