inspiration

English: black cat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, my husband and I had the opportunity to take part in a new ad campaign for our local Humane Society. They are trying to raise money for a mobile spay/neuter clinic to reach lower-income areas of our city. The campaign is called Project STOP and consists of a collection of black-and-white photos of people and animals holding their hands up to the camera in a "STOP" motion with whatever they want to stop written on their hands. Since our baby Kazu is a black cat, T and I chose to write 'fear' and 'superstition' on our hands. People are still weird and superstitious about black cats, sometimes even killing them. This is ridiculous because our 5-year-old kitty boy has brought us nothing but love!

Last month we ran a 5k and my BFF Garrard came to watch us. Now he is running most days and I like to think we  had a part in inspiring him to get back in the game! He used to run a lot so pretty soon he'll be surpassing us no problem. There is a mud run nearby in May and I am hoping that he will do it with us. It would be super fun to do a 5k obstacle course with my husband and my best friend.

English: A chest X-ray demonstrating severe COPD. Note the small size of the heart in comparison to the lungs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In more sobering news, my Dad was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease this week, surprising no one. This is the same thing that most likely led to the stroke that killed his dad, my Papa. The doctor also found spot on my Dad's lung. He had a CAT scan on Thursday, and we'll have the results tomorrow. He's convinced now that he needs to stop smoking. I agree, but I don't know why it took so long for him to come to that conclusion. If you're the praying type, please pray for him. 

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Girl

Serial killer H.H. Holmes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today I bought a new bikini. It's very hard for me to find swimwear that fits properly and doesn't make me look like a skank. Hopefully by the time Memorial Day rolls around, I'll be able to fit into it properly.

I talked with Anna today about further education. I told her that if I ever went back to school, I would try to get a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. I believe I have to hold my Dad at least somewhat responsible for this. He used to leave true crime books all over the house when I was little. I would read anything and everything, including those books. He tried to remember to pick them up, but I had already read about serial killers and the like. I was kind of an information sponge back then and I still have an odd fascination with trying to figure out why terrible things happen and how to prevent them.

Sunday we went to lunch with two friends, one of whom will be moving soon. It was really wonderful. Many silly stories were told and much laughter resulted. We were also able to see an old classmate who is getting married soon and recommend the wonderful dj who did our wedding. 

We have been talking about road trips and other places that we want to visit sometime in the near future. England and France are on the list, as well as Alabama, where a friend lives. It would be wonderful to pile a bunch of people in the car and drive at a leisurely pace, stopping where we want and arguing over music. 

I got the day off today, because of the ice. T came home early today too. He did some decluttering today and was overall very helpful. We were able to talk about some really important things with minor conflict and that made me really happy. 

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