Aug 18 – So I guess we are back to public blogs. A lot has happened. Welcome back!

A few notes to catch up. We lost Julio in the fall of 2021 to what we think was FIP. It was long, hard battle he didn’t win. Needless to say we were all pretty devastated. A few months later we added Rivers to the mix but not long after we got him, Lutzy tore her ACL. In an effort to minimize the damage we kept her and Rivers apart before and after her surgery. After that, she held a grudge against Rivs and we’ve had to keep the separated ever since. (It’s been a long 4+ years). Fast forward to a few months ago and a cute little orange boy started hanging around. I started calling him Wally because he reminded me of the neighbor for Leave it to Beaver, only his name was Eddie. Wally was the brother. Anyway, Wally stuck.

I’m typing this as Wally is sleeping on my desk. He officially made it to gen pop this week! As I mentioned he was moved into the bonus room, which meant I lost my workout space/treadmill for a while. But I was determined to take it slow. Also, we were a little scared of him for a while. While he wasn’t feral, he wasn’t fully domesticated either. It took a few months for him to really settle into indoor life. I really wanted him and Rivs to get along and I didn’t want to rush their introductions. We started slow and for a while everyone had their “out hours” during the day. Wally really bloomed once he started getting more access to the house. He’s turned into a very cuddly and sweet boy. I told Matt, I’ve never had an older cat, that I didn’t raise from a kitten, and it’s been fun watching Wally learn in real time.

Almost immediately Lutzy was pretty obsessed with him. It was very odd but her and Wally started hanging out first and once I trusted Wally around her they got to be out together. Him and Rivs were a little more work. Wally really wanted to WWE Rivs and he just didn’t know how to play like that. Wally has been much more gentle with Lutzy. The boys finally worked it out this weekend and with that, ended Wally’s bonus room lock down. He’s now out almost full time. He’s still sleeping in the bonus room for now. But I’m so happy that he has become friends with both of them. The hope is maybe, just maybe, Lutzy will get over her beef with Rivs or at the very least tolerate him enough where all 3 can be out at the same time but for now I’ll take 2 out at the same time.

A little about Rivers. We got him from a friend of Matt’s mom down near the beach. She has a rescue and he ended up being the last of his litter to be adopted. He’s such a handsome boy but he is a BIG boy! I will say he was a little bit of a terror when he was a kitten. He would jump at you and bite. I used to call him a tiny pterodactyl! He still does a little but he’s definitely calmed down. He’s very affectionate but he is not a cuddler. He’ll let you pick him up and carry him around or he’ll “shark” you weaving around your legs but he will not sit in your lap. He has his own room at night and mostly sleeps in the sink. He loves his brushies (he’s a medium hair boy). And his favorite past time is chasing Lutzy, hence why she doesn’t like him. She runs and he thinks they are playing. She thinks she’s going to die. He’s very much a middle child. Easy and go with the flow. We just needed a third to make him the middle.

Top L- R – Wally, Wally and Lutzy, Bottom L-R – Wally and Rivers, Rivers

Aug 18 – I wrote this a few months ago but I think it’s time to go public with some blogs. I’ve been blogging privately for a while now but, I guess we’re back?

May 11 – So if May and June weren’t going to be crazy enough – Ladies Member Member the first weekend, Legal team offsite to Boston the following Monday through Thursday, anniversary trip to France and Italy the following week. Matt’s Member Member the first weekend of June, my surgery the following Monday. We adopted a stray cat.

Let’s talk about Wally. Around the beginning of March a cute little orange boy started hanging around the house. The issue, neither Rivs nor Lutzy really seemed to care. I think Rivs was just happy to have another cat around that didn’t hiss at him. I walked outside one day and Rivs is just chilling next to the screen door and there is a kitty on the patio. A few days later, Lutzy met stray kitty and didn’t do what she normally does, freak out and run them off. Somewhere during this time I started calling him Wally. He would show up usually around 8:30-9:30 pm and meow at the door. When he came up, I started feeding him so he started to come around more often. Fast forward a few weeks and one night I noticed one of his back legs was injured, like pretty bad. Matt was like “call the ER vet and see if you can take him in.” I called, we were able to get Wally in a carrier and off we went at 9:30 at night. The ER vet was able to clean him up but suggested we keep him contained for the night. We tried with the plan being to try and get him to our vet the next day for shots and a neuter. If nothing else, at least we could stop him from repopulating the community cat population.

Around 2:30 am we could hear him in the screen porch. I finally went downstairs and watched him launch himself off the top of the screen. There was nothing more I could do at the time but open the door and let him out. He ran off and hid that day and I wasn’t able to get him into the vet.

Fast forward a few more weeks and Wally had started to be a nightly regular around the house. So much so, that we were leaving the screen porch door open to give him a place to feel safe. That was all well and good until one morning I looked out on the porch and Wally was laying on the couch. Fresh wound on his other foot. Mother f*#%^$^$#

I text Matt and immediately call the vet. Since I’d already talked to them a few weeks before about the Wally situation (and because they are amazing) they were able to squeeze him in that day. The plan – neuter, shots, and another wound clean. I was able to get him in the carrier and off to the vet we went. We picked him up later that afternoon and then it was just wait and see. We set up the screen porch food, water, litterbox and blankets. The question, would Wally still be there in the morning. We kept him locked up for hours but opened the door before we went to bed. The next morning I went outside and he was gone….or so I thought. I called him and he climbed out from the bushes. From that moment on, he became ours. We had him on the screen porch for a few days and were surprised he immediately took to the litterbox and never once showed any interest in really leaving.

Last Friday Matt decided it was time to move him in the house. We got the bonus room all set up and just like that, he became an inside boy. He has been a great indoor boy so far. He’s learning to play and we are all exploring each other’s boundaries but he’s a pretty sweet boy. He is VERY VERY cuddly. Once he gets his final set of shots we will be able to move him to gen pop with Rivs.

And that is the story of Wally.

Holy blog batman!  It’s been a while.  There is not much to report lately.  I’ve been busy with work.  I was moved to a new group and so far things are much better.  I am still doing what I was doing but the group is more organized now with a good manager. 🙂  It also looks like I might be able to expand my current position. There is nothing currently going on with the house.  Not much we can do until the lots open up and we see what the prices will start at.  I am pretty hopeful it will work out because I am literally dreaming about the house plan we have picked out.  I am super excited about possibly building a house.  I know we will have to make some compromises but it’s very exciting!

I will try to have a review of my new fiber lashes this week.  I’ve had them for a few weeks now but I’ve only used it a few times.  I don’t feel like I need them every day but I do think they work pretty well so stay tuned.

I also have a couple of craft projects to complete.  I finally broke down and bought a wooden E that I plan to cover with wine corks.  There is no shortage of corks at the house so I need to start sorting through them to see which ones will work the best.  I also have all the items I need to make a ring holder.  I think I want it to be a surprise because there is a fun, whimsical aspect to it.  We don’t have a home game this weekend so I should have the time to work on one or both.

Hopefully I will have a review and at least one project to post next week. 🙂

~k

I’m so excited I seriously might go home, wash my face, and apply new makeup! Eeekkkkk!

Over Christmas I went to the Bobbi Brown counter to have my makeup done.  After being told I had “crappy” eyebrows, the girl proceeded to spend an hour trying to give me a smokey eye.  Anyway, the eyebrow thing has stayed with me and since then I’ve tried a little bit harder with them (meaning I actually bought an eyebrow pencil).  I’d been letting them grow out in hopes of being able to actually shape them.  I even bought some Lash Accelerator from Rimmel since it could also be used for brows.  When I saw an advertisement in my Ulta catalog for Brow and Tint services from the Benefit Brow Bar for $32.00 I figured what the heck.  What’s the worst that could happen?  HAHA!

Last week I booked an appointment for Friday afternoon.  After my last brow experience I figured my eyes would be red for days so Friday afternoon worked the best.  I headed to Ulta after work and Stephanie was ready to go.  We talked about my current “non” shape.  She showed me where they should be compared to where they were.  She even drew them on so I could see the difference.  Umm, big difference.  Once my brows were tinted she started with the waxing.  It definitely hurts a little but it wasn’t too bad.  When she was finished waxing she filled and shaped them for me but she also showed me how so I could do it myself.  She applied some concealer to cover the redness and I was on my way.  To be honest, I kind of felt like a freak as I was leaving the store.  I’ve never really had eyebrows so this was new and different for me.

By the time I got home, I was feeling pretty gross so I washed my face but not before snapping a pic of her handy work.  Actually, the more I looked at pic the more “okay” I felt about my brows.  She was actually able to give me a little bit of an arch.  I’ve had a few days to test out my “skills” and I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.  Today they may not look as good but yesterday I think I’m doing a pretty good job. I know it will just take some practice.

All in all I am very pleased with the results.  My eyes were only red for a few hours after which was a pleasant surprise.  I’ve had my issues with Ulta services but this is one I would definitely do again!

The left is the finished product.  The right is right after I washed my face.  You can see the actual shape a little better in that one but they are easier to shape into an arch now.

I’ve been coloring my hair since I was about 16, so almost half my life.  For the most part, I do a pretty good job.  So much so that most professionals say it looks good.  Either they are all being nice, which I find hard to believe, or I do a pretty darn good job!

Right before my 17th birthday, I think, I ended up really messing up my color.  I wanted it lighter so I used Born Blonde.  If you don’t know what Born Blonde is, let me tell you.  It strips all the pigment out of your hair.  At least that’s what happened to me.  I was okay at first and then mom told me it looked like Playboy Bunny hair.  Cue freak out!  I immediately called the company to see how I could fix it.  After going rounds with the customer service agent who couldn’t tell me what to do, but also kept telling me I didn’t  need to go to a salon, I lost it.  Full blown teenage girl freak-out!  Feeling sorry for me, mom took me to the nearest salon.  I sat in the chair and the lady explained what would need to happen.  First she would have to fill it, then she could color it.  It was a process but in the end my hair color looked pretty good.  Not to mention, I think we only paid like $85.00.

A couple of weeks ago while at Ulta, I noticed a new hair-color I’d not seen before.  It was by John Freda.  As I was standing there debating what color to get another lady walked up.  We began talking and she said she had used this before and really liked the results.  Talking to a real person who had used this product sold me.  I grabbed their Neutral Blonde and headed home.

I’d planned to hold off coloring my hair as long as possible and until Tuesday it still looked really good.  But then on Tuesday, it completely hit the wall.  It was flat and gross and I really needed a cut.  I looked at the calendar and realized it had been 13 weeks since my last haircut!  :O  I called the salon and was lucky enough to get an appt for Wednesday afternoon.  I went home Tuesday night and applied color.  After I washed my hair I knew it looked too brassy but I figured I would just get my stylist to put a toner on it before she cut it.  She does this for me from time to time and it’s not that expensive so Matt can’t complain.

My stylist was running late so she asked another girl to wash my hair.  I told her I wanted a toner so she washed and then grabbed my stylist to tone.  After a few minutes she started to wash it out.  Once she shampooed she goes “So there’s a little section that is kind of blue.  It picked up too much of the toner.  I’m going to need to buff this out.”  Okay, so no big deal right, I mean she’s a professional and she’ll fix it.  The only problem was, I’d been sitting in the wash chair, for what seemed like forever at this point and my neck was killing me.  She mixed something else up, “buffed it out”, washed it again, and then, FINALLY, conditioned my hair.  It took all I had to get my head back up.  We go back to her chair and she cuts my hair.  Before I leave she adds some hairspray.  This is when I notice my hair feels GROSS!  Like ick!  I attribute it to the hairspray and leave.

This morning as I’m washing my hair, I notice it still feels pretty gross, like I have a ton of product on it.  Even after washing and conditioning, still gross.  I blow it dry and it still feels icky.  I can’t help but think it was the toner.  It did at least manage to kill some of the brass but this is by far not my fave color.  Next time I’m going with ash!  Anyway, my hair is finally starting to feel normal again.  I’m going to glaze it in the morning and see if I can’t knock the rest of the brass out and make it feel smoother and softer.

Anyway, I’m sure it will be fine.  This is not a hair color disaster but it might be one I remember for a while.  Never have I had my hair turn blue!  I’m glad it was an easy fix because I really like my stylist but I might not be ordering another toner! 😉

~k

Okay, so umm, wow!  I haven’t blogged in like 2 weeks.  Crazy!  Life has been pretty slow.  Just an “old” married couple being boring lately. 🙂

Anyway, in the past couple of weeks our yard has really blossomed.  The irises are blooming, my azaleas finally got with the program, and my pansies perked up.  Since everything was in full bloom I finally went out a took a few pics the other day.  Enjoy!