New Kitten

Friday the 13th at 2am in the morning a new kitten showed up at my house!!! He was a skeleton with fur, but the cutest little thing despite being near death. I've had him two weeks and now he has a belly! He's putting on weight and making a miraculous recovery. We were concerned he was too far gone but this little guy has so much life in him. He's doing wonderfully well. He's a gorgeous main coon kitten and should all go well, will grow up into a big ol' mosterous cat. It'll be fun! When he showed up here he was incredibly shy but after a day of making friends with him, turns out he wasn't wild, just shy. He's a sweetie! Yoda and Gizmo are still wild. With me not being home as much it's taking longer to tame them. I love all 3 kittens (yes, they're all around the same age) but it's nice having a tame baby around here.

Further more, exactly one week prior to this kitten showing up I lost my dear sweet Lily. I was so sad because she was an extremely lovey cat and everyone's favorite (which is why she is dead, don't any of you ever favor my cats... it's the curse around here... ask Laura and Christina) but I didn't want a new cat because goodness, I had 18 others! But truth be told I was so happy to find this new kitten. I was on the phone with Joshua when I discovered him, gasped out loud, and then got really excited. It's not like I need yet another cat, but the distraction has been great for helping me deal with the loss of my Lily.

That my little guy. And yes, he's got one heck of a tail. (All part of being main coon... which who in their right mind dumped off / lost a main coon kitten?! These cats are worth $500. Seriously!)

And there's my man holding my little guy. Yes... Joshua loves cats as much as I do. *GASP* I know, hard to believe! I've struck gold with him :-)

The beginning of Halloween Weekend

Joshua and I had a busy Friday. First we went to Busch Gardens (thank you Caitlin for those passes!!!). We had a blast walking the park, seeing all the decorations and costumed actors, going through two different haunted houses, seeing the 3D Pirates show, and finishing it all off with strawberries, fruit punch, funnel cake, and chocolate cake in the park (sugar high... sweet!). It was raining but the benifit of that is there weren't many people in the park, we got a preferred parking upgrade for free, the rain added to the Halloween ambience, and most importantly we shared my umbrella and cuddled in the cold :-)

Here we are at Busch Gardens with a pirate skeleton behind us (don't you just love those hold out your arm and take a picture shots, lol).

Afterwards we stopped by his house.We decided to attend the Halloween party at church when he called me on his way to pick me up. I packed a cat costume I pre-planned. He quickly came up with an idea for his costume but insisted on keeping it a surprise. He came downstairs and made me guess. At first I thought he was a tree, then mistltoe... then I got it... he was CATNIP! ;-D Then he pulled out the ribbons from his pocket so he was just my all around cat toy... hee, hee, hee.

We caught the last hour of the party and had fun getting people to guess his costume and then watching them roll their eyes and laugh when they realized what he was. We have fun disgusting people with our cuteness ;-)

5 joyous months :-D

Joshua surprised me with 25 roses to celebrate dating for 5 months :-D

(5 the square root of 25)

Kat's Wedding

Bride and Groom

Kat and Bryan

The beautiful bride

The garter toss

The bouquet toss

Roman who caught the garter putting it on the brides maid that caught the bouquet.

Look at the chandeliers in this building! This was definitely a fancy (and expenssive) reception at the Williamsburg Lodge.

Time to party!

You'd think him and I like each other or something ;-P

Crazy ol' Cat Lady

So.... I did it again. I adopted 2 new kittens Monday August 28. I had hopes of taming them and finding them a new home but well... looks like they're staying. My friend Chris was working construction at York High School when he discovered two wild kittens living in the wall. The construction crew wasn't trustworthy (they wanted to shoot bbguns at the kittens) and we were concerned they wouldn't get adopted if the SPCA trapped them (people only adopt kittens that actually like people), so Chris asked if I would give them a home. I have a soft spot for mean little wild kittens. It took several weeks to finally catch them since they're terrified of people. Now they are here with me at home. With enough turkey and a few months I'm sure they can be tamed. I've done it so very many times before. I figured I could rescue these kittens too. They're adorable! I estimate they were 7-8 weeks old when I adopted them, making them around 13 weeks old now. One is definitely a boy but the other I've not been able to catch and find out. They are named Gizmo and Yoda (Chris' suggestion ofcourse). So yes, this crazy ol' cat lady is now up to 19 cats. (Yes, you're allowed to have that many cats in Gloucester... fyi for anyone who doesn't already know.)

Here's a picture of Yoda and Gizmo hiding in a cinderblock in the shed. They are living in there and loving it because it reminds them of their former home... the walls of the high school.

Why no coffee or tea?

Recently I was once again asked why Mormons don't drink coffee or tea. First of all, questions are great so don't be afraid to ask, that's how we learn. While people can understand not using tobacco and alcohol, the concept of no coffee and tea is often confusing. And then ofcourse they also ask, "Why then is chocolate okay?" Let me explain...

Coffee and tea contain caffeine and theophylline which together create xanthines. Chocolate contains theobromine a caffeine-related stimulant. While the church is strictly against the use of coffee and tea, the church has made no official stand against any substances containing caffeine other than coffee and tea. Mormons have been advised to avoid beverages containing caffeine but it's up to the individual to make that choice. When making that choice the saying "moderation in all things" often is adhered to (as in a cola here or there isn't wrong, but drinking it all of the time could lead to a caffeine addiction). Though many Mormons choose to completely abstain from caffeine except for medicinal reasons under a doctor's care.

Coffee and the caffeine it contains plays a major role in dozens of diseases in the United States, from the number one killer, heart disease, to the number one physical complaint, chronic fatigue. On a short term note, a xanthine overdose (drinking too much coffee) can cause many harmful symptoms, including diarrhea, dizziness, anxiety, trembling, frequent urination, and insomnia. Xanthine withdrawal can cause painful headaches. What constitutes an overdose differs with different individuals. Some researchers report that between 50 and 200 mg. of caffeine will produce perceptible effects. One six-ounce cup of coffee contains between 100150 mg.; a cup of tea the same size contains 6575 mg.

Joseph Smith received revelation from the Lord on February 27, 1833 declaring the health code known within the church as the "Word of Wisdom." This revelation called for the members of the church to abstain from the use of tobacco, tea, coffee, and alcohol. This was quite revolutionary at that time, for the use of these things was not considered detrimental to health. For many years after the revelation was given, people thought Mormons were peculiar because they abstained from these seemingly harmless substances. Then scientists began to discover many harmful effects of tobacco, and today are increasingly aware of the health hazards caused by the use of tobacco, tea, coffee, and alcohol, with additional warnings about the risks involved for the unborn children of pregnant women.

Scientific studies have confirmed that Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have less incidence of heart problems, all forms of cancer, and other diseases because of their adherence to the Word of Wisdom.

Dessert is sweet!

Dessert at TGIFridays :-)