Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

Happy Birthday to the best dad in the entire galaxy.

inside my head

I have been getting "how are you doing?" a lot lately so I thought I would try and put into writing how I am feeling. this is super personal so bare with me.....

I am coming out of the fog. My head is becoming clear again. I no longer feel like i am in survival mode. I am feeling proud of myself for when i was in survival mode for surviving! At times i feel lonely but it passes quickly. I find myself "keeping busy" often. I will be watching tv and have a thought of wishing a body was laying next to me but i will jump up and unload the dish washer or windex the bathroom. The never fail fix for the brief moment of loneliness is picking up Otis and giving him a hug because i will be guaranteed tons of kisses once his tongue finds my cheek.

The BEST thing i did for myself was open my house up to my darling roommates. I am hardly ever alone and when i am it is nice to have some "me" time. If i had to go through my situation and go home to an empty house over and over it would suck.

I don't know if my friends know what they are doing or if they have "Keep Christel Busy" meetings but they have been rocking. I am one lucky gal for having such amazing human beings who care about me. And believe me i KNOW i am lucky to have the friends i do. God did bless me with the gift of friendship.

i have so many questions right now....when do i start using Smith? is it okay i want to start today? is it okay i don't want to speak to Ty but still love his family? when is it okay to start dating and not look like i am jumping in?

okay i have opened my heart up enough to post on the internet but it felt nice to say what has been floating around in my head for a month now.

So You Think You Can Dance - Favorites

They say TV is bad for brain but this TV is good for my soul.

Teen Witch

please tell me you remember this.

2 gone, 3 to go

The time has come to say goodbye.....the crazy kitten posts will be coming to an end...the babies are leaving us in 2 hours....we are sooooo sad.....2 of the kittens are already with their new families. The last 3 are going to a vet in edmond who said they will put them out front and they will be adopted in just a few days.

It will soon be Peng and Shadow, Our Yard Cats! Poor Shadow will miss his siblings for sure....this picture is from nap time this morning. Momma cat on the other hand is going to be one happy camper once she realizes she will be able to walk around with no kittens hanging off of her!

Enough of the sad stuff and check out this snake's skin!!!!! HOLY COW!!!!! Our yard hand Ray found it while moving some stone by hand. Talk about freaking me out!!!!!

4 feet of creepy!

Smith's Pups

My mom told me one time to be nice to everyone because you never know who is watching. Simple easy advice. Thanks mom.

A customer today told me he came to the store before "years and years ago." I said "that's awesome, welcome back!" I didn't think i should tell him we have only been open 3.5 years. He then proceded to tell me that his trip in before changed his house hold forever. what?!? I was completely intrigued.

The customer told me how years and years ago he came into the store and met our family's 2 yellow labs, millie and logan. He was completely impressed by their manners and how gentle they both were. That very afternoon he received a phone call from a friend and was told that they had a dog who they rescued who was needing a home. My customer was not interested in getting a dog but asked what kind of dog anyway. His friend responded with "a yellow lab....." My customer said without even thinking "I will take it!"

It made me fill with so much pride that my furry family members were wonderful enough for someone to fall in love with them even after only a few moments. Millie and Logan had no idea their "saying hi" to one customer saved a dogs life and gave it a loving warm home.

Millie is still out at the store everyday spreading love with every little wiggle. Logan is now in our hearts. miss you our sweet logan.

happiness

I thought I would share a little of my happiness from today with you.

My sister is once again proving why she is one of the most thoughtful individuals i know. She took the initiative and set up a weekend to get my parents a much NEEDED vacation. She set it up for her precious boys to go to the lake with our parents for 3 days and she came out to the store to take my bosses place so I was not stranded alone. How freakin' sweet is she?! She went to work so her parents could have a break. Now this ladies (and maybe a gentleman) is a big heart.

But mind you she was doing this for part of the day. She made the coolest art aprons for her boys. love them!

After lunch we were talking about how we wished we had something sweet to eat and then out of no where an angel appeared. Well not really an angel more like a middle aged man who was carrying a plastic sac. "I own the restaurant, The Summit, and i had some left over home made cinnamon rolls. Would you like them?" he asked this like anyone in their right mind would ever said no!

We happily took the sac and told him thank you about a thousand times and then had a giggle at our good luck.

I was the last to put mine in the microwave to warm it up a bit and I have no idea why Michael and Sister were telling me to put it back and to not even waste my time eating it because they were already drooling from the perfection which was already in their mouths.

Okay Edmond folk if you are wanting an insanely yummy breakfast which will make you have to eat rabbit food for dinner check out The Summit on Waterloo.

We only have a few more days with the kittens. sad i know....i am going to miss these babies.... But how can you not be filled with pure warm and fuzzy joy when you look at them!

I took this picture this afternoon after I woke them from nap time.

One last thing which has brought me mass amounts of happiness today is.....MY NEW ROOF!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goodbye old orange roof, Hello brand new perfectly perfect shingles!!!!

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

What has brought you happiness today?

what....?

what is this? is it real? are they serious about the music?



I am not into road trips. I am into flying. I love everything about flying....airports, the people, the excitement...

But sometimes you must drive and I do not care for these situations.

Yesterday was one of those situations. Jarral (roomie for a month) was buying a car in dallas and needed someone to ride with him and drive the rental car back. I volunteered....dang why did i do that.....

No really the drive down was fine, not too much traffic, nice company but coming home at 10:00 at night was BRUTAL! The Mexican we ate before we left did not sit right with me....at all.....blah. But I found an entertaining call in show and kept on truckin'. I kept thinking of Dora on Finding Nemo and kept saying to myself "just keep driving, just keep driving..." (you read that in tone, didn't you)

Pulling into my driveway at 1:30 was heaven. Poor Otis was home alone for 12 hours and could not wait for me to open the backdoor! He was probaly a nervous wreck since the roofers were banging away into the evening.

Then I called my sleeping mom, like I was back in high school, to let her know I was home safe and then said "hey boss, can i sleep in?" She said "of course." I love my mom.

Shadow Smith.....i like it.

Lots going on in my little world right now. Better to list than to try and do correct grammar. Guess I am a lazy bones today. I blame the rain.

-New roof going up today! my roomie owns a roofing company and gave me a heck of a deal on an awesome new roof.
-Going to dallas with the same roomie today so he can pick up a car. hopefully i will have time to meet up with a good friend and brake bread together. i miss this lady!
-Otis likes BOTH the guys now. YIPPEE! He still follows me everywhere but what's new.
-I am loving spending so much time with friends lately. I feel like i am finding myself again....


Here i am at a friends house warming party from over the weekend. The lovely husbands took our picture for us. Someone started it and then we all followed with "here take my camera too" "and mine" "oh let me grab mine!" So i must say Thank You to my friend's husbands for getting everyone into the shot!

The house warming party was nice, the house is cute, the company was great. Now someone else should buy a house so we all can get together again.

This little one has gone through more names than Sean Combs in his short 5 weeks alive.

gray cat
tiger
gray cat
love bug
rocky
wilbur
gray cat
einstein
and now and maybe offical.....Shadow.
so sweet.......

who wants to mow my yard?

It seems I have been saying "so far, so good" a lot lately. It is perfect for how my world is right at this moment. Everything major is in place, I am comfortable, it has only been a short while since the decision..... In other words So Far, So Good.

The month long roomie is fantastic. He is a nice, respectful, a all around cool guy. Did that just sound dorky? Man, I hate it when I do that......

Otis on the other hand is completely thrown off by this man in his house. I know he will warm up to him, I just hope sooner than later. At least this morning his tail wagged as he hide behind me when Jarral and I were talking about our days.

So now I am really going to throw my little guy for a loop when my exchange student, Adbul, finally moves in this evening. What can I say my dog is Emo.
This is yesterday when Otis was meeting one of the kittens. (it is the kitten my parents are keeping, hello Wilbur!)

T-minus a few hours

This evening my first new roomie gets into town. (super pumped) He is a friend of an acquaintance who is going to be in town for a month and did not want to stay at a hotel for that long. And I still had one more open room so here we are going to be living together for one month and I just figured out his name today! (shhh don't tell him that)

I am excited to see where all of this takes me.....

Last night I was thinking how I made one decision and with this one decision my life has taken a completely different path which it was on. And now I am opening my home up to strangers and I am going to now effect their lives. Funny how little we really know about our futures.....

oh yeah, remember the show Alf?

It was a good show and who knew this whole time we could of bought an Alf phone.

Project complete.....kinda....for now....

Operation FINISH the Hall Bath was in full force the past week since Adbul moves in soon and I should be a good host and not make him move around paint brushes and hammers while in the bath.

I had hung a few of my favorite album covers on the wall but with the wall color it was looking a little teenie-bopper-ish.

And what do you know my china matches perfectly! Once the students get comfortable and I see how they use the counter I might put out the matching china platter with some pretty soap/lotion/hand towel. Because, YES, I am telling them they can not leave product out on the counter all the time.

Hmmm Is this too controlling?

The only problem is it is one heck of a dark bathroom. If I could I would install a skylight. Until then I will just send my guest with a flash light to find their way.

Welcome!

My foreign exchange student moves in on Friday! His name is Adbul and he is from Saudi Arabia. I met him last week for him to see the house and make sure we got along. Well, we clicked and he will officially be my new roomie for his next semester at UCO!

I am excited to learn about his culture and me to teach him about ours. Maybe he can cook me something yummy! Looking online at pictures of Saudi Arabia I can tell our country's literally are worlds apart. I have so many questions............wish me luck on my first time being a host house!

I got scared for the first time ever last night. There was a huge storm and I was watching a suspense movie.........at that moment I said a little prayer thanking God for getting me this far with zero scary moments. And telling him thank you for finding me my exchange student so hassle free. I think the Big Guy knows I have a heavy load right now and he took care of this hurdle for me.

Earning his Keep

Something which has been making me extremely happy lately is looking under my desk and seeing this. He gets to come with me to work everyday now! He now must learn putting your paws on customers is not good manners.

Oh I just can't stand it I must post a couple kitten shots! Their tiny nails are brutal about tickling so a blanket over the lap is a must while lovin' on the babies.

This fella has his new family already picked out. He is going home with the store's mulch manufacture. They already have his named pick out. World, I would like you to meet....Peetie.

Goodbye old, Hello new

My house is slowly being brought up to date one little project at a time. I love my little projects. My dad on the other hand sometimes does not understand my design goal. Such as when I said "Hey Daddy-O...can you come over this weekend and help me pull up the carpet in the front two bedrooms and front hallway? I want to paint the floor!"

He replied with one eye brow raised "Whatever you would like my dear." (isn't he the best)
What he was really thinking was "my youngest daughter and her crazy ideas...doesn't she know everyroom needs carpet, popcorn on the ceiling, and non painted woodwork?"

Shortly after he found me wondering around at work and told me all about my "little project" I had planned for us. First we would pull the carpet back, then carefully pull up the carpet tack strips, then vacuum up the cement chunks, then fill the holes with cement, then let it dry, then sand spots smooth, then sweep, then vacuum, then mop, and then onto the painting. Needless to say my project was not sounding so little.

But let me tell you it was probably the easiest, fastest, most painless project I have ever done! Even with the beginning stage looking like this.

Goodbye old carpet......

Hello new glossy floors!

I love you brown paint.

I like to stand and stare at you when I get home from work.

And sometimes even in the morning.

Now what to do with the hall bath floor........and the woodwork......and the wall color?

can't think.

brain fried from learning stuff at work.

very much in love with the babies.

this little girl has 5 brothers.

they are playing and wobbling up to us when we come in the room now.

i love their little drunkin' wobble.

3.5 weeks old and getting more precious every day......

Do not come Wednesday

i love his big head.

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i was just told Wednesday Zeke will be going to his new home. this is all i have to say about this...........
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on a lighter note me i had a few ladies who care about my heart, spent some much need time together this weekend. an older man came up to us at the bar and told us a joke about a lima been, we laughed. then he came back and told us a joke about a ditch, we did not laugh. he went from the "funny guy" to the "not funny at all guy" every quickly.

what a great night.

Happy Birthday Zeke

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3 years old!
You are a precious big galoot who i love very much.

yesterday, last week, today, this weekend....

...i have been.....moving stuff, cleaning, organizing, purging items, redecorating, refreshing the house, making room, painting, moving king size bed alone, pulling up carpet, talking with friends, dining with friends, reassuring my parents i will be okay, reassuring myself i will be okay, asking lots of questions, looking for a foreign exchange student to move in, moved dresser alone, mowed the yard and gain a few blisters.

life is good.

work? mind numbing. the stores accountant is moving on to bigger and better things (very happy for my friend Steph)(sad to lose my co-worker) so to save on payrole i have stepped up to do her duties. and there is a reason people have degrees to do this. i know nothing. i understand nothing. probably does not help my mind has not been fully at work in the last couple of weeks. so far the power is still on and my parents do not want to fire me. yet.

i can do it. Quickbooks i will dominate you soon. i just don't know how soon.....