We Won! We Won In The Cat-O-Lympics!

Manny won catnip in the hiding event to encourage them to come out of hiding for the award presentation (along with all the other participants).

Manny won in the strong cat competition (along with all the other competitors).

Abby won in the bird and squirrel watching event (along with all the other participants)!

Spunky Doodle won the Gold for her Bare Paw Fighting entry! (All those who entered this category were winners).

Spunky Doodle won a gold medal in the Extreme Indoor Climbing event along with 26 other competitors.

Although Spunky Doodle and Manny did not win a medal in the Synchronized Snoozing event, they were in the 12 finalists out of 39 entries. In this event the Island Cats actually did judge them all and came up with only three winners.

I didn't see any winners posted yet over at Mr. Tuck's for the "Waking a Sleeping Human" event.

Tweet This

7 Things I Learned This Week-#60

I've had quite a week!

My Gym Membership

I had frozen my gym membership at Fitness 19 and then learned that it is now unfrozen when I saw the charge on my credit card. It would have been nice if they had sent me a reminder notification that it would be active again in January. Now it's another 30 days before I can cancel it for good. I'll be charged again this month and again in March! I am canceling because I just don't go enough to get my money's worth and when I do go, I find myself thinking I'd rather be doing something else. Ho hum, how did I know I was going to want to cancel completely back when I froze it? I hate throwing my money away like this!

The Bachelor

According to US WEEKLY (March 2010), Ali will be the next Bachelorette. Apparently, her new employer has approved her to have the time off. It said Facebook was the employer that told her to get back to work or she'd lose her job.

Banking

I learned that if I change my e-savings account to a different account, I can earn a higher interest. How did I learn this? I asked. You would think banks could just have a set rate for all savings accounts and make it simple, but no, everything has to be a hassle. I asked why they didn't tell me about this sooner and was told it's just new and there will be some commercials about it. I would think they could have put a simple message to me through my on-line banking about this. Don't they know people would like to get as high an interest as possible on their savings??? You may want to check out other options at your bank.

American Heart Month

At John's post on EZGreatLife: "Getting To The Heart Of The Problem", I learned that February is American Heart Month. It's quite a good post he wrote about his scary experience with heart attack symptoms worth a trip over there.

Firefox Browser

Thanks to Rebecca at Freaky Frugalite, I finally was able to get my Firefox Browser open and working again. Boy, did I miss that! She left me a detailed step-by-step comment on my I Even Multi-task When I Relax post.

I Was Hacked On Twitter

Yes, Monday I learned someone hacked my Twitter account--very upsetting! For more details read Yikes, I Didn't Send That!

Tourette Syndrome

When watching "Front of the Class" on the Hallmark Channel I learned about Tourette Syndrome which is an incurable condition that causes people to make strange noises and movements at random times which they can't control. This movie was very good because it showed a boy with this condition who wanted to be a teacher and pursued his dream and became one of the best! Gerard also read the book and you can read his review at Zemek's Updates.

Visit Half-Past Kissin' Time for more Friday Fragments.

Tweet This

Decorative Wooden Match Stick Crosses (Writer's Workshop)

This is an easy craft that boys like. I’ve used this in Hobby Club and at a Sunday School Class party.
Preparation: My dad used scrap wood to cut out crosses and then he burned lots and lots of matches to create this craft. He also drilled a hole in one side for easy hanging on a nail.

Supplies: Brown quick-drying paint, glue, burnt matches

I’ve used this craft for several different groups and they all liked making this.

The kids put their name on the side with the hole (the back) and then paint the front and sides of the cross. Wait for the paint to dry.

Then starting at the intersection, glue four match halves in the shape of a cross by breaking four matches in half. Use the halves without the tip that burns.

Then glue on the matches in groups of 9 allowing a little space between each group so they are spaced evenly on the cross. Just need to make sure you get the glue on the cross all the way to the edges and glue one group at a time.

Related post: Check out another craft on my other blog: Giraffe Note Holder.

This post sponsored by Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop: share a craft prompt.

Tweet This

It Says I'm A Geek--If Only That Were True!

You Are a Geek

You love to learn, especially when it's about technology. No subject is too obscure for you.

Apparently I'm not geeky enough to figure out why my Firefox browser won't open. I wish I were more of a geek so I understood better the inner workings of my computer! Thanks to Rebecca's detailed instructions she left in the comments Monday, I got my Firefox browser to open again!

You enjoy tinkering with things to see how they work. You aren't a traditional learner either... you need to hack around to figure things out.

I do enjoy tinkering to try to figure things out on my own, but only want to spend what I consider to be a reasonable amount of time doing it. I don't like wasting hours trying to figure out why my Firefox browser or my flip program won't open!

You may have the brains to be a super rich Silicon Valley geek, but you're truly content to have your own favorite projects, subjects, and toys.

I am very content to have my own favorite projects, really, I'm not that big of a geek.

For you, being a geek is not about the glory. It's about a love of digging deep and truly understanding the world.

I think this applies way more to my dad than to me. He's the one who seemed to always want to learn new things, especially how things worked. I'm really satisfied it things work like they should when I press the buttons, flip a switch, or click on the computer. I don't really care exactly how it works, just am glad when it does! On the other hand, my dad would actually only read books that taught him how to do something whether it was carpentry, plumbing, electrical, shopping, or locksmithing. He was interested in how everything worked!

What's Your Stereotype? Click here to take the quiz to find out.

Tweet This

A

Yikes! I Didn't Send That!

Monday when I looked at my email messaged before starting work, I had several from some of my blogging friends who follow me on Twitter asking if I sent a certain offensive message. Some knew me well enough to know I would NEVER EVER send such a message and informed me that someone must have hacked my Twitter account. It made me feel good to know that these online blogging buddies knew me well enough to know that that message did not really come from me.

I immediately went to Twitter and posted a Tweet apologizing to my followers and also changed my password pronto! I couldn't do it fast enough! How did this happen? Basically because the day before I clicked a link of a message I had received from a blogging friend who also must have been hacked. If you get a message that looks fishy, trust me, it probably is! I normally don't click on those and don't know what possessed me to this time. I did feel better though when I read "Beware The Twitter Phishing Scam" at Freaky Frugalite this morning and saw even Rebecca goofs up sometimes.

This is an extra hassle I really don't need. I will try to be more careful in the future but if it happens again, I'll probably just terminate my account. It's not worth the aggravation. Here I was considering "Make Money With Twitter" that I read about at "Jodi's Journey: This Program Really Works For Me." I'm just thinking maybe it's time to make life simpler again and cut way back on my computer use.

Thanks to Tom, Melissa and Lucky Lady who told me about this and had faith in me!

Tweet This

I Even Multi-Task When I Relax

After a computer war with trying to get my Firefox browser to open with no success after 45 minutes, I decided it was time for a break. Even when I relax, I find myself sometimes do several things at once. Can you find the three things I'm doing at once in this picture?

I'm watching a show I taped with Gerard, reading Deeper Than The Dead, and petting Manny who joined me on the couch and layed on my legs. I love when he does this! I also went with Gerard to walk Abby.

I am just so frustrated with not being able to open my Firefox browser. It finally did open and I was organizing Feedley, the add-on I recently added. Maybe that's the problem? I really don't know. It sure would be great if it didn't make Firefox take forever to open. I'm wondering if it ever opens again, if I should delete Feedley. Sunday I tried for two hours to open Firefox with no success. I am SO frustrated with this. Good thing I still have my IE browser to fall back on. At least it opens. Anyone have any suggestions?

How do you relax? Do you find yourself multi-tasking when relaxing too?

Tweet This

6 Things I Learned This Week #59

How To Get Rid Of Hiccups

At Five Moms and a Blog I learned an easy to to get rid of hiccups is to ask "When was the last time you saw a rabbit?" to the person with hiccups. Then just start questioning the person about the details and poof, hiccups stop. Check out the link--she says has had had great success with this over 16 years.

Cat Olympics

At Housecat Confidential you can find all the details about entering in the Cat Olympics with pictures of your pets (it's not just limited to cats). I first found out about it at Laila and Minchi who entered the synchronized snoozing competition. Must hurry if you are going to enter! Be sure to see our entries that we posted Tuesday night!

Changing Jobs

I just found out this week that I will be moving to a different floor at work and will be working for three different attorneys. It's like starting a whole new job except it is at the same firm. It will be quite a change because I've been on my floor for about ten years and worked for the same attorney about 15 years. I guess all good things must come to an end--I'm trying to stay positive. At least I'll be busy now and the days should go by quicker.

Flat Stanley

I was the first one to return Flat Stanley so had to write about it: "My Flat Stanley Was First!" To invite him to your house, here's the link to find out more and get instructions: Can He Come To Your House?

How to Get Rid Of Paint Fumes

I came across this tip at Modern Mom: slice an onion into quarters and put on in each corner of the freshly painted room.

Amazing Bowler

Jim Cripps from Tennessee actually bowls backwards and carried a 184 average. One day he had 11 strikes in a row! He was horrible at bowling and just tried doing it backwards on a bet finding that it worked for him! This video is worth watching--I would not have believed it:



Check out more Friday Fragaments at Half Past Kissin' Time.

Tweet This

My Flat Stanley Was First! (Writer's Workshop)

This is one of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompts: To share a string of emails. Well, I was going to do this anyway because Monday, when i checked my email it gave me such a lift to find this:

From: Katrina Sevin
Subject: Thank you!!
To: zemeks
Date: Monday, February 15, 2010, 3:33 AM

Hi Karen!

I can't thank you enough for helping out with our Flat Stanley project. I wish you could have seen the excitement on Aidyn's face when he opened the envelope and saw the pictures you sent. It was truly special.

I hope you had an amazing Valentine's.

Katrina
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Karen&Gerard Zemek
To: Katrina Sevin
Sent: Mon, Feb 15, 2010 8:14 am
Subject: Re: Thank you!!

It was fun to participate and I'm so glad your little boy got such a thrill out of it. Just wondering how many he received? I could do a follow-up post on it. I was surprised how many people actually heard of Flat Stanley.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From:
"Katrina Sevin"
To:
zemeks

So far, yours is the only one we received back! We've sent out 25 and we're mailing out more tomorrow so I'm expecting they'll probably start coming in soon.

We were all sick with a nasty stomach bug last week so we didn't start the book yet. Today, we're going out to buy a scrapbook and yours is our first page. :)

Katrina
http://sevinfamily.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am so glad I participated in this little project and encourage you to do it too. What an easy way to brighten someone's day! If you'd like to participate, here's the link to her original post where you can get the instructions: Can He Come To Your House?

Go read more at Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.

Tweet This

We Entered The Cat-O-lympics!

Read all about Fin's Cat-O-Lympics at Housecat Confidential (It's not just limited to cats, doggies can enter too).
Here is Manny's and Spunky Doodle's Synchronized Snoozing entry hosted by The Island Cats:



Abby and Gerard wanted to enter this event too. Abby wrote about this at Relaxing Time:



Here is Moe and Spunky Doodle entering the bare paw fighting hosted by The Cat's Meow (although it looks like Spunky has boxing gloves on but really she doesn't.



Here is Manny's entry for the Hiding Event hosted by Jennifer Lortan. He hid under the dresser when he first came to live with us.



Here is Spunky Doodle's entry for Extreme Climbing hosted by House of Cats.



Here is Manny's entry for the strong cat competition hosted by The Naughty Kitty Club.



Manny wrote all about this incident of knocking over the lamp at That Lamp Was In My Way!

Abby is entering the Squirrel Watching event at I Love The Snow hosted by The Furry Bambinos. You can read about her experience and see a video at "We Went Squirrel Chasing."



UPDATED 2/19/10: Here is Spunky Doodle's entry for the Late Night Human Wake-Up event sponsored by Mr. Tuck's Neighborhood.


Here is a link to the story behind this picture: What Makes A Great Night?

Tweet This

Gerard's Thoughts On "The Bachelor"

That sure is a beautiful place they were at. Gia is not exactly a Rhodes Scholar.

Understatement of the night: Vienna is a little immature? (Just a LITTLE?)

To me, Tenley still talks about her ex a lot. Has a woman ever turned down one of those suite dates? I don't remember anyone doing that! If Jake and Ali were that much in love a few days would not be that big a deal.

Just knew Vienna would make the final two. Karen says he's going to choose her. Hope ABC is happy. The girl all the other girls do not like usually makes the final two. Sad for Gia and Ali!

Think Ali would have made the final two if she would nt have left. I can see her as the next bachelorette. I'm not going to watch "Women Tell All" because that's just a rehash of the whole season and I don't need to see the Michelle spouting off anymore. Enjoy!

Karen dozed off on the videos the girls made. What did you think of the show this week?
Tweet This

Sweet Dreams

Friday night I dreamed about Mr. Moe, our very first cat! It was such a nice dream of Moe letting me hold and pet him up and even cuddle him up. It was just like he was back with us again! Following is my very first blog post on here which was about Moe. Since there were no comments, I thought I'd repost it from April 12, 2008:

We got Moe from the Parma Animal Shelter June of 2000 at approximately 8 years old. He was a great cat as you can see from these pictures. .

Moe enjoying his tuna pops (Ice cubes with tun juice frozen on top).

Moe and Gerard liked reading together



Ain't I cute?

A rare occasion, Moe on Karen's lap.

Moe playing with the feather on the string in his younger days.

Moe was a nice, soft pillow. He didn't usually mind me resting my head on him.

I never saw another cat with exactly his markings. Some were close,

but none had the black on the nose like Moe did.

Moe liked to lay on the newspaper right under Gerard's nose!

Here's a good shot of Moe, he was such a nice cat!

Here's Moe lying under our bedroom dresser.

Here's Moe being a bit playful, hiding under Buddy Bear.

Moe lived to be 15 1/2. He survived fatty liver disease which he had when we first got him and later developed a thyroid problem. I had Methomizole (I called it ear goop) that I had to put on his ears alternately every night. We both still miss Moe. He died during the night of New Year's Eve 2008 and is buried in our back yard. We have his picture as our screen saver on our computer. We will probably get another cat to keep Spunky Doodle company and provide a nice home for another homeless cat, but haven't looked yet.

We did get another cat in May of 2008--Manny. The last few days he's been coming and laying on me for real when I watch TV, letting me pet him nice. We miss Moe, but Manny has found a place in our hearts too.

Tweet This