Heat and More Heat

The weather guys have been forecasting this heat wave and they weren't kidding! We were supposed to get to 100 today. It reached 103 in Vancouver which set a new record. It is 11 pm and still 91 degrees. Usually when we get this hot the air is very dry but it is so humid. I am blessed to have air conditioning so our house is cool. But not many people in this area have A/C as we usually don't need it. I am sure they are suffering tonight and I have been praying for them off and on all day.

Tuesday is supposed to be 105, Wednesday 103, and then we will cool down to 98 on Thursday - if you can call that a cool down. Hopefully it will really cool off by the weekend like promised.

I didn't get much done today - just stayed inside, watched TV, did some homework, and read a library book that I got last week. It will probably be more of the same for tomorrow.

I will have to run some errands tomorrow because I desperately need a belt for my vacuum. I'm also craving watermelon so I'll go to the store and stock up on things we can eat so there won't be any cooking involved. When it's this hot I don't want to cook and I don't want to eat a hot meal! Sandwiches, fruit, and raw veggies will be the menu for the next few days.

Thursday Evening

It's almost bed time for me but I had to take a few minutes to catch up on some blogs. I didn't get all the rounds made but hope to visit more on Saturday.

I bought a new vacuum in April and it works great. However it's not working now. I sent Steph to her room to vacuum last night and made sure to tell her to get everything up off the floor. Five minutes later I hear a funny noise coming from the vacuum and Steph squealing. She wears clip-in hair extension sometimes and had left them on the floor. They got sucked up in the vacuum, wrapped around the bar, and broke the belt!

I think that sounds like as good an excuse as any to not do housework for the rest of this week, right?

It's been nice and cool here the past few day but things are heating up. It is supposed to be mid-90's to over 100 for the next 5 to 7 days! They are forcasting 104 on Monday. We do have AC so that's a blessing. But there are many that live here that don't because it's normally cool. I'm just dreading it and will spend lots of time inside. I have some sewing projects that I want to work on so those hot days will be a good time to do them.

It's off to bed for me - sleep tight!!

Sophie Goes To The Vet

Sophie had her first vet visit today. She was such a good girl and everyone remarked what a laid back kitten she is. She weighs 2 lbs, 5 ozs! The vet said she is very healthy and, after I told him the story of what she was like when we got her, he said that we've done a remarkable job with her in 1 month. I know that he probably thought I was nuts having a picture taken of her on the table. But I had to have one to put with the blog post!

Friday Albertson's Savings

You know how some women meet their girlfriends on Friday night to go to dinner, play Bunco, quilt, etc?? Well, Kim & I find our excitement from going to Albertson's for the latest coupon deals! She sent me an email to tell me about a great deal on Coffeemate creamer. This is one of my favorite things in the whole world so I was all over that. She said she'd meet me at Coffeemate cooler in the back of the store to share coupons with me.

I get my stuff and I'm hanging around the cooler waiting. I'm walking around trying not to look like I'm shoplifting or something. I had this thought that it was kind of like waiting for a drug drop - although I really wouldn't know what that is like since I'm never waited for one, just watched a lot of cop shows on TV.

We finally meet up, make the "drop", and are off to the checkout. Here's what I got:

(4) 32 oz Coffeemate liquid creamers $10.00 (on sale for $2.50 ea)
(5) pints Breyers ice cream $ 5.00 (on sale for $1.00 ea)
Less Nestle Savings for spending $10 - 2.00
Less $1.50/2 coupons x 2 - 3.00
Less $4/5 catalina on Breyers - 4.00
Less 2 doublers for $1 each - 2.00

Total Paid $ 4.00

Plus I got another Catalina for $4/5 on Breyers, $1 Catalina from Nestle, and a $2 off for an Albertson's survey – these will be used on my next shopping trip. Today I'm off to get more ice cream and a killer deal on 12 boxes of Kraft Mac n Cheese and 10 boxes of Deluxe Mac n Cheese for FREE!

Waitin' On A Woman

I know that you've probably heard the Brad Paisley song "Waitin' On A Woman". It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. If not, here's the video from YouTube.

Today I saw this kind of love in action. I took Steph and a friend to the mall. They were in Macy's and I went outside in the mall to sit on a bench and wait. Across from me was a white haired gentleman who I'm guessing was around 70. He was sitting there patiently watching the people walking through the mall.

About 5 minutes later a beautiful white haired lady comes walking out of Macy's with a shopping bag. She looks over at the bench with the sweetest smile and expression on her face. She was looking at her husband. He smiled back, got up, and said "Did you get what you wanted?" She shook her head yes and he placed his hand on her back as they walked away smiling and talking to each other.

I was almost blubbering right there in the mall. It was so sweet to see so much love on the faces of two people. He was such a gentleman and was so kind & patient. I imagined to myself that they've probably been married forever and he's waited for her many times! It was so precious!

Sophie Loves Toilet Paper

We keep Sophie in the downstairs bathroom at night. That's where her litter box, bed, and food are. This is a temporary thing until we're 100% sure she's litter trained.

This morning Steph went downstairs to let her out and Miss Sophie had found the roll of toilet paper. The whole roll was laying on the bathroom floor and Sophie was right in the middle of it! Guess we'll be keeping the toilet paper up from now on!

Sophie Update

I weighed Sophie today - on my soapmaking scale - and she's at 1 lb. 13.5 ozs. Only 3 more ounces and we can take her to get shots! All that good kitty food must be agreeing with her. Right now she's asleep in the pile of stuff in the rocking chair in my bedroom. That has become her favorite late afternoon nap place. That's my reason for not cleaning out the chair - it would mess up her nap routine. Well, it sounds good anyway!

Hope you're all having a great day!

Hugs,
Kay

I Apologize

I apologize for my blog post yesterday about our family issues. I have always strived to keep my blog positive and upbeat. Yesterday's post was negative, bitter, and our family issues should not have been aired here.

I have deleted the post along with the comments - not to censor but to get rid of my negativity. I appreciate every comment that was made and am taking all of them to heart. I appreciate your prayers for us and love you for caring.

Hugs,
Kay

Checking In

It's been a great week but a busy one! I'm sure glad that the weather cooled off. We had overcast skies most every morning last week and then sun in the afternoon - my favorite kind of days!

School is going great. I'm actually remembering medical terms! I have lots of flashcards and just go over and over them every day.

Steph starts her first job on Monday - picking blueberries. She's excited about it. My friend Kim's son will be picking too. I don't think they realize what a tedious job it's going to be but it will be good for both of them. The picking will last for about 3 weeks so Steph will have some decent money to put towards school clothes and savings.

Sophie is doing great - growing every day and cuter than ever! I think she's finally completely litter trained but as soon as I say that we'll have an accident. She loves to play and we all laugh when she gets into an attack position and then dives for our feet. She thinks she's a big attack cat but she's so tiny that it's hilarious to watch her. She's also a snuggler and loves to take her naps in your lap.

I went to Kim's house tonight and I think we finally got her Singer embroidery machine figured out. That model of machine has a very sensitive thread guide and we kept getting error messages when we'd try to use it. I read on a forum how others have to floss the thread into the machine and it worked! We did 2 practice designs with no problems. Now that we've got that figured out we'll just keep practicing. I can't wait to scan designs into the program. I've got some really cool vintage designs that I want to try out.

Tomorrow we're celebrating my oldest daughter's 39th birthday. I can't believe that I'm old enough to have a daughter almost 40!!! Seems like yesterday she was just a little girl. The years go by too quickly.

Hope you all have a blessed Lord's day and a wonderful week next week!

Hugs,
Kay

Cloudy and Cool

After 4 days of 95 degree temps and blazing hot sun, we have cloudy and cool weather today. What a blessing! I love the sun but only if the temperature stays around 75 degrees. It's supposed to be like this until Friday and that's just fine with me.

I had a very uneventful 4th of July. Steph was gone with friends and I was home studying. There were so many fireworks going off in our neighborhood it sounded like a war zone! I finally gave up about 9:30 and went outside to watch the festivities. I've decided that next year I'm going home to IL for the 4th. My SIL always has a party for the 4th when I'm there and then we'll go watch fireworks. We used to always plan our yearly IL trip so it was over the 4th. I'm not sitting home by myself one more year!

I don't know how much I'll be on here this week as I have lots and lots of homework. I'm really enjoying both of my classes and have great professors. They're very easy going and make the learning fun. I was surprised how much terminology that I remembered in just once week!

Soap and lotion making have also gone by the wayside. I'm not even going to think about it until classes are over in August. Then I'll be ready to get back into it full swing with Fall scents and getting ready for the bazaar season. That really excites me!

Don't you love the pearls on my new blog background?? They are so me - reminds me of my favorite pearl necklace.

I hope you had a wonderful 4th and I pray you'll have a blessed week!

Hugs,
Kay

Another Sophie Picture

Yes, you all are going to get sick of me going on and on about Sophie. But this picture is just too cute for words!!! I think she's the cutest kitten in the world!

Sophie and More

Just had to post a new picture of Sophie. This was taken last night - she's sitting in Steph's hand. She's doing so good! Weighs 1 lb 4 oz now, is almost totally litter trained, and is eating dry kitten food. She just looks so healthy - her coat is shiny, eyes bright, and she plays all the time. But the best part is that she is just such a lover - anyone that is near will get loves from Sophie. We are all just crazy about her.

School is going great! I had class on Monday and Wednesday. Love both of my professors and have made some friends already. One lady recognized my name from the online computer class last quarter so we sat together. In medical terminology our professor had each person tell a little about themselves. I would say that at least 50% of the class is age 45 and up, most have gotten laid off from jobs, and are training for a new career. I don't feel like such a fish out of water!

There is going to be a lot of work with medical terminology but I think it's going to be fun. I was a great speller in school, loved English grammar, loved to diagram sentences, etc. This is a lot like that. I have about 100 flashcards made up already and am working on more tonight. Steph will get to help me study!

It has been so hot here the past couple of days. I've basically stayed inside in the air conditioning. This morning we all got up and got the upstairs cleaned. Everyone pitched in and the whole thing was done in an hour. Tomorrow will be the downstairs and then we're going to relax the rest of the day. I'm making beans and potato salad then we'll cook hot dogs on the grill later. Steph is gone to a friend's so it will be quiet (well except for the fireworks). That's ok because I have homework to do. Even though it's loud I just love the 4th! Red, white, and blue is so cheery and it's so wonderful to live in a country where we are free!!!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!!!!

Hugs,
Kay