Rocky

Surprise, surprise! I was out enjoying the 50 degree weather yesterday (so not normal for this time of year!) and saw my neighbor's kitty. As I was talking to it and it ran away, I called "here kitty kitty!" and all of a sudden I hear a pitiful little meow behind me. I knew that meow! I turn around and see nothing, so I call "Kitty!" and there it comes running, the same kitty as last week! He had come home. I grabbed him up, carried him inside and showed him to my oh-so-thrilled hubby. We went out to my parents' last night and took the kitty with us so that we didn't leave it at home. We were a little afraid of what he might do being left alone (well, with our other cat, Taz).

While at my parents' house, we found out that it was not a girl and was a boy. So there goes the name Angel (as in Christmas Angel since I found him around Christmas). We went through a ton of names but due to his boxing abilities on the dogs' noses, his name is Rocky. I tried to find something "manly" that may make my hubby like him.

Last night, we decided to put both cats in the basement and lock them in. Bad idea. Taz, our other cat, decided to try to attack the kitty. There's a big size difference between the two. Taz is a short legged but big, heavy cat (the vet has never called her fat or obese though). And Rocky is a stray, skinny kitty. The only benefit Rocky has is that he has his front claws still. For the time being, he won't get to keep them (sorry bud!).

The dogs are a little afraid of the little guy, as he hisses and makes more noise than Taz does. Taz just runs away. Rocky stays and fights, which tells me how he has some scraps on his body.

So wish me luck as we introduce this little guy into our house. Taz isn't happy, the dogs are worried. And now I need to call the vet to make an appointment!

Presents

I love Christmas trees surrounded by presents...



This was taken before we took all of those presents to my parents' house. It reminds me of going to my grandmother's house and presents basically taking up half the floor. I can't wait for next year and the following years when our baby will be here to celebrate with!

Christmas

Thought I'd share some pics...

Me and Hubby (you can kind of notice my bump)


Someone made Zoey festive. She actually didn't mind it that much.


Another cute one of me and hubby.


My mom's place. Isn't it nice?


Doug and Zoey enjoying the wood stove heat, the sunlight, and a nap.

The Season of Giving

As some of you may know, my hubby is a coach. This year there has been a family in need due to a mom who is sick and no dad in the picture. There are three boys and they are great kids, well behaved, and are as sweet as can be. One of the other coaches had an idea to get us together and have a meal for the kids, making sure they have at least one good meal for the holidays. When the head coach heard about it, he got involved and got others involved too. Not only did we give them a nice meal that they enjoyed, we gave them gifts - some for fun, some that are needed. These boys are in three sports and all of their coaches were involved in giving money, some from their own pockets, some from the team. I think it's great. Not only did coaches get involved, but families (some who don't even know the kids!) got involved. So far, there's been over $1500 raised for the kids and their mom. This will help pay for rent, bills, and food. These boys are in high school, with a younger sister, they don't need to have the stress of paying bills, worrying about money and more "adult" things. But unfortunately, their mom has been sick and hasn't been able to deal with it. So hopefully now, she won't have to for awhile. And I don't think the giving is over with, as this has just happened in a few days (the large amount of money). I hope that when others hear about this, they will donate. Even a few dollars from everyone would be huge. I'm really surprised at how much they raised already, with just a few phone calls.

'Tis the season!

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you find yourself giving more than receiving. :)

Kitty

I WANT HER! (this is the kitty mentioned earlier)

A few of my Santas!

I didn't realize I had already taken pics of my Santas....sorry some of the pictures are bad, but well, oh well. :)

My favorite Santa so far.


My second favorite. He's vintage. And really cool, yet kind of freaky.


And a beaded one. He's actually pretty cool too as he is completely covered with shiny beads.


I have a few more, but don't have pics of them yet. These were some of my favorites! :)

Ornaments

This is a new ornament, made to look like vintage. It's one of my favs.


This one is a vintage ornament, from a flea market. Cheap!! And cute too!


We got this last year, as it was our first Christmas in our new house.


Another new one this year, for the hubby who loves hippos!


Froggie Prince. He's a clip on, which is kind of cool. He was given to me because of my real pet frogs.

Christmas!

I love our tree. We decided we wanted a real tree and not a fake one (although we'll probably try to snag a fake on sale after Christmas for next year - the first year with baby!). We went to a local tree farm, picked it out, cut it down by ourselves, and brought it home. There's just something special about that and we think we'll do it as a family in years to come. We chose all white lights just to keep it simple and because I like the look of all white. The ornaments are a little sparse, as we had a fake 4' tree for the last 5 years. Our tree this year is 6 feet and about 5 feet wide at least. So, I need more ornaments! But I spread them out and between all the lights, garland and everything, I think it turned out good. The pic of the ornament is one my new vintage ornaments that I bought for a couple dollars (for 4, not just the one). I think in years to come I'll add more, as I love the vintage ornaments and their personality. Maybe some day I'll have completely vintage tree. That'll be for when baby is bigger.

I'm going to post more pictures but I have to take them first and before I do that, I have to delete photos of my memory card. I need a new one as mine has over 700 images on it. Yep. All from the last year and believe me, I've deleted as I went along. I just can't make myself delete them for some reason. So, it's a new card for me. Thankfully they're incredibly cheap now, and not like when I got my first digital camera 6 years ago.

Merry Christmas!

Why?

I was on my way home today after work and something terrible happened. I haven't stopped thinking about it since and I doubt I'll be able to stop thinking about it for awhile. I was driving down a street I always drive down, stopped at a stop sign and waited for a kid to cross the street. I went through the intersection and hit something. I knew there wasn't a pothole there so I looked in my rear view mirror. I had hit a DOG! I panicked. I couldn't believe it. I freaked out, stopped my car, and ran back to where the dog was trying to make it way back to its house. As soon as I got there, so did the owners (who happened to see the whole thing). The noise the dog made as it tried to carry itself back to the sidewalk was one I will never forget. I wish I could but I know it won't happen. I rushed to the dog's side, right as one of my students (who I knew lived there) was there. I couldn't believe my terrible luck - I ran over a good kid's dog. By that point it obvious the dog wasn't well and the owners knew it. The girl, a young teen, was screaming. Exactly what I would have done. It was terrible. And you know what was worse? The fact that my student was trying to make ME feel better. I had just KILLED his dog. His mom came to pick it up and I could say was how sorry I was. I can't even put how bad I feel into words. At first we thought maybe it wasn't that bad, I thought maybe I had just a leg or something. But it was soon obvious. It was gone. She held it in her lap and her daughter just cried and screamed. I cried too. And my student kept trying to make me feel okay about it.

Why did it have to be their dog? Why did I have to kill a cute little dog? Why not a stray cat or a opossum, both animals I'd still feel awful about, but it wouldn't hit home so hard. I want to do something for the family, but what can I do? I try to think about what I would do if I lost my dog and saw the whole thing. Would I want that person to do anything for me? I honestly don't think so. I'd tell them the same thing the mom told me. That the dog was gone and nothing could be done. I wanted to call a vet, to do something, but there's nothing you can do. I just feel terrible. I can't get the image out of my head. Or the sound the dog made. It was pitiful. He was in so much pain. And I did it. Something I had always wanted not to do. I hate hurting any animal, but especially a dog. And with my car, to the point of death. I just want to curl up and have it all go away. But it won't. That's not how life works. But what will happen when I see this kid tomorrow? He's such a sweet kid and means no harm. He'll probably try to say something sweet. And then I'll just want to leave and cry again. I just want it out of my head. I hope it gets easier as days go by, but I feel awful for what I did. And for taking a loved one from a good family.