I Almost Forgot...

...how much I enjoy writing just for me. And I almost forgot how important it is for me to write for pleasure and not because I feel I should (for the business and such). Anyway, we are still on the go and while Blogger mobile was not great for me in the past, I'm going to give it another try now. I also am now primary owner of the Pearl Farmers Mkt Tumblr page. Should be a good learning experience. Of course that means I set up accounts for myself and GBR for practice. And while I was at it I set up a Pinterest account for GBR. I'm going to debut them once I have more content. :-) I think I may get social media'ed out one day soon. But not today. 

This is what I'd like to be doing - chilling out but not all distorted like the Smokes. 

Kitty & Friends

My baby turned seven yesterday! I love my kitty cat even if he does drive me crazy sometimes trying to get me or Mark to hang with him while he eats. Ugh. That Smokey. Wanting company while he eats. He's too funny and he is constantly making us laugh with his antics. Baby kitty knows many commands now - sit, up (on his hind legs), sit back down, shake paw (leftie like you Sary), crouch down....and we've been working on rollover but he's not quite there yet. ALMOST! lol

Today I am really missing my buds from the library and all the fun times we've had together. I ran across these pictures and they made me smile as I recalled our many jaunts here and there to snap pictures for our blogs.



This one below is one of my favorites of Sarah and Sonia snapping shots. Very funny poses and totally candid and unrehearsed. I miss you guys a lot and I miss our fun times we've had together. :-) Of course, I would not go back there now...but I miss YOU.

I can't believe it's March already!

Had a great day so far doing some work around the house AND taking pictures, too. We went to Home Depot to pick up a few tomato plants since we enjoyed them so much last year. We're starting with three but since we have a ton of containers (after we cleared out the old shed, we realized this), I'm sure we're going to put in more tomatoes plus I want to try at least one big container of herbs. I smelled some dill while shopping at HD and really liked it since it reminded me of mom putting it in a fish soup for us. YUM! I'm going to try baking with it this year.

Catching up on the Flickr, Facebook and blogs but now I am off to finish picking out clothes for the work trip to Dallas next week. At least I get to go with Sonia and it's only for three days. It's fun up there and this trip, there will be a reunion with our buddies from the acquisition trips from last August and September -- Tyler and James will be up there also and I'm sure we'll have fun catching up with them. They are a couple of great friends!

It has been fantastic so far with the transition of our training team to Project Management Office and making new friends along the way helps make my job more interesting and fun. I am learning so much about technology, the steel industry and business in general. I'm truly a blessed girl and I would not trade what I have at home and at work for anything!

On an even greater note....it's really, really official now. Mark's book comes out next month and I even got to see the contract that came in the mail today. Congratulations honey bee! The publisher is Janaway Genealogy, out of Santa Monica, CA. This past week, as I sat listening to Mark tell our new friend Steve (a coworker from Dallas) about his research and writing, I discovered Mark actually has FOUR books in mind! I thought it was three. LOL. You go honey. You write all you want; I think it's super! I'm currently working to get him to take a trip to Phoenix this month so that he can attend spring training events with Fergie Jenkins' crew -- it's the Cubs, the A's and beyond that I'm not sure who else is out there in AZ. It's a chance to see great players, old and young alike. Plus he can reconnect with all the players whom he's met already. DO IT HONEY!!!! :)

Smokey on the Fence

Here's Smokey asking me why I am all up on him and disturbing his groove. He was sitting on the fence. For a long time. With his back to us. I wondered why and I also wanted to photograph the bees so I went over. I don't think he wanted me there because I scared away some birds. I believe that little booger was sitting there, hoping the birds would come near him. He's quite the carnivore, you know. Anyway, this is one of his "faces" that he has for me. He has many...happy, sweet, angry (after a bath), sleepy....

Bathing Smokey

I finally made time to give poor Smokey a bath today. I used to do this every two weeks but I have been neglecting my motherly duties though I don't think Smokey has minded. He still behaved pretty well despite many meows and yeows and whining and crying and only one attempt to hop out of the tub. He loves water; he just doesn't care for being immersed in it. But you turn on a sprinkler and he's right there on the edge of the drops.

In the first shot, he just heard a few drops hit the water in the tub and it fascinated him for a few seconds. Long enough to forget I was about to soak his fur. Below you see one really ticked-off cat. He looks angry to me anyway. The first look I get is pitiful when I put him in the tub. Once I start toweling him off, then he gets the angry look because he knows were finally done and now he wants me to know he did not like it.



He's only angry for a little while. Then the grooming begins and lasts for about an hour. And at some point, he gets over being mad at me and will hop on my lap so that we can snuggle. We did that today for over an hour. He must get tired from being bathed and then being angry. Oh, and from all that grooming. For some reason, he likes to hop up on Mark's desk while he's still damp.

Home At Last

It's so nice to be home. Besides being with Mark, being in my own space, enjoying the rain and just getting a good nap in, it was also a nice time to catch up with Smokey. The rain drove him inside with us and after drying off and munching on some dinner, we had a snuggle. He DOES still think he's my baby. Which I love. ;)

Sleeping Smoke

Smokey just cracks me up. When he sleeps curled up in here, I think of cobras being serenaded out of those wicker baskets. LOL. Smokey is enjoying his outdoor time again now that he isn't being chased and harassed by the birds, especially the mockingbirds. They must have finished their business with the nest b/c we haven't seen them in about a week or so. Of course, I'm not saying I'm upset with them for going after Smokey. I think he might have deserved it since I did spy him close to the crepe myrtle, more than likely being a real pain to the birds. I hope at least one baby m-bird made it this year.

A message from me...Smokey

How can she take pictures of the grass when I am here? Who knew one person could snap so many photos of grass. I mean, I like the grass too. It's cool and lush except where our sprinkler doesn't quite cover it all but I have plenty of spots I like to stretch out on. Today was really nice because I could feel the breeze moving my fur as I snoozed. If only my mommy would do something about those pesky squirrels that like to curse at me just because they think they own the yard. Really, they are very lucky she told me NOT to go after them. Sigh.

Well, that's it. I just wanted to say hi. She's been traveling so much, she hasn't even updated La China though I notice she's always trying to find pictures for the Seguin blog. I'm going to go and find her now and see if she'll rub my belly. The hardwood floor is so cool that I like to flop on it in the living room. If I make myself adorable, I'm like a magnet and then she'll come and rub me while I snooze. Cool.

My little Smokey

Oh the things he does. He is like a child sometimes. Wanting attention. Wait, demanding attention. Wanting you to play with him, especially outside. Running around to show off how he can climb trees. Playing hide and seek behind a pecan tree. Doing a kamakazee run into your legs and then zooming off to see if you go after him. Hopping over the garden rows. Rolling around in the dirt. Eating lemongrass. Let's see. That was all this past week. :)

I love to take pictures of my Smokester b/c he's accommodating and never minds that I point a camera at him for practice all the time. Plus he does nutty things that crack me up. Like....

I love these pictures b/c they make me laugh. He just loves, loves, loves to chew on long grass and especially on our lemongrass bush. He is like a true Asian kitty I think and it's amazing the bush is still flourishing! I think it's funny that he likes the taste. I know we certainly do. Which makes me think I should cut some and do a marinade with it like my mom use to. By the way, it is a cutting from one of my mom's bushes. I like that it came from her and I'm very happy it has survived.