Project 365 What HAPPENED?

I know, I know!   Where have I been?!   I have to confess, life totally got in the way of my picture taking and I'm wayyyy off track with my daily pictures.    I hate that and figured it would happen, but not this quickly.   :(    I guess it is good to be busy, but it was something that I really wanted to complete this year.  

So what's been taking up my time?   Well, Bandit has been sick yet again and we did a lot of back-and-forth with the vet and the ER vet.   We finally reached the critical point where we had to make some decisions and as a result, he had surgery on Wednesday.   He is home now, but has to spend some time isolated AND wear that lovely cone of shame for 2 whole weeks.   He gets his stitches out on the 23rd, but there is a lot of care between now and then.   He is not happy about being in the bathroom alone right now, but I go in and play with him as much as I can.   He is so sweet and loving right now; I'm beginning to think I brought home the wrong cat!

My class is also taking up a lot of time.  We have homework due at almost every class and it takes some time to complete.   I am not a huge fan of my instructor, but I like the content so far.  

The weather has also been a huge factor in picture taking.   It has been freezing down here...like 32 degrees and below!    I have lost a lot of my tolerance to cold weather, so I can't get out and take pictures without shivering.    Texas isn't supposed to be this darn cold!  Brrr!

Finally, my stamping business is actually picking up as well.   Nothing to shout about just yet, but I do have some new customers that want to meet monthly.   I am also having a little success at selling some of my things at the consignment shop, so that takes time to do as well.

So, between kitty, work (still working part-time), class, and stamping, I am just struggling with time.  I need to go get ready for work right now actually.  :)   I'll put a few pictures below just to show a little of the last few weeks.

My sweet boy a few weeks ago.   It was so cold that even the kitties needed blankets!

 Our neighbor's big plant HATES the cold weather and totally crashed to the ground.

 One of the Valentine's cards for my recent class.

 What?   Freezing in Texas?  Yep.   No snow, but we did get ice on  a few days.   I hate that; if it is going to be cold, give me some pretty snow!

Here's one of the bookmarks I made to sell.   It is bright and sunny on these cold days and I love it!

Project 365: Day 9 & 10

I love to see where the kitties will end up sleeping next.   Bandit found himself a warm bed by the fire last night.   It has been so nice to have some colder weather; we love a nice fire in the fireplace.   Normally we only do it a few times a year, usually on Christmas, but we've been able to branch out a bit this year and enjoy it many more times.   After the fire was out, Bandit found himself a new expensive bed, the Target bag!   Remember, don't let the cat out of the bag!

I found a laser pointer on clearance at Target, so the babies got a new one for Christmas.   It has a been a while since we had one, so it has been so fun!   Jason managed to get them all huddled together tonight and it looks like a bit of a worship service to me.   :)  It is awesome to watch them run and play like kittens with this thing.   They might be 8 years old, but they can still move when there is a little red light to chase.  

I hope to capture some non-cat images tomorrow.   Yesterday was just too rainy to get outside and I worked most of the daylight hours today, so it was indoor or nothing.

Project 365: Day 2

It rarely gets cold enough to use the fireplace, so we normally only burn one on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day.    It was a little chilly today and we still had a starter log that my parents brought us, so Jason fired it up tonight.   It is nice and relaxing to just sit and watch it, but I took it a step further tonight and did some aperture practice with the camera.

When I sat down to upload my pictures, my sweet boy just looked too adorable so I had to snap one of him as well.

Happy New Year: Project 365

Okay...so I decided to try to do Project 365 this year.   Don't know what that is?   You can read more about it at 365project.org.  Basically you take a photo a day to both improve your photography skills and document your life for that year.    Sounds fun, right?  

My first picture is of one of our cats, Bailey.   She HATES when the camera comes out and most of our pictures of her remind us of Jim Brewer after a few joints.    I am determined to get some good shots of her this year so I started off with her.  

I love my kitties.  They have always been "my kids", but even more so after losing Eli.    I get angry when they wake me up scratching at the door at 4 or 5 am, but I guess I should be glad that they love me so much that they just need to see me.   :)    They bring us much laughter and always seem to know when we need a little snuggle.  

Nothing new to report...just wanted to share a funny picture.   He's had a rough day today following me around, so he is VERY tired.  :)

A few pics of the kids...

Bella

Bailey

So cute, but don't let her fool you.  Touch the wrong spot and she'll get you!

My sweet boy.    He is so bad when we have company, but is always the perfect companion when it is just the two of us.   

Sorry I don't have much to post lately.   I finally went back to work and am trying to get my Stampin' Up! business off the ground.   It is hard to get back in the groove of things!

Eli's walk went great, but I forgot the camera!   We raised about $450 and sent it all to the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation for the 200K for SMA campaign.   They were nice enough to write up a very sweet post about Eli today, so go check it out here.

Cats and cards

My craft room buddy.
I had already packaged this one, but wanted to still share it.
I wish we had fall colors down here...

One of my new favorites

Purple crab

Cats!

Even the cats love coupons!
Cat Recycling

Silly girl. I don't know why she like to lay like that!

A Few Random Pictures

My niece, Lana. Isn't she a cutie?

Mr Crab attended last night's Astros game.

My sweet Bandit.

Who needs to buy presents?

There was no need for me to buy the cats any presents this year..... They love the feather duster we have had for years and the boxes some of our gifts have been shipped in.... I dread cleaning up the living room and throwing out all the boxes; we will have some very unhappy animals on our hands!

Animals are a Joy

We will soon be heading to Kentucky for Christmas, but I wanted to share a few animal pictures from the past week or so. There's a new addition to the extended family. My sister-in-law got THE cutest puppy for Christmas and he came to visit us last weekend. Bailey didn't beat him up too bad, but I don't think the little guy liked her too much!





The other picture is of Bandit, just because I think kitties with water on their noses are the cutest!



Merry Christmas to everyone!