SuperScratcher

I couldn't pry him off of it if I tried! Lazy Cat. That is what his name should be.. lazycat. At least if he actually scratched the thing (like he's supposed to) he'd be getting some exercise! (His Vet calls him "o-v-e-r-weight"! Yikes! That's partly my fault - Apparently, I feed him too much =) So all he does is lay on it, sleep on it, cuddle with it, hide behind it, attack it... and lick the catnip off of it. But no matter what the stuipid thing does I'll always love him and think it's the cutest thing ever! If anyone is thinking right now "Geez, Lee Ann is turning into one of those crazy cat ladies!" (Especially now that I've adopted another!) Please TELL ME! I don't want to be a CRAZY CAT LADY! The cats are like our babies though - "the boys" - we call them and we treat them like kids if you ask me! We play with them when we get home from work and bring home toys when we go to Wal-Mart. OMG we sound so loony. The funny part is this would be so "acceptable" if they were DOGS! But because they are cats we sound crazy! Don't we?! Haha.. Below is a video of "no-name" or "black cat" playing with his cheesy chase (one of his "Wal-Mart" toys!) - it's SO cute though! (As you will see in the video - I had to help him out a few times.. =)
lam

The Things We've Been Up To!

Christmas completely wore me out! I'm done. I am more than happy to wait another 12 months for it. Maybe this year I'll start preparing a little earlier (yeah, right… doesn't everyone say that this time of year?). The decorating, the cleaning and visiting and cleaning and shopping and wrapping and cleaning and eating and drinking and partying and wrapping and shopping and then undecorating, tree removal and cleaning again… need I say more? And to top it all off I learned this year that guys will never "get" it. See, they leave it all up to us by excusing themselves with that famous line that goes something like, "Well, you're so good at it." Shouldn't you try it at least once! And really, what man could be that bad at shopping (well… nevermind that one), wrapping (well, okay there's another), cleaning (OK - NEVERMIND!). He's right, they ARE bad at it! But he did a darn good job at cutting down our tree and hauling it home! Needless to say, I became completely overwhelmed while tackling my Holiday duties. Somehow.. a time that is supposed to be joyous and full of life left me with the after-holiday blues and completely drained, with 0 energy to spare! In the meantime, on Jan. 7th, we adopted a new kitty. He was a stray and he requires a lot of attention but I keep telling myself that he's worth it because most likely we saved his little life. =) Don't worry - you'll hear more about him - he's gonna get his own post.
Some other things that have been going on… Matt's been gearing up for the races this year. Working hard to get his bike together for his first race of the year on March 1st. See, we're doing the whole GNCC series this year. Well, not me, but Matt and Jeff are. That means.. 13 races.. at least 10 different states and a lot of hard work on his end and patience on mine! Like i've said before though, it's definitely worth it. I get to see so many different places, even if it's just a small town with a barn and a cow =) I get to see it.
Just recently, I treated myself to my very first laptop! What a luxury! Of course I will use it for Real Estate and also when I go back to school but even for "blogging" it is a nice addition to our home. Afterall, I sit at a desk all day. In no way do I want to come home and sit at another one! With the laptop I feel more mobile =)
Hmmm... what else? I don't know! We seem to always have something up our sleeve! I'll keep you posted!

lam

"Traditional" Christmas Day '08

Travel, travel, travel…. Now I know it is no where near what other people have to go through on the Holidays but I feel like we spent more time rushing around from place to place then we did actually enjoying the day! Since we didn't get to bed until around 2 a.m. the night before we "accidentally" slept in on Christmas Day =)

Matt's mom was having brunch around 10:00 a.m. so that was stop no. 1. Orrin and Wendy came (Matt's brother and sister-in-law) and brought little Derik to open the presents Santa left for him at Grandma's house. Matt and I were SO excited to give D his gift from us!

We bought him his first Harley (this is one special present since Mom, Dad, Uncle Matt and Grandpap all ride Harleys!). It truly is the cutest little thing… not your typical rocking horse - those are for girls! D got a rockin' Harley. Although a little too young to understand it now, in a year or two, I think he'll really appreciate it =) I posted some pics of Derik and his new bike. Actually, these are the only pictures I took that day! And they are by far the cutest! We exchanged gifts with the family and shared a wonderful meal together (thanks to Mitzi - one of the best cooks I know =)

After helping clean up and letting our food settle it was on to Grandma P's house (my mom's mom). She was having dinner at 3. We were already so stuffed by the time we got there our bellies couldn't handle much more! But thankfully Gram was already prepared with extra empty cool-whip containers to fill with goodies for us to take home with us. And man did we eat for the next couple of days! We hung out with the fam for awhile but still had one more person to see… Matt's Dad.We planned for him to come visit that evening but once we got home he called and said he wasn't feeling good and that he wasn't going to be able to make it. =( By that time we were hungry again so of course we heated up our leftovers! Gotta love Holiday leftovers! It was about 8:00 or so by the time Matt and I got to exchange gifts with eachother. This was a first for us since our usual is to get up early Christmas morning and exchage but since Christmas Eve left us so exhausted this year we just didn't make it out of bed in time! I think we both had a very nice Christmas this year. We were definitely spoiled by our families and by eachother but feel very blessed to have such wonderful, loving and giving people in our lives.
lam

"Traditional" Christmas Eve '08

Ever since Pap died in '01 and Gram had to move into a smaller home, Mom has taken over the role of hosting our "Christmas Eve Tradition"… (basically, that means - when Dad's side of the family gets together and anything goes!) This year we had the pleasure of being joined by Great Grandma Jean (82) and Great Grandpa Rich (76, or 77?? ….how about just plain old - OLD!) to help us celebrate. And what a celebration it was! As for a little family history... I don't get to see them too often. Maybe once or twice per year. Our busy schedules (afterall, they both do still work!) and 45 min. drive to and fro, unforturnately, keeps us at our distance. However, I wish I could spend more time with the two of them. I learned that after this past Christmas Eve. There is a lot of history there… the experience and wisdom that comes with age, and not to mention life's lessons that they've learned along the way, as well as, important historical events that they've witnessed and lived through, etc. and if I don't make time to take it all in soon, I may never know at all. Something has always fascinated me about the "senior" generation. They all got "stories", ya know? Some may not be as "interesting" as others… but some fascinate the heck out of me. For some reason… I don't know, I've always been that way.

Anyhow, traditional Christmas Eve was pretty smooth sailing this year. Some of you that know me know that when that side of the family gets together it sometimes isn't always smooth! But, typically, everyone's been getting along just fine these days - or so it seems. Now that I am out of my house at home, I don't always get the "scoop" on the family drama (if you know what I mean). But like I said, things have been going well lately. Another one of those lessons that most often comes with age, experience and well-earned wisdom ; ) It is okay to disagree with one and another at times... As it is a normal human reaction that everyone experiences...

But, on the other hand, drawn out disagreements and family feuds are just a waste of precious time. (<--This is the same lesson I've been trying to teach Matt. Not that we fight a lot but if a disagreement arises, there is no use letting it turn into anything other than that. If we do, we're wasting time. And you only get to live this life once so why not make the most out of the precious time that we have?) I believe "Forgiveness" is what that lesson is called. And it is a lesson that could take a lifetime to learn if you let it. I am right on cue with the season here, aren't I? Wait to go ME! So, I've included some pictures of our gift exchanging, the fam, and some other misc. things (like the bowl of chips we were eating -> (For the record, I didn't take that one) for you to enjoy. Also, included in the post is a video like you've never seen before. If you don't believe me… ask yourself this question? How many people in their 70's and/or 80's (a bit intoxicated might I add) have you ever seen play boxing on Nintendo Wii? Enjoy!

lam

I Changed My First Diaper!

The time finally came when Matt and I had to "babysit" Derik (December 13th, 2008). I know I'm posting this a little late but I just had to let everyone know that, "I Changed My First Diaper!"… okay, so I may sound a little crazy but you would think at 25 I would have done this by now??
I felt so bad for Matt that night. All he wanted to do was play with his nephew but every time Matt looked at him or walked towards him, Derik cried his head off! (Of course I found that funny but didn't want to show it because I really didn't want to hurt Matt's feelings... even though I was laughing on the inside =) Apparantly, Derik's a ladies man. Guys are scarey (and even moreso when he's sleepy). I must say that I agree with the baby… Guys ARE scary! Haha.. Especially Uncle Matt! In order to keep Matt interested I had to keep reminding him that when D's a little older he'll want nothing to do with me and EVERYTHING to do with Unky Matt and his fun toys and girls will have cooties!
And to be honest…. It was only funny until D's bedtime. He fought and fought and fought and wanted nothing to do with sleep, the crib, a bottle, blanket, binkie or anything "bedtime" related… talk about getting experience, or, even worse… a glimpse of the future! Yikes! That was the first time I ever had to deal with THAT! I am going to say that after about a good 45-50 minutes of screaming, trying to catch his breath, screaming and crying some more, squiggling, squirming... and whatever else keeps you from falling asleep (he did it)... he FINALLY fell asleep! And to top it off I had to handle bedtime all by myself because Matt couldn't help me! (Not his fault of course.) Just so you know, D - that will change someday…. These days if I had the opportunity I'd sleep 24 hours straight and not leave my bed unless I had to pee. Does that feeling like you need to "catch up" ever go away?! Before you answer that… I didn't think so!

lam

Back on the Bandwagon!

I know, I know... I've been gone for awhile, taking a hiatus! But I am back now. Unfortunately, after the Holidays it's back to reality. Time to get back into the daily groove and inspired for the new year. I usually dread this time of the year but '09 is actually starting to look more and more exciting! (More to come on that subject....)

I have to play "catch-up" with some of the next few posts but - don't worry - I'll bring you up to speed!

Matt's been slacking too! (As you can see below!) Haha!

Matt's "New Feature"

A bit jealous? I'm not sure but Matt seems to be feeling "left out" when it comes to this blog stuff! I am going to start a side post where Matt will be able express himself in a monthly blurb. (I refuse to let him write more often than that!) Even at once a month I don't know what I'm getting into? Yikes! We made a deal though that he will only write once a month but I won't be allowed to "edit" his spelling or his grammer (and God knows they both need it!) We'll play it safe for now by "testing" him this month and if he keeps his act together he may just get long term priviledges! Time will tell.

lam