Pictures Of Kitties

Volunteer Work for HART

Thought I would share with you a little about what I do in my spare time. I do some volunteer work for HART, or Humane Animal Rescue Team which is a non-profit organization that goes around and rescues cats and dogs from local animal shelters, and finds homes for them. You can actually get a pretty good deal on a cat or a dog, adopting through HART....pretty much half of what you would normally pay if you went to anywhere else say the SPCA. I know for the cats you can get one for $100 and they come equipped with microchip, spay/neuter, carrier, tags, vaccinations, etc... I go into to the cat center and change the water/litter and food and let the kitties out to romp and scratch on their scratching post for a bit. They love to get out and play! This is a wonderful feeling for me to contribute my time to the little animals and give them a little love. I wish I could take them all home with me, but that is not a feasible option. ha, ha So, I can go to Petsmart and play with all of the hundreds of kitties my heart desires and I never have to take one home. I can sure share a piece of the story with you. Here are some pictures I took tonight, but they change from time to time of course with adoptions. The 2 dark colored tabbys are sibblings part maine coon names are "Snickers" and "Hersheys", the white/grey-spot is a siamese mix named "Purrcee", little orange tabby is "Clementine", and "Oliver" is the one with the white and orange, and the little brown/orange kitten is "Sophia". There was another big kitty that was in a bad mood named "Erik" whom I did not photograph in respect to his morale reasons....and plus I did not want to get my nose swatted off. ha, ha Now you know what I do with some of my time. Here is the official website if you want to check it: www.hartoftexas.org

Moms' New Pink Cashmere Robe!

She only wore it for 60 minutes or give or take!

Chistmas Lunch 2007

2008 Is Almost upon us! Here is a picture of our Christmas lunch, and looks like we had 25 people over as many dishes we had out and mess we made in the kitchen! ha, ha So I will not tell you how many people we really had at the table. We did enjoy ourselves immensely though with turkey, cranberry sauce, german chocolate cake, mince pie, squash, hot rolls, carrots, turnips, sparkling cider, and egg nog! We opened all of our presents early this morning, and Martha Lou the cat ran around and around the house so excited that she was getting to go in the parts of the house that are generally off limits!

Festivities!

This was my 2nd time to attend the annual EDJ office party Brian organizes, was a wonderful party. Hannah and Adrian played christmas songs on the violin with a group. We had our picture taken in front of this lighted revolving christmas tree.
Hannah looks so elegant in this red dress, had to snap a photo!

I am a Great Aunt!

Dollye and Walker are the Proud, and tired parents of 7 lb 10 oz 19 and 1/2 inch Remy, and she is adorable, beautiful and healthy! What a nice Christmas present! Looks like she has a little blonde hair? Little stork bites on her eyelids...those will go away. She is a big baby, did not know Dollye had that much baby in her! ha, ha! Can not wait to hold her!

On a recent trip to the Galleria Dallas Shopping Mall, this is the beautiful 4 story tree on display. They have professional olympic ice skaters that have performances on the weekends. They also have choirs singing carols and someone plays the piano in Macy's, amazing and wonderful! This is the time of year it is nice to treat yourself to a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, and curl up with a blanket and watch a nice movie. (side note)... Starbucks also has a gingerbread latte that I would like to try, and I know their white chocolate mocca is quite yummy. We put up a 3 foot tree in the living room, and it only took about 3-5 minutes to decorate! If you are looking to cut down on holiday stress, this is the way to go. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving over at Dollye and Walkers' house and here is a picture of the bird:

Happy Thanksgiving! Well, actually it is after thanksgiving now, hope you all had a wonderful and safe one! I had a lot to be thankful for this year! Already a new baby girl in our family arrived Nov. 19th and her name is Amelie Gabrielle 5 weeks early, but she is doing well. Another baby due in just a few weeks. I am a great aunt now. Wow, I feel old now. ha, ha Check out this hilarious clip....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L3bGKlxzGE

My Journey To Healthy Living

I am on a journey to healthy living! Follow me as I go down that path.....
Yesterday I went out and purchased a Schwinn Mountain bike with the following amenities:
aluminum Schwinn dual suspension frame
extra soft Schwinn grips
Super plush terrain tracking suspension forks
stainless-steel rust-proof spokes
lightweight aluminum componenets: rims, hubs, crank arms, brakes and seat post
precision shifting and derailleur system
protective clearcoat over paint
fast stop linear pull brake system
lightweight, easy adjust aluminum seat post
impact absorbing dual suspension

I am not at my all time high with my weight, but it is alot (309.4) and I need to get consistent with exercise to get fit, trim, and healthy. I am happy, in part due to my new job, and find myself with more time and energy that I can utilize now for achieving healthy living for myself. I have been inspired by my dad, he has lost 85 lbs so far through his diet and exercise. I have the will power to do this and I am going to commit myself to exercising on a regular basis. I may keep a written journal of my activities to assist me as well. Live long, prosper, health, wellness, and riches for all those who strive (and pray).

Pending Move to Cubicle

I started working at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas on March 26, 2007. I would never have dreamed that I would be there now, but I happened upon a career fair at the Dallas Infomart and discovered a new opportunity. It seems by the grace of God that I have come to be there, so I can not complain. I am not working 12 hour night shifts any more. I am no longer running down the hall chasing confused patients, and getting them back to bed. I am a Case Manager Health Advocate I now, and I sign my name with RN, BSN, BCA. (Blue Care Advisor). I plan to get my certification in case managment in 1 year. I will have to start studying soon for the test. Many people think when I tell them that I work at an insurance company that I am "the bad person no one wants to talk to". I beg to differ! I am one of the good ones! I do outreach to members/patients that have health issues/concerns in their lives, and I visit with them encouraging them with their preventive guidelines for their age group. I can send them glucose monitor, blood pressure monitor, asthma pack or weight scale for certain conditions if they do not have the equipment. I call and assist people all over the U.S. and encourage them along in their goals to healthy living. I was promised a cubicle when I started working at BCBS, and now it is August and I with 15 other nurses, remain in a small room squished together. Somedays the airconditioning works and sometimes it does not. We are on the 7th floor of our building, and one day the elevator did not work so we had to hike up 7 flights of stairs....it seemed like more though! If I climbed up and down those stairs every day, I would be really skinny. I have posted a picture of the room we are in at present, and I did my best to avoid taking a picture of HIPPA information. Am pending cubicle placement at this present time.

Support For Our Troops

On July 4th 2007, I decided to take it upon myself to support our soldiers/troops overseas. I do not know of any current family or friends serving overseas, so I happened across a website called www.anysoldier.com and I was pretty impressed with their site! At first I "adopted" just a couple of soldiers to write and send care packages, but then my list grew....and now I think I have about 8 soldiers I am corresponding with. I know it is not much what I am doing to send them letters/cards/ and small packages of hygiene products or snacks. I wanted to send them a message that they are not forgotten, and that they are cared for and loved. I enjoy visiting the webpage I initially found names from because the soldiers post interesting pictures and stories about their accomodations and a little about what they are involved in. I wrote a story to the editor of the Dallas Morning news about my support of the troops, and it was published in the Metro section of Community Opinions on Thursday 7/26/2007. I was not sure that the letters would be recieved in good manner, however I was relieved to recieve correspondence back from the soldiers confirming they recieved my mail! I have posted on picture on here of one of the soldiers (Yenny Guisto) and some of her team that I am corresponding with. One thing that I would love to do sometime is to go to DFW airport and greet the soldiers when they arrive off the plane trip....I think that would send chills up my spine seeing that they are safe and know they have been serving our great country and protecting me and the US.