YUMO

We celebrated Sam's first birthday last Sat and these are just a sample of some of the fun that was had. I don't want to post any more until her Mommie and Daddy do. Just giving you a taste of what is to come !!

" Ten Hut "

We went to Shelly's graduation from basic training at Ft Jackson SC this past week. After a 6 hr trip with a 3 year old that hadn't seen his mommy in about 10 weeks was an adventure to say the least. In all fairness he did very well considering the trip and all. We finally arrived at the base but really had no clue as to where to go. I don't do well with maps so chose to be the driver , that means who ever is with me is the navigator or is supposed to be, my partner didn't do so well so by the time we got there and got on the base to say the least I was a bit stressed. Finally after driving until I was on restricted space I turned around and began to look for an MP to ask directions, was surprised they hadn't found me wondering around on a firing range or whatever restricted area I happened to drive us into. Finally we found one and he pointed us in the right direction...almost there....after driving for a bit more and still not finding what we needed I saw two soldiers standing at a bus stop, I pulled up and rolled down the two passenger windows and before I could even ask "where is Solomon Center please" RJ shouted TEN HUT !! we all fell out, not sure where he learned it or why he said it but it broke my tension and gave us all a good laugh. As it turned out we were AT the Solomon Center but the sign had a different name on it, government--go figure. We went in for a small ceremony and then were going to be able to spend the rest of the day with Shelly. The next day was the actual graduation, "family day" was first. All in all is was a good trip and a little boy that was missing his mommy got to spend two days with her so I suppose all the small little issues were nothing once I saw the look on their two faces once they were back together. The following pictures say it all.

Thank You.....

**DISCLAIMER** I don't know where/who did this originally but it's too funny not to post

I just want to thank everyone for the educational emails over the past year...
Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.
I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the channels. I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed. I can't enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces . I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking your nose. Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years. I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing. Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time. I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program . I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St.Theresa's novena has granted my every wish. I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day. Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas. I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans. I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer. And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life. I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS. I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.. I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise. I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army. I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for or which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan . I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe. Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt. And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a rapist waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician... Have a wonderful day...

What's in a Name ?

Rich and I have been noticing that we are getting ALOT of strange hits on our blog and have been wondering why, we are getting hits from Chile', Sweden, Argentina, Italy, UK, Philippines and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. It kind of freaks me out, I have come to the conclusion it is due to the name of our blog "KATHOUSE". I thought we might need to change it as didn't like the thought of some creepy person sitting nude in their office chair in the middle of the night looking for gosh knows what and coming across "our" blog instead of "something" else. Now YES it may be something much less sinister as Rich and I have travelled all over the world but neither one of us knows too many folks in most of those places that would be looking at us. I tried to get him to change our blog name but he says no, I like it too but .
So now I am just telling myself it is just a fluke and we just have a very popular blog that folks want to look at, yeah that's it.

Kitty Scare

We had a real scare on Friday when Garfield (our 4 year old cat) started acting odd and looked to be in pain. He was bloated and far from being the happy go lucky cat we've come to love. He even growled and hissed at me, which he had never done, when I tried to check him over. I called Quailwood and Dr. Branch agreed to meet us at 8:45 PM. Before he arrived though, Dr. King opened the door at Quailwood and checked Garf over. Turns out he had a urinary blockage that we caught very early on. The doctors were able to clear up the problem but they said he'd have to stay at Quailwood for monitoring until Sunday evening. It was really hard because he'd never been away from home before.

It was really scary for us because Vic and I had just been talking about how lucky we have been over the years that none of our feline and canine family have not come up with any serious medical issues. Not 3 hours later, we noticed Garf's problem.

I'm happy to report that he is doing just great. He's on meds (about the size of horse pills) for a while to help with his problems, but he doesn't fight you when they are given, unlike most pets. It's only been a couple of days since he got home, but he seems to be bouncing right back to his former playful ways.

Please make sure that Garfie doesn't hear about this, but when we first met him at the Animal Shelter, we were told that he was a girl. Vickie decided to call "her" Sassy until her spaying became his neutering. Well, he may yet become Sassy again. Dr. Branch told me that this blockage issue could become an ongoing issue during his lifetime, but if we have to take him to the vet to deal with it too often, we should consider surgery....which will effectively make him a girl...again. Please, please don't let him know about this potential option as he may just decide that 9 lives are too much....if he has to be a girl!!

Wii-re Older and Wii-zer

As most of you know, I celebrated my 52nd birthday on the 9th, and it was really made special by some surprizes, not the least of which was a happy birthday song phone call from the Seaman clan, including the vocally versatile stylings of Amelia, Estella, Jed (I think), and maybe even Gretchen chimed in. Thank you.
My other family was wonderful too, presenting me with a German Chocolate Birthday Cake, with just enough candles that I could blow out without help. Vic got me a massage certificate, which she knows I love and clothes that I hate to have to buy myself. She also found me the belt I've been looking for (military style cloth belt) that makes getting dresses for a day off so much more comfortable.
Ryan put the most effort into his gift though....once again saving me from having to cut my own lawn by doing it while I was at work. He doesn't know how much I appreciate his efforts.
After we had cake and ice cream, I thought it would be a great time to set up Vickie's birthday present (a WiiFit System) that we had almost forgotten to set up.
Wii've set everything up and have tried a number of the game's routines but have a lot of work ahead of us if Wii really want to get into shape.

Coming Out

I know you all have seen the most adorable grandkids many times but I have more to show you.We put in this door for our 4 legged family members about 3 years ago but I think all the kids in the family think it was done for them. I am not being partial to Sam but I have about a "quadjillion" picture to look thru to find the ones of Nathan trying to come thru. I will post those once found.