This one's for Kristi

BlackCat Boots

Look at the little stinker.

Check out those blue eyes.

BlackCat Boots is really attached to Joseph. If I can't find him, I just look for Joseph.

He was batting Joseph's foot and challenging it to fight.

The Babies

This is why I don't get anything done and my house is a mess. Look at these cuties!

They like the crotch-area. I don't know why.

It's not just my crotch. Apparently any crotch will do.

I started laughing and they all stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

What day is it?

I am tired. I have to plan my life so far ahead that some days I think it's already Thursday....but it is Tuesday. I have a final tomorrow that I have been studying non-stop for. The stinking professor doesn't lecture; she assigns group presentations and that takes up the entire class period. I have about nine different chapters to sort through.....I have exchange rates and fiscal policy and market structure information floating around in my head right now.

And all I want to do is make booties. I have to say that I am rather proud of my self-control. I am withstanding the urge to make booties. My Mom bought a little book that has ten different bootie designs and I have made two so far. That reminds me, I have been meaning to photo copy the book so I can give it back to her.....

I have been meaning to post pictures of the booties....and the kitties for that matter....but between my busy weekend and my cramming for my final, I just haven't found the time.

I am really looking forward to taking tomorrow off and spending some time with my Mom.

More Home Improvement

Joseph and I did some home improvement this weekend.

We went to Lowe's and got two new fans. There is a lamp there that I have had my eye one for awhile, and there was a display on sale for $20 less, so I got my beautiful lamp. Joseph is modeling the lamp shade here. :)

Here is one of the old fans; we have two of these in our house and they are ugly. Plus, neither one had lights. We could have added light kits, but I didn't like the fans to begin with.

I put the first part of this fan together to be hung up. Joseph and I learned the hard way that if you drop a screw, it can fall into those little holes. We found that out when we put up Jennifer's fan. (Don't worry Jennifer, I was able to get the screw out...Almost got my finger stuck but it turned out alright.) Joseph came up with the idea to put cling-wrap on the fan, shown here.

Here is the finished product. Isn't it sooo much better?

Joseph installing the new switch, so we can control the light dimming and speed of the fan from the wall.

We had a bit of trouble with the first one...I have come to expect some sort of snag or another as we install something new. On the first fan, the plastic clip for the light kit was slightly warped. Joseph was having a really hard time getting it to connect. He was getting tired, so I gave it a try. I was struggling with it too, but in looking at it, I figured if I could get the corner in first and then stretch it out, the other little pieces would slid into place. Joseph was hovering near the foot of my ladder, saying, "I don't think you're going to get it. Let me try, you're probably tired. It's too warped to fit properly." I said, as nicely as I could, "Joseph! Could you please think positively!" He smiled and said, "You're right, I'm sorry. You will get it in."

Two seconds later the plastic clips snapped together.

The second fan went much more smoothly, and we finished it in half the time that it took us for the first.

Now, we just need to switch out the lighting in the kitchen, living room, and outside....

And I just want to take a second to express appreciation for Joseph. I had to work this Saturday, and we had friends coming over for dinner after I got off work, so I asked him to clean the house and also to fix our bedroom door.

Our bedroom door hinge is not screwed in tightly enough, and the door sags down so that you can't close it properly. We screwed the screw in tighter, thinking that was the problem, but it came back out again; the hole is too large for the screw. It has been driving me nuts since we moved in. Joseph fixed that while I was at work. He also cleaned the entire house, went grocery shopping, and made dinner.

I got such a sweetie nerd-boy Handyman. :)

I would like to add, that I don't usually have a honey-do list for Joseph, because we do it together. I think we are a good team.

Handy(wo)man

Today I unclogged my sink drain. I am glad I learned how to take apart a U-bend because Joseph a) doesn't know how and b) has no desire to learn how. Not that you couldn't probably figure it out pretty easily.

I can still be proud of myself if I want to. The water goes down the drain very nicely now that I cleaned out all the junk and hair.

I don't have any particular pictures to post; I showed Joseph the hair-clogged drainer-stopper and his reaction was, "What is that? Ew! Ugh! Go do something with that!" as he turned his head away so he didn't have to see it.

That's alright. When he hit his head on a nail yesterday, I couldn't look at the blood.

He hit his head on a nail tromping around in the attic. He calculated and measured to figure out where in the attic to drill to have the ethernet go through the wall and come out of a hole he drilled in the den. Then he drilled another hole to have it come out into the office. So he now has internet hooked up to his X-box. He has a specific reason why he didn't want it wireless...I don't remember. He uses big nerdy words that i don't fully understand.

I'd like to think we're both pretty handy.....

Monster Fridge

Look at that handsome boy washing the dishes.

There is the very narrow kitchen entry.

Old fridge that is now sitting in my living room....does anyone need a fridge?

We cleaned it.

New Monster Fridge.

It has an ice maker AND an interior water dispenser. Woo hoo!

Are you sick of kittens yet?

Boots wandered too far outside of the nest so Mama

picked him up to take him back home.

I was trying to make a card but Monster wanted to

check out what I was doing. Callie was curious too.

Sorry about the leg shot...I wore that skirt to work

with my new shoes. Everyone complimented me

on my skirt but no one noticed my shoes!

Two very lovable kittens.

Growing kittens

I was trying not to name the kittens since I am just giving them away, but

they have such distinct little personalities that I couldn't resist.

This is sweet little Callie. I still don't know what sex any of

the kittens are, but she is such a lady she just has to be a girl!

I call the grey one Hisser and the one peeking out from under Mom is

BlackCat Boots. The kittens are still nursing

but like to check out the food bowls.

Hisser climbing on me.

BlackCat Boots is very adventuresome and likes to climb.

The other one is Monster. He (she?) is the biggest and

fluffiest. And I think it's funny that I can say there is a

Monster in the closet. Although they only sleep

in there now.

They think I am a jungle gym.

Callie and Monster play-fighting.

Monster is kind of shy and likes to hide behind the corner.

Monster and Hisser play fighting.

Some of my pictures

Look at that big grin! I love it when his eyes get crinkled up like that.

I can't WAIT to print them out and start scrapbooking!
Especially since I have my Mom's Sizzix (which is AWESOME Larissa!)

Work from Home

Well. If you read my post on the Work from Home....then you know I couldn't get it to work.

Joseph was assigned to work from home today. He works at my place of employment. I am in P/C Insurance and he is in Banking. I told him I didn't think they would send him on the pilot if I had already tried it and failed. He was confident that he could get it working.

That little bugger got it working. He's talking to a member as I sit here typing this.

I guess the good news is that now it works for me too. Although we're going to need to install everything on a second computer...we can't both work from home with one computer.

Busy Saturday

It is 6:30 Saturday night and I feel ready to crash. Joseph and I woke up at 5:00 this morning so we could be at the Habitat for Humanity site at 6:15. We hammered up drywall and our arms/hands are now irritated from the fiberglass. It's not as bad as it was this morning, but occasionally, as something presses against my arm or hand, I will feel the sharp pain of a little fiberglass shard. After the drywall, we hammered in the H-2.5s for the garage trusses. That is not an easy job. Joseph and I were able to do quite a bit, but then I started getting tired. After I struck my left thumb with my hammer for the fourth time, it started bleeding. I told Joseph we were ready to go home.

We went to my parent's house, where my sister Kristi had dropped off the Sizzix machine for me to use. I am so excited! Joseph and I got professional pictures done for my birthday (and it was a screaming deal - $15) so as soon as my CD comes in the mail, I am ready to scrapbook.

One thing I am worried about, is that Joseph and i received absolutely no mail yesterday or today. I am a little concerned that something is wrong. We always get something, either flyers or junk mail. I am paranoid that someone is stealing my mail; potentially forwarding it to a different address. Joseph told me if we still have nothing by Monday, he would call the post office.

After my parent's house, we went to Jennifer's to install her ceiling fan. The stinking screws were not labeled, so it was an interesting process making sure we were using the correct ones. We took a lunch break with the family, and that was fun. I announced to everyone that the kittens were coming out of the closet. My Dad said, "They are all gay?!" Very funny Padre.

We went back to Jennifer's house to finish the job. We got everything up and it all looked good. Joseph turned the power back on, and I flipped the switches.

Nothing.

I started getting that sweaty, panicked feeling. Jennifer came in, all smiles, and I said, "It's not working!"

Luckily, it was not anything we did wrong. The switch to the smoke detector wasn't flipped all the way (don't ask me why that affected it, but it did). The fan works beautifully. Joseph and I did a nice job.

We got home about four and showered. Joseph took a nap and I went to the LDS bookstore for Ladies' Night. I picked up a few things, looked at the long line, and put everything back down.

I hate long lines.

I need to study. But there is a Sizzix machine calling my name. We'll see just how much self control I have.