Here She Comes

Meteorologists expect Tropical Storm Hanna to accelerate and intensify into a Category 1 hurricane as it barrels towards North Carolina’s coast, possibly making landfall Friday.

Prayer is appreciated...

Working hard...

John and I have been attending Financial Peace University at our church on Monday nights. It has been a great experience as we are learning to manage our finances, save for emergencies in addition to regular savings, and plan for the future. As most of our friends, we have felt stuck here in the middle class, living paycheck to paycheck, and always feeling stretched. FPU has given us a plan (not just hope)to build wealth steadily to move into a more relaxed financial state of mind. (now, hopefully Obama doesn't get elected and penalize those of us who work hard for their money by giving it all away to those who don't!) One of the suggestions is to get a second job.

So I'd like to introduce my new online store!!

Yes, like the bug. Also what my dad called me growing up! :) I'd like to say that the name is spelled funny because I'm just that creative, but it's spelled phonetically because other people already had the correct spelling. Luckily I have a creative husband who came up with the new spelling when I had already given up on the name! :) It is definitely in the beginning stages but now that I have free time in the evenings and weekends, I'm sure I'll build the inventory quickly.

www.kayteedids.etsy.com

I would love feedback, constructive criticism, and ideas!

Phase 1 complete

John completed phase one of the deck project last week! He put stairs on too!
This is the view from one end

and from the other end

and the view overlooking the fenced in acre


Stay tuned for updates on the rest of the deck

Railings

Benches around the two trees

Storage "room" underneath



and just for fun, here is a young Five-Lined Skink on the wall of our house

Too Much Nature, Part II

Last night John and I returned from a class at church to find both our dogs howling as if they had something cornered or treed. We whistled for them, and they came running like scared little boys. Normally it would take multiple whistles and bribing with treats to call them off something they had cornered, but not tonight. They came in the house very subdued and way too calm compared to the norm. So after looking them over head to toe, waiting about 10 minutes while trying to figure out what was wrong with them, we slowly started to see their faces swell. We eventually found a snake bite on Gunner's face, and Gauge's face was too swollen to find anything without causing him more pain. The emergency vet is an hour drive from us, so we called for advice. Fortunately, the on-call vet said that large breed dogs can handle snake bites with just a few benadryls and some antibiotics which they could wait until morning for. So we gave them benadryl and I stayed up all night watching their breathing and making sure they didn't go into a coma. So morning FINALLY came, we went to the vet, all was well, left with some antibiotics, and returned home where both dogs proceeded to immediately search the corner of the property where they had been bitten....such smart dogs. *sigh*



Here in NC we have 37 species of snakes...6 are venomous. I don't care what kind they are, they are all snakes. Did you know that "the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is the most dangerous North American snake. Specimens have been captured as large as 8 feet long and weighing 15 pounds. The snake's 3/4" fangs are capable of penetrating almost any boot." AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! No more flip flops for me, it's all steel-lined boots from this point on.... actually, more like full body armor. And did you know that Rattlesnakes have night vision?? If I can't see it, I don't want it seeing me!



In my web research, I also found this statement "Living with venomous snakes is really no different than living with hornets, or other minor risks of daily life." Sure, I despise hornets as well, but I can smoosh a hornet, or SureShot (bug spray) a hornet from 27 feet away! Not so with a snake! There is a product called SnakeAway sold in every store out here. It's a granual that you sprinkle around the perimeter of your property and snakes don't cross over it. When we moved here in 2007, we did just that...and viola! no snakes last year! So of course this year I figured "we didn't have snakes last year, so we must not have snakes in the this area"....someone please hit me upside the head! That is like a schizophrenic saying "well, I took my medicine today and I didn't hear the voices in my head, so I must be okay and can stop taking my meds". Needless to say, SnakeAway will be outlining our fenceline and front yard by the weekend by my husband who I will force to drive his lawn mower around to spread the SnakeAway to keep him from walking anywhere a snake might be hiding!


In the end, both Gunner and Gauge are fine. Milking it for all its worth, looking pitiful while standing next to the treat jar so that mommy will give them doggy candy because she feels so bad for them.

If you are a snake lover, or just want to hone your knowledge on NC snakes http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/venomousnake.htm Have fun!

A Pupdate

Just incase you spend your days wondering what Gunner and Gauge spend their days doing....

Gauge rolls in the grass repeatedly and then spends the rest of the night itching and scratching





Gunner sits handsome and waits for anyone with a camera (or treats)



Then they come in and pass out

Too Much Nature

If you're an arachnophobe, then don't read any further...

This was our 'pet' Writing Spider... until I soaked her with SureShot from a safe distance away incase she was also a jumping spider. The wivestale says that if you see your name in a Writing Spider's web, then you will die soon....so in true survival-of-the-fittest nature, I eliminated the possibility of testing the wivestale.

Quesooooo

This weekend we drove to the mountains to meet up with Mandy, Seth, Chandon, and Seth's parents!! John and I left home after work on Friday and arrived well after dark that night. Saturday we ventured out into the town of Asheville which turns out to be very similar to Berkeley so needless to say, we didn't last there very long. Next we toured the town we were staying in, Black Mountain.





Right about the time we had seen everything there was to see (it is a small town), Mandy called to say they had just arrived. We met up with Mandy, Seth, and Seth's parents, then went to get Chandon!!! Chandon is Seth's son who lives in Charlotte, NC with his mom (and family). Chandon turns 3 this week and his birthday party was in the Asheville area where his grandparents live. So we took Chandon out to dinner for Mexican food which spawned the cutest, and most repeated word for the weekend, "k-soooo" (queso, cheese in spanish, we used it when taking pictures..."say queso"...."k-soooo").






Sunday John and I had breakfast with the Haak's at their bed & breakfast, then spent the morning playing with Chandon before we headed out of town, and they headed to a pirate birthday party! It was so great to see my sister!! And we had a great time with her new family. :)


As a side note, here is the progress on the deck!! Almost done!!!!

The Latest Storm

We survived another tornado! We have an amazing weather reporting system called the Dual Doppler 5000. You can literally watch the storm or tornado as it travels in its path of misery. This is the second tornado warning we've had and I've had to weather them out (pun intended) by myself with John at work. During the first tornado watch, I watched the Doppler intensely as the tornado came directly at my area. I eventually rounded up the four dogs (we were dog sitting) and squeezed into the bathroom for safety until the Doppler reported that the tornado had cleared. This is me in the bathroom...


Last week we had our second tornado watch, but this time the power went out so I didn't have the Doppler to help me through. I had been at WalMart when the storm hit, so I left quickly to out run the storm.



Again, I rounded up the puppies (only our 2 this time) and sat in the bathroom again. No power, no internet, and no phone. I had no idea what was happening outside other than it looked like it was 10:00pm but it was only 4:00pm. Shortly after the storm passed, my neighbor's came over to check on me. But it should have been the other way around!! She mentioned that a tree had hit their house, and sure enough, a HUGE tree had taken out the entire front porch along with a corner of their house. 2 more trees had taken out their brand new fence and part of their back deck. We can only figure that the tornado had touched down on their trees as there was no other damage to anyone else in the neighborhood.



**note: I never saw the tornado, so no, I was not trying to outrun the funnel cloud....they say not to do that.

*note to self: make an emergency kit with a battery powered radio!

I love to BBQ (cook-out)

John has been hard at work building our deck and it looks great!



So while he was working out front, I made him dinner! I am really enjoying being home, cooking, baking, and seeing John! Tonight during dinner I commented on how I had forgotten what it felt like to have 2 full days off and that I actually was ready to go back to work on Monday rather than dreading the end of Sunday night! Of course, I'd love to stay home every day, but that's just not in the plans for the moment. ;)





Can you believe it is the middle of July already?