Wrappin' Presents!

Merry Christmas everyone! We went on a therapy visit last week, and this week... Payslee had on her Christmas dresses, and was looking sassy.. Sawyer was just wearing his lovely fur coat. .We've decided that Sawyer is a Yeti.. For anyone who has watched "Rise of the Guardians" You will notice a similarity between my shih-tzu, and the Yeti's in Santa's Workshop:

So now I tell Sawyer he is a Yeti that is living in my house.. He's such a sweet boy. They had a good time at their visits.. Last week we went to Ranchwood Nursing Center, and Last night we went to The Fountains Assisted Living. Sawyer loves to ride on the people's walkers..the kind that have the little seats where they can sit down. We have a favorite lady there named "Johnny".. Both Saw and Payslee just wait for Johnny to come in from eating, and then she will come and sit on the couch, and they will jump up there and love on her.. Then Sawyer rests on her walker, lol..There's also another guy who is blind named Glenn.. He LIVES for the visits with Fudge, Payslee & Sawyer.. Fudge is the Chocolate lab that goes with my babes to visit.. Glenn waits for us to bring the dogs to him and he loves and loves on them.. It literally brightens his whole face talking to those dogs! It was a good visit last night.. Saturday, we will all be at Barnes & Noble on Memorial Wrapping presents for free, so come by and visit if you want. The dogs and I will be there from 9-11 that morning..

I encourage anyone who has a dog that would like to do this, to get involved.. We have so many therapy reqests and not neary enough therapy dog teams.. You can go to New Leash on Life and find out information about how you can take the therapy dog classes, and the therapy dog test.. I can't tell you how rewarding it is! There are so many people that need these visits.. and so many dogs that love to visit, so its a great time to get started. Always good to give back during the Holiday Season.

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping.. MJ and I finally put up the tree and lights on the house.. Its pretty ghetto, I'm not going to lie.. He was 'in theory' going to put up lights on the house.. but that never really happened.. So we ended up putting lights in the tree, around the garage, in the flower beds, and then I hung snowflake lights on the fence.. For Ghetto, its pretty good, lol.

There is rain in the forecast today.. I sure hope it does rain.. It makes me so sad to look at Lake Hefner lately.. I know Western OK needs the rain too.. Looks like we might get another Winter Storm on Christmas.. I can't complain, we've had it pretty fluffy so far for "winter" weather..

I always look forward to this time of year.. My grandma Leona used to have the most amazing Christmas's for us.. She would always let me open one gift the night before Christmas.. And I would be so excited! Of course I had the best parents, and grandparents in the world, so I always got everything on my list.. (I know, I know..spoiled)..but I'm not going to lie, it was a sweet gig.

Then on day we celebrated Christmas, we would walk into the house and the first thing you would smell would be homemade Rolls in the oven... She would always make something 'different' for Christmas dinner because she knew we would be sick of eating turkey & dressing.. So one year we would have Mexican Casserole, and another year Noodles.. She was an amazing cook.. After we would eat we would all go to the living room and we would sing.. My Uncle Don would sing Tenor, My Grandma, Alto, Me, whatever key I was singing in that day, lol, and my dad would sing Bass.. It was really like watching a Christmas movie.. Such a neat time in my life.. I hope to someday have cool traditions for my own family.. I always get a little sentimental this time of year because even though Leona died in 1999, I still miss her like it was yesterday.. But, it always makes me look forward to the holidays because My mom has now taken on a few of those traditions, and I've taken some as well.. Grandma always made Date-rolls.. I hate dates, so she would make mine without, lol.. So now I make date rolls for my family.. and Mom makes noodles.. Its a neat time of year.

I hope you guys have your own Christmas traditions.. and if not, you are making some new ones! Merry Christmas!! Be thankful for what you have.. God is good!!!

My grandparents, Shep & Leona, and me!

Thanksmaseve day

Well, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.. We did.. We went to the farm and took the dog babes.. They always love it out there, so many new smells and things to see.. We had a great Thanksgiving Dinner.. Mom and I didn't do much Black Friday shopping.. It doesn't have the same Zeal in Elk City & Burns Flat as it does in OKC, lol.. We did go and decorate a Christmas tree... she took Junior and I took Payslee. AS you can see in the pic, they are being good helpful babes..

Afterward we went to Elk City to re-stock the Dog store "Woofs gone wild" at the Attic door.. I put a tutu on Miss P and she flitted around "Look at me.. Look how cute I am" and wouldn't you know, we sold 3 tutu dresses.. Lol.. I swear thats why they loved her working at Paws Around Town! She's a Natural salesgirl!

While we were out doing that stuff, MJ, Steve & Randy were off Deer hunting. MJ has had all the 'hunting' stuff for a long time now with nothing to hunt.. So being that its deer season and my family is quite skilled at deer hunting they took him out on our land where he shot this 8pt Buck.. He wasn't that keen on skinning/gutting the deer..but he powered through.. We are going to make jerky and deer sausage out of the deer, and of course he is getting it mounted to hang in our house.. (Lucky Me) lol.. I'm sure it will end up in his man cave anyway..

We went and saw my dad on Thanksgiving evening.. Got to visit with my new niece and nephew, Ava, and Joe.. I was amazed at all the baby stuff it takes to have ONE baby, lol.. It was all over the living room! lol.. They were both very cute and dolled up for the Holidays.. Joe loves rocking in his swing, and Ava loves people to carry her around.. Either of those things sounds pretty great to me! lol

Here they are hanging out in their Grammie Gowns.. Ava is on the left, and Joe on the right.. they are pretty jolly...

MJ & I got out all the Christmas stuff.. We put up the tree. Its MJ's Black tree, and I filled it wih glitter ornaments.. He says it looks like Hobby Lobby threw up on it.. whatever.. Men dont know about glitter..  We are going to put up the Christmas lights this weekend.. there is a guy across the street from us who has went all out.. with inflatables, lights, candy canes, etc.. We have to do something to be able to hang with him and not be shamed out of the neighborhood..

We took our mini Vacation to Beavers Bend 2 weeks ago.. It was fun.. We had a cute little Cabin and the dogs loved running and jumping in all the leaves.. It was in the middle of nowhere, so after 2 days of it, we got bored.. but it was nice to get away.. very pretty up by Broken Bow..

I went to a baby shower for a girl in my Sunday school class on Sunday.. I know you all will be shocked by this.. but I am TRULY not a joiner.. It took everything I had to even get myself there.. I dont know very many people in my class yet, and the idea of walking into a house of people I dont know is not appealing to me.. Especially to a baby shower.. but I powered through.. It ended up being a really good time, and people enjoyed my ridiculous tales of my life.. So I'm glad I put my fear behind me.. but man, I wish it wasn't so socially awkward for me. People think that because I was on the radio and so loud and entertaining that it meant I was that way in real life.. No.. I mean think about it folks: I was talking to MYSELF in a room BY MYSELF for 5 hours.. lol.. I'm actually pretty introverted when it comes to things like that.. Shhh.. dont tell.. I'm pretty good at faking it, lol.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Glad. Election. Is. OVER.

Who was sick of election crap? Yup, me too.. It got so bad on facebook that I actually had to quit reading it.. I have one friend who is just an insane liberal.. I can't listen to him anymore.. Reading his posts makes me angry.. Not because he's a liberal, but because he's sooo far left that he never even considers any other thoughts..

I didn't care for either candidate.. I thought they both sucked. I really thought we could have come up with two better ones out of all the people in the world.. but I still went out and voted because I do appreciate the right to do so.. I think right now the country is so polarized with being SO LEFT or SO RIGHT that it makes it impossible to get things done.. I sure do hope that changes eventually.. So needless to say, I'm glad its over!!

Well in happier, more awesome news.. I won Chesaween 2012!! First place!! All by myself too, so I didnt' have to share the goods, lol.. I dressed up as a giant traffic light with a traffic cone hat and sang a parody song of Frank Sinatra's "MY Way" called "You can't go THIS way" about parking and construction on the Chesapeake Campus.. it was a good song, so I'm glad I won.. There were some awesome costumes.. Light "Thunder gnome" & The Jamiacan bob sledders.. It was a fun event.. and I'm so thankful to work for a company that lets you take half a day off to go to a Halloween party!! Awesome!!

Next week Jordan & I are taking our mini-honeymoon and going to a Cabin at Beaver Bend.. We get to take the dog babes, so they are excited to be in a cabin and see the wilderness.. It will be a nice relaxing weekend.. Then the weekend after that its Thanksgiving! Can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner!

Not much else going on.. Been watching the TV show "Nashville".. its pretty good.. Also been loving "American Horror Story"..but dang.. that one is scary.. Still watching the VOICE and I made the mistake of watching XFACTOR last night..but man, its just not that good.. and Britney Spears looks terrible..They put Khloe Kardashian on that show as a host, and she is almost as terrible as Brooke Burke on Dancing with the Stars.. geez.. get them off TV please..

Hope you guys are enjoying your fall.. I need to get inspired to put up my Christmas stuff.. blargh.. My brother Grant & His wife had a baby girl, Ava.. and then my sister Lexi and her husband Brandon, had a baby Boy, Joe.. So I'm an Aunt twice over! Went to see both of the babes, and they are all doing great!

Well Hello Fall!

Well we have finally made it to fall.. I was seriously wondering if it was ever going to happen.

 

My plants are doing good..those clearance shrubs I bought from Wal-Mart for $1.50 have taken off and are doing really good... We lost one of the bradford pears..but Marcums had a sale, so we bought another one..that was way healthier than the first and just planted it in the same place.. The nice thing about Marcums is they offer a year warranty even if you buy them on sale.. TLC does not.. The Crape Myrtles are starting to kinda do their own thing, and the other Bradford Pear is doing well.. the oonly one that doesn't look that great is the Chinease Pistache in the back yard.. Hopefully it will come to life.

WE are still really enjoying our new Sunday school class at Church. Its nice to be a part of a small group, and still get to have the amazingly smart Terry Feix to teach us! We have been enjoying the Parables.. He's such a good teacher. Also so nice to be at Crossings. How I love that church!

I entered the Chesa halloween Costume Contest.. I have to compete against other 'groups' but.. If I win, I get $2000, and even if I get 6th, its $950.. so surely I will get something. My song is strong, and costume is very cool, so I feel like I have a pretty good chance to win at least SOMETHING.. And I cannot express my happiness that I work for a company that rewards amazing talent and costumes for Halloween! I'm so ready!

 

For those of you wondering about Payslee & Sawyer's Halloween.. Payslee will be a Butterfly, and Sawyer will be a Caterpillar.. Ridiculous? Yes, I think so.. but they will be cute. Sawyer is doing amazing, and back to 100% after surgery. He's bouncing, running, jumping and wrestling with Payslee. She's glad to have him back to wrestle with her!

 

I've been watching some good shows.. Enjoying all my terrible housewife shows, and then American Horror story returns next week! Tonight I'm going to tune into "Nashville" to see if its any good.. Have also loved Grey's, even though McSteamy is gone.. And still watch Private Practice.. I can't decide who I am cheering for on Dancing with the Stars.. I love to watch Gilles (I mean who doesn't) and I also enjoy Emmit, and Shawn Johnson.. Its good this year! Also watching pure BS (Blake Shelton) on The Voice. Still love that show too! Glad Fall TV is back in action!

 

I will be dressing up as a Traffic light..with a traffic cone on my head.. To go along with my Chesa song. I have re-done "My way" by Sinatra and changed it to "You can't go This Way".. I feel like its pretty good..you guys know how I love to do song Parodies!!! I'll try to post a recording of it when I finish it! Happy Fall/Halloween!

 

Shibbidy Do da..

Well, My little Sawyer dog is back in action! He got his stitches out last week and got the green light to get back to his life! He's still not supposed to jump, but can run, go on walks, and play with Payslee.. so they are both very happy. The chances of it coming back are less than 1% in Shih-tzu's.. the only dogs that it tends to happen again with is Daschunds.. So we are excited that he is doing great! So nice to see his puffed smile!

MJ and Brandon enjoyed the Elk City Rodeo.. It was their first one, so that proved entertaining.. They got to see all the basics, barrel racing, bulldoggin', calf roping, and bull and bronc riding..then imagine our surprise when we found out John Conlee was in concert afterward! Bonus! I love that guy.. I remember when I was doing radio in Corpus Christi and we went to a concert.. he pulled me up on stage and let me sing Rose Colored glasses with him, then signed his pair of rose colored glasses and gave them to me! Mom still has them in a glass box, lol.. She loved him too, so it was a funtime.

 Other than that.. all good! Woot! Looking forward to Halloween!
KC

I'm

Poor Sweet Sawyer boy

Well for those of you who follow me on Facebook you have heard about this, but for those of you who don't, I shall tell the story.. 

My Sweet Sawyer started acting funny last Tuesday.. so I took him in on Wed morning before work (Neel is open 24 hours, and emergency hours are over at 6am) So we went in at 7.. they worked him over.. felt of him, stretched him, etc. Nothing.. So we went home... Well I went back home at lunch, he was shaking, and crying, so I rushed him back..This time my regular Vet was there, and he did xrays.. It didn't show much, but did show a little abnormality in his back between his vertebrae, so he sent us home with Pain meds.. I gave them to him for a few days, but he never really got a ton better..

On Sunday when we left for church he was resting and then when we came home he had lost control of his back legs..he was sliding across the floor, so I just burst into tears and emailed my vet (He wasn't working that day, but I have his phone number and email, lol) So he calls Neel and Dr. Jeff, and tells me to go back up there.. They admit him, and start an IV steroid drip and muscle relaxers.. Well at that point I knew we were in for more than we had thought.. I started to research it, and found he had a form of disc disease. (any time a dog has a bulging disc, slipped disc, etc, it has to be called disc disease) So Dr. Logan called me and told me he was a good candidate for surgery.. Being that Sawyer is in good health, and very active, and young, he would be able to make a full recovery, and not have to worry about re-injury.. So he called the surgeon and we were able to get in last night.. 

The Surgery center is over there behind Sams Club off Memorial and Penn. The surgeon was Dr. Streeter, and she was awesome.. she watched him walk and knew that he had a bulging disc.. So he goes to get a Cat scan where they can see exactly where its at.. and sure enough, HUGE bulging disc in his back... So she just takes it out (Dogs have the ability to fuse their bones back together with no problem, unlike people) So now it will be fixed for good. No worries about re-injuring it being that they took out the problem area, and the chance for re-injury is less than 1%..If we had just done the medical route (which he also could have done, and would have improved) He might have re-injured it again, and could have possibly ended up paralyzed.. Well knowing that Sawyer is a happy, running, jumping boy, I just didn't want to take the chance.. Also his 6 pound sister loves to pounce on him and chase him, so I knew we did the best thing for our tzu family.. So..what did all this set me back? You don't even want to know.. Seriously.. 

But I guess in the long rung, cheaper than taking him back to the vet every 6 months with a new injury.. But man, that sucks..and put a big dent in our savings account.. but he's worth it..He's only 3, and my pride and joy so ya gotta do what ya gotta do! So beans and rice for me for the next year, but I love my dog!! lol..  And I know he brings so much joy to  the patients he visits every Thursday, and those who can't move in their beds, when he sits patiently with them while they look at him for love. 

Some have said, "you fool.. why didn't you have pet insurance".. Well I did.. for 2 years.. I never used it. So I was spending $60/month for a once a year vet visit, and I wasn't even breaking even! So we just put some money back each month for times like this.. Also, for those of you curious about pet insurance.. I went with PETFIRST, and they are great.. but they do not cover ANY pre-existing conditions, or degenerative diseases.. So It wouldn't have really helped me in the long-run.. but It is something to think about possibly for Payslee again later.. Its basically something that will pay your vet bill if your dog gets hit by a car, or run over.. Mainly for 'accidental' stuff.. So something to consider.. Sawyer was born with bad discs.. so for those of you who have had the same thing happen, its not something 'you' did.. He jumps, runs, wrestles, and does all those things, and yes, I could try to stop him, but dogs that have bad discs can also be hurt from walking across the room.. So don't blame yourself if your babe ever gets it.. I'm just happy that it can be remedied, and I get my sweet guy back soon! Miss Pays has been missing him!! Thank you all for keeping him in your thoughts! He will be home soon!

KC

You never know who's watching..

There have been many times when I've looked up to someone. My grandma is one of the first I remember. Her name was Leona, but because I couldn't say her name when I was younger I called her Grandma "Loney".. My mom had a hard time giving birth to me, and was in and out of the hospital for the first few months of my life. Grandma Loney stepped in and took over while mom was sick. I have the fondest memories of spending time with my grandma and Grandpa (Shep). They just treated me like a mini-adult.  I would go to dinner with them every Friday night to Weatherford to visit Grandma's sisters.. We would go to the Mark, and I would order some weird random children's meal that was like "Jack and Jill" or "Humpty dumpty" and we would all sit there and talk like Adults (This is when I was 2 & 3 years old).. I never cried to go back to my parents, because I was so enamored with my grandparents.

Grandma made everything from scratch. I would watch her for hours making rolls, cakes, and casseroles.. I always loved baking cookies with her because she would let me mix the batter with my hand (she would always say only ONE hand) and then of course let me lick the spoon. Every night she would read me a story.. One day she was reading a book to me while I ate a lifesaver candy.. I was leaning back on her lap and it got stuck in my throat.. I was choking, and without missing a beat, my grandpa lept up, reached down my throat, and pulled out the lifesaver! It was like they were meant to watch over me, and meant just for me. He also saved me another time when I fell into a lake (In my Easter dress, Mom was NOT pleased, lol).. I got too close to the edge and he just grabbed the end of my hair before I got too far under, and pulled me out. To this day I do not remember ever watching my grandma or grandpa fight, or say a harsh word about someone. Grandma read the bible front to back more than 3 times. Grandpa was always there to lend a helping hand when someone needed it. They always knew someone might be watching..

They had so many friends that they enjoyed.. Grandpa played dominos every weekend.. and went to the Blue Goose in Gotebo where they would still fill up your tank when you pulled in. Grandma took me grocery shopping at the United in Cordell, (while grandma waited on the bench at the front of the store and visited with people) and then afterword they would take me to the TG&Y and let me pick out one stuffed animal. I would agonize over what to pick..and grandma said I'd go back to the ones I didn't pick and say "I'll get you next time, so don't be sad"..

When I think back of how much time and energy they gave to just entertain me it makes me smile. I'm so grateful for that relationship, and hope someday my kiddo has a relationship like that with my parents. They have both been gone for over 10 years, and tears roll down my face as I write this because I still miss them so much.. They lived their lives always knowing that someone might be watching.. Little eyes might be watching.. and they set a great example.

When I was in college I volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. I had a 9 year old girl as my mentee.. She was shy,quiet, and not a confident girl. Every week I would take her somewhere and talk to her, but I never felt like she was listening to anything I said, and that she probably dreaded the times I was coming to pick her up! I mentored her until I moved out of state.. Her mom called me a few years later and said "I just want you to know how much Melana loved and respected you".. I never would have known..but I'm glad I always kept in mind that she might be watching.

There are so many great examples of people I look up to in my church, and I'm pretty sure they have NO CLUE how much they mean to me, or that I'm watching. There is a 93 year old man that sits in front of me every Sunday. He's always by himself, and each time I see him, he's greeting people, and welcoming them to church. When we sing, he raises his hands and voice up to heaven, and it just moves me to see his spirit.

Our choir leader writes the most amazing bulletin messages for us. They are so heartfelt..watching the way he leads the choir, and shares his music gifts inspire me to be a better Christian. I look forward to seeing him every Sunday, and I'm pretty sure he has no clue who I am. There is a woman who sings in the choir who I just Adore. I'm pretty much insane about her.. to the point I saw her in the food court and ran after her to tell her how much I love her, lol.. She was probably freaked out. I know I would have been.. but I didn't want to pass up that moment to tell her how much I enjoy her singing and enthusiasm for the Lord while in the choir. I'm so blessed that I was able to get in touch with her, and have her sing at my wedding. I can now call her my friend, and I've been able to tell her what a great blessing she is to me.

There were days when I was on the radio, and days that go by now when I think; "What am I doing to make the world better? What am I doing to inspire somene else?" and some days the answer is "Nothing." I try not to have too many of those day. I remember getting off the air and thinking "That was a terrible show, no one cared".. and then later that day getting an email from a listener that said "Just wanted you to know that joke made me laugh, when I was havin a really crappy day".. You just never know when someone is watching or listening.

Now that I'm older, I look back at my parents and step-parents and appreciate them so much. The fact that my step mom, and step dad were willing to allow me into their families and take care of me.. How my mom and dad put me before everything and didn't put me through a messy divorce. At my wedding seeing all four of my parents talking and being friendly to each other just made my world. I'm so happy to have all of them in my life! They have all set such good examples for me in different ways, and I'm grateful for them all. I love hearing my daddy sing, and I love how much everyone loves my mom! Even though we made some mistakes, they taught me lessons that I will forever remember because they always knew someone might be watching, and they still continue to inspire me to be the best person I can be..

I decided to write this blog because each day when we go to our jobs, or go out in the public, we just never know what other people are going through, and how a small smile, or kind gesture might make their day. If someone cuts me off in traffic, I try not to take it personally..Maybe they are going through something in which they need to get somewhere quicker than I need to get.

When I am at those nursing homes, I'm constantly shocked by how the lick of  a dog in a dress brightens someone day. All this time I'm trying to teach Payslee not to lick, and then when she licks an elderly person their whole face lights up!

I've done a lot of things that I would never want anyone to see, or know, but I also try to do a lot of things to inspire people, teach people, and love people, because you never know who might be watching, and what that could mean to them.

So take time to be kind to each other.. Quit being bitter about stuff that isn't going to matter in 10 years.. Stop living so selfishly that you can't see anyone but yourself.. Enjoy your friends and family.. Praise your God and give thanks! We only have this one time to get it right, and we shoudn't waste our time.. There are so many people who have inspired me... County singers, Preachers, writers, Family, and just regular people.. and some of them know they have, and some of them don't.. So live your life thinking.. "Someone might be watching..is this how I want them to see me?"