The Best Gift - Presley Parker Hyatt

Christmas may be in 10 days, 

but as far as gifts go…

I’ve already received 

THE most 

precious 
priceless and

perfect 

gift.

Santa 
can scratch me off his list this year.

He doesn’t need to bring me a thang

cuz I got it…

something money can’t buy...
not even all the tea in China.

Okay a shiny bauble is always acceptable.

Sandwiched between a 

Thanksgiving turkey and a Christmas ham…

(Could I be hungry again?)

on December 6, 2019, 

(which fittingly happens to be St. Nicholas Day)…

our grand baby girl #2 
was born into this world.

Meet

Presley Parker Hyatt

8 lbs 11 oz       20 in.

The morning we went to to the hospital to meet Presley…

felt just like the Christmas mornings I had as a kid.  

The anticipation was palpable.  

I can remember back in the golden olden days 

going through the Christmas edition of the Sears and Roebuck catalog

flipping endlessly through the pages of toys offered by the duo...

taking a pen and circling the toys I thought I had to have 

and hoping like all hope 

that when I opened my eyes on Christmas Morning…

I hit the jack pot.

So for St. Nicholas's day
Ansley donned in her very official Big Sister scrubs, 

PaulA (aka Hop), Auntie Bri and MeMe 
(Uncle Colin and Auntie Alex will meet her soon) 

eagerly walked/ran/skipped  

to meet the baby sister 

Ansley's mama and daddy had been talking about for 9 months…

which is just about a third of Ansley’s life.  

Talk about anticipation.

We were about to come face-to-face with the angel 
who God delivered safely...

PRIORITY delivery 

via her mama and daddy.

Good job

Chelsea and Austin

Anywhoooo…

Presley will soon learn how fortunate she is to have big sister Ansley,

a sweetheart of a 26 month old

who is already so nurturing and loving.

As Presley’s Big sister,

Ansley will always be there for her

to show her the ropes…

show her how to cheers with her cup,

show her how to wrap daddy around her finger,

show her how to make mommy and daddy laugh.

Surrounding precious Presley ...

we were looking into the face of an angel 

fresh from heaven sent.

Presley Parker...

a baby sister for Ansley... 

girlfriends for life

a baby girl for her momma and daddy to nurture and cherish

and

a grand baby for her MeMe and Hop to love on forever.

Life doesn’t get better than that very moment.

God is great and we are forever grateful.

And so
when I opened my eyes 

and met Presley 
for the first time….

I knew

Meme hit the jackpot.

THANK YOU VETERANS

Today we are grateful for the dedicated service

of our U.S. Veteran Men and Women.

We can't thank you enough for your

courage, dedication, and loyalty 

to our country. 

Thank you 

Thank you 

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

 Thank you 

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

(I'll stop here.)

Let's

raise the red, white, and blue,

strike up the marching band,

and roll out the parade

as 

we salute 

and 

celebrate 

our U.S. Veterans.

And MANY THANKS

to the 

US military spouses and children

who have loved and supported them through the years,

making military life possible.

Anywhooo......

One more thank you...
and

 special shout-out to my father
who we greatly miss.

In honor of my Dad,
this Kat will be wearing his dog tags.

I am a 
Proud daughter of a 

US Veteran.

I will always remember 

my father so handsome in his Air Force Blues

our life together on military bases in the US and overseas,

and the sound of military jets overhead.

It is the Fly-overs 

that still get me...

bring me back 
and

bring me to tears

when thinking of our

brave men and women 

who sacrifice so much.

The fly-over yesterday at the Titan's football game in Nashville...

was no exception.

Happy Halloween Witches...and Warlocks

Question:  

How old is too old to go out

 trick-or-treating?

My Answer:  

If you are asking yourself, 
"Am I too old?"
then yeah, 
probably best to wash your pillow case
and put it back on your bed.

But

and mine is a big 

BUTT

if you are expecting to get candy out of this Kat…

make sure you wear a costume.

For any trick-or-treater posers out there…

a baseball cap isn't a costume.

I've seen goth teenagers walking around in 

broad daylight

who look more ready for Halloween.

Oh, and also say

"Trick-or-treat" 
when I answer the door.

Otherwise, you are just a cute little beggar. 

This, by far, is the perfect age for trick-or-treating...

except the smiley guy with the 5 o'clock shadow.

Anywhoooo……

The past few years I've dressed to answer the door.

Not that I normally show up naked.

There was this Halloween...

when I dressed as a beauty pageant ‘Miss.’ 

I donned an ole bridesmaid gown, heels, a handmade sash 

and then 

smudged eye makeup and lipstick 

across my face.

My sash reads: “Miss Applied”.  

Get it? 

(The little goblins surely didn't get it, 

but their parents sorely did.)

I think PaulA was the Matrix that year.

His costume always starts off with his college graduation gown.

(His college graduation is paying off in spades.)

Over the years he's dressed as a, 

nun, priest, ninja, Dracula, Bono...
the possibilities are endless.

This year I will wear the costume that is 

my fury fall back....

the Kitty Kat.  

Simple, 

easy 

and litterly
appropriate.

Meow

Peeved Off

We all have 
gripes,
groans and
grumbles over

annoyances that

get our panties in a wad,

peeve us off

or 
peeve our wadded panties.

Anywhooooo.........

Here are a few of mine...
but only a few. 
I don't want to go all negative Nancy on you.
(sorry if your name is Nancy.)

****************

The fact that I know anything about 

Ariana Grande's love life.

A bad red wine stain on my rug.

A stain of bad red wine on my  rug.

A friend suggestion from Facebook of someone I don't know.

A friend suggestion by Facebook of someone I do know.

Having someone tailgate me while I’m going the speed limit.

Having to tailgate someone going the speed limit.

Realizing I have 11 seasons of episodes to get current 

with Grey's Anatomy...a mere 99 shows.

Finding my DVR at 95% usage with recurring saved shows of 

Big Brother, The Bachelor, and Bachelor in Paradise.

(ummm....Chelsea😜)

Having to watch Peaky Blinders in subtitles 

to understand their Birmingham (not talking Alabama)

accent.

A cell phone battery that doesn't charge.

Getting charged for a new cell phone battery.

Being 6 quarters away from Free Shipping.

When a very Tall person arrives late at a movie theatre
and sits directly in front of me.

When someone's phone rings during mass.

When the Priest's phone rings during mass.
(seriously happened)

Unhelpful customer service people who ask me

“Is there anything else I can help you with?

Receiving a butt call.

Sending a butt call.

 Any glitch with my 
cell phone, laptop and Kuerig.

Married women in boyfriend jeans.😉

Boyfriends in married women jeans.

Needing readers to read my laptop screen.

Needing readers to read anything.

Referring to yourself in the third person...
like Elmo.
(Uh oh, that would be this Kat.)

Just My Type

I found this gem of all gems when we moved 

buried under other relics in our basement.

In case you are Gen Z and haven’t seen one before…

it’s an electric typewriter.

And not just any typewriter…

an IBM Selectric,

a high school graduation gift to me from my grandmother.

This typewriter 
was state of the art technology for the time
with its ink cartridge AND white-out tape cartridge.

So should I make a typo?…

who mua?

No problem.  

I could fix the mistake in just 5 easy steps…
Simply

remove the black ink cartridge,

insert the whiteout cartridge,

type over the mistake to blank it out,

put the black ink cartridge in, 

go back and type over it. 

It was 
Far Out
Right On
Off the hook technology 

or

for you Gen Zers
it was

Boom 

Drop the Mic

ingenious technology.

I remember thinking….

what could possibly be better than this?  

A "g could be an "r" 

in just 5 simple steps. 

So off "we" went to The University of Vermont….

me and my electric typewriter.

Hand in….qwerty

where I quickly put it to good use... 

not just for typing my own papers

but

I used it to make some fast cash typing other kids’ papers. 

I posted an index card advertising my extreme typing skills on the dorm bulletin board and 
my dorm phone phone rang off the wall…

yes wall.

I found that most kids would rather spend their time chugging beers 

than typing term papers.

My charge = $1 per page.  

The cash I earned from typing papers was a windfall  …

especially on Monday nights at  the Last Chance Saloon in Burlington VT…

where beers were a quarter. 

1 typed page = 1 buck = 4 beers = 

1 zig zag walk home

I also typed PaulA’s papers at UVM but didn’t ask him for cash...

I gave him the boyfriend discount.

My services were basically free.

Just as long as PaulA agreed to 

date me, 

marry me and 

give me 3 kids…

there would be no charge.

Anywhoooo.....

I pulled my electric typewriter out of the basement rubble…

wondering if it would work again.

I brought it upstairs, opened the big black case, 

pulled the typewriter out and plugged it in.  

It started right up with a loud  

hummmmmmm….  

Then I pressed a couple of keys and 

amazingly

the ink cartridge actually worked.   

My typewriter was probably wondering where I had been all these years.

After all, we were old friends  and it had bought me 

many a beer.

Apparently I can still get the ink cartridges online…

which I plan on doing 

so

 I can be transported back in time.

Back to the good ole days….

when a typewriter could get me 

4 beers for a buck…

and the man of my dreams.