Monkey business amongst friends, owls and opossums ....

Every time I see a Starbucks, I think of Rev. Denny Livingston. In fact, I think out of gratitude for loads of free promo, Starbucks should either put him on the marketing payroll, or at least give him a lifetime supply of free whatever blend it is he drinks in there.

There ya go Denny.

Two days ago, I met with S. and Kim at the closest S-Bucks to our office near DFW. The three of us huddled around the biggest-little table we could find, and managed to squeeze in one coffee (mine) and two cocoas (theirs) around Kim's laptop. We also managed to conduct a meeting without spilling anything on the table, the laptop, or us. I took that as a positive sign from Heaven.

The girls are merging their hobbies into a business. They've been so busy completing orders from colleagues that I'm not sure how they'll keep up when they start getting orders via their new website as well, but they do great work, so, they'll likely have to recruit and expand.

Kim Hayden

Kim's excited and ready to leap through the starting gate. S. is the sort who likes to take her time with decisions after doing a little research. After they made the purchase of their web domain, I believe Kim thought I could design the whole thing and have it set up and running in 15 minutes from the cramped table in Starbucks. But, I'm not that brilliant and don't like having to think in confined spaces. So, I've suggested Jared Hall to be consulted for their webpage design. Jared doesn't seem to mind what sort of space he's working in, he's thorough and has far more techno-savvy at this sort of thing than I do. (For the record, S. must remain referred to as simply S. because she doesn't want her name or photo splashed across the net, and with good reason, so I'm complying.)

On the flip-side, Miss Kimmy Jo has started a weblog, which I think will be a fascinating read because ... wow!  Kim's lead an incredibly interesting life.  The more I learn of it, the more amazed with her I am.  And, in the last two months of getting acquainted and quickly becoming friends, she's bought a new Schwinn mountain bike, joined our little cycle pack, launched a new biz with our friend S., started a weblog and is considering writing a book. Yup! I'm impressed with our little blonde friend. The link to her weblog, by the way, is http://kimy-jo.blogspot.com, and she's still polishing her lit attempts. She works hard and she's the determined sort, so, I have no doubt she'll work out the grammar and punctuation kinks once she gets back in the hang of it. That little blonde head of hers has some great content, so I plan to keep up with her posts. I love seeing people take the intiative to try something new, especially when it comes to writing and sharing. Kim says she's never done it before because she was afraid of negative feedback. But, she's pushed her fear aside and is chugging forward with it anyway. She has some wonderful things to share, so I'm quite proud of her for making a start with the weblog.

I'm wishing the girls luck with their new business endeavor. But, I don't think they'll need luck at all. Their work and designs are already popular and they're both very talented. I think the business will be a huge success.

Another thing making the news with me tonight, is the opossum I encountered in the back yard a few minutes ago. It came from McGuyver & Company's yard, under the privacy fence. It headed for the patio until it saw Jacko and I, and then veered toward the back yard and around the garage. Glad it's in the yard and not in the Hall's house. Three critters in one week (1 opossum and 1 owl in two consecutive evenings) is a bit over the top. I was concerned I was going to have to throw my new DragonLaffs coffee cup at it if it hadn't changed course. Now I'm concerned it might see how Jack enters and exits, and get it in mind to use his dog door, which allows access to my room/office. I'd honestly have a flip-fit if it got in here. I'm not afraid of them until they're big enough to have big teeth, and this one is right about there. I think it's a teenager opossum.

The baby owl visiting the Hall's house.

It seems for local wildlife, the Hall's home is the most popular hangout of the season. I have to admit, the owl was really cute. It was fascinating to get to be so close to one, and watch him fly around the house. It also made the coolest noise when it talked.

I would have loved to have kept it, but wild birds aren't a good mix when around exotic house birds. I don't know if my boy Jade would be considered exotic for anyone but me, however, he's a love bird and I'm not willing to expose him to a disease he might pick up from me messing with a wild bird.

The owl was the cutest bit of "up close and personal" wildlife I've ever seen in this neighborhood.  And, much less intimidating than the coyote I saw loping down the sidewalk in front of my folks' house, while I was sipping coffee at day break on their front porch.

That's it for now gang. I've slept through the near entirety of the first day of my weekend. Tomorrow I have an article to finish.

That energy-sucking full moon can't be gone fast enough for my liking. Every month, it shows up, shines all big and pretty, and I feel like the Energizer Bunny experiencing fast battery drain.

Thanks for the read!

Have a great week and will see you next time!