Saturday and stuff

Yay! It's finally the weekend! That makes me so happy. Dad and Barb are coming here for the weekend on their way home from Bald Head Island. They should be here in a couple of hours. So while I wait, I will share some random tidbits with you:

- 3 of the kittens are eating canned "kitten" food really well. The 4th one? She is just not interested. She is fat and healthy and active, so she is not going hungry, but I will be happy when all 4 of them are eating food. Mama still nurses them regularly, but we can't consider new homes until they are eating well.

- ALL of the kittens have litter trained themselves. Its amazing how fast they pick that up. I know its instinctive and all, but still....all I had to do is show them where the tiny litter boxes were, and they figured it out right away.

-About cat litter...I was a little frustrated by the amount of money we spend on the stuff. Stuff that gets pooped on and then discarded. So, I tried out a cheaper store brand. It promised the same kind of results (clumping, odor control, etc), but it lied. It does NOT clump well. It allows urine to sink to the bottom of the box, and I did way more heavy scraping than scooping. And the odor control was non-existent. Forget it. I will pay the extra $$ and get the good stuff from now on. I made a trip to Petsmart yesterday and stocked up on it.

-For us, the "Good" stuff as far as litter goes is Fresh Step. I haven't found anything else that works as well as it does.

-It is going to be a 13 or so hour road trip to visit Stephen and Hannia in Lafayette, Indiana. Amtrak takes about a day and a half due to stopping all along the way. I hope we can find cheap flights from Greenville.....I am NOT a road trip kind of gal. Probably because I spend an average of about 5 hours a day in my car doing my job. It's hard to even want to drive to the grocery store after that...LOL.

- It is WAY too HOT, WAY too early!!! This is the kind of weather we have in the middle of August, NOT June. It scares me for what lies ahead this summer.

-Erica's town had some serious thunderstorms with high winds and a lot of lightning this past Thursday. A lot of the town was left without power. She finally got electricity back in the middle of the night, but still had none at work Friday morning. It must have been really bad there.

-Stephen and Hannia are leaving next weekend for a roadtrip up to In. to start apartment hunting. We will probably help them move the 1st or 2nd week of August. Erica is going to be a darling and help....either by going with them to move so I can stay here with the pets, or come here and pet sit while I go to Indiana. Not sure which way we are going to work it, but we just can't leave these aging dogs out in this heat with the petsitter. Our dogs are so old and so frail I really don't expect we will have this problem for very much longer. And that will be sad, but....cats are easy to leave at home when you need to travel. And because of that, I don't think we will be adopting any more dogs.

And that's about all I have to say about that. Have a great Weekend.

And the final answer is....

The FINAL answer is:



wait for it...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


PURDUE! The kids have weighed ALL the options, ALL the variables, and ALL of the pros and cons, and have decided this is really what they want to do. They are setting off next weekend for some apartment hunting there. So....Purdue and a PhD it is! And its good to have closure....LOL.

Jumping the Gun

I apparently jumped the gun, put the cart before the horse and so forth and so on. Purdue is NOT the final answer. I thought that it was....but talked to Stephen today and found out that they are actually still considering more options. Philadelphia is still on the table. So....? While I am a little bit frustrated that things aren't as settled as I thought they were, I am also really proud of the kids for taking such care and deliberation over making this decision. They really are considering every angle of each option before committing to something long term. Whatever decision they make will NOT have been made lightly and without careful consideration. I respect that.

So, yeah...Stephen and Hannia are still debating. Apparently they are going to spend the next couple of days having some serious discussions of all the pros and the cons of either choice. And they should come up with their final answer within the week. Because if Purdue turns out to be the decision they are going to have to go up there in the next week or so to start apartment hunting. Classes start in mid-August, so....decisions will have to be made soon. The end is in sight, I just don't know where this tunnel is going to lead just yet. LOL.

Mixed feelings....

Well, apparently it is official that Stephen and Hannia are heading to Purdue this August. I am grateful that we have an answer now. I think it's been hard on the kids, especially Hannia, having the future so unsettled and unsure. It is a great opportunity, and I feel like its going to be a really good thing. I can't wait to be able to visit, seeing as how I have not only never been to Indiana, but also because they are only about 2 hours outside of Chicago. My experience with Chicago has been the changing planes at the airport and that is about it. I would love to be able to spend some time seeing that city.

Of course, the mixed emotions are from the fact that I WILL miss them. I will survive.
I did it when both of my children were away at college. But then Stephen moved back for these past 2 years to go to ECU and I got really spoiled being able to see them whenever I wanted. It will make me a little bit sad, like empty nest syndrome all over again. But it will be fine. They will get the chance to try out something new and different, and I will get the chance to visit someplace new. I am happy for them. And thank God for the internet, Facebook, and cell phones. LOL. I will still be able to keep in touch, and that will help a whole lot.