Extreme Makeover: Craft Room Edition

Some of you may remember that for Molly's birthday last year I turned the spare bedroom in our house into a craft room for her. Although Molly loves her craft room and spends countless hours creating all sorts of "artwork" there, it was a space that was completely unusable for anyone else, especially me. Therefore, I spent the last few weeks sprucing the place up and making it a place that both Molly and I can enjoy. And if anyone from HGTV would like to offer me a job, I'd be happy to take it!

BEFORE:



AFTER:

Swam, Biked, Ran... Took a nap

Participated in the Lake Wylie Triathlon this morning. Official results are in! I placed 79th out of 152 women. I placed 7th in my age group for the swim (15:33), did the bike in 38:49 and the run in 31:49 for a grand total of 1 hour and 29 minutes. The swim was wonderful except for not being about to see the buoys because of sun glare. The bike was difficult and tricky. We had to keep on the right hand side of the left hand lane (on a major 4 lane highway) and it cause many accidents and confusion. I was lucky enough to escape injury, but I saw others who were not. The run was mountainous. My feet were sore from being wet and it took me about a mile just to work the muscles out from the bike, but in the end I felt great and was proud of my time, even if it was 2 minutes slower than my last 5k. Here are some pictures just to prove I did it.

For the record Drew finished too (and did well still beating out over 100 other men) but he doesn't want me to blog about it. He had some "technical difficulties" with his goggles and aggressive men swimmers, but in the end still finished before me - only by a few minutes though : )

God is a Cat Lover

I'm going to try and make a long story as short as possible. And yes, it's another cat story.

So Thursday afternoon the kids and I were in and out of the house playing and both the front and back doors where left open for extended periods of time. This is bad for two reasons: flies get in and cats get out.

Molly and I were playing the the playroom and we heard a cat pawing at the door to get it. I went to go let who I thought was Felix in (Figaro avoids the playroom like the plague) and found Figaro. She came in, sat next to me, rubbed me and seemed very discontented about something. It dawned on me that I hadn't seen Felix in hours and I went around the house calling him. He usually comes when he's called but didn't. I searched the house EXTENSIVELY, opening closets, cabinets, everywhere I could think of. After about 30 minutes of searching I was sure that he had gotten outside and was gone.

I called Drew at work and he immediately left to come home and help me search. My parents showed up from Maryland and began searching as soon as they arrived. The next 5 hours were spent driving, biking, and running around the neighborhood looking for our wayward pet. I traversed many backyards and spoke with many neighbors I've never met before. I called every vet in the area along with the ASPCA and Humane Society. I printed "Lost Cat" fliers and had the activities coordinator of the neighborhood send out an email to everyone telling them about poor lost Felix.

Finally at 8:15, a tearful mommy was tucking an even more tearful Molly into bed. There were hugs and kisses, and then Molly said her prayers. She very solemnly asked God to take care of Felix and bring him home soon. As soon as she finished we heard the tiniest "mew." Drew and I looked at each other and I said, "was that a cat??!!"

Molly's bed is a trundle with drawers. I began pulling the drawers out one by one and out came Felix. I had changed the sheets on the bed early in the morning and while I had the mattress off, he must have gotten stuck behind the drawers under the bed in about 4 inches of space. He had been trapped back there for about 12 hours.

Needless to say there were lots of tears and hugging and screaming and joy! Thank you to everyone who looked (in vain) for our missing cat who was never really missing at all.

The funny thing about the whole misadventure was this: Felix is just a cat. He chews things and keeps me awake at night. He costs us googobs of money on food and litter and vet visits. And when I thought I would never see him again, it was a horrible, horrible feeling. Guess I love the little guy after all.

In lieu of any other ways to help...

this post is all I can come up with.

My college roommate Ann who is 33 years old and a mom to 2 year old Sam was diagnosed with breast cancer this week.

It has spread to lymph nodes and maybe further. She is looking at years of chemotherapy and a full mastectomy. And she has been told that she will never be able to give Sam a sibling. Instead she just wants to live to see his 3rd birthday.

And I can't stop thinking about her. I can't really wrap my head around a world without her in it.

I know most of you who read this don't know Ann personally, but if you could say a little prayer for her, it would mean a lot to me. And to her too.

And take a few minutes tonight to give yourself a check.

Three Princesses

Here are Princess Buttercup, Cinderella, and Snow White.

(Molly is coming out of her Disney Princess phase, but still enjoys dressing as other princesses, such as Queen Lucy from Narnia and Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride. Brody often reprises the role of Wesley, but chose on this day to channel his inner princess.)