Wow! What a busy weekend we’ve had. Sean is feeling much better so we jumped right back in and got to work. Friday was a flex-Friday (Sean gets every other Friday off) so we took Puff to the shelter to get her microchip and set up a time to have her spayed on Monday. Then we took Wash to the family that wanted to adopt him. After that we went to the clinic to get my blood work done but the phlebotomist had taken off early so we had to walk over to the hospital. Thankfully the wait was short but the needle hurt like a bad word sailors say. You’d think I’d be used to that by now but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.

After that we went to Wal-Mart to pick up the gift certificate they gave us to buy the angel statue for the fundraiser. But the people at the front desk had no idea what I was talking about, again, and they had run out of the angels. I was told to come back the next day when the two people who run the charity division would be in. We spent the rest of that day working on the websites and some backend blogathon stuff.

Saturday I got a call from the family who adopted Wash, he wasn’t doing well so we went and picked him up. Then we went and visited the family who adopted River and that made me really happy. I worry so much about them but I could tell she was very happy with her new family. I borrowed April’s camera (thanks April!) and took pictures of all the prizes and sponsor gifts for the Thon plus a ton of the cats. Then I called Wal-Mart to make sure the proper people would be at the store. I was told they wouldn’t be in until Monday but I needed to go out anyway so I stopped by Wal-Mart to. We bought the last four prizes for the Thon and some markers for the posters for the fundraiser. Then I went to the CS desk and asked about picking up the GC. Again they had no idea what I was talking about but they finally figured it out and gave me the card. Of course they still don’t have the angels so I guess I’ll be raffling the gift certificate which is ok with me.

On the way home we stopped at the new Dart store (it’s a thrift store) and as usual they were asking for to much for everything. It’s weird how all the thrift stores here charge to much. There was a tea set I wanted (I collect interesting china tea sets) but it was just the pot and four cups and the pot had a very large chunk missing from the inside lip and they wanted $12.50 for it so I had to pass on it. They did have some rather interesting old books mixed in, amusingly enough, with the trashy romance novels. Two in particular caught my eye but I only recall one title, ‘Why Do The Heathens Rage’. I may go back and get it.

By 4:30 we were very tired and extremely hot. It was 110 degrees yesterday and we’d been out in the sun or in the hot car all afternoon so we decided to do something we almost never do. We stopped in at John’s Pizza, a local family style sit down restaraunt and got the buffet. The place was empty except a couple with a toddler and an older woman nursing a beer and looking rather grumpy. We went up to the buffet and realized that we really should have looked at it more closely before ordering. There was barely any food on the line and what was there looked like it had been out all day. The salad was so gross I ended up eating pizza even though I knew it would make me sick. The pizza would have been good had it been fresh but even the breadsticks and cookies were rubbery and tough. Mostly we drank water and tried not to melt. After we’d been there a grand total of twenty minutes we decided to leave and were treated to some dinner theatre. At that point the dinner crowd was starting to come in and things were picking up (figures, just as we’re leaving). One of the employees and her boyfriend (?) stormed in and began cussing and screaming and the staff, being mature and proffesional, cussed and screamed right back. It seems there was some debate over whether she’d been fired or quit. We got out of there as fast as we could and swore never to go back. Last I heard the police were on the way.

I have to say, I really like a lot of things about this town. It’s quite and the people are generally friendly. Theres no pollution and most of the streets are clean and you don’t hear cops and firetrucks outside your door all hours of the day and night. But it definately has it’s bad side as well. It’s extremely hot, there are millions of bugs (we have to dodge black widows just to get out of the garage), no one seems to care about the overpopulation of strays and the businesses are terribly unproffesional. For instance, I called a local place to see about getting ribbon printed for the Thon and they said they’d call back on Moday with a price quote and never did. One store we went into, shopped and then went to the counter and waited fifteen minutes for someone to ring us up. When no one showed up we finally put our stuff back and left. Last weekend when we went to get some art supplies for the fundraiser two of the three stores we went to were closed even though it was 5:30 and the store hours said they were open until six. Assuming the store is open and someone is working nine times out of ten the employees don’t know how anything works, can’t quote me prices or dates and have no idea when the senior staff will be in. I think it has a lot to do with this being a small town and people being more relaxed about how things work but the town is growing and more big businesses are moving in. If the small businesses don’t shape up they’ll never be able to compete with the big ones (ie The Super Wal-Mart that’s coming). The only thing small businesses have that the larger ones don’t is their friendly personal service. I haven’t seen much of that here and I think they’re in real trouble.

On the way home we stopped at Pet Integrity which is a non-profit no-kill animal rescue. They pay for everything themselves and it’s run by volunteers. The poor ladies have 200 cats! I picked up some volunteer forms and after the Thon is over I think I’ll see what I can do for them. I really believe that a society can be accurately judged by the way they treat their animals and I would hate to see how our little Mayberry would fair if it was judged by it’s current practices.

Good luck and blessings, Prana

Yesterday the last of Sean’s prizes arrived and I finally got things sqaured away with the good folks at Wal-Mart. Their a very nice lot all in all. I updated the Blogathon FAQ so you can go look at all the prizes you could win and by look I mean read about. There should be pictures of everything this weekend, including the sponsor gifts, I just have to borrow Aprils digital camera since mine commited suicide.

Sean is layed up on the couch watching movies and playing patient today. He wasn’t feeling well when he went in to work and he called a couple hours later to say he was coming home. I got him all set up in bed, gave him some medicine and all that stuff. But no sooner had I left the room than I heard ongodly noises from the hall. I assumed it was one of the cats doing something naughty but it turned out to be Sean puking up things he ate last week. I never thought I’d actually see projectile vomiting but then again I never thought I’d move to the desert and have twelve cats either. He felt better after his little barf fest but I made him let me take his temperature anyway and he had a slight fever so I put him on the brat diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce, toast). It’s bland and will make his tummy feel better. He may just have a summer bug but I seriously doubt his diet helps either. When asked what he ate yesterday he looked at the floor and mumbled “Diet soda, Peanut M&M’s and icecream’. Who knew I married a four year old?

I forgot to mention this earlier because I’ve been so swamped and I feel really terrible about it. Not long ago my brothers best friend was in a really terrible accident at work and was severely injured. He was doing my brothers job that day because my brother had hurt his foot earlier that week so my lil bro is feeling guilty. His friend, Matt, was crushed when a load of granite fell on him and his legs are pretty mangled. At the same time my great uncle had to be taken to the hospital because he had several blood clots in his stomache. He’s doing better now but they may have to do surgery to remove his leg. So if everyone could please say a little prayer for them that sure would mean a lot to me.

Oh and if all goes well someone is adopting Wash. Wash was the last kitten we found, he’s still a bit feral and he’s older than the others so I never thought we’d find him a home but we have. I’m really happy he’ll have a family but I’ll miss him lots. Tomorrow we’re taking him to his new mommy so pray that they’ll take care of him and love him like we have.

Good luck and blessings, Prana

I want to start off by saying how incredibly proud I am of my mom. She’s forty three years young and just signed up for college after being awarded a Pell grant. She took some college courses when I was about twelve but had to drop out because of our financial situation and her health. Now she’s going back to get an associates degree so she can be a social worker or councelor. My mom is not only super nice, but also very smart (yes you are!) and I know she’s going to do great.

Yesterday a family came by to see about the cats and decided to adopt River, who they’ve renamed Onyx. They seemed like a nice family but it was still very hard to give her away. When we got home I kept imagining the other cats looking at me like I was a traitor. I know it’s all in my head and everything will be fine but I keep thinking it’s like that scene in Indiana Jones where the bad guy rips the other guys heart out with his bare hand and then shows it to him still beating. I keep looking for her around the house and then I remember she’s gone and find something to scrub or laundry to fold. The only thing that keeps me from crying all day is throwing myself into my work. I know it’s for the best, I really do, but it’s easier said than done. Like watching your kids go off to college, your happy for them but you can’t help but be heart broken.

I strung all one hundred necklaces yesterday. It took a lot longer than I expected probably because I had to fend off twelve cats who wanted to play with all the cording. They looked really nice though especially after I hung them on the wrack I got to display them on. I still haven’t found a place to rent us a canopy for the fundraiser table so I guess I’m going to have to just buy one. We’ve already spent a ton of money not to mention time on this so I’m really hoping everything works out the way we want it to.

Earlier this week I saw the road runner. Everyone told us when we moved in that there was one that hung around the apartment complex but I never thought I’d get to see it. Imagine my surprise when he walked right into my yard and casually strolled around as if he owned the place. I couldn’t have been more than ten feet from him and it was very cool to watch him. If your wondering, a road runner doesn’t look anything like the cartoon version. In fact they look like a skinny chicken with a longer beak and tail.

Well I’m off to work on CharmedDesign.com . Hopefully all my artwork will be up by Sunday. Good luck and blessings, Prana