Hard to believe but we’re only 13 days to Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even the cold spell we’ve been having recently only adds to the feeling of Christmas, (at least for me as I grew up in the Midwest with white and cold Christmases…) But anyway we had a full house this morning and everyone was all smiles. This is always my favorite time of year.
We talked first about the Christmas Party we had last week. Thanks to Jeremy McBroom and his committee, it was a huge success. And thanks to one of our favorite HNG members, Sue Farell, it was held at the Kyle United Methodist Church at 408 W Lockhart St, Kyle, TX. We had a great lasagna dinner from Illarios and cookies and cupcakes from Ambers Home Bakery here in Kyle. As always we had our white elephant gift exchange and played a ‘Who am I’ icebreaker game where a 3×5 card is taped to your back and then you ask people (one question per person) a yes or no question until you find out what or who you are. Surprising enough not only did the kids participate and enjoy it but a few of them were so good at it they came back for more cards. Again it’s always fun to get together with spouses and family members.
Jeremy McBroom from Mathnasium shared a couple of recent events in his life. First, his business was Certi’pied’ by the City of Kyle and he has received his Texas License as an auctioneer. Most of us weren’t aware of this skill so Jeremy was called upon to give us an example of his skills. Jeremy complied and before you know it he was ‘auctioning off’ an IHOP coffee mug to the group. It’s amazing how fast he can talk. So if anyone is in need of an auctioneer they should contact Jeremy.
Joe Wargo announced his new website is now live, www.wargocpa.com.
This week’s Member Spotlight was Stephanie Murphree with Republic Veterinary Hospital.
Stephanie shared her path from birth, on an air force base in Massachusetts before making her way to today, Owner and Vet at Republic Veterinary Hospital here in Kyle Texas. She admits that much of her life she was a nomad but has now landed in Kyle to stay. Here’s a bit of her fascinating background from Massachusetts to Texas and Africa by way of New Jersey:
Stephanie shared that she did her undergrad at Baylor University before heading to Africa with the Peace Corp (yep she was in the Peace Corp!) How cool is that!! Not so cool however was the fact that she caught malaria which cut her stint in Africa a bit short. But still how many people can say they were in the Peace Corp, went to Africa and/or caught malaria? After being back in the states awhile Stephanie worked with Green Peace organization and several other interesting jobs before she decided to go back to school and 
become a vet.
Stephanie admits her job as a vet is a lot of work BUT she says it’s also a lot of fun. How many people can say they had to pry a lizard’s (or was it an iguana…are they the same thing?) tooth off its owner’s finger during the middle of the night? Seriously she’s been around long enough to have a bunch of stories.
While Stephanie has her own cat and two dogs, when asked her favorite animal she said, without hesitation, cats. She loves them so you know you’re furry baby will be well taken care of by Stephanie and her staff.
Republic Veterinary Hospital offers a myriad of services including:
Exams – International Health Certificates – Dental Care – Laboratory Tests – Surgery – X-rays – Microchips and while it’s always a sad event, their office also sensitively handles Euthanasia.
The Republic Veterinary Hospital is located in the same shopping center as Fox’s Pizza at 154 Elmhurst Dr, Suite C, Kyle TX 78640. You can call the office at 512-269-0738 and find out why you can trust your pet to their care.
And who else has clients that are this cute?????
Upcoming meeting, Member Spotlight and Education Minute Speaker Schedule:
19th Everend Thorne ET’s Home Repair Education Moment: Rob Oskins
26th No meeting Christmas holiday
January
2nd No formal meeting, group-one-on-ones with free breakfast Education Moment: None
NOT A MEMBER AND INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE HOMETOWN NETWORKING GROUP?
Come check us out. We welcome you to join us on Wednesday morning and meet some great local business owners. What have you got to lose? Your first breakfast is on us! Dues are $60/quarter or $200/year. If you’re not ready to commit or can’t manage to come every Wednesday but you would still like to connect? We have an option for you. You are welcome to come any time you’d like and pay $10.
The group meets every Wednesday morning at Kyle IHOP 5401 Kyle Centre Dr, Kyle, TX 78640 (I35 Southbound Access
Rd, just South of Kyle Expressway and I35 intersection). Informal networking begins at 8:15, Meeting begins at 8:30 and ends promptly at 9:30.
You can find out more about our group at: https://hometownnetworking.org