Today

Today, I realized how funny my Mother-in-law can be. She'll call and talk to either Shawn or me and tell us a story. Then she'll ask to speak to the other person. Once that person is on the line she says "I'll let Katina/Shawn explain it, BUT..." and then goes on to explain the exact thing she just said she'd let the other person explain. Of course, this negates the need for us to tell each other anything.

Also today, the new lady started at work. She's nice. I'm going to go out on a limb and say "I like her!" However, I think Kena had a bad day at work...she had a meeting with her supervisor, and the supervisor's supervisor. AND she didn't look too hot after the meeting. Furthermore, her supervisor was asking the other person she supervises if Kena had told him anything. Which she hadn't. BOO on bad meetings with supervisors.

hmm, and I think that's about it for what's been happening today...yeah, I know, not very entertaining...tomorrow's plans include going to the Kitchen/Restaurant store during Lunch break and buying oven-proof Onion Soup Bowls. YAY!!!!

Oh good God, I've gone Key-raise-ee

That's right, yours truly has gone certifiably insane. Jo-ann Fabrics is having a sale right now. It is a sale because the store is moving to a different shopping center, but still, everything is 30-60% off. So, I, being the completely sane and logical person I am, decided to buy 16 yards of fabric (at least 8 of which can be considered "baby print") and a "fabric book" (you know, one of those books made for babies that teach them about numbers, or winnie the pooh or some other benign thing). Now then, I don't sew much to begin with, and thus far I've made a different thing for each friend that's gotten pregnant (and I already made the baby blanket). BUT this way I can at least be prepared (Jesus, I make it sound like someone says "I'm pregnant!" and I need to have a baby present for them within a day)--the baby blanket project only takes like 2 hours, so it's baby blankets for everyone! weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wish List

It's July... Which means that it's time to start thinking about what I want for my birthday/Christmas. "What do you want for your birthday?" usually starts on October 1, and "What do you want for Christmas?" generally starts at/around Thanksgiving. (even though the post date says January--that's because I changed it to say that so this wouldn't show up at the beginning of the blog)

Ergo, I decided I should keep a list of things I want so when people (aka 'family') finally start asking, I'll have a better answer than 'hmm, I could really use some new socks.'

Dogs:

1. Training treats for dogs at the shelter - Puproni, Bil-jacs, Blue Buffalo, Beggin' Strips, etc.
2. Toys for dogs at the shelter (Kongs, stuffed toys - get 'em cheap, though)
3. Consumables for the dogs at the shelter (bully sticks, rawhide chews, pig's ears, etc. - Amazon has some pretty good deals on bully sticks)
4. Martingale collars for dogs (size Medium seems to be the best size to get) - order 'em for cheap from Amazon
5. 6' nylon leashes for dogs (1" wide is best)
6. Freedom Harness for dogs - size M and size L - I don't care about the color so get whichever color is cheapest. 
7. Donate to your local animal shelter or to Dogs Out Loud

Cats:

1. Kitten toys (they tend to like small stuff they can carry around - so maybe a value pack of the little mice or a pack of 1" diameter pom-poms you can get at a craft store)
2. Warming Disk/pad for foster kittens ("Snuggle Safe" seems to be the brand) - or you can just google "Warming Disk Kittens" to see what it looks like.

Gift Cards:

1. Gift Card to Petsmart
2. Gift Card to Amazon 
1. I would buy either dog-related stuff listed above, kitten related stuff listed above, Lua the Pup T-Shirt, or a treat pouch for training
3. Gift Card to HEB
4. Gift card to Academy
1. I need more running socks, shirts, and yoga pants (size small should work for most cases), socks - size 6.5
5. Gift card to Ikea
6. Gift card to Lowe's or Home Depot
7. Gift card to H and M
1.  size small
8. Gift card to Old Navy 
1. Shirts: size small
2. jeans: 'sweetheart' or 'dreamer' styles in size 0 or 1
9. Restaurant gift cards (can't go wrong with Italian) 
10. AirBnB now has the option of giving gift cards which is cool, but it requires you to create an account to send one.
11. Gift card to Google Play store (to buy books)

Garden:

1. Gift cards to garden centers - The Great Outdoors and The Natural Gardener sell gift cards that you can purchase online.
1. I could also use 2 more Dripping Springs Ollas, or some of the smaller ones for flower pots, or I can make my own using plain terracotta pots
2. I could always use more natural fertilizers like Sea Weed or Fish Emulsion
2. Felco One Hand Pruning Shears or Picking and Trimming Snips (small hand size is probably the best)
3. Long Handle Hose Nozzle - sold at most garden stores and HEB.  They look like this)

House and Home:

1. Kamenstein 3oz spice jars (can be found at the Kitchen Collection at the Outlet mall)
2. Variera or similar shelf rack to use wasted space in cupboards (can be found at Ikea)
3. "Thirsty" coasters 
4. Access Flosser Refills

Events:

1. Texas Stars hockey tickets, 
2. Musical/Orchestra/Play tickets (specifically Jurassic Park in Concert)

Camping/Backpacking:

1. +30 degree to +45 degree sleeping bag (for backpacking)
2. Wool shirts - great for backpacking - SmartWool is a great brand, albeit pricey

 TV/Movies:

1. Community TV series (Dani already got me season 1)
2. Lilo and Stitch movie
3. About Time movie
4. We're the Millers movie

Other Clothing:

1.  Shethinx panties (either Hiphugger, Sport, or Boyshort - size XS), or gift card
2.  Third Love (size 34 A 1/2) or gift card 

Flood Pictures

Hey all, here are some flood photos from Saturday (Jan 13):

Here is Lake Creek close to the Walmart, and by the fire station (the flood picture is upstream looking downstream, and the normal picture is from the bridge looking upstream...so in other words, if I took both pictures at the same time, the flood picture would be a picture of me on the bridge taking a picture of my other me by the tree next to the water quality pond. Clear as mud? good):

Here are a few pictures a little closer to my house...this bridge is close to the middle school, and is right next to the swimming pool. The first one is upstream looking downstream (so if you were a ping pong ball, you'd be floating INTO the culverts) and the little culverts are about half full, the second picture is from the bridge looking downstream, (you'd be floating OUT OF the culverts) this creek is normally dry.

And what's this, why I do believe it quite possibly might be SNOW (1-16-07)!

Ice day. YAY!!!!

it's so sad...I'm just like a little kid. When the weather starts to turn bad I go "man, I hope I get out of going to work." kinda sad really, but at the same time, I think all of us want an ice-day...just a day to sit around in your pajamas, or house pants, and do nothing. So good.

But unlike snow-days in colorado where half the time the day was decided (no school) but the weather wasn't really bad enough to warrant it, so you got to go out and do stuff...not so much with Austin...when it's an ice day, it's like 25 outside (which, yeah, I know not cold), but the damn roads are a sheet of ice, so you might as well stay inside...oh, and I think we've got what could actually be considered "snow" at the house...not much at all, and really when it first started falling it looked much more like miniature hail than snow flakes, but I think it can be considered actual snow since it wasn't sleet or freezing rain.

On the plus side, the cats haven't been begging to go outside...even they know how cold it is.

stupid Vista

Stupid Vista...making it so I can't play my Sims...I like my Sims...especially when I have the day off and nothing to do because it's stupid weather outside...

Never to fear, I just ended up going over to Miss Sarah's house because she also had the day off. I told her of Baby Colison's project that shawn and I made yesterday...she's at least excited, which is good because the flannel I chose for the project is blue and white, which can be construed as "boy" and Mr and Mrs Poochie are probably having a "girl." But I can tell you that John at work would say that the design makes it a "girl" blanket...because male babies are highly susceptible to "turning gay"* if they are surrounded by images/likenesses of rabbits, horses, and sheep...yes, he would probably think that all cowboys are gay.

*This phrase is in quotes because I believe that gay/straight is determined when the baby is created.

Sewing Notions

So it was rainy today....of and on rain all day long. fun. I'm not on call (YES!!!) but I am beginning on Tuesday...so it better stop raining by then dammit!

Anyhow, I went out to get flannel prints to make a project for Baby Colison. This is what I learned:
1. When it rains lots, Lake Creek is more like a raging river. I took pictures.
2. Lowe's does not sell "grow-lights" for plants...well, they might, but I wasn't sure, plus I think I'll just take the basil to work so it gets more light and hopefully won't die.
3. The men at the fire department probably think I'm crazy. I pulled in to the department so I could take a picture of the creek, but then decided that I shouldn't park next to the "safe drop-off for unwanted babies" door, so I drove across the street to Walmart and walked along the aforementioned "creek" to get a picture of the water going under the road.
4. Hancock Fabrics does not have a good selection of fabric, but their Fleece is 40% off right now, and they have tons of "fur" fabrics good for stuffed animals. They also have a good selection of anything velcro.
5. Joanne Fabrics is moving. Most of the store is on sale, except for appliques and "books made of fabric" kits. They have a great selection of fabrics, but no good "furs". Their gender-neutral baby fabrics are blah.
6. Walmart is closing down their fabric section of their stores...It is also the place that I found the fabric I wanted...and they only had like 6 flannel prints....as opposed to the 68 I found at Joanne's.
7. Petsmart has great deals on Christmas themed dog and cat toys--I paid $1.50 for each dog toy and $1.60 for the plastic stocking filled with cat toys.
8. Don't walk from the far end of the parking lot to Old Navy when it's pouring...you'll get soaked.
9. Old Navy's clearance stuff was blah...thus it was pointless to have walked from the far end of the parking lot in the rain...damn.
and finally
10. The cat doesn't know if he wants in or out...he just wants you to stand there holding the door open for him so he can sniff the air and contemplate if he wants to go outside when it's that cold and wet. And don't try to force him out the door...it's like trying to get a cat into a sink full of water.

The weekend

1). I didn't do anything on saturday...okay, well, I finished my book (The Prestige).
2). Sunday we went to the Lima Bean's baptism. Pictures following soon I think/hope--I didn't take any pictures so I'm at the mercy of Mr. and Mrs. Lima Bean....It was funny during the baptism because the priest asked for "the parents" to stand next to him and Mrs. Lima Bean was all like "mom, dad, get over here" (motioning to her parents)...no, honey, YOU'RE the parents he's talking about!
3). Went out to eat after said baptism with Mrs. Lima Bean's family (from Venezuela), Mr. Lima Bean's family (from Ohio), Mrs. Lima Bean's best friend from school (and her husband), and Miss Sarah...who isn't really starting to show yet, but her boosums are huge.
4). Shawn went and busted my new computer (something about updating bios with the wrong version, so now the motherboard doesn't work)...so I don't know when I'll next be able to blog...not that I blog frequently, but still...I only have access to the internet at work now...so sad.
5). I started re-reading "Enslaved by Ducks." good book, good book...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Internet!

I have already started planning 2 baby showers, woo! well, we pretty much have the dates, and the houses, but we don't know which house for which date. Meh, details--it was all about choosing a date so people don't go out of town or make other such plans (especially since one of the showers is going to be during spring break). Hey, look! I found a pic of the two preggers ladies...granted, this was well BEFORE either was pregnant...in fact, this picture was taken well over a year ago.
I also went and installed a program on 15 different computers--okay, I had help, two of the guys I work with came with me so it only took 2.5 hours instead of 5 or 6 hours.

The neighbor's cat loves our yard. This only sucks because she doesn't like other cats, so she attacks the sliding glass door every time she's close by and IV or Quazi is sitting next to it...so, we're serenaded at 5 am daily by our cats growling, hissing, and howling at the other cat...fun!

And here's a pic of me holding the Lima Bean...she was a couple days old...she doesn't look so "fake baby used for teaching CPR" anymore...now she laughs when she watches the ceiling fan.