There is not a much better feeling then when the next size down of jeans fit. :)
I had picked up some new jeans during my massive black Friday shopping, in which I only bought stuff for Matt and I, and I decided to just pick up the next size down since my normal size have been a bit baggy recently. And they fit! It made my day. :) That means some of the pants I have been saving for being too small, now fit. That is just awesome. Yeah for hot yoga!
Man, I hate drama. Long story, short version - They are changing the structure at the cat rescue that I volunteer at. They have 2 separate buildings with 130 cats at each house and I volunteer at one of these houses. The new layout would have us switch houses every month. I don't really want to learn about and love 130 more cats, making it 260. The cats at this other house have FIV. It's like HIV only for cats. Immune deficiency means they get sick a little easier and don't recover as quickly and can die a bit easier too. These cats are great and loving and wonderful, but people don't adopt a "sick" cat very quickly. So most of the cats that come to live here, will die here. I think all the added issues that would come with volunteering here would be too much for me. I wouldn't see the original cats as often either and would lose some of the connection I have with them.
I sent a long detailed email to the main vet and board director about all my concerns, as I was asked to do, and was berated for not accepting change and for not wanting to volunteer at the other shelter. I sent another email further explaining my position and trying to clear up any misconceptions about my point of view they might have and was berated again. I originally signed up to volunteer at the first shelter and was told I would not have to go to the other shelter if I did not want to. Looks like that will not longer be the case.
I don't think that the freely giving of my time and resources are very appreciated anymore. Which makes me sad. I love volunteering here and I love my shift mates and all the cats too and it really is still a great place to adopted a cat. But I really don't need the added stress of all this drama. But it's OK, I was told that this organization doesn't need volunteers with my attitude anyway..
Netflix is growing on me. It's as good/bad thing.. I have watched some interesting shows and rating things have pulled stuff that I like to be easier to find. All of Matt's bad movies and TV shows are interfering a bit. He sure does like those 1 or 2 star shows.
I have decided to do another online class next semester. The last one went well and I wish I had taken the class I was in now online. This teacher is ruining marketing for me. I was excited to take this class and have been sorely disappointed.
I made a really cute baptism cake the other day. I have been talking about it for a while, but I really need to get a website up for the cake business. I have been getting more requests for info and pictures and such. One of these days it will happen. Maybe over Thanksgiving break?? Hopefully I won't find something really interesting on Netflix. It's not like I can just watch it later or anything...
I stopped in at Fields Fabrics to pick up some denim patches the other day. Whenever I go to these places I really wish I was more crafty. I love the idea of making my own things and the patterns and fabrics in the store are really neat. I should totally make a cute cat costume or something. 
I did finally cut up my first t-shirt the other night. I don't personally like to wear a crew neck t-shirt (or any crew neck shirt for that matter, but I like some of the neat prints on some of them, particularly from woot. I cut off the neck and sleeves and made a tank top. :) I used a shirt I don't really care about to practice on, and I have a few more stashed I'd like to practice on since I don't want to mess up on a shirt I would really like to wear. Maybe I am a little crafty after all.
I often come here and open a new post page and just kinda stare at it. I feel like I should blog about stuff, but what stuff? I don't feel very original or have too much exciting or new to share.
I made super cute baby shower cake, which makes me think that I really should get going on a website for my cake business. But that would involve actually being productive. This whole Netflix thing is finally starting to grow on me. In the last couple of weeks, new shows have been added that actually peak my interest. Which also means I am spending more watching TV and not being productive. Like normal.
I need to bake more. I think I will buy a bushel of apples and bake. 
We finally bit the bullet and switched to Netflix. No more cable for us. It's a big thing for me, I haven't not had cable for longer than I can remember. And sadly, I don't see any Food Network shows on Netflix. :( Maybe I'll finally start getting all the things done that I mean too during the week instead of spending 20+ hours watching TV..
What should I say about July...
It's been a good month.
My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this month. It's amazing how long they have been together. They have been retired since before I was born, and snowbirds as long as I can remember too. We had a nice little get together at a local park, potluck style. I made a pretty nice cake. My first really nice stacked cake. I also only made one little girl cry - without even trying.
The day after my grandparents anniversary party, Matt and I headed up to the UP with a good chunk of his family. I made a reasonable small list of things I wanted to do while up there, and happily I got to do everything I wanted. :) Kitch-iti-kipi, Picture Rocks, Tahquamenon Falls, Oswald's Bear Ranch, which Sarah spoke very highly of, :) and some of the UP wineries. I also wanted to go fishing, make smores and hobo pies. I love a good camp fire too.
June has turned out pretty good so far. I love going to yoga three or four times a week. :) School is going well. I like my online class. It's really easy. I've gotten to hang out with friends here and there, more than normal. I made a fun cake last weekend. I'm getting the hang of the cupcake cakes and I really think our friends and their son like it too. I've got two cakes already scheduled for July as well. Matt and I will be going to see Hairspray the the Civic Theater this Friday. I'm excited! I love musicals. Matt, not so much. LOL
We are also heading up to Traverse City this upcoming weekend for Cherry City Comic Book Convention. It's a small convention, which will only take us a few hours to get through. I finally talked some friends of mine to come up to Traverse City with us. Sweet! I can't wait to show them all our favorite spots. I wish we were going up for more than one night, but we only scheduled one night to save a little money. We are going up to the UP with Matt's family in July and we need to save up a little for that trip too. Still more excitement!! I can not wait to go the the UP, I have always wanted to get up there and explore. :)
When I started volunteering at Crash's, I never expected the variety of questions I would get from people. I get alot of questions about cat care and the cats we have and all sorts of random cat questions.. The thing I am starting to dread is friends and family emailing me about what to do with cats that are not wanted anymore. It's always so 'reasonable' as to why the cat can no longer stay with the current owners, but I still get pretty upset that pets are something people can just throw away. People will justify anything. I guess it's better than some people's more cruel philosophy of just killing pets that are no longer wanted or that are having issues. Looking on the positive side doesn't seem to help me in this situation.
I picked up a Groupon for Hot Yoga in December (when it was cold out) and finally got around to using it last week, now that it is hot out. I have unlimited visits for 30 days. So, I will be really trying to get my monies worth. I actually really like it. I have always liked yoga, but this style of yoga is what I like the best. The instructor jumps from pose to pose in quick succession, with a few long holds in between. I really feel the work out. I even kinda like the 95 degree temperature. I do get sick of it about 3/4 through. I bring alot of water...
It really is amazing what people can do with their bodies. Sometimes I catch myself just watching people do extreme poses and forget to do my own basic pose. It's also amazing how much some people sweat. Some of the people are just dripping sweat in puddles on their mats. Sure, the rest of us are sweating too, but wow.
I wish I could download previously purchased books to my Kindle. I have so many books, that take up so much room, it would be nice if books had a one time code or something that would allow books to be uploaded onto e-readers. Blah. The only thing I don't want on the e-reader is cookbooks. There are a bunch of old public domain books that I downloaded for free, like all the Jane Austin books, The Scarlet Letter, The Art of War and others, but I really like being able to buy any book I want at any point from just about any where.
Blah. Most of this month has just been quite blah. I am ready for spring too, so this cloudy, rainy, and cold weather has not helped my soul perk up.
The rest of March was quite uneventful. I made some super cute owl cupcakes for one of my many cousin's baby shower. And Matt and I sold a bunch of toys at the local toy show. We seem to do quite well and we feel like we made more money than alot of the other sellers there. Probably because we sell 'modern' toys. Alot of the sellers there have vintage/antique toys or a bunch of Hot Wheels. There is another big show coming up in May, down in Kalamazoo, but we will just be shopping and not selling.
April has been a bit busier. I made two cakes. My niece's 2nd birthday cake, featuring Dora the Explorer, and a "commission" cake for a guy from work for his girlfriend's birthday. I finally figured out how to do good buttercream roses. Which thrills me, since I love buttercream and roses. :)
I got a Kindle, which is quite neat. It will take up alot less room than all the books I like to buy. Now I just need a cover to protect it and take it everywhere for me. Maybe I'll buy something on etsy.com.
We went to Ludington for a night in the beginning of the month and we will be going somewhere for our anniversary this upcoming weekend. We bought a beautiful print from a local photographer in Ludington of a cat in a window. The art scene in Ludington is really growing.
Class is done for the semester. Good thing next semester starts on Monday. Boo. I have my first Internet class for the summer semester, so we will see how that goes.
I may have gone a little to far at the funeral visitation tonight. Some cousins, Matt and I were all standing around talking about how we should get together more often, but it was sad to get together under these circumstances. People were saying things about making up funerals for non-existent people and making everyone show up. I than said something along the lines of, maybe we could pretend that non-existent person could raise up as a zombie and we could kill them, cut off their head and rebury them and have another funeral. Yup. That is what I said. At a funeral visitation. Standing next to my cousin whose father just died. Luckily they all laughed, but it was shocked laughter.... :/
I think I have been married to Matt way too long.
My Uncle passed away 2/24 at the age of 51. He was my mother's youngest brother. Death doesn't really bother me, it's a part of life and inevitable for everyone. This death has a different feel to it then others I have experienced. I am kinda upset with him for dying, even if it is sort of a good thing. He really threw his life away and choose drinking and drugs over success and family. It is unknown at this time how he passed away, but the long and short of it is that his remains were found in the basement of his burned up home, probably next to the wood stove. Top possibilities are that he fell asleep/passed out with a lit cigarette or fell asleep/passed out and let the wood stove get out of control. I'll update this when the investigation is over and the real reason is discovered. Maybe I'm being too judgemental....Maybe not.
I really feel for his immediate family, his 4 kids, ex-wife, parents and siblings. Everyone has tried so hard to get him to turn his life around and be OK. I'm upset that he died a potentially horrible death and left his family to deal with all the horrible repercussions. My extended family are really stepping up and we will try to make this as smooth a transition as possible.
My guitar lessons are going well. My teacher says I am doing quite well, which is nice to hear. 8 weeks in with not nearly enough practice time put in, I am learning my first song. The most frustrating thing I have found is all the guitar tabs and youtube instruction are all different. Everyone is teaching a slightly different version of the same song and they are all different then the way my teacher wants me to play. I am not good enough at this point to just hear a song and know what notes are being played. I am having fun though. :)
Busy. I am so busy. As much as I like to be busy, I have gotten to the point that I am tired every weekday, at least it feels that way. I had been going to Open Mic on Tuesday night 10pm to 1am, or later, just watching and having a bunch of fun. But I think that one really late night was throwing my whole week off kilter. I would still do it though. It's just too much fun to pass on. The band that hosted this particular Open Mic was a local up-and-coming band called Valentiger. I think the 3 guys in this band are good at what they do, a fun bunch, and I really hope they make it. They recently shot a music video in GR and I will post it. :)
Hmmm. 2011. I really hope that this will be a life changing year. I am determined to make something happen this year.
Looking back at 2010; let's examine what I wanted to get done.
1. Lose Weight - Did not really happen. But I did not gain any weight...That's a plus.
2. Learn French - Did not happen.
3. De-Junk house - Started....Sold some stuff at the toy show and donated bags of stuff to Goodwill. Need to purge more.
4. Drink more wine - Success!! I feel like I really drank a significant amount of wine. We bought lots of wine this year too. Multiple trips up North helped with this.
Looking back at the calender some noteworthy things that happened.
-The saddest thing of the year was Murdock passing. I miss him so very much. Every day. That cat changed my life. And Matt's view on cats too. :) But his passing brought me to volunteering at Crash's Landing. I love my time at the shelter and the great people I have met there. I look forward to my Wednesday nights at Crash's.
-I made some fun cakes/cupcakes. Mia's Hello Kitty Birthday Cake, the engagement cake, Kermit the Frog Birthday cake, Hello Kitty cupcakes, 80'th Birthday cake for my grandfather, and a Hello Kitty Princess cake. See pics on Facebook.
-All our mini vacations. Chicago, Traverse City, Mackinaw Island, Woodstock for Ted's wedding, Ludington, and where ever else we went.
-I have discovered a great love for Groupon and Groupon like websites. LOVE!
Looking forward. Lets try the three things I have been meaning to do for years; plus a extra one.
1. Lose Weight. - I have a treadmill....Why don't I use it more???
2. Learn French. - I have uploaded the language software onto my new laptop. This will make it so much easier to excess and should help me get this done.
3. De-Junk House. - I have too much stuff. Anybody want some??
4. Learn to play Guitar. - I have been taking some lessons and I am enjoying it. Now I just need to keep it up.
Wish me luck!
