hello blog, it's me, heather

I feel like I have abandoned all of you.  This is not intentional, blog friend.  Life is busy.  I know your life is busy, too, so I won't get into it. 

I have great pictures of Sophie and Sam.  Sam, you ask? note: the cat in previous post.  He is practically a Skaggs by now.  We (I) named him Sam, obviously.  Just because we (I) thought "Sophie and Sam" sounded good together. Like when you say "Come here Sophie and Sam!"  I know his real name, but I refuse to call him that.  It is "Toddy", yeah, like Hotty Toddy.  The owners are Ole Miss grads.  That just won't do. I openly call him Sam and they are ok with it. 

Point is, when I have spare time, I will download and share the photos.  They are BFF for life. 

I am quiet fond of little Sam, the kitty. 

There is plenty more going on in my life besides Sophie and Sam that I am sure you are all just on pins and needles to hear about, but time is limited.  So, to satisfy your everlasting thirst of wanting to know more about me, here is a quick quiz I stole for the sis. 

A. attached or single?  attached- Married to Trey

B. best friend? i have many.  honestly, though, trey, my mom and dad, and my sisters.  I can't go a day without talking to all of them at least once. I have been blessed with many friends throughout my entire life, though, that are not family! Too many to name. 

C. Cake or pie? depends.  strawberry cake and cream cheese icing and key lime pie! I can't choose. 

D. Day of choice? Friday - the anticipation of the weekend. 

E. Essential item? cell phone

F. Favorite color? red

G. Gummy bears or worms? bears

H. Hometown? Starkville.  I love it there. 

I. Favorite indulgence? Mexican food and new shoes. and eating mexican food while wearing new shoes. 

J. january or July? January for sure.  I love the smell and look of clean calendars.  No really.  I love it. 

K. Kids? Do I have them? no.  Do I love them? yes. 

L. Life isn't complete without my? family

M. Marriage date? June 3, 2006

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 2 big sisters, 2 brother-in-laws - one older and one younger. All fabulous.

O. Oranges or apples.  Apples. I love oranges, but hate the white strings in them. 

P. Phobias? roaches. hurts me just to type that. 

Q. Quotes? not sure.  that is not my quote, that is my answer. 

R. Reason to smile? THE WEEKEND IS HERE. very rough week, no doubt. 

S. Season of choice? Oh I love the fall.  

T. Tag 5 people. That is annoying. 

U. Unknown fact about me? I lead 7th grade girls small group at church.  They are hilarious. 

V. Vegetable? I love them all. 

W. Worst habit? I stress out sometimes.  And when I start stressing, I can't stop. This week was one of those weeks, if you want to know.  But I am ok now.  The weekend is here!

X. X-ray or ultrasound? Like which do I prefer? I don't get this one.  I have never had an ultrasound. I have had x-rays.  I once had a nail in my head. 

Y. favorite foods? I love food. Mexican and Japanese is my favorite though. And ice cream. And cereal. 

Z. Zodiac sign? Taurus. 

Happy weekend!  We are off to the coast to visit Trey's parents tonight then going to an engagement party tomorrow night.  So fun!

Sophie's new best friend.

I am not a cat person. Never have been. I think they are a bit quirky and not very sociable. Please, cat lovers, do not persecute me. I am not saying they are terrible creatures, I am just pointing out the fact that I am much more a dog person.

Well last night when I pulled up at my home after small group, Sophie and Kristen were waiting for me in the garage. Sophie ran to me as she always does. I imagine this a bit like having children. I, for one, have no kids other than the malte-poo, so am only making this judgment based solely on observation. Anyway, it was then that Sophie spotted a new friend: the cutest, smallest little silver and white kitten in all the land. I was scared of what my 10 lb. fur-ball might do to this petite little youngster, but to my surprise I found them kissing. Kristen and I almost cried it was so cute. They played together in the front yard, walked side-by-side on the sidewalk and kissed each other.

I figured it was our new neighbors' and didn't think about it

again. Until this morning. The little kitty cat was waiting for us on the front porch. He/she is the cutest thing. I opened the front door and put out a bowl of milk and water, since I do not know her drink of choice yet. She lapped up the milk. It is pretty much love.

Sophie and I went inside so I could finish getting ready for work. But Sophie was not happy with that decision. She sat by the front door and cried! She wanted her friend! I immediately called the husband to ask if we could keep the cat.

he said no.

But I don't care. I will name him/her and will continue to feed the little body as long as Sophie's friend continues to pay us a visit.

Now I just need a name for the cute thing. I was thinking gender neutral since I do not know the sex, but Trey informed me that all it takes is lifting the leg to see what gender he/she is. I didn't even think of that. I guess that is why I am not a vet.

I will let you know. Hopefully pictures, too.

(not the new friend, but there is an uncanny similarity between this googled image and the real deal)

Happy Birthday, my dear!

Today is my husband's birthday!!  HIP HIP HOORAY!!

In honor of his 28th, here are 28 fun facts about Trey that you may or may not know:

1) he is a master on the guitar

2) and the mandolin

3) he is so passionate about students and youth

4) he teaches 11th and 12th grade Sunday school and they pretty much think he is the coolest

5) he wanted a big dog, but now wouldn't trade our 9 lb. malte-malte-poo-poo for anything.  He talks to her when I am not in the room. 

6) he is the best big brother to Adam

7) he loves chocolate and sweets more than any girl I know

8) he loves being in the woods and reading

9) he wear bow-ties

10) he still drives the same truck he got in high school.  the other day I noticed a string hanging from the bottom.  when i asked him what it was, he responded without a hint of embarrassment that it was simply the string that held the balloon when it was on the car lot.  That was 12 years ago. 

11) he thinks there is no reason to buy a new truck

12) he loves Christmas more than anything, even chocolate.  he starts listening to Christmas music in September and begs me to put up the tree in October. 

13) he is a great gift giver.  He picks out clothes for me from Anthropology. 

14) he is brilliant.  really.  kinda a little too smart at times. 

15) he had really thick glasses as a kid.  Really thick.  He was pretty much blind.  He had surgery and now can see...contacts and glasses free!

16) when we were dating, he was a youth minister in Atlanta and had easy access to all kinds of crafts.  he would make me stuff and mail it to me. 

17) he loves going on vacation.  anywhere, really, but his favorite is snow skiing.  he will sacrifice eating if it meant he could go on vacation.  he thinks the memories are worth any cost.  I love that about him. 

18) he loves his family and would do anything for them

19) he loves my family and would do anything for them

20) he always says he wants boys when we have children, but I am convinced he secretly wants little girls - I see they way he spoils Sophie. 

21) he gets his hair cut at a crazy place where the girls cutting your hair wears referee uniforms and ESPN is always on.  I refuse to go in there. 

22) he will pay good money for a bow-tie, but refuses to buy socks. 

23) when we were first married, he was going to surprise me by cooking dinner.  he heard of cooking with wine, so he marinated chicken in red wine vinegar.  It was awful. 

24) he wants to be Indiana Jones

25) as a child he thought his baseball cards would one day make him a millionaire.  He still has the cards.  They are worth a total of about $21.00. 

26) he can draw and paint, but won't admit it. 

27) he thinks that if he had been trained correctly, he could have played beach volleyball in the Olympics.  I bring this up from time to time just for laughs. 

28) he is the greatest best friend in the whole wide world!

I love you, Trey, and I hope you have a fabulous 28th year of life!

reporting in

So when I said in my previous post that I had plans that did not include some hurricane raining on my parade, I should have also pointed out that my plans did not include throwing up everything I had inside me for hours straight. But alas, I play with the cards I am dealt.

I am sorry for the graphic nature of this blog, but please, for sympathy purposes only, let me explain to you all how my week got off to a banging good start.

The original plan was for me to leave Friday and head on up to Nashville to see my dear friend Susanna. We have been best friends since the 2nd grade when I introduced myself in Mrs. Saucier's class by saying "Hey. I'm Heathuw". In a really quiet, shy voice. Speech impediment and all. She loved me from the start. We were both wearing homemade bubble suits for crying out loud: it was a friendship made in Heaven. Anyway, I can tell I am losing you.

So I was going to go to Nashville to see her (Olivia, if you are out there reading this, my plan was to call you and see you too. a fun time would surely been had by all) . Well once Gustav was on his merry way, my husband, the careful coast-born hurricane ready man that he is, was fearful that once I was away, I would not be able to get back home in a timely manner due to the fact that the interstates coming in would be all be north-bound for evacuees. AWESOME. So I did as I was told. Not wanting to put my husband through any stress, I cancelled the nashville trip.

But I was not going to let Gustav ruin my whole weekend! Oh no. So I packed my bags and made my way to see my little Henry, or Hennie, as he calls himself. Since Trey had plans this weekend and would spend a great deal working and Gustav would not be paying a visit until Sunday or Monday, a trip to see my little man sounded like a plan.

And it was. We played. We ate. We read. We painted. We raced on bunnen-bunnens. Obviously this is the little riding thing for toddlers. I don't know how to spell it. By Sunday, Gustav was knocking on the gulf's doors and I was getting a little nervous. So what did I do? I headed south.

Kristen thought this to be a dumb thing for me to do, but I figured I did not want Trey to ride out the hurricane alone, should it decide to come to Mississippi, so I must go to him. So kissed everyone goodbye and drove home. Since I did not have my camera and do not have a visual, I would like very much for you all to use your imagination here: The traffic on I-20 heading out of Clinton was crazy. Full of cajuns and coasties, I am assuming. Trailers, busses, red cross vans. Everyone prepared for Gustav, who apparently everyone was assuming was Katrina's brother. The moment I turned onto South 49, I was alone. NOT ANOTHER CAR. 49 North was in standstill traffic. Not me. I was cruising at a good 75 MPH. I counted 4 other cars on my way home that day. 1 was a Red Cross van, but I am counting it for good measure.

So I get home on Sunday to see that my sweet husband cleaned the house. Cute boy. But that is besides the point. I started feeling a little woozy. So naturally we went to eat Mexican. We feel that cures all blues. Well, not this one buddy.

A few hours later I was hovered over the toilet ridding myself of all that I had eaten the past 72 hours. It was horrific. Poor Trey.

This lasted hours. Through the storm. There were several tornado warnings on Monday, so my sweet husband pulled the mattress off the daybed in a spare room and put in the hallway close to the bathroom. Easy access.

So that is how I spent my first half of the week. I just hope I didn't get Hennie or his parents sick.

Now you know.