Happy New Year!

Stopping in to say Happy New Year! Just got back from sunny Southern California...in time for a snowstorm to sweep through our city last night....and a lovely 4 hour commute home (and I am surprised I didn't hurt anyone). Christmas in California was one of the best and of course being with family made it so special!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday but if any of you are like me I am SO glad 2010 is coming upon us. I have a strange feeling 2010 has a lot of goodies planned for all of us!

Here's a sneak peak at my treat for 2010. :) This is Cimara....if all goes as planned, as of next month I will be leasing this lovely girl! We've already started to get to know one another. :) She's a 12 year old Missouri Fox Trotter. Wait, my leg looks fat. Waiiiit a minute. I lost weight. Whaaaaa!

HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR. Look up at the sky....we are in for a Blue Moon and a Lunar Eclipse tomorrow evening. No wonder 2010 will already be special. :)

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone! I just wanted to say this since time has gotten away with me the last week or so...okay a month or so. :) Just wanted to give you a quick update. I am still in a bit of a "state of confusion" since moving. Threw me off completely. I hate to say this but I am looking forward more to the New Year and getting a fresh start on all aspects of my life. Next year I have a small wish list. I want to be more creative, take more time out to appreciate the things that make me happy, crafting, cooking, baking, my kitties. Life is so precious and I am beginning to realize that each second, each minute, each day that passes is time I will never get back...so I must enjoy each and every minute! Make the most of life, you know? And not to let things get me down as easily as they have recently. I need to look ahead to better days, days spent taking time out to smell the roses. That's what I intend to do. A New Year, a new life, a better life every year. :)

One other quick thing. I don't usually like to say anything too early (because of past experiences) but I have been trying out a new horse (for a possible lease with the owner). A few visits out to a wonderful barn...with wonderful owners who are so kind, warm and friendly to me. I have been going out to the barn to visit a sweet mare. Her name is Cimara. I will have pictures soon. She's a beautiful buckskin Missouri Fox Trotter and after several visits, we finally connected this weekend and she's a sweetie! She's even been in parades here in town! I have also made wonderful new friends at this barn as well (I love my ever growing circle of horsey friends!) and hope to join them on trail rides next summer (along with my regular horsey friends I have been riding with, of course). This is the first place I have truly felt comfortable at and I'm so excited! I've never ridden a Fox Trotter so I had a trainer out this past weekend who was so, so impressive and she gave me some great pointers.

Anyhoo.....we'll wait until after the New Year for all this exciting stuff, right? In the meantime, if I don't get around to visiting you all have a wonderful, wonderful holiday season and most importantly, cherish each moment you spend with those you love.

xoxo

Michelle, Mocha, Quincy and Emma

P.S. The kids are being watched by the "other" Michelle...their trusty pet sitter. She stays here at my place (sleeps here) so they will be well taken care of!

We're Settled and We Survived!

But barely, for me! Ugh. I think I have decided I'm going to retire here. Never move again. Just live vicariously through everyone else for anything that I am missing in my life. This move nearly killed me (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating). Even though it was twenty steps away it takes a lot packing up a whole household! Then the cleaning. Oh yea..and those stairs I mentioned earlier? I hate them! I despise them! On the last day of the move I was spitting on them. Lol! I counted the steps. Thirty-two steps to get to the top floor where the bedrooms are at. I can't tell you how sore I was at the end of the move. I was sore in places I never knew could GET sore! I gotta say, though, the cats are loving it. Quincy had one of his spaz moments and ran down the stairs so fast I was sure he would be tumbling, a big orange fur ball tumbling, towards the bottom. I don't think he realized how fast he was going. Lol!

BUT, despite the two days that I was near death....I am feeling good these days. A little different to be in a three story place....not knowing what's downstairs when I'm upstairs. Hearing more sounds at night. But my boy Quincy will protect me. Yep...my fireball of a handsome boy. Who am I kidding? He'll be the first to run under the covers. Lol! Hmm..come to think of it no different than the men I've been with in my life (but I digress). Oh yes and all of a sudden the kitties have a new fun habit. Oh it's so fun you can't even imagine. Ask mom! In the middle of the night I'll hear a faint...bang, bang, bang. I lay in bed motionless. First I'm trying to figure out what floor it's coming from. Second, trying to figure out which cupboard someone is trying to open with their sweet little paws; and third, deciding if I need to get up to traipse down the thirty steps just to scold someone. So, I choose the fourth, turn over, whip the blankets over my head and go to sleep. :)

Here are a few pictures. I warn you not much decorating yet! I'll post more later! Thank you all for your well wishes. I was a bit burned out the past few days to post. I'm now getting ready to fly home next week. I will be more active after the holidays as I've said before. It's been one crazy year-end. However, I will be by to visit you all the next few days....promise!!

My new enemy...

A few small touches in the kitchen...

Quincy: Oh mom...that was way too much work watching you go up and down those stairs. Next time can you do it where I can't see because it just exhausts me and kinda hurts my neck.

A warm fireplace for sore feet.

Let's see.....the nightstand is the same, the bed feels the same. What just happened?We're all good. The cat bed is still here.

My canopy bed. Not decorated the way I want but had to throw a few things together quickly to feel somewhat at home. I picture more and more billowy sheers all around and above me.

Hi mom!

You can't see the other side of this big room in the picture but there is a place perfect for a vintage vanity. :) I think I will go for the elegant 1940's look with that. Oh but ONLY after I get rid of at least thirty things! Two things you never realize until you move. How much junk...woops...things you have and how you failed to dust in certain places!

One more day...

My dream is to have this kind of vanity in my bedroom...

Just one more day in my abode of only a year and tomorrow....another day...another new day in my new home. I'm anxious and can't wait to get it all over with. There's something so exhausting about packing up all your belongings to move again and yet something thrilling about a new place (even if it is 20 steps away).

I just wanted to drop a quick note to say hello and hopefully this weekend, preferably Sunday evening sitting next to a warm fire by the fireplace with my kitties, things will be back to normal once again.

I'm a little excited actually. I may change up the decor again. I am thinking adding a bit more vintage in the mix. I am breaking out the canopy bed to put in the master bedroom with white shears...my new room is much bigger than the room I have now. Maybe setting up a vanity area where I can do my hair and makeup instead of the bathroom (using the furniture I already have, of course). A little more romantic white in the bedroom. Oh I don't know...we'll see. I just wanna get in and settled before the holiday!

Once I'm in this weekend I will take a few pictures and let you all see the new place.

The cats are all doing well. Emma is still struggling a bit on the prednisolone..upsets her tummy. Mocha has gained some healthy weight and Quincy is just....well Quincy. Lol! He always seems to be so happy go lucky!

Hang in there all...I will be by to visit very soon and to show off some wonderful gifts that came in the mail to me.

xoxo

Vanity picture courtesy of Bella Cottage (one of my favorite online shops).

This is how I'm feeling these days

But I WILL survive! Packing, packing, packing, a little horse fix here and there.....bringing Emma into the vet for another asthma attack because we couldn't control it at home. *sigh* Oh yes....cleaning, ironing...ugh. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

Sorry I haven't been around guys! My life has been turned upside down and there always seems to be something around the corner ready to wreak havoc! I will be back though! One more week in this condo. :) Miss you all!

Update: Dawn over at Vanilla Sugar asked a good question in her comment about Emma being on prednisone. She is actually on prednisolone (apparently this is the same as prednisone but easily breaks down for pets better than prednisone). She was on it once every other day so apparently that wasn't enough. Now we are having her take prednisone twice a day until she is a little more stabilized then we will go down to once a day. I hate the side effects though. She has gained 1/3 of a lb in one month. We also have her inhaler and a better breathing tube now so she can take more of the albuterol in when she has an attack.

Quincy has been a wonderful buddy and sits next to her when she is having one of her episodes. He knows something isn't right and comforts her by staying near. Sooo adorable! They love each other. Also, Mocha is doing much better. She still needs to put on some weight but she's eating and drinking normally and much happier now that the sickness is gone!