Tiger Doesn't Like the Cold

Tiger doesn't like the cold and found a nice, warm place to nap.

Cows in the Greenbelt

We have cows grazing in the greenbelt behind the house. Johnny won't let me keep them. :(

Nala's New Do

Nala is much happier now that she's had her lion cut.

Card Blog

I've moved my card posts to my other blog:

Cards.by.Erin

Pictures of Pluto...No Telescope Needed

Here are some more pictures of Pluto. Today is the first day he didn't spend the afternoon napping under the guest room bed. He spent the day with his brothers (and sister) on the coffee table watching the birds.

Pluto on the windowsill, PJ in the bed and Tiger behind her.

Tiger and Pluto swapped places.

Tiger grooming Pluto.

Neptune in the bed and Pluto right next to him. After this I put his little bed up there with the other one. Neptune and Pluto have been almost inseparable.

Raccoon Pictures - finally!

I finally got pictures of the raccoons. They aren't great because there is so little light, but you can see the little guys. And an opossum.

Nike is now Pluto

Well, we've decided that fostering kitties, especially little scared black kitties, is a bad idea. Nike is going to take lots of time and patience to socialize. He is so cute and other than being afraid of people, he isn't afraid of much. When we got Neptune and Jupiter, they hid under the bed for 2 weeks before they ventured out. Nike was roaming the house the second day he was with us. We changed his name - Nike is the Greek goddess of Victory, so we thought he needed a new name. Since he is smaller than Neptune and Jupiter, we named him Pluto. So here is the newest member of the Hallman household.

Nike

We are fostering a kitten named Nike. He is a black scaredy kitty who was rescued from an apartment rooftop during a hail storm. He was at the PetSmart adoption center, but no one ever saw him because he was always hiding under his bed. We are fostering him hoping that our younger kitties will help him be less afraid, so that maybe he will be adopted.

Raccoons

The raccoons stopped by again...I put out cat food for them.

Nocturnal Visitors

I have been keeping a birdfeeder on the back porch so the kitties can watch the birds. Yesterday morning, I noticed that the feeder was knocked over and the container with the extra birdseed was also knocked over and the feed strewn all over. I thought that was unusual, and sure enough, tonight I heard noises on the porch and when I turned on the light to look out, there were 4 young raccoons on the porch. I don't yet have pictures, but I will post them when I have some.

Julia C Frazier Elementary School

A few years ago I tutored (through TI) kids at Julia C Frazier Elementary School. This school is in a poor area in Dallas (Fairpark), 100% minority and 98% poor, and yet they have managed to accomplish something special with their kids - passing the TAAS test. When I quit working for TI, I stopped tutoring, but decided that was the school I wanted to get my donate school supplies. In years past, it has been a nearby school, but I decided my small amount of supplies would have a bigger impact at JCF. I am so impressed with this school and these teachers for what they have accomplished. Here are some statistics from the Dallas Morning News about the school:

School (District)	Percent passing	Percent poor
Kerr Elementary (Allen)	98.6%	3.8%
Bowie Elementary (Richardson)	97.8%	7.3%
Julia Frazier Elementary (Dallas)	97.6%	97.9%
Hyer Elementary (Highland Park)	97.4%	0.0%
Aldridge Elementary (Plano)	97.3%	8.3%
Austin Elementary (Coppell)	96.2%	5.6%
Anderson Elementary (Frisco)	95.8%	2.4%

http://www.leapsandbounds.org/dallasnews.htm

It seems that if you show these kids (grades 1-3) that they are loved, they belong and someone cares if they do well, then they will do well. Will someone please tell that to the new Secretary of Education?

New Beginnings Cat Rescue

I've started volunteering at a local cat shelter. I clean cages and give the kitties love. This shelter, New Beginnings Cat Rescue, is a no kill organization, which is very important to me. I just can't believe that any healthy pet has to be put to sleep. Can you imagine killing this cute kitten? She was a day away from being put down when NBCR got her. Thankfully, she has been adopted along with another kitten by a wonderful family in the Garland area. And no, it is not us!

Ragweed! Oh No!!!

Ragweed season has started! Oh no! All outdoor activities stop now!

New House Mouse Stamps

My mom got me some new House Mouse stamps at the convention. All Fired Up and All Fired Up 2, Count Mouse and then I bought The Graduate from HL's clearance.

My Jupiter likes to get in boxes. Even if they have stuff in them already! Isn't he cute?????!?!?!?!?

Hungry Squirrel

I didn't put out birdseed/squirrel food yesterday and this afternoon when I stepped outside to do so, I noticed that the squirrel had tried to feed itself. I'd just put this bucket of seed on the back porch a couple of days ago, so this was the first time they've tried to feed themselves. :)

Why I Want to Leave Texas

Anniversary Present

I can't wear my wedding ring any more (I've gained some weight and haven't had the ring resized.) and I'm boycotting diamonds because of DeBeers' historical treatment of workers and their actions during WWII and then the whole conflict diamond thing...if you don't know, watch Blood Diamond. The price of diamonds is artificially high due to DeBeers having a 100% monopoly (things are slowly changing, I think it might only be a 90% monopoly now) and controlling the number of diamonds on the market at any given time. If, by boycotting diamonds, I can help (I know - 1 person's actions can't really help) the situation, I'll buy other gemstones. So for our anniversary Johnny gave me a new wedding ring that has all sapphires. It is so beautiful and my mother-in-law gave me sapphire earrings to match. I'm so lucky!

Vegetarian Kitties?

Neptune is an omnivore, not a carnavore. He likes lettuce. This is not the only time he's tried to steal my salad.

Ouch!

I was making spaghetti sauce (not from a jar!!!) and some of it splashed up on my arm, resulting in a blister. Ouch!

Jupiter is a Fan of Dario Fran"kitty"

How Do You Know There's A Spider In The Hallman House?

When all the kitties are gathered around one spot!!!

Here is a card I made for my step-dad when he was sick.  I'd gotten the Achoo image in a swap and thought it was perfect.  I used my Bic pins to color the image and it is layered on a tissue - a clean tissue!

Cruising the Caribbean

I just got back from my cruise with Amy.  I had such a good time - it will take awhile to get my pictures and thoughts organized, but here's a sneak peek.  

The same day I was getting soaked at the Kenny Chesney concert, Johnny, his mom and sister were in Nacogdoches for a family wedding. Johnny's mom's cousin's granddaughter Susan Floyd married Jayce Murray. Left to right, Wes (brother of the bride) Kasey (sister of the bride), Debbie (mom), Susan and Jayce, Ken (father) Bobbie Jo (grandmother and Annette's cousin) and Don (grandfather).

Concert in the Rain

My friend Amy had tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert on Saturday, but didn't have anyone to go with her.  So while I don't like country music, I knew how much Amy wanted to go.  So I went with her.  However, thunderstorms threatened to ruin the evening. It poured rain for an hour before we were supposed to leave.  But then it started to clear up and I headed over to Amys, but there the tornado sirens were going off.  However, it looked like it was starting to clear up so we decided to take a chance and go.  It was clear the whole way up to Frisco, but just as we entered the stadium, it started to rain lightly.  The first band, Lady Antebellum was already playing, so we decided to stay.  The rain started to get harder and we were getting wetter and wetter.  I was wearing my yellow rain coat (I've owned it for 11 years and this is its first use.) so my torso was still dry.  I wasn't as cold as I thought I would be, so all things considered, I wasn't yet miserable. As you can see from the photo, we were a good long way from the stage.  During the intermission between bands the severe lightening prompted our decision to leave early.  During the walk around the stadium to the exit, it (of course) stopped raining and lightening.  Just as we reached the exit, Miranda Lambert came on stage, so we decided to hang around a bit.  We were standing at the top of the seating area shown at the extreme right in the picture.  We had a much better view than in our seats!  We stayed through Miranda's set, but then the wind started to pick up and there was more rain starting coming our way, so we left.  Amy had seen Kenny in concert before, so she was ok with leaving without seeing him.  All in all, a wet and cold evening with country music, but hey, what are friends for?

My Upcoming Cruise

My friend Amy won a free cruise and invited me along. We originally were going on a 5 day cruise to the Yucatan and Cozumel, but with the swine flu "pandemic", Carnival has changed the cruise to a 7 day cruise to Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. Initially we thought they might cancel it altogether, but this is fabulous!!! I get to add 2 more countries to my total - bringing it up to 12 and one more than Johnny!

Tiger - he's the youngest furbaby and definitely a momma's boy!

New Blog

I'm changing my blog from my Mac page to this one.  If you would like to view older posts, please use this link.

Amy and I went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the King Tut exhibit.  Wow, it was fabulous.

Neptune Likes Animal Crackers

Neptune will play with anything. I was sitting in my recliner with my animal crackers nearby and Neptune decided he wanted one.

Both Neptune and Jupiter Are Curled Up With Me

Both Planetary Brothers are curled up by me!!! I'm doubly blessed. The picture isn't great, but it was the best I could do without moving.

Tiger is so Cute

I was moving my wreaths from the downstairs closet to the gameroom attic and Tiger decided he liked the autumn wreath.

Andy and I drove home to El Paso/Las Cruces for a few days.  Family, friends and stamping with Mom.

Jupiter Is Sitting With Me!!!

Jupiter is our shy kitty.  While we can pet him most of the time, we still can't pick him up.  It was a big breakthrough when he sat with me.  I was asleep in my recliner (I was sick) and when I woke up, he was sitting down by my feet.  I didn't want to scare him, so I sat there without moving for 3 hours.  I watched that same episode of Robin Hood 3 times since the DVD remote was the only one I could reach.