Adventures of July

Alright alright I know it has been a while but hey at least I am getting back to it. We have had a really busy 4 months. We have traveled across the country and seen family, historical sites and had tons of fun.

To start our tale of adventure we'll begin in July. Travis was busy during June and beginning of July studying for his board exams. He wanted to get the written exam done before we headed off to our first adventure.

We also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in the month of July. We decided to head to the amusement park here in Ohio, King's Island. It was tons of fun and was nice to get out and have fun. It is awesome to have a park so near by. They had tons of fun rides and even other entertainment. It was worth the long lines and the sunburns.

The next weekend we had to head out to Des Moines Iowa. Travis was required to return to DMU for some sorta review thing. It was ridiculous. He was supposed to be there for a week, however not all day everyday. It was dumb especially for the students that were not in Des Moines for 3rd and 4th year. We tried to make it worth it and see things in the area that we didn't get to while we lived there. We visited the Iowa's one and only amusement park, Adventureland. It was most definitely not as nice as other parks we have been to. The difference was roughly 200lbs and funky tattoos on white trash people. The other sad part was that they only had 3 roller-coasters with only 2 working. It was worth seeing something we missed out on while living here. We did also enjoy seeing our friends that still live there.

After we got back to Dayton we were able to go to the Annual Dayton Air Show. This year the special guests were the Blue Angels from the Navy. I haven't seen them in years and Travis has never seen them so it was really neat. We love the air shows they have in this area. Its a great time to get out and see awesome pieces of history.

Playing Catch Up...

Okay everyone please be patient with me while I play catch up. I have had a rough month so it will take me awhile. We are still alive but we are just busy. Love to all, comment if you want details.

I've had to make a change...

Well Ladies and Gents I have had to make a change in my life.

The time has come for me to leave retail. I hate the fact that I have actually done this but it had to happen.

Okay, a little explanation. Things at the store (Bath and Body Works) just got a little too crazy. There was everything from gossiping, total rumors and back stabbing going on. It came down to the fact that I had to make sure that I had a cheesy grin on my face before I walked into the store or my boss would think I had a bad attitude about working there.

I'm sorry I have been working 2 jobs since March so there were some days that I was a little tired.

I would have loved to stay at the store but when I am not able to even spend an evening with my husband or plan anything because I am "on call" is a little ridiculous.

No we aren't in the medical field but we are "on call" some days and if you don't call in it is like missing a full day of work. No Other Retail Store does this!!!

So after discussing it and weighing all my options I decided I would wait till the end of the huge semi-annual sale was over to quit. Well that lasted about 30 min after going to work 3 Saturdays ago. Things went bad to worse. All of a sudden managers were thinking I was yelling at people! I don't yell at people!!! There were a few other things that happened that day but I was done, D-O-N-E, done.

That was the last time my boss talked to me. I had 2 wks left which I worked 4.75 hrs (by their scheduling) and now I am home free. Last weekend was the first full weekend I have had off in over 6 months!!!

I LOVE IT!!!

So now I am working at Horse'n Around Farms as a riding instructor and selling Mary Kay. I am making as much or more than I was at the store and I am ten times happier.

I know no one asked to hear my ranting but thanks for listening anyway.

Cat feeder 2

So I haven't really gotten around to finishing the VCR cat feeder to make it completely useful, but in the mean time I have made a water feeder for the cats. This is extremely easy and simple, although buying a thing at Walmart is only like $4. But if you cheap (like me) then this is for you!

Materials:

An air tight container to hold water

A dish that can hold the container and have room for a cat to stick it's head in (or dog)

All you do is cut a small hole in the bottom of the bottle, I ended up doing a hole about 3/4", otherwise the water wouldn't come out on its own. Fill up the bottle and place it in the dish. When the water level reaches the top of the hole, it will stop filling since more air can't get into the bottle to replace the water that leaves, creating a pressure equilibrium. The original site I saw this on used a gallon jug and a 9x13 pan. Our cats seem to like it, although they still use the toilet half the time! :-) Travis

Our Little Addition...

I would like to introduce you all to little miss Curitiba. We have found an adorable kitten to bring home. No it was not planned, it was very spontaneous. We have been wanting a torti (colored) cat for a while and when I saw her I knew she had to come home.

For those of you that don't know I have a weird fetish. I name cats places, like Rocco's full name is Morocco. So it was decided that Curitiba was best, it is a city in Brazil. It was either that or Bahama. So here are a few pics of our new addition.

We have decided that she needs a photo shoot each week to show how much she is growing. These pics are after being with us for a week, so she is 9 wks old.

Deciding what to play with.

She loves cuddling with Rocco even though he is not thrilled with the idea yet.

I will post more later.

VCR Cat Feeder

Travis here. So I was feeling an urge to create recently, to build something, to feel more productive than just to say I memorized a bunch of stuff. And Kamala suggested a problem for me to work on: a way to feed the cat twice a day automatically, so that he would stop yelling at us to feed him whenever he was hungry.

Solution: the internet.

I found a few different products online ranging from $60 - $140++. Then I looked for some DIY solutions. Some were very creative and involved large setups, or a spare computer, or rare hardware. Then I found one from Make magazine (video on youtube) which involved a VCR, some plywood, and some wheels (or a VCR, an auger, and some weird gearbox).

So I found a VCR for $2, and thought of some other ways to apply the principles from the video... for FREE!

As you can see, I used my new favorite building material: cardboard. The small motor is removed from the machine, but still attached. I connected it to one bottle, which spins way to fast (it flung food all over the room!). So two more bottles helped to gear down the speed and increase the torque.

Obviously the delivery ramp needs improvement to get all of the food in the bowl. Then I just need to program the VCR to record a couple times a day for a minute or so to dispense a portion of food!

My Plate is Full...

So how many things do you think Kamala can do at once? You know I always wondered that myself. Well as of right now if you count family and church that number is up to 5 different things that are needing some part of my attention right now.

So as for church we teach the CTR 7 class which is wonderful. Travis and I take turns teaching each week and the kids are adorable. It is really helping me in studying the scriptures and understanding the principles much better.

And of course when it comes to family I have to be home for my handsome hubby. Travis has had insane schedules lately so we try to take time out of our busy schedules for each other. Travis will actually be starting his rotation in the ER here soon so it will be really interesting to see how often we see each other. Hopefully he still knows that I love and support him in all he does.

As for the barn in Vandalia I am having a blast. I am out there about 4 days a week right now but it will be 5 days a week once the summer camps start. Our days have been filled with cleaning stalls, cleaning the barn, cleaning horses and riding as many as we can. Sure I am exhausted by the time my week is over but I am loving every minute of being with these gorgeous animals everyday.

I really don't know what to say here so I will just leave it at this. I work a lot of nights and am expected to drop everything if they need me cause I am too dang dependable. I know that should be a good thing right? Well ask me later if I agree.

Well the last thing on my plate is that I recently opened my own business as selling Mary Kay Cosmetics. I know most of you probably think I am crazy but I have always wanted to work for myself and run my own business so here is my chance until Travis is completely done with school. So if you are interested in seeing what I am doing look on my other website at marykay.com/klsloan.

So there you have it. My plate is full and I would love to slim it done, maybe some day. Well at least you know now why I haven't been blogging lately.