Working Hard

So, a quick update in my busy little life...
1) I am transitioning into a new position at Heartland Services (www.heartlandsi.com). That position is the Assitant to the Vice President. It's a great honor and something that has been buzzing around us "oldies" since I first became full time 4 years ago. I am excited about working with Shannon because he reminds me of Josh in personality and humor. This should be exciting.

2) Today I had my review for Heartland. I will post parts of it later and how I did, but it was a good review and it came with a raise. You can never argue if they're going to pay you more money and say you did a good job.

3) Fuzz-Bucket went to see the vet for the first time since we rescued him. He is now a eunuch and has had his front claws removed. The vet really frustrated me though! The receiptionist told Josh Friday morning that Fuzz would be ready by the end of the day. Josh shows up and she says that they have to keep him overnight, but they'll be open til 6 p.m. Saturday (which is great because I had to work). I go to pick him up at 4 and was told they closed at 12 and I'd have to wait until Monday...this because they could not verify that I had paid for the procedures. Which is quite hilarious because they misscharged Josh Friday for someone else's pet, had to do a refund to our card (which takes 4-5 days to appear back in our account), and then recharged our card the right amount. Needless to say, we were down over $500 and still didn't have our cat back! But he's home now and doing great...our little "Insta-purr"!

4) We are in the works of planning our 2 week vacation for this summer. We will be traveling to Acadia National Park in Maine, down to DC and then home again. Keep an eye out on this blog for our miniseries "Vaca with the In-Laws and Such". It should be good...a few stories and a few pictures.

5) Tomorrow night we will celebrate Andy's January birthday. He chose to go to Garozzo's Italian Restaurant. It'll be really yummy. We had to cancel Volleyball to make it work though...so instead of getting the MUCH needed exercise, I will be chowing down on pasta and Italian desserts! Happy Belated Birthday, Andy!

6) Spring time is just around the corner and with that comes lots of yard work. We have some flowers in bloom (pictures coming soon) and gardens to cultivate and glean. Also, with the change of weather, there will be some friends in town. Jason and Jana will be coming to visit us in May. I will have pictures of them and our fun time spent together after their visit.

Well, there's the quick story of my life. No childern, no big plans, but everything is in God's hand on this in. We glorified him with our work for him and he has answered our prays. Praise be to God for guiding us through our journey.

Flamingoing - A Family Tradition

Flamingos. Mostly pink. Long beaks. Long necks. Long legs. Short stubby body. Odd creation by God.

Well before I married my husband, I knew his family had a thing for flamingos. Oh, it is not a love so to speak, but an oddly outrageous obsession. It's not an obsession of love, but one of shear terror and horror and laughs and gags.

It all began with a very old pot. Someone in his family got the idea to hide the pot at another family member's home as a gag. This pot was passed throughout the family as a joke. Someone finally wised up and decided a pot is hard to sneak in and carefully place. This person would be Gma Mumper. She hid the flamingo as a gag and soon it became an out of control frenzy of flamingo placing, secret dancing.

The flamingo is all about pink and quirky fun. The idea is to sneak a flamingo into the person vacinity (house, yard, car, garage, garden, laptop or camera bag, or as a gift). The person whom it left for or given to is greatly loved...and the main point, you ask. Do not get caught.

Rules for flamingoing:

1. Any flamingo will do...be it big, small, bright or dull. Inside or outside, in funny clothes or none at all.


2. If you're smart, you'll label who the flamingo is going to live with. This little trick prevents you from getting him back again and gives the secret away...thus leaving the oppenent hard pressed with a permanent non-matching houseware.


3. It's best if you sneak it and let all others peek it except for the victim. A spot well chosen is best in the open and obvious, but more vicious is hidden hard.


4. You cannot flamingo someone with the flamingo they gave you until it has been to someone new.


5. Given as a gift is best for then they have to share with the rest.

These rules are simple and fun. Best of all, it doesn't have to be a flamingo (though they are rather fun). Perhaps you'd prefer a platypus or walrus or kiwi bird or hyrax or possum?

Any way you go, you're sure to have good clean fun with flamingoing family and friends alike!