ARmageddon and Other Notables from the Weekend

ARmageddon. Get it? Arkansas and Armageddon?

Tornadoes, earthquakes and birds! Oh my!

I'm not sure what is going on in Arkansas. At the beginning of the year we made national news for thousands of dead birds falling from the sky. A few days later it was dead fish in the water. Now it is natural disasters. Last week we had tornadoes and a then a decent earthquake on Sunday night (as we were under a Tornado Watch).

It occurred outside of Conway, about an hour northwest of us, and measured at a 4.7. The earthquake was felt all across the state. A man who lives about a mile from our house was interviewed over the phone on the news and talked about how his whole home shook for 5 seconds. But did we feel it? No! Friends were commenting on Facebook about their dogs going nuts during the earthquake. What was our dog doing?

I was folding laundry so she thought it made the bed even more appealing. Maybe all the clothes and blankets absorbed the trimmers.

I will say that I have had the desire to stand in the doorway of my office this week in case another one occurs. I owe this to Fields Elementary School where in the fourth grade I was taught to prepare for and fear "The Big One" as we are close to the New Madrid Fault Line.

Because the earthquake was not the only thing interesting from this weekend I will move on.

Saturday Mamie and I visited Mom and Dad.

If you have known my dad at any point in his life I am sure he has shared his disdain for cats. I'm pretty sure it all stems from his allergies but maybe he was attacked by one as a child. Regardless of the reason, he hates cats. So you can imagine my surprise to see this living in their home:

Meet Goldie.

Here's the story: a few months ago this sad stray kitten started hanging around my parent's house. Dad, feeling sorry for her, began leaving food out and it went pretty much downhill from there. It then moved to him petting the cat, then building a house for her outside when it got cold. Next, Mom and Dad began making trips outside just to play with the cat. I knew it was over when Dad named her. Since it was obvious that Goldie had adopted them and they her, they decided to get her spayed. Following the surgery the vet informed them that Goldie needed to stay indoors for seven days. That is when the stray cat became domesticated.

She now rules the home and my parents love it.

We thought we could introduce Goldie and Mamie with no problems as Mamie loves cats and Goldie is super friendly - she even gets along with their dog, Brodie. Boy were we wrong. Goldie dealt with Mamie in her home by growling and hissing but was set off when Mamie began playing with her toys. She remedied that by attacking Mamie like a cheetah after a gazelle (twice).

Saturday night the hubs and I met up with our friends Ryan and Debbie for dinner and bowling. We ate at La Hacienda and were in luck (not really) because a mariachi band was serenading tables. I'm fine with the music but find it incredibly awkward when the band plays to you at your table. Just as I hate all things cheesy I hate awkward moments. I am also highly sensitive to awkward moments; what may be completely normal/acceptable to you will be awkward to me. I will have to save that rant for a separate blog post as this one is getting really long (maybe even boring, sorry.)

Anyways, my issues with mariachi bands are as follows:

1. Everyone is watching you being serenaded - I like all eyes to not be on me at meal time

2. What do you do the whole time they are singing "La Cucaracha"? Stare at each other? Stare at them? Stare at your food, smart phone (no because that is rude), feet, everyone else that is staring at you?

3. You cannot speak to your fellow table sitters because the music is so loud. Seriously, the song is ringing in your ears three hours after the last strum of the Mexican guitar.

4. If you do not appear to be enjoying yourself, you look like a jerk. Therefore, I feel forced to smile, nod, clap, etc. Not cool.

I find myself spending the entire dinner thinking of ways to avoid the table performance. These are a few tips I have found to be useful in avoiding the situation:

1. Do not make eye contact with any member of the band.

2. Fake an argument with your date. This could backfire, however, if they take it upon themselves to lighten the mood.

3. Never, ever film them with your phone as Ryan did in the below video because they will think you find them amusing:

If you cannot hear what is being said in the background, I am begging Ryan to stop because what he thinks to be a smooth, hidden camera move is actually a very obvious invitation for the band to come to our table.

After dinner we went bowling. Nothing too exciting happened unless you consider us being the only people there over the age of 17 exciting. We felt incredibly lame, especially when Ryan announced that he had pulled a muscle during the one second everyone had stopped talking around us.

I did get a few pictures.

Earthquakes, a scrappy cat, mariachi bands and bowling. Talk about a random post.

It's Tough Being a Parent

How do you tell your mutt that she is ineligible to compete in the Westminster Dog Show?

In our hearts she is a prize winning pup.

Hangin' with the Nephews

I stayed with my nephews the other night for a few hours while my sister and brother-in-law were out.

My sister is particular so it is pretty much a guarantee that she will leave a detailed note.

Truthfully, as a non-mom, I'm glad she does it. Carson was coloring at the kitchen table when he saw the note and said, "Mommy wrote a lot of letters."

Later in the evening I was getting the bathroom ready for bath time when I heard a series of thuds coming from Carson's room followed by the sound of feet running out of the room and down the hall.

You can't really blame the kid from fleeing from this, right?

Me: "Carson! How did you make this mess?"

Carson: "I-I-I was lookin' for my Woody and Buzz book with stickers" (Toy Story).

Me: "Well I hope you found it."

Carson: "I did!!!"

Of course I had to get pictures of the boys at bath/bedtime. This was the only one where Carson was still enough.

He looks like a little boy instead of a baby. That was not supposed to happen!

Here is the camera lover:

The cutest two year old around!!

What did I tell you? Is he adorable or is he adorable? Right before he gets his picture taken he always puts on big smile and says, "Heeeeese!"

Who need the "C" anyhow?



I managed to capture a series of three golden images when Hudson was admiring himself in the mirror.

Love those two boys!!

A Wild Friday Evening

The title reeks of sarcasm, by the way. Wild or dull, we had a great evening enjoying our new patio chairs.

The fire pit is not new, FYI. I would love to have a full patio set; leisure chairs, table and umbrellas but our patio is not large enough to hold all that along with the grill and fire pit without looking cluttered. So for now, our simple set up will work just fine.

After everything was in place we lit the fire, gave Mamie a large bone and settled in with books. Of course I captured it with a photo.

No, I was not ironically to the chapter on the burning of Atlanta.

I have read Gone with the Wind before but it was probably in high school. My mother-in-law let me borrow Scarlet months ago so since it picks up after GWTW, I thought I needed a refresher. It's an amazing book so I do not mind reading it again.

For Christmas I received a lot of amazing historical books which I am so excited to read (because I'm a nerd) so I will have to be quick with Ms. O'Hara.

Valentine's Shmalentine's

Valentine's Day used to be a big deal. In elementary school I would stress over what box of valentines to buy for school parties. Although many times my mother decided it for me by picking some up at a Christian book store bypassing my secular desire to hand out Saved by the Bell valentines to classmates.

*She will be calling me immediately after reading the above sentence to tell me that she always allowed me to pick out my own cards........at Mardel.*

The night before our class V-Day party I would strategically choose what cards to give to whom. I never wanted to give boys the idea that I was interested in carrying on a third grade relationship therefore I chose non-cryptic messages; something like a rabbit saying, "I Hop Your Valentine's Day is Great!". There was also a desire to not send the classroom mean girl a kind message that let her know I secretly approved of her bad behavior. A card that said, "I Think You're Terrific" would simply not do. Of course that card was reserved for the girl that always allowed me to play the female lead character in whatever imaginary scenario we had cooked up during recess.

As an adult the holiday has lost its appeal. I have grown to become a hater of all things cheesy and nothing says total cheese like the commercialized day of love.

This year the day had a whole different meaning; Monday. It was a bad day, no horrible. First of all, we had returned from a five day weekend from last week's snow so the phone calls and emails that had to be returned were insane. It is Girl Scout cookie time so things get really busy for the communications/marketing department - but normally a good busy because we get a crazy amount of publicity. I easily had 50 media alerts to get out by the end of the day in addition to planning a big event in conjunction with the LR Rotary on Tuesday. There were a few phone calls from reporters sprinkled in and an AR Dem Gaz reporter and photographer were both in the office working on a High Profile article about our CEO and the organization's upcoming 100th anniversary.

By the time I got home I was exhausted and in a very sour mood. V-Day was the last thing on my mind when I found a small note in Beau's handwriting on the counter that read, "Look in the fridge for a surprise."

This is what I found:

Although it was small (for commercial standards) there was no better gift I could have received from my husband. The strawberries tasted as delicious as they looked. It quickly made a bad day turn great.

Hope everyone had a good V-Day with their valentine, even if it is a cheesy holiday.

Lovely Weather, Don't You Think?

We took advantage of the amazing weather over the weekend by taking Mamie to the park, twice. We visited a city park with a walking trail that goes along the edges of an offshoot from the Saline River.

"Mamer" had her first contact with geese. See her hair bristled all down her back? The evil warning barks she let out were even better. The best part, however, is how the geese paid her no attention.

This picture I am particularly proud of because it took Beau and I some time getting her to do this. Actually, for a while, we couldn't convince her to get inside a vehicle. She was a stray before being picked up by animal control so I'm sure she had some type car-related trauma. We felt she was missing out on life by not sticking her head out from the window of a moving vehicle so we "taught" her to do it. Picture it: Beau driving down a busy street as I hang from the window. I'm not lying. I'm not even slightly exaggerating. Clearly it worked.

I swear that I have a life outside of my dog. I even hang out with friends. Apparently I choose to not blog about it.

More Snow!!!

Really the title should read, "Mamie in the Snow." I just try to pretend that my life doesn't revolve around that dang dog. My college BF Laura and I were talking yesterday and she asked when we were going to have kids and I literally explained, with examples, how we have no need for children as we have Mamie. Of course I'm kidding; sort of.

Wednesday the snow started falling and someone was anxious to go play in it.

Like I said, just like a kid. She barked at me over and over until I finally got suited up to go play with her.

She wore her appropriate snowman sweater.

I love this picture. She is taking it all in.






Finally, a picture with no dog.

I took this picture of Beau's truck bed to show how much snow there was. However, we cannot hold a candle to northwest Arkansas where they got two feet of snow.




I'm not sure if he was making a snow angel or if he just collapsed. Whatever the case, I took a picture.


Today is my third day of staying at home because our office is closed (we go along with the NLR school district) so I am ready to get out of this house!!

The Other Part of My Project (from two weekends ago)

I completed a shelf for my kitchen two weekends ago when I did the chair but just haven't posted a picture.

The shelf on the left is the new one. I've had the right one beside the counter to hold cookbooks for a while but I thought the area needed to be more symmetrical so that's where the other shelf came in. That print on the wall is fairly new. I thought it was appropriate to be above Mamie's food and water bowls. All in all, I'm happy with the look.

Exciting News

I've been asked to do some freelance writing for a local media/publishing group! They publish several magazines as well as write copy for/design websites, marketing pieces, etc. I love writing news stories (thus the communications/marketing job I have now) so this is right up my alley. And a little extra money never hurts either!