Umbrellas lights are great

The weather is cold and a little scary today. I worry about roads between Bloomington and Springfield, with Dan now driving back and forth during the week. To perk us all up, here is a beautiful shot for a Monday morning. These whimsicle umbrella lights are is from a blog called The Bedlam of Beefy.

And, did you know I have adorable cats? They have won over Grumpy Dan and thought I'd share proof. The first is Baxter, and below is Kodak (you can see some of my color organized bookshelf in the bottom picture too!).

Happy Monday everyone!

Cute

Kodak helped me feel better yesterday by being super cute pretty much non-stop. Happy Tuesday world!

I'm over summer

Ever have a grumpy day? Today I was a grumpy pants. I like to think the over 100 degree temperatures had something to do with it, but I think there is something more. When I figure it out I'll let you know (or more likely I'll forget).

I was talking to my mom the other day, telling her how we cope when it gets this hot (we as in, the cats and me. Dan's routine doesn't seem to change much regardless). I mentioned Kodak's method for summer refreshment and again, he demonstrated.

Here is Kodaks preferred method for beating the heat:

My experience with cats is they don't like moving air flowing (like from an air conditioner) over their ears. Usually that is true for Kodak. Poor guy.

Now it's show and tell time!
Here is a glimpse of the floor pillow I'm making for a nice woman named Lori. Comma was nice enough to pose for a size reference. It still needs more filling, closure, and the center to be pulled in. But not bad if I do say so myself!


I hope you have a great, grumpy-free Wednesday. I am so excited to be one day closer to Fall.

Sunday Cat Cuteness

Watch out! Undeniable cuteness to follow!


Kodak just eats up a camera. Me-ow.

Makanda

The kitties are getting along a bit better. I'm using food.
Kodak has been the great peacemaker. He keeps trying to bump noses with Comma, but usually she runs off.
My talented sister made me this skirt. She says she loves how girlie it makes me look. I like that it has skull fabric in the pockets, along with the skirt itself :)

I went with Jordan today to wander around the area. We went to Makanda to the boardwalk and explored the few shops there. I have a pretty purple beaded bracelet now.

In Makanda they hold a Vulture fest. I will let you know what this actually looks like.


Behind the shops was a huge back yard with trails, and trees with old junk and hidden treasures. I especially like the huge metal bug.

May 30 = 3 years!

Kodak and Baxter are 3 today! These two little cats (not at all little anymore) have made me so happy since their arrival. Remarkably loving and both interesting characters. They've already gone through so many ups and downs with me (and miles and miles and miles). What will be next?

I don't remember: have I shared with you my decision to go back to Alaska? I'm going back to Alaska! From early August to the end of the season (somewhere around the 28-29th of September) I'll be in Juneau again. The idea came up as I was venting to Dan about shop stuff. So I'm taking advantage of having renters, having time and flexibility, and having support to go.

I wish I spoke felinese better

Something went wrong in the relationship between my cats. They are brothers. They have always been together (except that whole Baxter living in the Alaskan wilderness thing). After going to bed at 10:30, the shit hit the fan. I don't know what happened between 10:30 and 2am, but they are angry. Chasing, growling, clawing, biting. I came out of the room and couldn't get them apart for a bit. I have cat blood on my robe. Baxter lost (another) toe nail. Kodak won't let me look at him close enough to see if he has any serious wounds.

I separated them. I went back to bed.

At 4:45 I give in to the cat scratching at the door and m-rowling. They've been at it now on and off for the past hour. I figure this is just something they'll have to work out. I'm guessing it's some sort of dominance shift or lovers' quarrel. I have many hours before work starts, but for 4 hours from12:30 until 4:30, when Dan comes home, they will be left to their own devices.

Kodak is posturing under the side table in the living room and Baxter is making his rounds, every few minutes to try a new approach, or seek negotiations, or gloat.

Getting along fine, thanks.

Work is great. People that have seen me around this week and last have warmed up a bit. Those that I've made drinks for are even more open to chatting. Today I met a man named Mike who was wearing a Boundry Bay Brewing hat. I asked if he was passing through Bellingham when he picked it up, or if he was from that area. "I still own a house in Bellingham! How do you know of the town?" That is where I went to college. It never ceases to amaze me how small the world can be sometimes.

I also met Tina, who loves to garden, and Sabastian, who didn't talk to me until today - forgoing the usual brow crinkle and grunt in exchange for, "I like the way you make my drink."

Andrea just finished her third master's degree and has no idea what she is going to do next. She goes to the gym every morning, sans Sunday, until she figures something out. Frank is snarky. Jason sits in the corner for about six hours a day working on his dissertation. Sam likes his cinnamon roll heated for 33 seconds. Barb is the no-foam latte.

I'm talking to people and I'm starting to feel like a member of the community. At some point I'm sure there will be some people that will eventually be my friends, but until then, I'm happy to learn their drink and regain my barista multitasking skills. My feet still hurt at the end of every day, which I'm not thinking will change, and it is proof I'm doing something again.

No pictures of work, but I have images from my birthday. It was a pretty great/relaxing birthday.

This is my birthday cake. German Chocolate from scratch. Yum.

My evening: watching football. Next to it is my birthday card from Dan.

This is my Dan hanging out with my Kodak

Dan's 29th Birthday

Dan is 29 today!

I don't have lots of pictures of Dan, so I'll share what one that I think he wouldn't be mad at me for posting. :) No, we did not have lobster for dinner. This is from August in Maine, when his friends got married.


It's a low-key day. Rain coming down all day, cats sleeping on their various perches, music in the back ground somewhere.

Dan has finals this week, with his first being tomorrow at 8:30a, so staying in and having home-cooked things would be perfect. I was happy to oblige the request.

Breakfast was a spicy frittata with biscuits and bacon. Big yum here. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was making mom's tarts and an apple pie, as substitute for a birthday cake.

The tarts turned out to be a wreck, but I learned just how under-temperature our oven bakes at. I had a hunch with the pecan pies earlier, but I know for sure now. All the little pecan tartlets were raw on the bottom. No good.

Dan's pie ended up taking twice the recommended time to bake fully. It was nice having the house smelling like apples and cinnamon. Dad, I used the recipe out of the cookbook you gave Ciara and myself, The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen.


The cookbook is great! I altered the recipe slightly, as we had limes on hand instead of lemons, but the rest is:


2 1/2 punds mixed apples (I used 3 machintosh, 3 golden delicious, 1 granny smith)
2 TB flour
3/4 C sugar, plus 1TB on top for garnish
1 Ts ground cinnamon
1/4 ts ground nutmeg
1/2 ts salt
1 TB fresh lemon juice

Oven at 375, 50 to 55 minutes or until insides are bubbling and crust is golden brown.

I used two different crust recipes for this one. I had left over crust from the Thanksgiving pie marathon (super flaky and delish!) and I made a small quick top out of shorting, flour, water and salt. I didn't expect the color to vary so much between the two.

We'll eat it later after dinner digests and I'll let you know how it turned out.

Other fun shots from today are of my ever present audience throughout my baking and cooking adventures, Kodak and Baxter.
Our dining/craft/mail/catch all table is set right next to the island I mix things on, and the boys have learned to sit patiently there, instead of in my ingredients. A happy compromise I think.

And after my run in with Copper this weekend, my mittens smelled like dog, and it was gross, so I washed them and hung them over one of the heaters to dry.

It's not quite like having all of our winter gear steaming dry next to the fire place, like when I was a youngin', but it brought back nice memories nonetheless. Dan teased that he never knew his binder clips would find so many uses in the house.

Dan is still sitting in his chair studying, making outlines, and slowly memorizing. There is a cat on the arm next to him, computer in lab, and he looks to be balancing his constitutional law book on the other side. Last year finals were on his birthday. It will probably happen next year too. He says he isn't one to get super excited about all of it, so he isn't bothered by the overlap. He did mention last night, just as the clock hit midnight, that it isn't so much the getting older that bothers him, but the end of being his former age, 28 or any previous.

I've been thinking quite about about that comment today. I'm still thinking about it, actually.

Taking over the house.

While up in Chicago last weekend, I explored a fabric shop called The Needle Shop where I picked up the wonderful fabrics in the photo above. Today I set to work cutting and sewing, getting things ready for Nora and Azusa's Christmas presents. No pictures. No gift leaks!

I thought I'd share how great a sport Dan has been about me getting settled into the house. The desk featured in the photo used to be where he typed papers. As you can see, there isn't much room on it. Oops! I seem to have taken all the available counter space and filled it with art supplies! And now with the sewing, the kitchen table is acting as my work area too. I promised to clear him room, especially with his finals approaching in a week plus, but he just laughed at me saying he didn't really use them anyway. He prefers I use whatever space I need - especially if that space is the kitchen and I happen to make something that needs sampling.

And we haven't had a cat picture in a while. This is Kodak. This is from the day I made cranberry pecan bread. His look here was too great not to take a picture. He sat there for almost the entire time I was mixing and measuring, so sure that I would share something with him. Sorry dude.

17 Days

Kodak has taken to sitting on top of the TV. He lays down and curls his little paws like an otter and takes a nap. Jacque and Carrie could be shouting and tapping away on their computers, and the volume on the TV could be super high, but he just shuts it out and takes a nap. I will try to channel my inner Kodak this next week.

My job has decided they don't like that I get overtime so after this weekend I'll be back to just driving. I don't try to understand their motives or their crosshatched thinking. I'll still get overtime, now we'll just be short a dispatcher on at least two days. Repeat after me Ariel - It's not your problem.

Only a little rain yesterday, and I think today is going to be sunny/chilly. I'm having dinner with my friend Sydney from Allen Marine at the Island Pub, then coming back home to hopefully go back to sleep for a ridiculous amount of time. Usually I just say that everything will be better in the morning. At this point in the season I should be going out and doing all the things I didn't get to do, but all I want to do is rest.

Yesterday was the last day the Island Princess will come to Juneau this year. The Shore Excursion manager has been great these last three weeks, helping me down on the docks. I was down there checking in all of the tours before their all aboard time, and this gigantic huddle of people show up to say goodbye an hand out gifts to the ship. At one point Brian came up to me and gave me a hug and wished me a good end of the season. It was the first hug I've had since Dan left.

It makes sense now why I'm tired and so ready to go home. My introverted self needs my world of few friends. Too many comings and goings. Too many withdrawals from my energy bank and not enough deposits. Not enough hugs from people that know me.

I'll see Ciara around the 1st, and that is close.

Pantalón de lluvia

Today it rained .43 inches. It felt like so much more. It was fluctuating between drizzle and power wash mode. Or maybe I was in a washing machine? I don't know. It all happened in a blur.

But I now own rain pants, and I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing them everyday until I go home. After thinking about the overall mental clarity they will provide, along with warmth, I went out and got them. Plus, is $1.75/day all that much to pay for my remaining time here? I think not. And now I can ride my hypothetical motorcycle home if it starts to drizzle. And they make a nice swishy sound. Very good.

All evening I've either had Kodak perched on my chest while I read, or I've watched him keep a vigil at the entrance to my room keeping Bruce from coming in. He owns me. I didn't realize just how protective he has become until tonight. Even now, typing up a storm, he can't be bothered to leave my lap. My left elbow is resting somewhat uncomfortably on his bum.

Speaking of reading, Linda sent me a new book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. So far, an entertaining read. There are some scenes that are a bit uncomfortable, but the main female character is wonderfully original, and the story is starting to get juicy. Two thumbs up so far. I just saw the follow up book at Costco last week. My first impression is that it has great cover art.

The other fun thing that is starting soon is this season's fantasy football draft. It's taking place this Saturday, and through the Superbowl, I'll have one more reason to enjoy watching football on Sundays - watching for my player's stats and (hopefully) winning in the end. Even if I don't win, I love football Sundays. Waking up with coffee and a bowl of cereal, and listing to those silly talking heads blab about who will be amazing in the upcoming games. I'm a sucker for highlight reels, and really, there isn't anything quite like a solid connection between a quarterback and his wide receiver. So excited!

That reminds me of when I knew Sarah and I would be friends: I heard her shouting from down the hallway, some wild obscenities, and when I walked down to see if she was ok, all I saw was her sitting on her couch in her dorm room, screaming at the television. Someone was doing something stupid in the sports world. The next time I heard it, I just walked in and watched it with her. Done. Friends ever since.

Happy Birthday Boys!

I feel like I ordered my cats. I was running the Coffee Hound in Normal, and Kristin White was my go-to Saturday morning crew member. She and I would sweep the sidewalk, talk about boys and house stuff, get the shop ready for the herds to arrive promptly at 8am. Her kitty got out of the house one night and came back expecting. As soon as she told me I asked if she was planning on keeping them to term, and after the yes I said, "I'll take two!"

I got updates on how Prussia was doing, a call when they were born, visited the troupe before they were ready, and then finally got to bring them home. I scheduled myself short days for the first week, with the first two days be off completely, and eversince, we've been a happy little family.



My boys are turning 2 on May 30th. It goes so quick! *snif* *snif* I thought I'd post a ton of pictures of them being cute, because I'm a proud mama. However, this is not a blog about cats. But if you want that, this is a cat blog. And this is a blog written by a cat.

Camping in California

Napping on Dad's couch in Spokane

Napping on Sarah's porch in Scottsdale

Riding in the car down to Carbondale

Kodak telling Dan it's time for a study break

Kodak being incredibly fluffy

Baxter as a baby

Baxter as an even smaller baby

Baxter being a nose

The boys that first day home

The boys at three months

Three months

A year and a half

Day off

The weather has been unbelievably awesome here. I had two tours yesterday, both Juneau City Highlights. I drive around the downtown area, spend some time at the salmon hatchery, and then to the Mendenhall Glacier. It's a nice 3 hour tour. Not too long, not too short. It's safe to say I'm back in the saddle, with commentary coming easy again. I'm learning new things, most recently, about porcupines and the governor's mansion. Did you know that porcupines' skin produces an antibiotic? They hurt themselves so often with their quills (from doing things like falling out of trees) that they have developed this handy chemical secretion. I thought that was really cool.

I've been doing a great job of locking myself out room lately. Keeping the cats corralled, waking up super early, and being terrible at mornings means I've been seeing more of my landlord than I would wish to. I'm making some key copies today.

And because they are too cute to not share, here are Kodak and Baxter. I was painting on Tuesday, and Kodak decided to join in. He has a big blue splotch on his white cheek now. I'm getting it worked off a little at a time.

In most things at the moment, it's going pretty slow. Next week the cruise ships will be on their full schedule, so dispatch is trying to give 1st year drivers as much experience as possible while they still have time to work out the kinks. Good in the long term for everyone.

Bloomington to Carbondale

Start: Bloomington, IL 1:15pm Central Time
End: Carbondale, IL 5:55pm Central Time

Miles: 202


This is Kodak. Finally tucked in and accepting of the fact that meowing constantly will not make the car stop moving. I left Bloomington this afternoon, and for the first 2 hours, both Kodak and Baxter were having a serious problem adjusting to life in a car. They were panting and pacing (as best they can in a sedan), and for a bit, I had several back up plans ready to go in affect if they could not take the stress of being cooped. I stopped twice to rearrange stuff, making more nooks to hide in, and once to get their heart rates down. Once they could hide in small dark spaces, they both zonked out and napped the rest of the way. Whew!

It seems it was a combination of "look out post" and "contained safe space" that got them to simmer. Only one such place existed in the car to begin with.

It's official. They crazy cat lady is dragging her beasts around, down, up and through the country. First, we'll be keeping Dan company for a week. A wonderful, glorious week.

Getting organized

Yeah, until I actually do something exciting, this blog is going to have a lot of cat pictures in it.

Went to the Hyundai dealership this morning to have my passenger airbag replaced. They were nice enough to send a purple post card informing me of the recall. I will sleep soundly tonight knowing that my future passengers will be protected. Sorry to all you who rode with me and unknowingly risked your life. See I'm an adventure! Just riding in my car was risking your life!

Hyundai was also nice enough to tell me my car needs attention. One thing on the list sounded legit, and I'll go to my guy/call my dad to get the scoop on tie rods, but the other stuff is all suspicious.

I was sitting in the waiting room writing in my journal, making lists, listening to the Today show. There was a Mom and son throwing toys into the toy chest, dumping them out and doing it all again. A dude was reading the newspaper. A woman in beige pumps was glaring at a spot on the carpet. Ms. Beige Pumps was there just after I sat down, just getting an oil change. Renee, the brain of the shop reception desk, came in and listed off some technical jargon that Ms. Beige frowned to, which boiled down to the transmission fluid was old and too acidic, and it should be changed - flushed rather (because I found out that is $90 dollars more to clean the lines too). It would take about 30 minutes. Beige agreed to it reluctantly.

I would hate to be Renee. Everyone skeptical of what she says. Trying to help, trying to make money for the shop, trying to sound unbiased. Renee didn't come to talk to me about my list of "needed attention." A man named John did. John must be new. John gave me all the prices for the service (which they've never done for me before, even when I ask) and when I looked at him and said everything seemed more expensive than it should, he agreed. I said I would take his quote with me, thank you, and I'll be on my way.

Tomorrow will be car repair day, part 2, in which I get my oil changed, tires rotated and aligned. Exciting!

Like I said, the most interesting thing about this blog will be cat pictures for a little while.

March 1st. The above picture is my life now: two duffel bags, a guitar (that my good friend Chuck agreed to take care of for me), two cats, and a bag of maps.


The cats have taken to Alex's house quite well. Baxter was fully settled about 14 minutes after walking into the house, while Kodak is still anxious about almost everything. The happy moment was when they discovered stairs for the first time. I swear I could see their little kitty lips smiling every time they ran up and down and up, and down, and up and down, and up. Alex also has many more areas for napping and perching, like this one,






<------- And this one.

I'm pretty sure B and K would stay with Alex forever this place is so great. I'm going to Chicago for a few days next week, and I'm sure Alex is going to use the four days to cement his spot as King of their universe.

Tonight is L Word with the ladies. I hear pizza and beer are offered. As if being annoyed with the amount of Jenny shenanigans the show cooks up isn't enough to go! Plus, I am hoping Kristy will be up for recounting her side of the Drag Show. Her last number was Mr. Roboto, full out with silver paint from head to toe.

14 Days and counting!