***CAUTION - Rant, Rail, Rave, Explosion - A word by any other name

CAUTION - MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR EYES!!! If you offend easy then you may not want to read this. These are all my opinions, mostly based on emotions of the 50 something female kind.

OK...if you've got time and want to, pull up a seat, this may be a doozy. I have to do this today, it's all pent up inside and I have to let some steam off because of events outside of my control today. To say the least, this has not been a good day so far and I don't really see it getting better, but I cannot explain why or what has happened. (I know...the suspense sucks huh???) Maybe later. Right now it's ongoing and I just can't get my head wrapped around to telling about it. In my world it's major, in your world you might just sluff it off.

I was going to do this yesterday but a chain of events kept me from doing so, thus culminating in my bad day today and putting off the rant of yesterday. But today is better because I gotta let some steam out or I will for sure blow a head gasket.

I am so tired of people, papparazzi, life invading buzzards, scum-sucking-don't-they-have-a-life people, wanting to invade the lives of others. To start off with - Sandra Bulloch. That poor woman. LEAVE HER ALONE!!! She has just had to endure the MF'r of a husband cheating on her, not once, not twice, but multiple times!!! You can tell she loved that man with all her heart. And that bastard did that to her! And it's all in the damn media. Her whole world fell apart and these pieces of crap will not stop hounding her. LET THE WOMAN HAVE HER PRIVACY FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!

It's not just her. I have despised them all for so long because famed people, who are not friggin perfect, (except Sandra), they screw up in their lives just like us, and cannot have any kind of a normal life to sort out their problems. It all gets played in the media and the speculation flies. And a lot of what is said is lies to sensationalize it. UGH! I don't envy them at all. They can't even go to the damn store, pump their own gas, nothing, with what the damn papparazzi doesn't show up surrounding them. Famed people can have no life of their own. I hate it for them.

But Sandra....she is such a wonderful, sweet person, who just got shit on very badly, very publicly by that piece of shit, cheating bastard Jesse. He's a piece of crap of the worst kind. How could he do that to her? He had a woman who loved him with all her heart and he turns around and does that to her. And then all of it got rubbed in her face by the media, in the media. Damn it why can't they leave her alone? I'm glad she dumped the bastard. She does not deserve anything he's dished out to her. And he damn sure doesn't deserve her.

And now last night on ET (which I can't stand but I watch the crap anyways waiting for Everybody Loves Raymond) they broke the news about little Louie. Good for her! Good for Louie! That little boy doesn't know how good of a life he's getting ready to have. And how very lucky he is that his mama is Sandra. And I'm happy for them both. But even ET just won't leave things. Such nosy assholes that won't leave people's lives alone. And they have to drag it out and replay the same tidbits over and over.

We, as a people, are curious in nature of this kind of thing, granted. But don't you think there is a fine line of wanting to know what's going on in their lives and invasion of privacy? How would you feel? Put yourselves in their shoes, and that doesn't even adequately let you know how these people feel being hounded about every aspect of their lives. And no, just because they are famous celebrities does not give the public, papparazzi's or anyone else the right to spy, hound, or tell all when it comes to their private lives. That's just wrong and I think they should be put in jail for that crap. Especially when the famous can't even get in their vehicles and go, and when they do get in their vehicles and drive away, they think they got away only to be followed and mobbed again. In my book that's friggin stalking ok? Plain and simple. And when the media SENSATIONALIZES stories...oh that goes right up my butt. Am I wrong or isn't the media supposed to report on stuff for the truth, nothing more, nothing less?? Isn't sensationalizing it more than the truth, an exaggeration of the truth?

Mainly this rant has been about Sandra. For Sandra. It applies to a lot of others because they have been wronged so many times for the media and papparazzi hounding the crap out of them and telling lies about them. But she, after all she's been through does not deserve this. She is a wonderful person who has done nothing but good in her life.

I have loved her for a long time, but most especially since Hope Floats came out. I love that movie and it's the only movie besides Forrest Gump and The Lord of the Ring Series that I can sit down and watch multiple times. I'm not much of a movie watcher but those three I can watch over and over. Hope Floats is my favorite.

And just for the record - just in case Jesse happens to read this (which I highly doubt) - I touched your bike, you bastard, when it was here in town. I now wish I would have kicked the crap out of it or taken a hammer to it. That's how pissed I am that you did this to her.

You might ask yourself why this bothers me. Well cheating bastards is a sore spot with me. I have been married twice. The first marriage was a mistake and took me 8 years to get out of. There was no love involved there. But the second and last one was the one I thought would endure til our dieing days. He was the only man I have ever truly loved and been in love with (there is a difference)in my whole life. I knew he had cheated on his first wife (not with me)but thought he would never do it to me. How friggin naive was I huh? ONCE A CHEATER, ALWAYS A CHEATER!! He did, for 9 months and I never suspected a thing. He was that damn good. (I never saw the signs until way after I moved out of state.) And then all of a sudden my world fell apart. It started by him saying 'I don't think I love you anymore, and me asking was there anyone else. No he said. For two weeks it was no, and everyone else kept telling me he was cheating and I defended him, because I believed him, I trusted him and I loved him. I won't bore you with anymore details but this single event devastated me and changed my life forever in the way I feel about relationships, men (and no I'm not gay), marriage...all that and much more. A lot to the bad. Am I bitter? Sometimes. Do I trust now? Not a hell of a lot. Have I let it go? Nah, not really. Do I still love the bastard??? Yes....and I cannot tell you why that is. I know I will never find this love again. He had it in the palm of his hands and crushed it, like a piece of paper. I am truly not the person I once was and I miss that person a lot. I will never get all that back. It's easy for someone else to say 'Let it go'. Walk a mile in my shoes. Feel those ugly feelings, see how long they stick with you.

OK now....I do feel a tad better. During the course of the day the bad part got resolved by the resignation of my direct co-worker, which has taken a bit of pressure off. And I have spewed for Sandra...a person who represents nothing but goodness and kindness. And I have spewed for others like her that even though they have flaws, no one deserves the papparazzi or anyone else for that matter delving into their personal lives.

I know she is hurting so bad deep inside. Louie will help to make it better and keep her mind occupied but it will never really go away. It'll always be in the back of her mind, as mine has been. I just wish they would leave her alone so she can have a little bit of peace and normalcy.

Where ever you are I hope your day was multitudes better than mine was, though now it's all good.
TTFN
Kat xoxoxox

PS/Isn't that pic serenity?

Wispy Wednesday

It's almost the end of April and springtime in Georgia brings very cool nights this year. It was in the 40's this morning! I actually had to wear my hoody because I was cold. I thought about turning the heat on last night before going to bed but I still have my flannel sheets and three blankets on the bed. Plus Mr. Lick Lick helps, he's a real good heater. I love it when he gets under the covers and is up against my back.

I don't normally go outside at work anymore since I quit smoking, unless the UPS or FedEx guys come. UPS came a little bit ago and it's gorgeous out! A tad cool because the wind is out of the NW but other than that it's so nice out. A day that you don't want to be inside at work, you want to be at home, in the yard or on the porch!! It was really windy yesterday and even last night. I happened to wake up after the timer turned the tv off and heard something go BANG. Mr. Lick Lick sat up immediately. I thought oh great...one of my plants got blown off the porch. And then as I was dozing back off into oblivion the dang tv came back on! Thus answering somewhat, a great mystery as to why the timer didn't work sometimes. It did, it just came back on after. I think there's something wrong with the tv. It does that sometimes when you turn the tv off, it has a delayed reaction and then comes back on as if you turned it back on. So then Mr. Lick Lick woke me up at 3:15 this morning to go out to potty. I normally get up at 4 but he could have waited me thinks. Oh well, I guess he at least didn't wake me up at 11 or so like he normally does to go pee. I told him not to last night and he listened. :o) A rarity for a Jack Russell to listen when they're told something.


And I noticed yesterday when I went home that this year, again, one of my Christmas cactus has beautiful pink blooms on it! This is the second year it's done that. And I don't know why but after I put them back outside this particular one gets a couple of blooms on it. I'll have to dig for pics of when they all are in bloom right before Christmas. They are just loaded with flowers and gorgeous! I need to repot them all but I am so afraid of how big they will get when I do! They are big now. I have 4 or 5 and then I have a pot with pieces from them all because they've fallen at one time or another either from a wind storm or something and I just started a new pot. So I have both colors in there, the beautiful bright pink and the salmon colored ones. They will probably bloom this year...that should be very interesting. I wonder if they will cross and I will get a third color out of them? I doubt it, I don't think Christmas cactus work that way.

Well it's almost lunch. Yippee! Meatloaf sammich today. I actually cooked on Saturday and Sunday for my lunch this week.

I hope your day is as lovely as the spring flowers that have sprung!!
TTFN
Kat xoxoxox

PS/The flowers you see above were part of a stack that I gave away to my BG sisters at one meeting. I love giving my 'hooky goodness' away.

Theoretical Tuesday

Tuesdays are that day that is just before hump day, after the dreaded Monday, and the day that you really are just getting into the swing of things after the weekend. I've always liked Tuesdays.

Theoretically (I'm having an awful time discerning correctly spelled words these days - that just does not look right)I guess you could say it's the beginning of the week. Mondays are the day when you are trying to slide into the work week with grace from a weekend packed with adventure and as much as you can fit into it, is it not? (Sounds good anyways! LOL)

Ok, with all that cock and bull said......lol - I went home last night and kind of piddled with my crochet. I am kind of at a loss right now because I'm so bummed about my motif's that I can't seem to get a grasp of how to get them put together. I was so excited because I could see it in my mind all together. I feel discombobulated. And Mr. Lick Lick didn't help matters.

He wanted attention last night...my undivided attention. He has this thing where he thinks he has me wrapped around his paws and will go to the middle of the floor, where I can see him and just stand there and stare at me. Forever if I don't say anything to him. So I say to him....what? He just looks at me. I ask him does he have to go potty. So I get up and head to the door. He just turns around in his spot and looks at me, doesn't make any attempt to go to the door. So at this point I tell him he's not getting any chip (treats). He looks at me. I go to the couch and sit down and he comes and sits beside me looking at me. Then he gets his hands on me and just looks at me. I'm like 'WHAT???' His tail starts wagging and he starts barking at me. I tell him no, lay down like a good boy. And he does. For about 5 minutes and this crap starts all over again. So I ignore him. I can still see him out of my peripheral. By this time I have made a few flowers, nothing of significance.

So this weekend I had gone through all of my printed patterns and put them in piles according to wearables, hats and bags, motif's-how to's-dishclothes etc, miscellaneous and afghans. I found this easy afghan pattern from Coats and Clark and I put it aside because it looks nice and easy for me to do. So I'm sitting there last night and say...oh...let me start on this and see how it goes. WELL...of course I didn't have the right yarn...I needed Red Heart soft, but I'm thinking that it won't matter. HUH...it does matter. I get to round 4 and it's getting all floppy like! So then I'm more bummed.

So I put it all down and went to bed.

Hope your day is wondermous!
TTFN
Kat xoxoxo

ps/yes, boobie coozie's....with bikini tops. Whatcha think? I found a pattern to make them, the pattern wasn't what I wanted so I went with my own and this is what I came up with. I had an offer to sell them at one of the local bars in Garden City. I've made these two with another one almost done with a yellow bikini top. I might sell a few but they are getting tedious. Why does that happen? I can make a couple of anything like that but when it comes to making a bunch I so want to put them down!

EDITED TO ADD - The original design came from Melinda Miller on Ravelry. I couldn't remember where I had gotten it and Keri just asked me for the pattern and reminded me that I needed to find where it was that I found it. As I said earlier, I changed it to suit me. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-boobie-koozie

Melancholy Monday

Is that how you spell melancholy? It just doesn't look right does it?

Oh well...anyways....how was your weekend? Very good I hope. Mine was spent on the couch. Between my back and the rain, the couch was my spot. I had the weather channel on all weekend. Geez louise....those poor people in Mississippi huh? I was watching it when Dr. Forbes said he had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach because he saw debris turn up on the radar when a tornado was tearing apart Yazoo City. And then it came to pass and those poor people...I felt so bad for them. I could not imagine. Some lost their lives. One in Mississippi was a 3 month old baby. How horrible. The poor defenseless little one didn't have a chance. I don't know the particulars but it's a sad thing.

Sooo....I made a few things this weekend. Two of which were hats. A purple one and a brown one. The purple one was from a pattern that I had printed out but it didn't have a url on the page of where I got it from. It had an error in it and I got disgusted and just finished it how I wanted.

The brown one was a Sun Hat from the Fave Crafts web site. It worked out perfect to the last round. I was very pleased with it. The only thing was that the last round called for a reverse sc and I don't know how to do that so I just left it off. It was ok because by the time I got to that point I was ready to be done and quit for the day. My back was killin me, my stomach was not feeling good. But my hat was done and so pretty. I used different yarn, the pattern called for cotton. I used Warm Brown, 2 rows of Cafe and 2 rows of Coffee Red Heart Med. Worsted #4.

I have fretted over how to put my heart and shells motifs together. Saturday I took a go at it and ended up putting them up and out of sight. I am so bummed. The only way I can think to put them together came to me while sitting there yesterday making the brown hat. I guess I am going to have to make full squares and attach them to the squares and then join the squares. So much more work. I thought I had it all worked out but when I actually started putting them together I got so frustrated because nothing I tried worked. When I get frustrated I just put up whatever it is that is giving me fits and try it again another day when I am fresh.

I have to 'digress' here. :o) I forgot to tell you how my Thursday and Friday went. Thursday was great! I met my family and we went downtown to do the touristy thing. We rode an open air trolley to the second stop and got off. My niece wanted to see the Mercer House. That was her main thing to see while here. So she and her youngest daughter took the tour inside while the rest of us went to the square across the street from the front of the house and sat on a bench waiting for them to get done. It was ok. The two other nieces read their books and my sister and I chatted and caught up on stuff. While we were sitting there the cutest little Yorkie came around the corner with her human and other doggie sibling. She was sooooooo cute. I ooooohed the moment I saw her round the bend and of course had to make a fuss over her. Come to find out she was 10 and just as spunky as could be. So they went on and my niece and grand niece got done with their tour. It was close to lunch by this time so we went to Mellow Mushroom and pigged out. Everybody enjoyed lunch, it was good. So then we went to a t-shirt/shirt store on the corner that everyone had looked in the window of earlier. My sister bought a shirt made by the same people as the one I had on. Mine was originally $60 but it was gift from my boss. My sister bought a blue one with butterflys and flowers on and paid $69 for hers. The others bought shirts/whatnots. I was the only that didn't get something. Tis ok...I have plenty of shirts at the hacienda. So we finished out the tour and got back to the van about 3ish. My niece about killed us when she ran a red light...what does she know...she's from NY. LOL. I'm kidding...she's a pretty smart cookie, she's just not from here. My sister and I about had a fit though. We were so glad no one was coming! That's all we would have needed was to get in a wreck. Them especially being so far from home. So they took me back to my car and we took a group pic and hugged and they went back to Hilton Head and I went home. It was a wonderful day with family.

Friday I went to the doc. He gave me pain meds, wants me to see a neurologist. The thing is that my old doc has not given up my records yet. It's been 6 months since I requested them! Guess I'm going to have to be a b*#$%! That bites! He can't do anything until he sees my previous MRI. Anyways...I went to wallyworld (Walmart)and they had a pink and brown craft bag on sale for $5 that used to be $11 that I can put my yarn and all kinds of stuff in it and carry it where ever I go. I was ecstatic about that. I have been using the regular walmart bags. I also went to see my friend that I hadn't seen too much of lately. Her back is out too! That's what happens to those of us who have always been physical all of our lives and when we get older our bodies rebel. Most of my jobs my whole life have been physical. She has always worked out in the yard and done all kinds of physical activities. So I visited with her for a while then came home to spend the rest of the weekend with Mr. Lick Lick.

My spoiled rotten Mr. Lick Lick. I love him so much. He makes me laugh. He's almost human you know. LOL...at least so he thinks. He loves it when I am home. He was not a happy camper this morning when I had to leave for work. The look on his face about killed me. But I have no choice. If we want to eat and have a roof over our head, I have to work.

As to my pics up top...the first two are my hats that I crocheted this weekend. What do you think of my flower basket? I was thinking that I should have taken a pic of the top of it for you to see. I think it's cute. And lastly is my little corner, where it all happens. See my little smiling head there? One of these days I will finish her. I think her head is too big, but then again that means that her bod will have to be to size so she doesn't look like 'big head' huh? LOL

Anyways...ramble time is over. :o) I hope where ever you may be that the sun is shining and your day meets or exceeds your expectations! If not then there is always tomorrow right? :o)
TTFN
Kat xoxoxo

Amendment to Wednesday Friday

I just found out that one sister went back home to FL, so that I won't see her tomorrow. :o( Oh well...an extra bookmark. I'll have to save it for someone else for some other time.

Also...I am now involved in a swap! Swap you say??? Yes! A swap!!! (not of the human kind silly...lol) Oh no, this girl does not swap. And I don't even have a significant other that I could swap if I wanted to! To paraphrase Lucy of Attic24 - a 'hooky goodness' swap. It sounds like fun!

Ok, I am outa here! Have the most wonderous weekend you can! Til next time....
TTFN
Kat xoxoxo

ps/whatya think about my little girl sleeping with her kitty in a hammock on my front porch?? Isn't she just the cutest? I have a gnome in a hammock too...I'll post him at a later date.

Wednesday Friday

What??? Wednesday Friday you say?? LOL......well today, this week only, is my Friday. I have Thursday and Friday off from work so in essence, this is my Friday! Oh and it's so nice. I love long weekends, just hate coming back to work on Monday. Oh well...I'm not going to even think about it until Sunday.

So...I told you that I am visiting with family tomorrow. 3 GRAND nieces that I haven't seen since they were little, they are now nearly grown, 2 sisters - my older and next to the youngest (I am next to the oldest out of 5 girls and 1 boy), and my niece - who the grand nieces belong to. :o)My niece belongs to my older sister, who by the way is 11 years older than me. That's how I have grand nieces that are nearly grown.

And so, I also told you that I was making book marks for them all. Well above is the results. What do you think? I get in these jags where I love to work with thread. All of those are original designs, well there's not much designing to them. I just start to crochet and whatever happens happens. The two kites are just simply grannie squares and then the tail is a line of chains with a comeback of slip stitches. Easy peasy. Well let me take that back, one of them, the red/green with baby blue trim I did not do my normal chain with the come back of slip stitches. I did the chain with a comeback of sc. I finished that one last night and wanted to be different on it. I tend to like the looks of the slip stitch comeback, and the sc comeback curls whereas the slip stitch comeback does not.

Ok...so then we have the heart 2 heart book mark. I think I like this one best out of all of them. The hearts are the same hearts that I made my heart n shells motifs with. I just made two of them and connected them together with the ch & sl st comeback. (That was interesting)

Next to the heart 2 heart is the nana flower. I call it that because it looks like a ba'nana' and the flower is at the end of another ch & sl st comeback.

Let's see...oh, the green lolli. I ripped this thing apart so many times, and it's still not like I want it to be but I was tired of ripping. It's an interesting piece of work.

And last but not least is the dangle of the rectangle. Kind of funky in it's own right huh? It's really downright ugly I think. This is my least favorite of the bunch. I had a lot of problem keeping tension on the thread with this one and that's why it looks like it does I guess.

So I'm anxious about tomorrow. And happy that I don't have to get up and go to work. Glorious is what it is. I may not post anything for the next few days, it depends on what happens and how it goes. Friday morning I have a dr. appt. I'm never happy about that but I'm hoping to get some relief for my back, we'll see. I think after the dr. I am going to go see a friend of mine who I never have enough time to visit with and then home the rest of the day with Mr. Lick Lick. And I am not sure yet how the rest of the weekend will play out.

If I don't see ya before then I will probably post Monday on how my weekend was. Where ever you may be I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
TTFN
Kat xoxoxo

Mostly Monday

Good morning......I hope your weekend was good! All in all mine was ok. I really can't complain. Saturday I went on a run with some of my BG sisters. It was a benefit run for a place called 'Horsin Around'. They have horses and they help autistic and handicapped children to feel a little bit of normalcy and fun in their life. My back was killing me all day. One of my sisters had a 'Tens'??? unit (don't know if that's how it's spelled), but it's one of those things that you attach pads to you and there is shocky goodness going through those pads to your muscles to ease the pain. So I wore that for a good few hours. She had to leave early so I gave it back to her and by the time it was time to leave I was in agony and couldn't lift my leg to get on my bike without help. Got home, took two muscle relaxers that she had also given me and went to bed. Oh...I did win some door prizes at the run.....new scissors!!!, LOL, a new pair of deerskin gloves and a 48 piece set of Oneida flatware! I love them all. I got to see Shae, she is leaving to go to Philly with her boyfriend, to go back to school. I made her a bookmark with a heart on one end and a flower on the other. I don't think I got a pic of it before I gave it to her.

Sunday I woke up feeling better and generally took it easy. I did laundry, hooked quite a bit, mowed the front yard because it was about a foot high and watered plants. Mr. Lick Lick got in a bit of trouble again (he's always in trouble..lol)but he got me in tears. I was mowing a tad over by the shed and I see him come walking out of the shed with a pained look on his face and holding his right front hand up off the ground. I immediately turned the mower off, scooped him up and went and sat on the front porch in the comfy chair. I rubbed him all over, trying to find the hurt spot. I talked to him and cried the whole time. He licked my tears off several times as I nestled him in my arms. I told him he HAS TO STOP doing this! I couldn't handle something happening to him. So the rest of the day he pretty much stayed away from the shed except for a few times when I called for him and he came out of the shed with a 'I'm sorry' look on his face. He knew he had upset me earlier. I'm sure what happened was that he had climbed up on something and then fell off, hurting himself. I was really surprised that he listened to me about not going in the shed. I watched him for quite a while and he would go close, look in there, and then saunter away. I think he knew I was watching him and he knew how upset I was. Dogs are not stupid. They know a lot more than people give them credit for. He knew how much I loved him when I scooped him up and I was crying trying to find where he hurt. He could feel my pain because of his pain.

And now today is Monday......again. Time is just flying too fast. I hate that. The weekends are here and gone so quick. This week I am only working three days, thankfully. But that time off will go quick. I am very much looking forward to seeing my family on Thursday and going to the dr on Friday and being with Mr. Lick Lick the rest of the day. I told him this morning but I'm sure he didn't comprehend. He did not want to go in the cage this morning, and I can't blame him, at all. I hate that he has to go in the cage but it's his own fault.

Anyways.....after today it's two more days this week. YIPPEEE!!! LOL

I hope your day is wonderful and it's everything you want it to be.
TTFN
Kat xoxox

ps/my pic today is a woodburning that I did for my daughter. One of her babies died while inside of her, one month short of his due date. This is one of my favorite woodburnings.

Finally Friday!!

Oh...how happy I am that it's Friday!! Next week I only have to work three days. I have next Thursday and Friday off. Two of my sisters and my niece and 3 almost grown GREAT GRAND nieces will be visiting town on Thursday, and I took Friday off for a long weekend and so that I can go to the dr. I feel really old...3 GREAT GRAND nieces!! Holy cow. They are going to be shocked up on shocked when they see me. A great aunt with tattoos. Great Aunties aren't supposed to be tattooed!!! I hope my back is good enough that I can ride my bike to meet with them and spend the day. They will really freak won't they? :O)Great Aunties aren't supposed to ride motorcycles and wear boots! And this Great Auntie crochets too!! What an odd combination, don't you think?

They are staying in Hilton Head SC, which isn't really that far from here but it's a vacation spot and that's where their hotel is. My oldest sister is from NC, my niece and great grand nieces are from Elmira NY, and my other sister is from FL. I have not seen my great grand nieces since they were little, I don't even know that they will remember me. And I was not all tatted up at that point in time either. I have seen pics of them and they are all grown up and just beautiful. I will have to be the protective tatted up biker auntie!!! LOL I'm anxious to see their reaction to me. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.

That is one thing I think about all the time. A culture/society that is prejudice of people that are all tatted up. OK...if I wear clothes to hide my tats and you meet me and you see that I am a person, just like you are.....then you are ok with my tats, because you have not formed an opinion about me firstly with my tats. I am the same person...tatted or not!! If I am a jerk all clothed then I am a jerk all tatted. If I am a nice person who cares about the price of tea in the US all clothed, then I am that same nice person who cares about the price of tea in the US all tatted up!! Just because I have tats, ride a motorcycle and wear boots does not mean I eat little kids and pillage and kill (bad analogy, I know but you get my point right?). I get the strangest looks when I have met someone and I am fully clothed and I have talked to them at length, and then I, for whatever reason (hot flash more than likely), disrobe a tad and there are all my tats in their splendid glory for the world to see. The tats don't form the person. They are an artistic expression of the person, just like the artistic expression of those who sew, those who knit, those who crochet, & so on & so forth. Do you know what I'm saying?

Am I a bad person just because I have my tattoos? No. Truth be known I might not have any except for my ex...he got me started. Yea I blame him for my addiction. It's probably been, oh...13 years now, that I got my first tat on my back. And oh my...talk about hurt. They all hurt, don't let anyone fool you. Why do I do it you ask?? Well that's a hard one to answer for you to understand. Unless you have tats you probably won't understand. But let's see...it's an addiction. I have addictions and ink is one of them. Hey, it's not drugs. And I'm not a drunk (I do drink but only occasionally). And I've kicked the cigarette addiction. So now I'm left with, let's see....ink, yarn, coffee, tea, food...lol, my motorcycle addiction has slowed down because of my back...what else do I have left?? I think that's it for addictions. I do love chocolate, but hey, I'm a red blooded middle aged/almost senior citizen female. What female does not like chocolate?

We all have our addictions but really, mine aren't that bad. And I've even slowed down on the ink addiction because, well....it's dang expensive! And I have other things to spend my money on these days. The last one didn't cost me that much, it was a trade off for the sale of my other motorcycle. I sold it to a girl for part cash and part tats. She was a private/silent investor in a tattoo parlor. Now what ink junkie wouldn't say yes to that? :o) The last one, this particular tat is my whole left arm - a sleeve - covered in ink!! And let me tell you, I got really tired of going week after week - every Saturday for at least 2 months - and sitting in that chair enduring pain. I was ready to be done with it! But then it was wierd not going anymore because I had gotten used to going every week. I was very thrilled with the end result though. And the one part I love the most is not seen unless I am raising my hand and my shirt sleeves are short or I'm wearing a tank. My purple lizard eating a strawberry is just awesome! There he is up top. I just love him. I wish I had seen him a long time ago, I would have put him on the outside of the arm for all to see. The other pic is part of, or I should say half of my moon/fairy tat. That was the result of the first sitting. The second sitting I got this bluish/purplish mist all around it. I don't have a finished pic that is good enough to post because you can't see it all. I guess because of how it is positioned on the calf of my leg. I've always like fairies and I originally wanted a fairy on a mushroom but then the one he was going to tat me with, I found another JUST LIKE IT on the internet! I said nope, not what I want. So he came up with this and I love it.

Well I think I have jawed enough today, my back is killin me and I need to get up and walk around a tad. I hope you aren't bored, and I hope you won't judge me just because of my ink. The ink does not make me who I am. That's the outside, not the inside.

I hope where ever you are it's a gorgeous great day for you!
TTFN

Kat xoxoxo

Things happen for a reason

Ahhh yes...Friday Eve. The only thing better is Friday itself! :o)

I have searched my whole computer and searched in all the wrong places. I was looking for a pic I KNEW I had of one of my hummingbirds. If I had done a search to begin with I would have saved myself a lot of time and aggravation. But I am a very firm believer that things do happen for a reason. Why...we may and probably will never know. But as I was searching for this elusive pic I found pics of my best friend that passed away - Mr. Lick Lick's daddy, J. It's not so long ago that he left us and that hole in my heart is still so huge. Tears are at the edges right now, wishing he was not gone. I'd give Mr. Lick Lick up right now and be alone, if his daddy were to walk through the door. Though I know that won't happen.

If you have a best friend, cherish them with all your very being. Let them know how much they mean to you. I, sadly, did not do this with J, as it was an unspoken thing between us. He was, after all, a MAN. Men don't cry, men don't let their real feelings be known. We had this discussion many times. And I am kicking myself in the ass now because I had all of those opportunities to tell him exactly how I felt about him and I didn't. For that, I feel really bad, and it's all on my part because I hope he knows how I feel, felt. As far as I am concerned his MAN feelings are hogwash, rubbish, bullcrap.....whatever you want to call it. Or I should say were huh......I'm still kicking myself. The hole sits on a big ol' mound of guilt.

He left us so suddenly. Poor Mr. Lick Lick was there in the house with him that day and was, I'm sure, severely traumatized by the whole ordeal. He was there with him at least 6 hours before anyone found J. And all he knew was one minute his daddy was there, the next he would not respond to him, and he was all alone and then whisked out of the house to someone else's house for a day only to be returned to the same house he'd lived in his whole life with his daddy and now his daddy was gone. There were friends and strangers coming in and out of the house, his house, his home, for almost a whole week before he left on this trip in the middle of the night to some strange place with his dad's best friend and his biological daddy (PeeWee). And now he was to be a country dog, no longer a city dog, leaving the only home he'd ever known.

This was a very hard thing for me. I struggled with it and still do to this day every time I look at Leo...I wish his daddy was here. I miss him so much. They say things happen for a reason. I guess so but fail to understand why, even though I'm a firm believer in that statement. I went home to FL for a few days this last Christmas, and stayed in J's house while there. Why you say? (Everyone I knew asked that very same thing) Wellll...I don't know if I can explain it so that you can understand. I felt like it was something I had to do, it had to be 'right in my face' because I still could not believe that he was gone. At that point, J had been gone a little over a year. His family had taken most of his possessions out of the house. The garage, which the contents were left to two of his other male friends, was still intact - with the exception of the brand new washer and dryer J had purchased half a year before he suddenly left. In the fridge were a few items. One that struck me down was an Orange Crush, with a piece of blue tape that had J's name on it. This was one of his favorite drinks. I cried buckets of tears while there. It was not the same. I know now and knew while I was there that that would be the last time I would step foot in that house. It's not J's anymore, he's gone. His stuff is gone, Leo is gone, Leo is with me. And I love that little booger so much. If J hadn't left him to me I would have fought tooth and nail for him. He's all I have left of J.

Things happen for a reason.

I hope your day is wonderful.
TTFN
Kat xoxox

Wimpy Wednesday

Well my back is worse today than it was yesterday. Probably because I rode my bike yesterday. So I drove the Imp today. Whatever....it was chilly this morning again anyways. Does anyone know where I can get a new one? Back that is. LOL I really hate this. But there's nothing I can do. I've heard that surgery is NOT the way to go, then again I've heard that chiro's are NOT the way to go. I don't think it's going to get any better. Oh well....I have a dr. appt in a week and a half. Maybe he'll give me some pain meds.

Anyways.....I hope your day is better than mine is so far. I so did not want to get up this morning. Mr. Lick Lick and I were snoozing and snuggling very soundly. That's him....in bed......without me! He stays in bed while I get ready to go to work. Doesn't he look comfy cozy?? He's looking at me like 'Ok mom, you can stop with the bright lights now'. :o)

I did not do any hooking last night! For shame!! I was bummed too. But I had the neighbor boy over, his mama sent down some catfish stew...which was soo yummy. I couldn't eat it all and left some for tonight's dinner. But he was there for a while. He just turned 13 and I think he likes hanging out with me. He played with Mr. Lick Lick for a while and we talked, about all kinds of things. Then he left and I ate, and I uploaded the heart n shells pics. That took FOREVER! I have DSL at home but my laptop is sooo slow sometimes. So I went outside on the porch a couple of times in between up loads and once I heard a hummingbird...they have a distinctive whir and chirp, and then I didn't see or hear it anymore. So while I was drinking my coffee before bed I went out on the porch and sat waiting to hear or see one. No such luck! I've had their juice made up and hung up for 10 days now. Where are they? What can they be doing? The juice will go bad if they don't hurry up. LOL. But no biggie, I'll just make some more. I'll have to look for my hummingbird pic. I have one, just don't know where it is.

Well it's a beautimus day in Georgia, wish I could have rode my bike. I hope where ever you are that the sun is shining and it's a lovely day!!
TTFN
Kat xoxoxo

hearts n shells motifs

I came home and took some pics of the heart n shells motifs that I am working on. I'm so excited about them. This is one wip that I doubt I will put down until I am done. Hopefully anyways...lol. Ok so here they are. Whatya think? The camera does not do the colors or color combinations justice. They are much prettier in person.

Any comments, suggestions...all are welcome! :o)Can you see Mr. Lick Lick in one of them? Well, I guess I should say part of Mr. Lick Lick. He just has to be a part of everything!

Spring???

Ok, this is April, not February, not March. What is up with these 40 degree mornings in Georgia?? The hummingbirds are not back yet, though I have seen two...one two weekends ago that flew in and chirped to say 'hey...we're back', and the other one on Thursday evening at one of the feeders. They are normally back around the 1st to stay until Sept/October. I have been waiting patiently. I know the cold is holding them back and they are probably laying over in FL.

I rode my bike to work today. It was cold. And I had 4 layers on. I had my shirt, my big John Deere thermal, my Harley large black hoodie, and my BG jacket. And I might as well not have had any gloves on. My fingers were froze when I got to work. All I could think of was 'I can't wait to get to work and warm up'. Yepper, I'm getting to be a wimp in my old age. Growing old is definitely not for sissies. I used to be a tough broad....my bones these days tell me otherwise. It wasn't so long ago that I would ride everyday...even in the winter. Some days when I left the house it was 17 degrees on my front porch. And I was on the sporty then, not the road king. A lot of guys would see me and they'd tell me later 'I don't know how you do it!' I would just laugh. I want to be that girl again.

I know...wah wah wah. I have undoubtedly become a fair weather rider. I caught crap yesterday from the FedEx guy, wanting to know why didn't I ride the bike to work? Truth be told my back wouldn't allow it yesterday. (I didn't tell him that) I couldn't lift my leg over the bike to hop on. Today it's a little better so I rode......to shut him up. LOL. Don't get me wrong...I love riding...I want to ride every day. But you get to an age and a point when your body just will not let you do what you used to do. And believe me, I am not growing old gracefully. I am fighting it every step of the way. There are many days I do stuff that I know I shouldn't do and I pay for it dearly. But I just can't let it go that there are things that I can no longer do, that just a few years ago I didn't think a thing about doing. Some of my friends say that I need a man for that stuff. Well, yea, maybe......but I'm not going to move a man in just so he can do crap that I can't do anymore. Ya know what I'm saying?? The only way I'm moving a man in is the LOVE factor. I would have to fall head over heels in love first. Then I will CONSIDER moving him in...or if he's got a place staying between the two.

I am not one to be a 'gold digger'. Take a guy for his money. I am not one to just 'settle' because it would be in my best interest. Sorry....I just can't do that. There are a lot of women out there that do this every day...and don't think another thing about it. They take whatever they can get without any kind of conscience at all. Not me. I just can't be that way. Money is not everything, although it's nice and does help. But I refuse to be under anyone's thumb just because they have money.

Dang....how'd I get off on this tangent???? Went from cold to men and money. UGH. Sorry.

I guess I still have and treasure my independence. But I am slowly losing it due to aging and the rebellious b**ch in me is fighting back.

I do what I can, when I can. And when I can't I sit on the couch with my hooks and yarn. Thankfully I have them, and Mr. Lick Lick, to keep me entertained.

It's a spring day here in Georgia, or so they say...I hope yours is a good one!
TTFN
Kat xoxox

ps/I take a lot of pics of the sky. This was one lovely morning sunrise at work.

Multiple Monday

Is it Monday again?? Already??? Holy cow...life goes by so quick, does it not?

How was your weekend? Mine was spent mostly at home. I did go to Wally World (Walmart) Saturday morning. I hate going there. I always spend way more than what I had planned when I walked in. Forget lists......I can't stick to them. And I forgot one thing..it wasn't on my list. At least not on THAT list. I didn't remember until I got home and was putting things up. Then I remembered that I had put it on the list, just not THAT list. Geeze......where did my original list go to anyways? I can't find the stupid thing.

So anyways...the rest of the weekend was spent either on the couch crocheting or outside. I did manage to rake the back yard and then burn the leaves, and wash the car!! I did piddle a little with plants and such, but my back was killing me so I didn't get a lot accomplished. The raking and burning and washing made me even worse but these were things that I needed to get done. Especially the raking and burning before it gets too hot out to do that. It was a beautiful spring weekend to do that too.

Mr. Lick Lick got in trouble. Oh I wish I'd had my camera with me. I was out back watching the fire when I hear a succession of 'stuff hitting the floor' of the shed. On the third sound I went to the shed. Do you know that that little joker had jumped up one of my shelves (about 3.5 to 4 ft off the floor)and knocked down stuff! Oh I was mad. It's not bad enough that he has to climb through and over everything on the floor but now he's climbing! I promptly got him down and closed the shed door so he couldn't go back in there. He was probably saying 'gee mom, I was just having a bit of fun, I wasn't hurting anything! I didn't break anything!' :o) No but mom had to clean up the mess not Mr. Lick Lick. So he was banned from the shed for a while. I think it about killed him too cuz now he had nothing exciting to do but sniff the yard. You can sniff the yard only so many times.......lol. So he found a nice sunny spot and laid down and took a nap.

I have been working on some heart motifs that are quite large in size. I'm thinking they are about 9"??? I think I mentioned them in an earlier post. It is part of the 12" Hearts and Shells square by Sherry Welch on the HeartMade Blessings site. After fixing the mistakes, I am so taken with this pattern, because I have been looking for a good heart pattern, and this one is a really nice one that the heart actually looks like a heart and not all lopsided. They are easy to pump out and I want to try to put them together for lapghans and afghans. I have been using different color combinations and some of them I just love. I was going to make my younger sister a ripple afghan but I have re-thought that idea and will now use these motifs. I am addicted to them. I just have to figure out how to put them together. I think I have it worked out in my head so we shall see when I get enough done to make a lapghan.

Where ever you are I hope you're having a wonderful day!
TTFN
Kat xoxox

PS/another one of my burnings. I think I want to make another one of these. Even though it looks easy it was not. Mostly I think because I used pine. I should have used a better wood.

Whirly Wednesday

Whew! Hump day...almost over, thankfully. My back has just been killin me these last couple of weeks. I so desperately need to go to the chiro but haven't had either the money or time to go. I have to soon, I have a lot of numbness going on......not good. And that's besides the pain!

It is just gorgeous outside. I can't wait to jump on my bike and head home. I live ~ 40 miles from work. I actually work in Savannah and live in Springfield. Wellll...not IN Springfield. Actually IN the woods. :o) But as gorgeous as it is I already have my a/c on. And that bites. We went straight from winter into summer. No spring this year! Last year was wonderful. We had a very long spring and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am glad though that I finally have all my plants outside again. The skeeties are horrific at the house. With all the rain we had over the winter I still have standing water on my property in pools. In all honesty I need to cut all the trees (or most of them) on the front of my property down, rake it all flat and replant. I'd love to have some fruit trees and nut trees. Pecans, almonds, pear, peach, apple. Ohhh....think of all the pies! LOL. Crap....I think I gained 3 pounds just thinking about it! And I would have me a rose garden and all of the beautiful flowering trees and plants that Georgia has to offer. Most especially red tip, dogwood - of the white and pink kind, bradford pear, crape myrtle - one of each color, all colors of azalea, oh I could go on and on. And wisteria......even though they invade I just love it!! Ok nuff dreaming bout trees, flowers, fruits and nuts.

So anyways.......I stumbled on some new patterns that I hadn't seen before, on http://heartmadeblessings.org. There is one that I just loved the look of so I printed it out and made one yesterday. I totally did not like the way it turned out. And there were several mistakes in the pattern. So I started another one today, changing the mistakes and not doing the whole thing. It's a 12" square that was not square at all. It pooched out on each side. I so do not like it like that. But hey....it was worth it because now that I fixed the mistakes in it (the middle part of it) I love it! Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with it! LOL. And I love the colors I used on it. They rock together! I don't have a pic...I'll have to take one when I get home and post hopefully tomorrow.

Well it's almost time to be going to the hacienda. Where ever you are I hope your day rocks!
TTFN
K xoxoxo

PS/These are three woodburnings I made. The Chris n Jen is my daughter and hubby, and Kay n Chuck are my friends. I haven't done a lot of wood burning lately. I miss it. And the last one is Frogiella....a present for Kay.....oh I hope she doesn't find my blog. It's actually done but not in this pic. I do need to take a finished pic don't I?

Moderate Monday

Another Monday! And I am slacking. We are into another month here, already! It flies much too quickly. Check out time will be here before you know it....... :o(

Ok, nuff of that. So I hope your weekend was good. Mine was productive. I felt alive for the first time in a long time because I was productive and finished what I started and felt good about it! I put up shelves on my front porch so that I could bring out all of my plants from their winter residence in my southerly front spare bedroom. And I put the shelves up high enough so that if lizards got in the plants, then Mr. Lick Lick could not jump up and knock them over trying to get the lizards. His mama was the huntress but he brings a new meaning to the word hunting when it comes to lizards. I have babied some of my plants and I will not have him destroy them in the blink of an eye just to prey on some poor lizard. Plus it makes it more roomy on the small front porch with the plants up like that. And they all get equal exposure too. It's all good all the way around!

Plus I got quite a bit of hooking done. I started on Attic24 Lucy's bag and worked quite a bit of it. I was going to duplicate the colors but now am thinking that I want to see if I can finish it without duplicating any more than what I already have. I did duplicate three colors but won't any more of them unless I run out of colors to finish it. Plus I have made flowers to go on the straps where they connect to the bag. And I will probably make more flowers as I like how the different colors go together. What I will do with them I am not sure yet.

So anyways...hope you had a good weekend and that you will have a great week ahead of you. I shall see you soon!
TTFN
K xoxox

ps/whatya think about the bookmark and the start of a granny doily? I love the thread, it's so pretty!