May - Lately

The alternate name for this post could be - The Things the Cats have done Lately - but I refrained from giving it such a long title. However, this is definitely mostly pictures of my cats doing silly and cute things because they it's too hard to resist snapping pictures of them and then even harder to resist showing everyone the funny things they do.

For instance - the way Maverick wildly attacks the ribbon marker in my devotional, so that while I'm trying to be calm and read about Jesus, Maverick is flipping around with the ribbon, acting a fool...

Or perhaps the way that Spook reaches for the scratcher... but doesn't actually want to have to get up, so he just stretches his little paws until they can barely touch the scratcher. Such a strange little guy, ha-ha!

I am not someone who toots my own horn - but I was completely taken aback earlier this month when I was given the Super Star award for the Admin Team. The award is given out each quarter and I didn't see myself as the person that would be winning it... so I was pretty surprised when my name was called out. Since I won, I get to keep the Super Star Award trophy for the next quarter and will always have my lovely piece of paper that certifies my awesomeness, ha! 

As I said - my cats do funny things and I take pictures - so this is the progression of Spook climbing the bookshelf to attempt to catch a fly. While he did knock the A in the floor and also send a Bible and a workbook floating into the floor, he also did catch the fly... so I guess that's a win? Nothing was harmed, so to speak except for the fly and he was pesky anyway. 

The cats (and the humans) have really been enjoying the wonderful Spring weather; the cats especially love laying in the warm sunshine, watching the numerous birds that play in our backyard and they have now been given the chance to venture into our backyard under careful supervision. Our neighbors have a huge dog and they are supposed to be getting a fence soon, so hopefully the cats will have a little more freedom in our backyard once that fence is in place! 

As I said - they love to watch the world outside the windows - sometimes Spook likes to do this while sitting directly on top of Maverick. It must not have been too uncomfortable because they stayed that way for a few minutes! If you come to visit and wonder where the cats may be, just look for an open window and you'll probably find them watching the world go by outside! 

I have taken up a new hobby - cross stitching! I grew up watching my Mom do this and was always fascinated by the finished product. Well, I decided I wanted to get into it and so this last week, I picked up my needles and thread and got right down to it! I am currently working on making a little whale and once that is finished, I'll work on making a little hoot owl... and then, I guess the skies the limit! 

I leave you with the teeny ceramic mushrooms that I added to my office plants. They add a little pop of color that I really am enjoying! I cannot believe May is already at the halfway point... If you need me, I'll be reading in my hammock in the backyard, watching the cats do silly things or cross stitching all sorts of things. 

May Flowers - Apple Blossom; to be Precise

It was a blooming three-day weekend! Pun completely intended because this weekend the final three days of the 98th Annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester. Most businesses were closed on Friday the 2nd for Apple Blossom Friday and that is absolutely one of the perks of working for the city! 

After a slow start to my day, the day felt like it sped by! I had a doctor's appointment at 11:15 but didn't get seen until 11:45 and was finally out the door at 12:10... and was supposed to meet my parents at 12:30 to go the the coronation of Queen Shenandoah. Let's just say, I came into their driveway on two wheels and jumped from my car to theirs, ha-ha! 

Ryan and I's flower girl, Amelia (one of our flower girls - the other was around too, ha-ha) was a part of the Queen's court and since I was off work, I was happy to be able to attend this event and experience the coronation of Queen Shenandoah. It was a unique experience, to be sure! Amelia's portion of the show was adorable and I also enjoyed seeing Washington Nationals player, Ryan Zimmerman, get knighted as part of the ceremony! Hehehe...

Ryan and I had dinner with my parents on Friday night and then after some visiting, we came home and got there in time for a storm to roll in. It was so lovely to sit in our back sitting area with the sliding glass doors open, listening to the rain and watching the storm roll through - while the cats marveled at the raindrops! 

Saturday was another slow morning - I always love days like those. After having breakfast and coffee, Ryan and I met my parents at Costco to ride together into Winchester for the Apple Blossom Grand Feature Parade. This parade has a TON of entries and thankfully we had great seats courtesy of our friends, Doug and Jen - the parents of that sweet little maid! 

The parade began at 1:30 but didn't get to our location until around 2:00 - and from then, the flow of cars and motorcycles and floats and bands and more... just rolled on by! There were celebrities from the sports world and from Hollywood, floats from all over the city and bands from as far away as Alabama! The sun came out right before the parade started, which was a blessing and a curse, ha-ha! The forecasted rain held off until later, thank goodness but I am still sporting some bright red skin from the unexpected rays of sunshine! 

A part of any home town festival are food trucks and Ryan and I paid one a visit for an afternoon treat while watching the parade! Ryan got an ice cream sandwich made with a chocolate chip cookie and cookies and cream ice cream, and I got a donut sundae! It was incredible and I so kindly shared bites with people! They were the perfect little treats to eat while watching the parade roll by our seats!

We left before the parade was completely done - but apparently that was the right choice, because I heard from some other parade attenders that people ended up getting soaked when the forecasted storm finally rolled on through around 4 PM! We were already almost home by 4 PM, and apparently the storm that was bashing Winchester had already come through our area, since we passed down trees and branches in the road on the way home! 

Maverick helped me with the dishes (let's all crack up together) and we had a chill Saturday evening, We had a really delicious Cajun Sausage Alfredo for dinner and watched the movie Conclave... spoiler alert - the last ten minutes kind of crapped on the whole movie, in my humble opinion. 

Sunday proved to be a little more difficult day for me - for personal reasons - but the weather was gorgeous for most of the day! After an excellent church service and a quick trip back to Costco to pick up a shed for our back yard, I spent most of my afternoon lying in my hammock in the sunshine. I was able to read, watch the birds in our backyard and just enjoy the peace of the afternoon. 

It was a really nice three-day weekend - I'm always glad when a three-day weekend comes along. And lucky me, I've worked it out so I have another three-day weekend on the horizon!