moving on

It is amazing how many people feel for you when sharing the loss of a pet. I even received a wonderful gift from the big boss, thanking me for all the hard work I do for school (it was the book Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel because the illustration of the cat reminded me of my furry friend). Of course I cried when I found the gift at my desk as it was from one cat lover to another.
I have been searching my digital pictures for ones of Onyx(I have lots as he was such a funny kitty) so I can make a few scrapbook pages. I was up late one night and saw a mouse scurry across the floor. Okay, here is the first reason we got a cat - mice! I am ready to get another living breathing affectionate mouse trap. don't get me wrong, we all miss Onyx and know he was a special kitty but he had a job, and it was to convert mice to poop. Now the family will begin the journey of finding the perfect "mouse converter".
To help me keep my mind off of cats and kittens I have been checking my favorite crafty blogs. Happy day! There is a blog hop going on and I have been looking at all the wonderful "festival of lights" projects for the cuttlebug blog hop. I think I just might make some fun embossed name place tags for Thanksgiving, that is if I can find the time to complete 23 place cards and clean the house and prep a fancy dinner and check black Friday ads - I just love Thanksgiving and the gathering of family! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

sadness

I have learned you can not confine a cat. After several weeks of trying to heal a cat, we decided the suffering has been enough. Our furry friend just hated being confined, weather it was a "kennel" or a room. He would bang himself up trying to get out and his broken leg became a compound fracture. It was destined to become infected (can a cat use a litter box without all four legs?!). Before things were awful we decided to euthanize our beloved pet. Everyone in the house "bucked up" and gave lots of attention to our furry comrade but still in the end we all bawled like babies. Onyx was such a good companion, never clawed the furniture, always quick with a purr and an hug (as well as demand for food!) and kept the mice out of the kitchen. Several days later after the fateful good-bye we still miss him and look to get a furry purr at the end of the day. sigh. We are constantly remembering when Onyx did this or that but I know my adult (and almost adult) children really cared when they provided Onyx with the meal of all kitty meals on his last night - shrimp. Farewell Onyx, we will always hold a special place in our memory of you.

Okay, so after some cat lovin' and computer competition (the feline felt compelled to cover the keyboard as he purred contentment and slept!) I decided to check some blogs (being as how I was so busy petting and hugging the cat and couldn't have fun scrap booking!). Well happy day, I found a "win a prize" type of thing. Turns out if I share the good news (which is hard because it means more competition but I just can't resist sharing crafty ideas) I could enter to win a cuttlebug. OOooh, my latest wish -for item! So here is the link... http://svgcuts.com/blog/?=p3672. And by the way, I also wish for the SCAL software...hint hint family!

confine a cat?!

Our furry friend came in one morning after a night of hunting, with a really bad limp - walking on three legs type of limp. We took the feline to the vet. to confirm what we knew, he had a broken leg, totally broken leg, like two pieces from one. His left rear leg just dangles. Poor kitty. We (the whole fam.) is so sad and hoping he can mend but it is hard! The vet said to keep him from walking and more importantly jumping up on furniture. How do you do that with a cat?! We borrowed a pet kennel, designed for a large dog, (thank you uncle Bruce!) but after adding the litter box, the cat only had enough space to lay down. How do you keep an active cat from being active? And it isn't for just a few days - it's for six weeks! And still our beloved pet may still have a gimp. I have resigned myself to having a three legged mouse trap but worry about getting thru. the next six weeks of nightly meowing/howling. We keep him comfortable (with vet prepared pain pills), cater to his needs by bring the food and water to him as he lounges on the comfy feather bed (when we can catsit) but he still wants to walk around, jump up on couches and be independent. Sigh. So how do you confine a cat so he can recuperate!? Isn't confined cat an oxymoron?

WooHoo!

Perfect Pages, Everyday Grid Layout
Complete Scrapbook Kit!
After a couple days of scrapbooking and commenting to my mother how I am running out of paper (and money), I returned home today to discover a box had been delivered to me. It was from Colorbok. I had remembered I completed a survey for the company a few weeks back and if I was one of 100 first responders I would receive a thank you gift. Well I did get an email telling me I was one of the first 100 and a package would be sent soon. I quickly forgot about it (it WAS several weeks ago) and wasn't sure if I really was a "winner" but today's gift changed that! It was a great thank you package. First was a Perfect Pages pack with over 70 pieces, and I thought what a great prize but underneath was a complete scrapbook kit with over 1,000 pieces! Whoo Hoo, just what I needed. Included were at least 2 doz. papers with coordinating embellies and a 12in x 12in postbound Album!. I am so excited I just had to share a picture of the goodies! A big fat thank you goes out to the COLORBOK company! (if I had an Umlaut it would be above the last "O")

Yipee! The Friends of the Isanti Area library have been working hard to create a public library presence in the Isanti area. We are making baby steps toward the big goal and really happy to have achieved nonprofit status (501c3) and now a library link site to East Central Regional Library will become a reality. The plans are to be open on Wednesday 10am-4pm. The big question is what day will it begin? Can we be up and running by Oct. 21st to correspond with National Friends of Libraries Week? Stay tuned to find out!

a new blog - Cutting Above

Time to share the second item I am wishing to win...a gypsy - for scappin' on the go, and also because I don't have DS and it looks fun after watching a couple of videos. So the big chattering right now is the airing of the gypsy on the HSN Sept. 24. Should be interesting viewing at 12am! so how did I find out about this shopping opportunity (being that I don't watch much of the TV)? Well one blog link lead to another and another and eventually I discovered Cutting Above a blog that just lauched! To celebrate the great blog, Cutting Above is offering two Gypsys, generously donated by Provocraft. If you want a chance to win, visit the blog Cutting Above. Better yet, visit the blog to discover all kinds of crafty news, tutorials, and videos!

I survived the first two weeks of school. The students are settling into the routine and the brains are humming. Personally I am exhausted. I helped extra at bus time with the Kindergarten kids and keeping them together is like moving frogs in a wheelbarrow! Eventually everyone made it to the right place/person and I am embracing the weekend. I had a blast at the Cricut swarm last week and want to keep the momentum going on scrapbooking. So, this evening I started to catch up on some blogs I like to visit and checked out the cricut message board. Well I am excited to have found a couple ways to win cricut stuff! Provo craft is celebrating it's 100th cricut cartridge release by giving away 100 carts. You can help with the celebration by clicking here to see the 100th cart. Winter Woodlands. Click here to visit the MB and for details on the give away.

Back to School!

It is time, school starts tomorrow and I will begin again the fun of hanging out with primary students in the library. My lessons are planned, books are shelved - I am totally ready, but as always a little leap of nerves and excitement creeps in on the eve of the first day of school. To add to my excitement, I am going to my first ever Cricut swarm on Friday and don't know what to take! Okay, the toothbrush and jammies for the overnight at my sister-in-laws, but what supplies will I need? How much scrapbook paper? Do I have enough adhesives? And I still need to organize the photos I want to scrapbook...mostily my daughter's because here graduation party will be at the end of this year! Welcome fall and the new school year!

OK, summer came and went, twice! scince I first started this blog for the express purpose of completing the 23 things for web 2.0. Yikes! I put many other things as higher priorities, such as completing the course work for my master's degree, prepping the house for graduation open house (this past May) of first born, getting second born off on a Germany trip and helping the "baby" get his diver's permit and giving driving lessons! Whew. Time ran out for the 23 things but I may explore them slowly as time permits. Now my focus is turning toward getting my school library ready for all the smiling faces of students. I also have to help my own children get ready for school, one for college, one for college PSEO and another for high school. Somewhere in the mix I do say hello to my DH as we enjoy the rollercoaster of parenthood. Right now most of our conversation seems to be about cars as our oldest is car shopping for the college commute. I usally steal away for some scrapbook time or computer searching about scrapbooking techniques when the car talk gets too overwelming (which is often as I don't know much about cars, just where the gas tank is and maybe how to check the oil).