This and That

For the first time in several years we did nothing for the 4th of July. We normally set off our own fireworks and in the past we've watched the fireworks that Emerald Point does (about 5 minutes from our house), but this year we just stayed home. I didn't feel like going anywhere and the kids didn't even bring it up.

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This past Monday, July 3rd, shortly before midnight, marks one year since Evie Lynn died. It's hard to believe she's been gone that long. She was so sweet and funny and affectionate. We still miss her and talk about her. Sam's been dead for six months. Also hard to believe. I miss my sweet boy.

Sweet, silly Evie Lynn.

 Sweet Baby Boo, Sam.

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Sean takes his third test this afternoon. I hope and pray he passes. Just one more test after that and then hopefully he can enroll in the aviation mechanics course. We're not sure where the money is going to come from for that. We don't have it and Charlie doesn't want Sean to take out a student loan (though it would be 10s of thousands less than what it costs for a student loan for a regular/non-community college college), so I'm praying that God will work something out. It'd be great if he could find some kind of on-the-job training situation or something. The husband of a Facebook friend said something about the aviation company he works for hiring people with little to no experience and training them as mechanics, electricians, technicians, etc. It'd be great if we could find something like that for Sean.

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I've made some purchases since my last entry.

I had a pair of nude heels already, but they were T-straps (not the best look on my short legs) and had gold metal links on the T-strap part. I was kind of tired of them and had been looking for new nude heels for a long time. I got these heels at Belk. Regular price almost $90; I paid about $81 after tax.

I got this skirt (I think it's by Nine West) at Stein Mart for about $40 before tax. Click to enlarge.

Nine West dress from Belk. Regular price about $90. I got it on sale for $45.

Style & Co. dress from Macy's. Regular price about $99.50. I paid about $30.

 I got this at Macy's for about $13.

Cross-body purse from JC Penney. I got it to replace one I had that was falling apart (the lining was separating). Originally $45, I think I paid about $20.

I got this (Worthington?) white shrug at JC Penney. On sale for about $20.

I got this Westbound shirt and the pink one below at Dillard's for $26 before tax. It's been difficult to find plain shirts. I don't know why designers are creating printed and patterned (lace, etc.) tops and printed and patterned skirts. You can't wear those together. It clashes. Almost every top and almost every skirt I own are printed or patterned. :-/ I hope I can find some plain skirts sometime.

I'd like to go back and get the red one and the white one this weekend.

I got this shirt at Dillard's for $29. I'd like to get the navy one and the aqua/turquoise one (which doesn't have the crisscross on the shoulders) this weekend, if they still have my size.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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New Kitty and the Park

Saturday, March 4th, we went to Petsmart and adopted a kitten. I had wanted an orange kitten, but the one orange kitten they had was already being adopted. We looked at a few more and decided on a male gray tabby. (Birth date: November 4, 2016.) I filled out the paper work, paid the $60 adoption fee, and bought our new kitty some food and a bowl.

After bringing him home (in a cardboard carrier we bought for $5), we watched him and played with him while trying to decide on a name. We thought and thought, mentioned several names, and finally narrowed it down to Kili (a dwarf in The Hobbit) and Loki.

Meet Loki. :-)

He's very sweet and loves to play.

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Kelly and I went to Hagan-Stone Park on Monday, February 20th and Tuesday, February 28th. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed walking the trails.

My mom and I went to the park on Monday, March 20th.

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I've made a few clothing purchases since my last blog entry.

I got this denim skirt at Kohl's. Originally $69-70. I paid about $43 or $44 after tax.

I got this shirt and the one below at Macy's. $11.98 each.

I got this tank at Macy's to wear under jackets. About $10.

I got this at New York and Company this past Saturday. Originally about $90, I paid $67 and change after tax. I wore it Sunday with a black shrug and red strappy heels.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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About Me

I don't spend as much time at my blog as I used to. Facebook takes up so much of my online time, with its games and keeping up with friends and family. But when I come here to my blog and read others' blogs, it seems quieter, calmer, more peaceful. Maybe I should come here more often.

I just spent a good deal of time catching up on the blogs I follow. One of them is Lost in Books. The creator of that blog, Rebecca, posted a meme at her blog nearly a month ago that I'd like to also respond to.

Age: 38

Chore that you hate: Toilets, because they're disgusting (especially with males in the house), and tubs because I'm short, which means I also have shorter arms and legs than most people, so cleaning them is difficult. I have a hard time reaching the areas of the tub and tub wall furthest from the outside of the tub.

Dogs: We have two - a toy poodle named Pippin and Charlie's Jack Russell Milo, who I sometimes call Julio because, well, nicknames kind of just happen and don't always make sense.

Cats: Three - a black female named Sadie (she's kind of evil, but loves me), a black and white female named Evie (usually in her own world; Charlie says she's a hippy) and a black and tan tabby male named Sam (a total mama's boy).

Essential start to your day: Breakfast, when I have time for it. Which I never do on Sundays.

Favorite colors: Green and red. Though not together unless it's Christmas. I also really like lavender and plum and some shades of blue (aqua, turquoise, royal, cobalt, etc.)

Gold or silver: Depends on what it is.

Height: 5' 0"

Instruments you play: None.

Job title: I have a few - Mother, Housewife, Homemaker, Stay-at-Home-Mom, Keeper of the Home, Domestic Goddess, etc. :-)

Kids: Two. My son Sean is 14 and has been making me very proud lately with his love for God and going to church. My daughter Kelly is 11 and is still very close to me. I hope she doesn't turn into one of those horrible teenage girls who roll their eyes at their moms and don't want to have anything to do with them.

Live in: Blessed to live in North Carolina. <3

Mother-in-law's name: Her name was Nancy Rose. She passed away in late February 2007.

Nicknames: Charlie calls me "Baby". To everyone else I'm Niki or Nick.

Overnight hospital stays: The births of my children. All other hospital stays were outpatient surgery (laparascopy for endometriosis in 1998) and several hours due to an illness (stomach flu) that nearly killed me when I was 17. In the latter case, the doctors said I would've been dead in a matter of hours if my mom hadn't brought me to the hospital.

Pet peeves: People who speed in school zones during school zone hours. Especially when they ride my tail while I'm doing the 25 mph or 35 mph school zone speed limit. Ticks me off! People who go above (over 5 mph above) or below the speed limit. Both drive me crazy. People who don't use their blinkers. Drawers or cabinets that are left open. Clothes and trash left in the floor. Spills not wiped up on the counters and stove.

Right or left-handed: Right

Siblings: A brother named Del who is about 18 months younger than me and a foot taller.

Time you wake up: Weekdays, 7:00 AM. Saturday: Whenever. Sunday: 8:00 AM.

Vegetable you hate: Pretty much all of them. (Except potatoes and black eyed peas, which are more like beans.) They make me gag, both because of their taste and their texture.

What makes you run late: My kids. They're so slow!

X-rays you've had: Teeth, mammogram, I think my heart when I was 14 and my ankle when I was 10. The ankle was twisted, not broken.

Yummy food that you make: Beef stew, chicken parmesan (no frying, no crust, super delicious), arroz con pollo, Italian chili, Mexican dinner (tacos, enchiladas, refried beans), chili, lemon oregano chicken, pasta bake, lasagna, pancakes (from scratch) and baked whole chicken.

Zoo animal: Eh. I'm not really a zoo person, but I reckon I like the cats, giraffes, polar bears, seals.

This and That

Friday: Got groceries at Target and Food Lion. Got gas. Paid my life insurance. Charlie has said several times that it's not necessary for me to have life insurance. Silly man. Unless he has a hoard of money saved up that I don't know about, he's not going to be able to pay for my funeral when I die.

Speaking of which, I want the song "What a Day That Will Be" sung at my funeral. "What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace. When He takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be."

Moving on.

Had to go by Wal-Mart to pick up something they didn't have at Target. At least not in the package size I needed. Unfortunately, I was hungry and was drawn to, of all things, the frozen pizzas. I almost never eat frozen pizza. It's nowhere near as good as pizzeria pizza. But a crazy craving had taken hold and, I'm almost ashamed to say, I could not resist. Red Baron's thin and crispy pizza was what we had for supper that night. And last night. Sean had Subway Friday night and Bojangle's last night, thanks to Mom. Or maybe thanks isn't quite the word. Subway and Bojangle's aren't exactly health food. But then neither is frozen pizza. Kelly had chicken noodle soup last night. (I have to add this silly tidbit. We, or well I, sometimes change words to be funny. Last night, chicken noodle got changed to chicken poodle [after looking at my poodle Pippin] - chicken poodle soup. We "ewwed" and laughed.) So it was just me eating the frozen pizza.

We had also gone by Blockbuster Friday and rented Clash of the Titans on Blu-Ray. Kelly wasn't all that interested and watched only parts of it. I think she may have watched all of it yesterday when Sean watched it again. It's not as good as the original, but it was entertaining. Kelly watched the original with me once and liked it. I'll have to rent it sometime for Sean to see.

Saturday: I had finally bought some more carpet cleaner for my SpotBot on Friday and was able to better clean up the cat vomit in my bedroom. I have Evie to thank for that. Of our three cats, she's the puker of the bunch. I have to watch how much she eats at each meal. I only give her enough food to cover the bottom of her bowl, but she'll go to one of the other bowls when Sadie or Sam walks away and start eating what's left in their bowls. If I don't catch her and she overeats, I can almost guarantee that she's going to throw up. As big as she is, she can't eat nearly as much as our other cats and keep it down.

The rest of Saturday was mostly spent sitting here in front of my computer. It was just one of those days for me physically where I wasn't up to much else. Part of that computer time was spent listening to a great message about prayer and taking notes.

And now Sunday is here. It's a little after 1:00 AM and I need to go to bed now. We've got church in the morning. I'm really looking forward to it. Our pastor and his family were on vacation for a couple weeks and will be at church today. I can't wait to hear my pastor preach.

Y'all have a blessed Sunday!

Tidbits of a Lovely Spring Day

It's 69° outside and the sun is shining. So nice to see after a couple days of chilly rain. Most people would think it's warm out today. But with the breeze that's blowing, I'm chilly and wearing a sweater.

A dove was cooing nearby for several minutes. One of my favorite sounds.

My kids are playing outside with the neighbor kids a couple doors down.

I think I caught a whiff of horse manure a minute ago. That's always lovely. And there's the occasional braying of a donkey. The neighbors behind us have a horse, a couple donkeys, a few goats, guinea hens, and a peacock. Geese and ducks like to hang out back there too.

I have the windows up and my cats are loving sitting in the windows and lying on the floor in the sun.

The grass is getting quite tall. My brother is supposed to come cut it this week. I reckon I should text him to remind him, just in case. He doesn't have the best memory. Something he acknowledges and apologizes for.

Temperatures are supposed to continue to rise over the next few days. The local meteorologists are forecasting a high of 84° on Friday. And with Saturday forecasted to be 81°, it looks like we may finally have a beautiful Easter Sunday. The past few years it's been in the 50s and cloudy and/or rainy. Easter is supposed to be warm. I have many lovely memories of warm Easters spent in a pretty Easter dress, going to church, hunting eggs and eating Easter candy.

Kelly, Our Evening, and Something Unbelievable

When Kelly got up yesterday, her temperature was around 100.7°. Naturally I would've preferred her temperature be normal, and she did feel uncomfortable, but she was feeling better than she was when her temperature was hitting 103° and higher.

The kids and I eventually got out of the house around 4:00 PM. By then Kelly's temperature had dropped some. We went to Petsmart first for dog food and visited the cats as we always do. They're so sweet.

Then it was on to Target and Food Lion. Kelly was walking slower than usual of course because she's still a little sick, but she did fine and there was hardly any moaning. By that night she was doing quite a bit better. Her appetite is slowly coming back. We had picked up a pizza from Mario's and Kelly only ate one bite, but a few hours later she ate some Frosted Mini Wheats.

While we were eating our pizza, we put in the second X-Men movie. I was feeling very tired and try as I might, I could not stay awake. I fell asleep about an hour or so into the movie. When I woke up, Sean was playing a video game. Something about fighter jets.

I let the kids stay up a little longer so they could see some of the Olympics we had missed (speed skating) and then sent them on to bed. Kelly's temperature was down to about 99.3°. I reckon it'll be normal eventually. But thank God it appears the worst is behind us.

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Now, for something I just had to share. We have three cats - Sadie, Evie and Sam. Sadie is a nearly 8-years-old black female. Sam is a nearly 4-years-old tan and black tabby male and our youngest cat. (Evie is a 7-year-old black and white female.) Sadie hates Sam. Always has. She charges at him and swipes at him at least once a day. She has shown absolutely no interest in being friends with Sam, or Evie or Pippin, our toy poodle, for that matter. She'd probably be overjoyed if she suddenly became the only pet in our house.

So imagine my surprise, nay shock, when Sadie jumped up into the chair where Sam was sleeping and instead of jumping right back down as she normally would, this happened:

A couple moments of uncertainty.

Lasers on!!

Sadie settles down. Sam can't believe she's there.

Sadie decides to get settled and sleep. Sam still can't believe she's there.

Evie looks on in disbelief.

But loses interest quickly and goes back to sleep.

Sam still feels unsure about things.

He finally lays his head down, but keeps his eyes open just in case.

Eventually Sam gives in and they're both sleeping. Their butts are even touching and Sadie isn't having a fit over it.

It's been over an hour and they're both still sleeping together. Unbelievable. I don't expect this to ever happen again though. I'm sure Sadie still hates Sam. She probably just really wanted to sleep in that chair, Sam or no Sam.

New Sheets and High Cats

The kids and I spent New Year's Eve at home. We watched some TV and saw the ball drop. I got a little choked up and had to hold back my tears as I saw people kissing the New Year in. I wish Charlie had been here to kiss the New Year in with me. :-(

We got groceries yesterday. After which we picked up a pizza for supper from Mario's and brought it home. I then fell asleep on the couch watching TV (shocker) and woke up about an hour later to Sean playing a video game.


I had a little chunk of money left over from Christmas, so the kids and I went to Target today so that I could buy some sheets for my bed. I bought the same sheets (Mon Ami, by Simply Shabby Chic) for my daughter either for her last birthday (February '09) or for Christmas the year before. I thought they were so pretty and comfortable that I wanted some just like them, but I figured Charlie wouldn't want to sleep on pink sheets with little pink flowers on them. When I had mentioned this to him, he said that he didn't care what the sheets look like as long as there are sheets on the bed. lol So today I bought them. Now I just need to buy the quilt that goes with them. It's $100 before taxes though, so it may be a few weeks.

Target also has a set of sheets with blue stripes on them that I'd like to get. They too are by Simply Shabby Chic.


Our cat Sam never uses either of the cat condos we have in our house for scratching. He likes to scratch boxes and books. :-/ This morning he woke me up scratching on the spines of my photo albums (his first time as far as I know; there is no damage that I can see), which sit on the bottom shelf of my bookcase. *insert angry face here*

So when the kids and I went to Target today, I also bought a scratch pad for Sam. It lays on the floor and is made of cardboard, just like the boxes Sam likes to scratch. The scratch pad came with a packet of cat nip, which I sprinkled and rubbed into the cardboard. Sadie was the first to investigate. She looooved it. She was rubbing it and laying on it. Evie was next to investigate and had the same reaction. I hope they don't develop a nip addiction. Sam looked at them like, "What is wrong with you?" because apparently cat nip doesn't affect him the same way. He sniffed at the nip-laced scratch pad and walked away. He probably would've shrugged if he could have.


I've had a somewhat lazy day today. In addition to going to Target, I've been doing laundry and will clean the kitchen soon. Hopefully I can get the tree and other Christmas decor taken down and put away in the next couple days. That's right. The tree is still up.


School starts back on Monday. The kids are dreading it and looking forward to it at the same time. So am I. I hate early mornings and I do still worry about my kids when they're not with me (does that ever go away?), but I also want them to be educated and prepared for adulthood.