Randomly

I don't really have a whole lot in the way of organized thoughts, but still had a few things I would like to share nonetheless.

::Moving:: We found a house! To rent, not buy- for now. We love love LOVE this house. I even love almost all the colors that the owners chose for every single square inch of space. Wow, are they not afraid of color. It's really conducive to the things I have and want to keep and the things I don't have and have wanted to buy for a while. I'm excited about redecorating. I will have My Own Room. The dogs will have a yard, the boy will have a garage for mannish things, and we will have a big deck, a sunny yellow sunroom, and a huge kitchen and living room conducive to entertaining. I am so, so, so happy. September, I know I said that I would try to live in the moment, but you have to go. Seriously, get out of here.

::Listening::
Oh, how I love this album and this artist. And now, at long last, I will be seeing her in October. Live. With nothing but her keyboard, her amazing voice, and my undying adoration. I. Can't. Wait.

::Knitting:: Although I haven't taken any pics of it in a while, I have actually finished quite a bit of knitting lately. A pair of mittens that are slightly (okay totally) not the same size, some green mitts that were just sort of languishing, and an adorable little white capelet-- my very first wearable thing. I think you would call that a garment. Yes, a garment. I have one now. I'm also working on a baby gift that is so cute you will throw up on yourself when you see it. And now I get the hype of baby knits-- when you make clothes in miniature, it doesn't take so very long at all! Unless you are almost bested by tiny little shoes. Anyway, I hope to finish it over the holiday weekend. Out of things I already had at home, no less. Do you feel smug like I do when you realize that all that hoarding has FINALLY paid off?

::Obsessively Reading:: Design*Sponge online. Not sure if this is telling about how exciting I am, but their before & afters every Thursday are a bright spot in my week. I just love them! I have always loved befores & afters, but it's so cool to see how a coat of paint, a bit of wallpaper, or some upholstery can make something truly gag-worthy into something fabulous. Not to mention, the Design Guides are great. I think it's the re-decorating bug that's got me.

::Loving:: Maya's new trick. Now when I come home, every day she runs to greet me, jumps for attention, and wags her tail. Just like normal dogs do. I'm sure it's terrible and selfish of me, but I like that this joy is only for me, and that I am the one person in the world that she is that excited about. Wonders never cease with that little dog.

::Anticipating:: A holiday weekend, apple season, and the return of Dog Season on the beach. I am ready to do some packing and organizing, make applesauce, and walk my dog on our favorite beach once the tourists go home and she's allowed in the sand again.

What are you doing?

Love is...

...using The Good Scissors to cut off your loved one's emerging mullet flap.

Almost 426 cat testicles...give or take.

On Sunday I was part of a very long, very special day.

It was neuter-a-thon day again!

My day started very very early, and for the first part of the day, I was the person responsible for taking the kitties off the operating tables, and taking them to their recovery rooms. This meant that I was one of the few people wwho actually had a hands on role where I touched every single one of the 213 cats that came through the clinic on Sunday. It also meant that I got to hold them and hug them, and they didn't fight to get away, like my cat does. I can thusly conclude that sedated cats are the best cats.

The next part of the day was spent checking out kitties and giving them back to their owners. That was also sort of rewarding- after explaining to them what they needed to do post surgery while they listened carefully (I just love an audience), several told me that they would not have been able to afford the vaccinations or neutering without the low cost clinic on account of layoffs, the economy, and all that jazz that we hear so much these days. That made me feel so good!

Here's an especially special fact: According to the man from the National ASPCA Office, we shattered the previous record for Southern Neuter A Thons- it was 153 in one day. We had 213! Hooray!

Did you know that a single male cat can father THOUSANDS of offspring? Well, did you? I didn't, but that's what makes this type of work so very very important- that's thousands of cats who won't be contributing to the head count of a feral cat colony, or won't wind up in shelters. Such a wonderful program. I really can't say enough about it.

I also can't tell you how sore I was yesterday. My wrists and shoulders ached, my legs feel like I climbed a mountain, and wow is my back stiff. But I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat!

Lilly and The Trash: A Love Story

This is Lilly.


This is what Lilly does when no one is looking.

***Photo removed pending editing of my Real Life Address from the contents of the pic***




Here is the story of how much she loves her trashcan, and how she has bested us at every turn, and why you should just have cats.

Lilly got in the trashcan.
We put the trashcan on the counter.
Lilly pulled it down.
We put the trashcan outside.
It stunk.
We moved the trash back in, and put bricks in the bottom. We thought this would make it less likely to tip over, and too heavy at least to drag to the living room.
She dragged it to the bedroom.
We put a metal hook with a spring loaded lock on the can.
She pulled the back of the lid off.
Now she gets locked in the bedroom with her sister. This seems to make them both happy (Maya's separation anxiety is gone now that her sister keeps her company), and there haven't been any coffee grounds on the floor since. I find this to be validation of Occam's Razor. I hate that I didn't think of it sooner.
Lilly waits. One day, we will slip up. We will forget, and she will be there. Vengeance will be hers.

Till then, I win.

washington- the state this time

Hello! Hope you all had a nice weekend! I am sure you are ready to be done with vacation pictures, but too bad! we still have a few more days, then it will be all over, I promise.

The difference between Oregon and Washington was pretty crazy and abrupt. Crossing over the Columbia River, you knew that you were not in Kansas (well, Oregon) anymore. It all of a sudden becomes more rugged and bare- but beautiful nonetheless.

Some sort of war monument:


Wind turbine thingies. I love the pic, and feel extra special about it being taken from a moving car with dirty windows. Now about this car: it was a Kia little 4 door goofy thing. Terrible, actually. Other than it's brand newness, it was just a mess. well, with it being such a small car, and us being up so very high- we were blown all over the road. It is a credit to BF and both his driving and coping skills that we didn't go flying off the mountain and he didn't have a meltdown. Because that is what I would have had.


So then there's the matter of the sunsets. Holy wow, you have some sunsets out west, don't you? This was just the start.
then this
which gave way to this. Just beautiful. It certainly helped distract me from the panic attack I was having. It turns out that i don't think i have ever been somewhere totally flat, but surrounded by mountains, and completely devoid of other people. It also turns out that I found it rather frightening. But I am so glad that I didn't freak out enough to stop taking pics.

I Love You, Oregon

Okay.

Have you ever felt like you would love to live somewhere, although you had never been? And then, have you ever gone to that place, and then known that this is the place you should live for sure? Heaven, thy name is Oregon.

But first, here's Mt. Shasta.


Now that that's out of the way, let's go to our next destination- Florence, Oregon. Our original intent was to take the 1 all the way up the coast. However, Helen, our GPS, thought it wise to go another route. I am so glad we did. The route we took was varied, scenic, interesting, and also much shorter. Works for me. Now, I had still picked Florence out when I had the map of Oregon spread out on the living room floor months ago. I made a hotel reservation, and felt like it was a nice halfway point. Oh, little did I know- it was the most beautiful place I think I have ever seen. And ya know- I have been places.

On the way to Florence:
Florence. Doesn't it seem like the setting for a movie made from a Danielle Steel novel or something equally cheeseball? It's just magical. I know you can't tell from the pic, but those sand dunes are HUGE.
I want to live in this little lighthouse and go crazy there, and then yell at the sea lions to get off my rocks.
Then we hit the sea caves. Apparently, the largest underground sea cave in the world is here. After taking an elevator ride down about 200 feet, we saw all these guys just hanging out.
They make all sort of hilarious burpy and farty noises. Sea lions are so silly. I could watch them do nothing but be boorish for hours. Look at this guy. He picked his nose with his flipper right after this pic.
We didn't get to stay in Florence nearly long enough. A delicious dinner down by the water, a walk down the boardwalk, and then we were on our way again. On the road, BF decided that he had to pee. Badly. We saw a spot for a bathroom break and pulled over. Then we looked up and saw this.

Multnomah Falls. Clearly it was time to do some exploring. Oh and just so you know, these pics have only very slightly been corrected- Oregon is just that lush and green and beautiful.




These are just a few of the over 50 pics that I took there. I mean really- a waterfall like that- just on the side of the interstate. Where else does this happen?
Finally, a quick pic from the Oregon/Washington border- The Columbia River. I gotta tell ya- what with a lot of these pics being taken from a moving car and through dirty windows, I don't think they turned out half bad.



Back tomorrow with Washington pics! Soon to resume our regular bloggy programming. Well that is silence punctuated by whining, so maybe not. But bloggy programming nonetheless.

The Little Town With The Heart of Gold

That's what it says on their koozies anyway. I happen to agree! This little TINY town (population 200 tiny) sits on the Yuba River, and all the people are just as kind and easygoing as it gets. It should also be mentioned that this was my first meeting with BF's mother, and she couldn't be better. She is a sweet, laid back, friendly woman who made me feel very welcome. I am glad she is who she is, because if she were different- she could make life very tough for me.

The road in:

One of the many beautiful views. I am sure the view from that little red house is even better.
THIS is his mother's backyard. It was awfully warm in Washington during the day, but that water is actually from melting snowcaps, so it was just the thing to have at your disposal.
Hummingbirds are all over out there, and this was one of the shots from the trip that made me feel like my photography is coming along. Baby steps, baby steps, and a bit of luck.
the little schoolhouse. It's just darling, and the fun thing about it is that while there was one room for 1st-4th grades (8 desks), there were brand new Macs all about the little school. Technology- it REALLY is everywhere.

This is the gold that we found while panning in the river! How cool is that?

Poor Man's Creek. Apparently $4 million worth of gold came out of this creek at one time.
And finally the little hotel/ which also houses the town's only restaurant and only bar.
This truly is a magical place. I would love to live somewhere like it one day. The pace of life, the time you have to appreciate the very simple things- it appeals to me. Not quite yet, but one day. One day.