The Grandma Tag!!

January 8, 2015 | wahmcat

Hi Guys!

I have been so sick since the beginning of December, but I am going to caught up on my Social Media Challenge. I am finally starting to feel better and thing I have a good plan in place to get all caught up. 🙂 So here I go….

This is the 42nd day of #365smc!! If you don’t know what that is – check out THIS LINK – which will tell you all about it and how to play along if you wanna. 🙂

Today I am thankful for something that everyone has at least 2 of….well, biologically speaking. I’m talking about grandmothers!! Some of us have foster grandmas (I mean that both literally and figuratively), adoptive grandmas, bonus grandmas, etc. I have 2 grandmas and decided to create a grandma tag.

Grandma #1 – Mamaw. She is my father’s mother. She passed away on February 11, 1979. I was three years old. I don’t remember much about her, but she did pass her red hair down to be and I am super grateful for that. 🙂 I remember the date she passed, because unfortunately it was also my fathers birthday. 😦 I feel like I have some kind of connection with her though… even know that she is gone… must be the red hair. We redheads tend to stick together like that. However, because I don’t know a ton about her or have really any memories with her, I can’t do the grandma tag on her, but felt like she absolutely deserved telling you about. 🙂

Grandma #2 – Granny. Man do I miss my granny. She is my mother’s mother. She passed away on May 5, 2011…I remember that date for a whole other – kind of comical reason. My granny lived in the Northside of our town for most of my life. They Northside was predominantly Hispanic. My granny wasn’t prejudice at all, but she complained a lot about her neighbors that were not so nice and usually spoke little or no English. So the fact that she passed on Cinco de Mayo is just kind of funny to us. We think it was her way of sending us one more little haha. Also, I had my son in 2011 and I was prego when she passed. So… her passing date is pretty easy to remember. I sure do miss my granny. I think about her all the time and try and talk to my mom as much as possible. My granny had a long life and we had lots of laughs, I was very lucky to have known her. 🙂

THE GRANDMA TAG

1. What do you call your grandma and why?

I call my grandma: Granny. Not sure why! My cousin (one of my very best friends now) calls her Nanny… I don’t know where that came from either!

2. What does your grandmas house smell like?

My granny’s house always smelled like food!! She was always cooking something!! She would find the best recipes in magazines and make new things all the time!! I LOVED her skillet meatloaf!! I can’t share that one with you. Family secret. 😉

3. Can you name something specific or interesting that your grandma always wears?

Scrubs!! My granny loved to wear scrubs! Mostly scrub tops with cute little animals. 🙂 I love that I get to wear scrubs to work now. When I shop for scrubs it reminds me of my granny. 🙂

4. What is something you enjoy doing with your grandma?

I loved to go thrift shopping with my granny when she was still alive. I remember one time we were shopping in one of our favorite thrift stores and my granny wanted some new flip flops… She kept scooting along in her wheel chair – pushing herself around from isle to isle yelling out: ” I sure do need some new thongs! Do you see any thongs over there that will fit me? I nearly peed my pants from laughing so hard. And she just thought I was nuts.

5. What is something that your grandma has or passed on to you?

That’s easy! Her love of Avon and a good book!…and a good bargain!!…and her love for food!!! 🙂 And hopefully if I’m lucky in my old age… her sweet sweet spirit.

Take a second to hop over and check out my VLOG this weekend. I’ll be posting a video called “The Grandma Tag”. It’ll have a little clip of my granny in it, just a few weeks before she passed away. It is a memory I will chericsh and it makes me so thankful for the technology we have today.

That’s it for me guys! Sweet dreams and I’ll see ya’ll tomorrow!

Love, Cat

Day 7 – My Roof and Ravioli

December 3, 2014 | wahmcat

Hi ya peeps!! On this 7th day of my social media challenge, Wednesday December 3rd, I am thankful for #ARoofOverMyHead, #CrazyNationalHolidays and #Ravioli!! How does that all tie in?

Today is National Roof Over Your Head Day!! I love to celebrate fun and wacky holidays!! For instance – National Bacon Day!! Oh yes!! It does exist!! Today, the spirit of things is a little more sobering. Bottom line – there are too many homeless people out there (young and old) that don’t have a roof over their head or much anything at all really.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot actually. Homelessness….is a very controversial subject. Some people think we shouldn’t help homeless people because they put themselves in the situation they are in. Some people would take the shirt off their backs to warm the body of a homeless person. We all have the rights to our own thoughts and beliefs…. here are my thoughts:

Regardless of their situation or happenstance: homeless people are humans. Period. However, I personally often get irritated when someone approaches me on the street and asks for money. It isn’t because of who they are, how they dress or what they look like. It’s usually because I feel like I can’t trust them. I work very hard to provide for my family and I don’t want to hand out my hard earned money to someone that isn’t trying to make a life for themselves. Or worse, someone who is just taking our money – as an income?! Ugh… I just get so frustrated.

However, it is the holiday season and I really hate to think of anyone suffering. So on this day, that I am telling you I am so incredibly thankful for the roof over my head. So much so that I really should stay up all night and scour it from top to bottom! Ok…realistically that isn’t going to happen….the key word there was should. Sleep is going to win tonight, but Sunday… Mr. Magic Eraser, Mr. Scuncci Steam Cleaner and I have a hot date!! 🙂

Today – I challenge you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I challenge you to follow these steps:

Take the $5 you were going to spend at Taco Bell on lunch tomorrow…
Go to Wal-Mart and buy a can of Ravioli…
Go to Dollar Tree and buy 4 pairs of socks with your left over change from the Ravioli…
Drop off the socks at a local Homeless Shelter or Women’s Shelter (They need kid socks too!)
Enjoy your steaming bowl of ravioli with the huge side of basically being awesome. 😀

Today was another easy day to pick what I am thankful for. I am 7 days – a whole week – in to my challenge. Are you playing along??

QUESTION OF THE DAY: When was the last time you donated money, products or your time to a homeless or women’s shelter near you? (Hint: If your answer is never…today is the day! – You can even do it anonymously…)

I can’t wait to hear/read/see your posts!! If you guys play along on any social media sites please use the hashtag: #365smc That way I can follow along all year and give you guys some shout outs!!

Here is the link to my YouTube channel: Cat’s YouTube Channel: Obliviously Awesome.

Here is the link to my Day 7 (My Roof and Ravioli) video!! 🙂 Check it out!

Here is where you can find me:

VLOG: www.youtube.com/user/OblivioislyAwesome
BLOG: www.WAHMcat.wordpress.com
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/wahmcat
INSTAGRAM: www.Instagram.com/ObliviouslyAwesome
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Obliviously-Awesome/311528022376074
PINTEREST: www.Pinterest.com/wahmcat

See ya’ll tomorrow! 😀

Love ya lots, like tator tots!!

Love, Cat

#365smc

Day 6 – Taco Tuesday Baby!

December 3, 2014 | wahmcat

Hi ya’ll!! Today was a very awesome day! Why, you ask? Because it’s TACO TUESDAY BABY!! On this 6th day of my social media challenge, Tuesday December 2nd, I am thankful for #TacoTuesdayBaby – also #yummy! 🙂

Every Tuesday for the last few years, my family has pretty much eaten the same thing every Tuesday. Unless I was sick or tending to a sick kiddo or some other craziness happened, I went and picked up Taco Tuesday!! It has become a ritual in my home that I really love.

It started with a few Tuesday’s here and there because it was inexpensive, tasty and easy. Then it just became…a thing. Then when I had little man it also became a ritual that the MIL (the Misters mommy) came over every Tuesday to visit her newest grandbaby. I started picking up tacos for her too. Now, I really look forward to Tuesday nights and here is why:

TacoCat is spelled the same backwards. 🙂 Ok…so that isn’t one of the reasons, but it is still some ~~useful~~ useless knowledge that you may need some day! 😉
Tacos are yummy and there are sooooooooo many options!! Corn or flour tortillas? Beef, chicken, carnitas, veggie…blah blah blah? Lettuce? Tomato? Cheese? (duh.) Sour cream? Guacamole? Or do you like street tacos with onions and cilantro? #yummy!!
All 3 of my kids sit around the table with the MIL and we always have good conversation. Nothing can beat that. 🙂
I am teaching my children the value of spending time together.
Lots o’ food for NOT lots o’ money!

It’s a total #WinWin.

Today was an easy pick for what I’m thankful for! I’ve known ever since I started my challenge what I would be thankful for the very first Tuesday. 🙂

I can’t wait to hear/read/see your posts!! If you guys play along on any social media sites please use the hashtag: #365smc That way I can follow along all year and give you guys some shout outs!!

Here is the link to my YouTube channel: Cat’s YouTube Channel: Obliviously Awesome – Go find the Day 6 video and let me know what ya think!!! 🙂

Here is where you can find me:

See ya’ll tomorrow! 😀

Love ya lots, like tator tots!!

Love, Cat

#365smc

Day 5 – Rotisserie Chicken…most specifically from Albertsons

December 2, 2014 | wahmcat

Hello, my friends!! Today was a flippin cold in Texas yo! On this 5th day of my social media challenge, Monday December 1st, I am thankful for #Rotisserie Chickens. I use them to make chicken and rice for my family on a night when I need a break!!

Today was a tough day! It started out pretty typical at 6:30 this morning, but when the little guy landed sick at school, mommy had to rescue him and was forced to take him home and cuddle…darn the luck. Anyway, by the time his daddy was headed home, I was starving!! Frozen pizza, pot pies, hot pockets, sandwiches…etc. Nothing sounded good. No meet thawing so I needed something quick and easy…

I decided I wanted to make the Chicken and Rice dish my kids love so much (and I love because it is so easy!) So I called the Mister and asked him to pick up a few things. When he got home I had gotten the little man sleepy enough I was able to slip away for about 20 minutes to whip up dinner. Literally. Less than 20 and I had a full meal on the table. Enough for a family of 5 and leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!

With my new challenge, I wake up every morning, wondering what I will be thankful for that day. I had a couple of ideas for today. However, when I started deboning that chicken – I knew exactly what I am thankful for today. Check out the recipe below and if you have ANY questions you can use any of the links below to touch base.

Cat’s Easy Peasy Chicken n Rice (you pick the theme/flavor!)

– 2 packs of Knorr Rice (Any flavor – we chose Cheddar Broccoli today)

– 1 #Rotisserie Chicken (Albertsons are $1 less than Walmart and about 20% bigger – and taste superb!)

Follow directions on rice for stovetop or microwave (microwave is easy – throw it all in a microwave safe bowl for 12 minutes – perfection.) While rice is cooking – take skin off of chicken and debone. Add chicken to cooked rice, add a little milk or water (2-3 tablespoons) and pop back in microwave for about a minute. Whip up a few sides and Walla! Dinner is served. 🙂 Thank you #Albertsons for making my life easier!!

I can’t wait to hear/read/see your posts!! If you guys play along on any social media sites please use the hashtag: #365smc That way I can follow along all year and give you guys some shoutouts!!

Here is the link to my YouTube channel: Cat’s YouTube Channel: Obliviously Awesome – Go find the Day 5 video and take a peek and see how my kiddos approved of the meal! Even the little guy who is not feeling his best today…

Here is a link to the actual video for Day 5: Rotisserie Chicken

Here is where you can find me:

See ya’ll tomorrow! 😀

Love ya lots, like tator tots!!

Love, Cat

#365smc

Sleepless Nights

August 19, 2013 | wahmcat

Ugh! It’s hard enough to fall asleep at night with the 8.2 million little “me” running around in my head shouting questions that all require immediate miracle answers so that I can survive the next day.

Just as soon as I give them all irrational, reckless answers to shut them up and I find that nice little lull that is going to allow me a few minutes of thoughtless peace and quiet…

… I come out of my sleeping stupor to find that the Star Trek Enterprise apparently has landed at the foot of my bed.

This is literally a photo I just snapped with the flash off so you get the full “Lite-Brite” effect.

Then after trying to decide if meeting Captain Kirk and/or Spock is more important than sleep… I finally realize that the DVR is just popping on to record the latest SyFy shows and that my sweet little toddler has turned on all of the electronics at some point today. Awesome.

…sigh… Might as well sit up and tune in. Who knows, maybe the zombie moaning from the last recorded episode of The Walking Dead will put me back to sleep.

We shall see….

What crazy things keep you up at night?

Touching Strangers

August 11, 2013 | wahmcat

You can usually tell a lot about a person…just by watching their body language. People watching is one of my favorite hobbies. I love to sit in a food court at the mall and watch people and hear little tid bits of their lives as they walk past my table. I guess maybe it goes back to that old “What is the meaning of life?” and “Why are we here?” type thinking. We all play such a big part in this world. Strangers – they intrigue me.

I suppose that is why I am so into Richard Renaldi, an artist out of New York. He takes photographs of people…lots of people. His artistic eye captures people in a way that gives the viewer an opportunity to write a story about that person the instant they look at them.

Richard has several different projects that I love like “Manhattan Sunday” – a series of black and white photos depicting people on the streets of Manhattan in their own light. These photos put me in Manhattan. I can see myself sipping on a warm cup of Earl Grey in a little café watching these people walk by – can you imagine their stories? I also love “The Grand Show” – photos from all over the United States that portray scenes of beauty and chaos and history. Just lovely, really.

My favorite project has been getting publicity lately…which is actually how I learned about him. A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook from CBS News that was featuring his project “Touching Strangers“. She is very artistic herself and said, “This? I love. Adore.” and posted a link the article. I read it and had to find out more! So google bound I was… The interesting thing is that I love Richard’s artistic vision – but I love the idea behind this series of photos. He asks complete strangers to pose with each other. Awkward is the first word that would come to my mind – but I think I would probably do it.

With so much history behind us – we all tend to live in a world of our own of sorts. It’s like we have are our own city, allowing those that we enjoy to live in our city. We know that there are billions of other people out there but they need to live in their own city. Lets face it – it is hard to let people in. I am a touchy-feely, affectionate kind of gal – which makes some people very uncomfortable. I often refer to people as doll, hun, sugar, sweetie – you get the idea. I once had a man tell me, “My name is Marshall, not hun.” I was a little taken aback. First because I was offended, but then because I felt guilty for making him feel uncomfortable or maybe disrespected? At any rate – I still see this man from time to time in business and since that day it is always, “How are you today, Marshall?” and “Thank you, Sir” He seems appreciative – even shocked me the other day by offering me some discount coupons at a local buffet because he knows I like to eat out with my kiddos.

That is the way of the world – we don’t want to let anyone new in. In this series of photos, Richard asks random people on the streets of New York to pose together – as if they know each other – and to touch in some way.

Some of the photos suggest they know each other intimately…

Tari, Shawn & Summer

Some photos you can see the awkwardness…

Alex & Carlos

In an interview done by Joerg Colberg, Richard said, “I decided I wanted the images to explore how notions of trust, love, social conventions, and taboos are expressed through body language.” I would say he hit his mark.

A few of my favorites…

Alfredo & Jessica

Michael & Kimberly

The photo below is my absolute favorite – probably because I was able to read the story behind it. Richard said he approached a lot of people that were not willing to be photographed with a stranger – much less touching them! On this day Julie was in the park taking her wedding photos. Richard approached her and explained his endeavor and in his words, “Thrillingly, she was game.” He began searching for the park for someone to photograph her with. When he found Xavier, he knew it was a perfect match. Her family and the wedding party watched on as the wedding photographer recorded the events and this photo was the result.

Julie & Xavier

Remember, I like to create stories while watching people in their normal day-to-day lives. These photos give me the opportunity to imagine things on a grander scale. Not just, “Who are these people?” and “Where are they going?” but, “Who were they?” and “How did they meet?” – “What is their story?” I think it is simply fascinating.

When the photo shoot was done – did these people just walk away? Did they become life long friends. Did they keep in contact at all?

When asked something very close to those questions Renaldi said, “As far as I know, no one exchanged phone numbers. But I do try to email the subjects their pictures, and I include both email addresses so they could theoretically get in touch with each other…”

And I think that is kind of awesome.

Here are some links if you would like to find out more:

Richard Renaldi’s Website

Richard Renaldi’s Blog

Follow Richard on Instagram

Richard Renaldi on Facebook

**Note: The project titled “Hotel Room Portraits” is a collection of photos of Richard and his partner Seth in some of the hotels they have stayed at during their travels. A few of these pictures show full frontal nudity. They were all very artistic and tasteful photos – however – in case you are viewing at work or in a public area, I wanted to give a heads up.

Touching Strangers: Photographs by Richard Renaldi: NYC publisher Aperature seeks crowd-funding support to bring the photo series to print (coolhunting.com)
Total Strangers Who Have Never Met Pose Together In Intimate Portraits (razaky.com)
Photography Bringing People Together (meamblings.wordpress.com)
Intimately familiar photos of people who are strangers to each other [14 pictures] (twentytwowords.com)

Officially Title: Award Nominated Momma Blogger :)

July 18, 2013 | wahmcat

Yippee! Look at me…all official and stuff! Now before you all go and start sending me congratulatory gifts and all (no, really – go ahead) I need to thank the awesome gal that nominated me! Check out her blog here: “The hilarious, mental side of motherhood“. I love reading her posts! This one in particular is one that I identify with: “Invasion of the Mom Snatcher” – simply hilarious! That is the thing about this crazy blogging world! I just love it!! I’ve met so many diverse people and I am loving it. I am a brand new blogger but have BIG plans for my future in this virtual world. I plan to really make a difference – I know…I know…don’t we all? But I am a redhead – so I may be a little stubborn – which usually (definitely not all the time) helps me out. In this particular case I’m going to cross my fingers for the whole “fairytale ending”. 🙂

However in my short time in this virtual world – I have “met” some super talented people. So I am going to nominate a few of them for this award too! 🙂

– Check out “Cute Overload” a group of people that put up the absolute cutest things on the internet! Anytime I need a smile (or to get my little one’s mind off the fact that ma-maw just left) I can count on this blog to deliver in the form of tiny pig snout and the like! 🙂
– Then head over to this Super Dad’s page, “The Real Full House” and read his journey. This blog is modeled after the 90’s sitcom, “Full House”. After his wife passed away he had to step up and play mom and dad to his girls. His blog is refreshing and funny. Great read.
– And then you should peek in on my first ever follower “Mommas Got A Brand New Bag“. She is the mom of 4 (and 2 fur babies) and her blog is often funny and always full of amazing give-a-ways & contest info! All of her kiddos names start with a “D” and she is Darn funny!
– For my fellow artistic followers you should pop over to check out “Stories from home” – an awesome blog with absolutely AMAZING pictures and a sweet little dog named Oliver. 🙂 I love taking a peek at the newest things on this blog as often as I can. It’s like getting that first breath of fresh air outside the grocery store when you’ve been stuck behind the crazy lady with 3 gallons of ‘eau de toilet water’ in line ahead of you. A nice sweet breath of fresh air. 🙂

I look forward to meeting lots of new people on this blogging adventure! 🙂 See ya out there…..

Love,