Roofs, Ralphing, and Rutabagas

Sigh. There never seems to be enough time to update the ole’ blog.

Here’s a too-brief-to-do-it-justice recap of the last month happenings:

My lovely parents were here in lovely Nor Cal (see Dad – I used it!) for a little over a week. The vacation, urr, I mean “holiday,” started out smashingly: they picked up their rental car, drove to our house, and then whisked us away to Bodega Bay, where we stayed for 3 days/2 nights at an adorable seaside cabin. Beautiful weather, exciting whale watching (in October!!!), delicious seafood, much needed sleep, Texas Hold ‘Em, etc. Wonderful all the way around.

We returned home, did some other fun things like bowling with Dad & Mom (BTW they both got turkeys – AKA 3 strikes in a row – and kicked the pants off us younglings), and then had the roofers come midweek to reroof our house. This is where “vacation” came to an abrupt halt, and “ABORT! ABORT!” was all we could muster to mutter out of our mouths. Long story short: the roofers ripped off our roof and discovered some major problems, like that the our evil nemesis, the original builders of our house, decided to have 36" between rafters instead of the normal 24". They also did some funky things with the original 1x4's, yadda, yadda, yadda (no, I’m not “yadda yadda yadding over the best part… just wait). Because of all this, the roof would not pass inspection, so we tore off more stuff, added rafters, repaired a lot of junk, etc. My dad and Cody agreed to help the roof crew since the roofer was open to extra help (at $60/hour for labor, it adds up quickly, so it's nice that the guys could help).

So, Dad and Cody woke up on the day that all this roof repair stuff was supposed to go down and they were as sick as dogs. Flu sick. Sick. Sick. Sick.

Somehow, the guys managed to work on the roof despite this sickness – Cody fell through the rafters; my dad almost vomited off the roof (but he made it down the ladder just in time). Poor guys. The next day, they were feeling better, but still very ill, and continued to work on the roof. Fast forward: Continued roof drama, plus continued sickness. We finally got away again from The Money Pit on Saturday the 18th…. we spent all day at lovely Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and even rode a double surrey (a 4-person bike that looks like an old model T Ford). On the way home, I got sick. On Monday, Mom got sick. Then Dad and Mom flew home.

Great vacation for Dad and Mom, huh! It was sure nice to have them here, though!

IT PASSED!!!!

Just wanted to share that our master bedroom addition passed the final inspection this morning at 11:36 am.

This is uberfantastic news and an answer to prayer!

Now. . . carry on and have a great day. :)

Riddled with Panic

Jovi and Buddy gave us a house key when they went on their honeymoon since we house-sat for them. We knew their home security code and their secret password.

Or perhaps I should say we thought we knew their home security code and their secret password.

On Tuesday after work, Jovi and Buddy kindly gave us permission to go to their house to pick up some potent termite killer since Buddy has insider pesticide connections. Kinda like the termite mafia, but I digress.

So, we swung by their house, and ChickenWing entered the house while I gathered stuff from the car.

Next thing I knew, I heard a blaring alarm coming from inside the house, and ChickenWing strolls out the front door calmly saying, “I set off the alarm.” Very matter-of-fact. Extremely composed.

Trying not to panic, knowing that the police would soon follow, and knowing that Jovi works with the police and would catch grief for our mistake for years, I called Jovi on her cell phone to tell her what was happening and to ensure I knew the password to tell the customer service person when the alarm company called.

She told me the password, I hung up, and went into the blaring house to tell ChickenWing what word to tell the alarm people.

He looked at me, and said, “Oh. Well, they already called and I told them “Death Tortoise” (the name of our blow-up boat), and they immediately hung up,” in a very relaxed, matter of fact tone.

“AHHHHHH!”

I called Jovi back, completely riddled with panic, and told her the bad news. She told me to pretend I was her and call the number posted on the alarm sign in their front yard. “Perfect!” I thought, “I’ll get arrested for breaking and entering, AND impersonation.”

So, I did it. I called. I lied. And thankfully the police were called off.

Later I found out that poor Buddy (Jovi’s husband) had gotten a call from the alarm company and said that a guy name “Tony” had broken into their home and that the police were on their way. FYI: “Tony,” “Cory,” “Toby,” etc. are all very close to ChickenWing’s real first name, which he gave to the alarm company when they called (?!?). Buddy didn’t think of this association, poor guy. It’s a husband's worst nightmare – his wife is about to enter their home, alone, with guy named Tony waiting for her – and he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t get a hold of his wife because I was on the phone with her.

I feel sooooo horrible. And all this happened because of those nasty little boogers we call subterranean termites. And because we forgot the secret code. :)

Final Inspection

Three years have passed since we purchased our first house and began restoring it from a dilapidated 1930’s fixer, to a cozy, safer home. No electrical fires here from rusty knob & tube wiring -- thank you very much! I plan on posting before and after pictures of the transformation at some point in my life.

This afternoon's final inspection for our master bedroom addition was cancelled after ChickenWing waited all day at home for them to show up. Alas, this could have been a blessing in disguise... perhaps Mister Inspector Gadget was in a really cruddy mood and we were just saved from an inspector's wrath. :)

Well, whenever we can finally get this place inspected, please pray that she passes! It's been a ton of work for us, our family, and our friends. Once she passes, we can paint, put in the flooring, and move in – all before my dad and mom arrive on October 11th. YAHOO!!!

I Declare Bankruptcy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuGIgf-ICHM

In an episode of The Office, genius supervisor Michael Scott is having money problems. I love The Office, by the way...probably because it empathizes with so many of us stuck in gray cubies working with some really funny characters. :)

He is told about the option of declaring bankruptcy.

Because Michael Scott is very literal (and "special"), he then says the words, "I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY!" (actually, he declares it) and expects all of his financial woes to disappear.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just say the words, and everything would be healed, forgiven, forgotten, done, fixed... or even, just . . . . better?

I'm thinking about things like an unknown future, challenging relationships, a leaky roof, an entire country's financial system, etc.

I am declaring that we can't do this life thing on our own. Things get dark. And hard. And depressing.

1 John 1:5 (NIV) "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."

Now that, my friends, is a declaration we can yell and something will happen.

In Him there is no darkness at all!

Autumn… Sweet Autumn

It’s official: my favorite season is now autumn. It used to be a close tie between spring and autumn, but after experiencing long, hot, dry summers in California, I get giddy just thinking about cool breezes and (gasp!) clouds with rain.

As a side note, I insist on saying “autumn” instead of “fall” for two no-good-very-lame-reasons:

1) I wish I was English, and I do THE WORST fake English accent, and therefore my only hope in sounding more dignified is to use old English for certain words, like “the lou,” “holiday,” and “rubbish.” Don't you agree those words sound better than bathroom, vacation, and trash? :)
2) Autumn brings back kazillions of wonderfully nostalgic times, such as romping through crunchy leaves (which I will never stop doing), and indulging in warm, hearty soups and hot apple cider. Saying “fall” just doesn’t do these memories justice.

Anywhoo, autumn has a way of stirring thankfulness deep in my soul. If I were a poet, I would write a sonnet; if I were a musician, I would compose a beautiful song. For now, I’ll borrow someone else’s short poem and just absorb God’s goodness.

Pumpkins in the cornfields

Gold among the brown

Leaves of rust and scarlet

Trembling slowly down

Birds that travel southward

Lovely time to play

Nothing is as pleasant

As an autumn day!

Fix me a Coke, Sug!

We were just talking about the Soda vs. Pop vs. Coke issue with our friends in Lebanon, so I believe it's serendipitous (is that a word?) to stumble upon this map, which clears up hundreds of years of slanderous debate. Oh wait, sorry.... that's just the presidential race. :)

"When on a hot summer’s day you buy a carbonated beverage to quench your thirst, how do you order it? Do you ask for a soda, a pop or something else?"

See the map and read the article:

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/308-the-pop-vs-soda-map/

Traveling Back Home

We arrived home last night, on time, all in one piece, and with all of our luggage. Answered prayers like crazy!!! It's pretty amazing to see the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific all in one day. The most breathtaking experience yesterday for me was seeing the still, peaceful, jagged icy coast of Greenland from the plane. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture, but I found this one on the Interweb that looks very similar. Wow.

We're doing really well, but jet lag seems to be in abundance this time around...and it feels quite strange to be back, almost like a dream. Hard to explain! As we blankly stared at our pancakes this morning, Wing said, "I feel like a different person." I think that sums it up nicely! So far, we are successfully resisting the urge to take a nap today, and keeping busy with unpacking and such. But, it is good to be home even though we already miss Toasty and Tea. And tennan shwarma jezz (2 chicken shwarmas).

One interesting note: if you plan on visiting Lebanon (and I assume other areas in the Middle East), plan on getting questioned like crazy by customs when you attempt to enter back into the country. Or maybe our blood-shot eyes and slumpy shoulders looked suspicious. Whatever the reason, we were sent to special lines when entering back into the US and were questioned multiple times regarding what we were doing in the country, who we know there, their names, how long we've known them, what we thought about the country, where we are from, if we know of anyone famous from the area in California, what we do, etc. Everyone was friendly, just "curious." :) We wondered what it would take for them to drag us back into separate little white rooms like on TV for further interrogation, but then we stopped wondering since they could have been reading our minds and missed the part where we were just joking. ha. ha.

Other random things... we were surprisingly bumped up to "Cedar Class" on the Middle East Air flight from Beirut to Frankfurt, which was fantastic! Frankfurt was cool (as in temperature) and green and lovely -- we wish we could have spent more time there. Overall, we had our passports checked four times in Beirut, three times in Frankfurt, and three times in SF, for a grant total of 10 passport checks. We went through five security check points. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. :)

Upon returning to "The States" (we loved saying that while we were overseas - it sounds so posh), we now have a deeper appreciation for "dry heat," the delta breeze at night, the enforcement of traffic laws and no smoking areas, shorts/short sleeves (for me only), robust plumbing, dryers (as opposed to line-drying), the lack of horn-honking on the street, and the ability to drink water from the facet without possibly getting sick. :)

Pictures 'n Stuff (Edited on 9/3)

Yeah for more adventures! Here's a rundown of what we've been up to since Thursday night:

Thursday: study & prayer with Toasty and Tea (Toastmaster and Good Earth Tea are too long of names). :) Pizza for dinner here at the apartment, provided by T & T.

Friday: Before arriving at Tripoli, we had a lovely breakfast downtown, visited Jeita Grotto (an awesome cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites), and ate an amazing Lebanese lunch complete with raw beef (see picture of T&T above). We then attended Toasty's Toastmaster meeting (Chicken Wing was surprised to be selected as a an impromptu speaker regarding "migration" AKA "emigration"), and were welcomed Lebanese-style into the home of native Tripolians. :)

Saturday: Ate a Lebanese breakfast before leaving the Tripolian home, toured the ruins of Biblos, went to the candy factory for treats, and came back to the apartment.

Sunday: Prayer time, met with friends and their little baby from Iraq at the Jaana beach (yeah, it's rough swimming in the warm Mediteranean Sea), and had great conversations there (see pictures). Toasty and Wing talked with Steve about the kingdom, and Tea and I talked with Wendy about cultural differences, family life, view of Americans, adoption, food, and other things. :)

Monday: T&T had Arabic study/class again, so Wing and I romped around the city, purchased items for dinner from multiple street vendors, had an adventure with the ATM machine, and made T&T dinner. Quite fun and interesting. Wing accidentally used red pepper powder instead of chili powder for the veggie stew, so it was more like "Crazy-Monkey-Hot-Try-to-Taste-the-Veggies" stew. We also had great sharing and prayer time with guy/guy, girl/girl time.

Tuesday: Went to friend Ali's carpet shop (AKA Persian Rug Store) to look at a Persian Rug as a souvenir. We sat down and talked with Ali for about 30 minutes, looked at rugs for 30 minutes, and then sat down and had Lebanese tea and talked for another 45 minutes. Soooo, buying things takes a little bit of time since you can't just pop in, buy something, and pop out. Ali was great to talk to... the Lebanese people in general are very expressive and animated! At one point, we were certain we heard multiple gun fire, but were later told that it was fireworks (!). All the people around us didn't seem to think it was a big deal... we judge our reactions to things by looking at the Lebanese. Then we went to the Methalf, which is the National Museum of Lebanon. It was reopened in the late 1990's after the civil war was over. Pictures to come. You'll be amazed! Hailing and negotiating a far with a "Servees" (cab) to the museum and back was an experience in itself! Toasty and Wing then returned a car we were borrowing, and Tea and I got our hair cut and "brushed" (AKA styled) together. Then we all had a very late dinner, which is typical here. I think 9:00-11:00 pm.

Wednesday: It's our last day here... we're going out to negotiate deals on presents. Wish us luck! We also hope to have really good prayer time with each other. Please pray against distractions and other things that could come up and interrupt this time together.

We probably won't have time to write another post today, so please also pray for safe travels tomorrow! We leave Beirut at 9:30 am and get back to Sac at 8:30 pm, even after 24 hours of traveling. Hum. And I thought my concept of time was wacked out before now....

See you soon! We love and miss you.

Adventures - To Be Continued

Hi Fam & Friends!

It's been a few days and we haven't had time to complete another post... and it looks like we'll have to wait until a little later. We just wanted to say hey and let you know that everything is going very well.

Hope you all are doing great, too! We love and miss you all.... :)

Other Beirutian Adventures....

Editor's correction: Previous post exaggerated a bit - we were corrected by Mr. Toastmaster that the bullet holes are NOT, I repeat, NOT in our building. They are in the building next to us. So, take heart! All is well. :)

Two glorious days have passed; we have met numerous neighbors, friends, and businessmen and successfully butchered the Arabic language. Yesterday (Wednesday), we had numerous assignments that Chicken Wing and I completed with the greatest of ease (ha!). While our friends are studying Arabic in the mornings and early afternoons, we have been tasked with the responsibility of learning the culture, gaining a better understanding of the people (very diverse in Beirut), and finding our way around the city without completely drowning in sweat.

• Find a coffee shop, order drinks, drink the drinks, and people watch. Saw a guy transporting a very large padded chair on top of his head via a moped without crashing.
  
• Go to the American University of Beirut (very beautiful - right on the Mediterranean), turn in our passports for a tour (!), go on the tour given by a Lebanese students from Southern Lebanon and the Ivory Coast, and go to the archaeological museum (AMAZING).
• Eat at the Golden Sheep - scrumptious shwarmas and hummus.
• Meet up with Good Earth Tea and Toastmaster
  
• Guy/guy and girl/girl time - Chicken Wing and Toastmaster going to poor neighborhood to pick up a bookshelf with a borrowed car, Good Earth Tea and myself chatting and making dinner.
• Late dinner together
• Watched a DVD together
• Kicked our friends out of their room since the air conditioning unit broke in the spare bedroom, and they can miraculously sleep without the A/C (80% humidity!)

Today (Thursday), Chicken Wing and I went on more adventures, which included another coffee shop with people watching (everyone stares at each other - you can look as much as you like and it's not taboo... rather unnerving at times!), a extremely long walk around Beirut with blisters to prove it, ate menieesh (thick gordita-type bread with tasty fillings), and had other yummy food. We saw the sea again and came back to a power outage drenched in sweat at 2:30 pm. We've forgot to mention, for those of you who don't already know, that Beirut has 3-hour scheduled blackouts in order to conserve energy (today was from 12-3:00 pm, others have been from 9-12:00 pm, etc). Chicken Wing had the pleasure of pretending he was driving in a video game on the busy, honking-filled streets. We all then had a great time discussing joy, reading the Word together, and laughing. Awesome.

Tomorrow (Friday), we're on our way to Tripoli to stay with another friend and venture to a different part of Lebanon. Sunday we will spend the day with different friends, and are anticipating a conversation about the kingdom. We'll write more later! Thanks again for the prayers and comments.


Update: one more A/C unit it down! Two down, one to go. :)

Intriguing Beirutian Items

• Milk = bottle with cow picture
• Toilet paper is put in trash can, and cannot be flushed
• GIANT cockroach sighting
• Old bullet holes in our building and in metal barricades
  
• Happy Birthday sung to Cody in Arabic
• Kleenex is used for EVERYTHING from dabbing the sweat off your brow, napkin use during a meal, and anything else
• Families and people smoking water tobacco water bongs
• There are no street names, only landmarks, like stores. So, hang a left by the mosque, take a right at the British Embassy, and go straight passed the White House street (White House is a hotel, and then they call that stretch of street by the name of the hotel).
  

Yesterday (Tuesday), we also walked down to the Mediterainian Sea, but didn't make it to the water since the traffic was so intense! We also ventured out to another family from the U.S.'s place here last night, since it was their normal small group night. Absolutely amazing to see how God is working! Chicken Wing (who's new name should be Culture King because of his Arabic skillz) and Mr. Toastmaster took a "servisse" (step below a taxi, but above a bus, although a bus would have been cleaner) back from the cell phone shop after charging their phones.

A person here said he speaks English like a rooster. We're looking into what that means.

Our 2nd tutor last night also expects New York to be filled with nothing but gangstas and characters from movies like Scream, because of the movies that "represent" America. BUT, he thinks all Americans are really, really nice, because all of the Americans that he has met here have all been believers. He hasn't yet understood the difference. :)

Many adventures planned for today... we'll write more later and post more pictures! We love your comments.

Marhaba (hello)!

Interesting UK lingo:

Toilets = Restroom
Wave on = Motion sensor
Lift = elevator
Rubbish = trash
Holiday = vacation
Baggage Reclaim = Baggage Claim
Pursors = flight attendants

Out 9 hour flight from Denver to London was loooonnnnnng, but fine. We loved London! Our flight from London to Beirut was like 1st class -- full dinner, alcoholic beverages, hot towels, etc.

Beirut is very interesting.... CRAZY driving, more humid than a humidor, a tank less than a block away, a soldier with a gun (who we could not take a picture of), and a lot like Mexico in our opinion. :)

We had an Arabic lesson for 1 1/2 hours today with a special tutor (!), a crash-course in culture with our friends, and another Arabic lesson later today. It's a pretty intense language. :) Mr. Toastmaster and Mrs. Good Earth Tea are doing really well -- it is great to see them. They LOVED all of their presents.

We did have a small maple syrup incident in Limey (Jovi's bag). No worries, we'll get her cleaned up. They must put the bags through a trash compactor.

WE MADE IT!!!

Hello All,

We wanted to let everyone know that we arrived safely with really no problems. All of our bags arrived as well as us. Yeah!!! Thank you for all your support and prayers. We will have more posts soon with the fun details of the journey.

Chicken Wing Out

We are off to see the Wizard

The day has finally arrived and we are only an hour and half from heading to the airport and then its off to London and Beirut. We want to thank our friends and family for their amazing support and generosity. We love and appreciate everyone of you. Each of you will be receiving a Lebanese pickle covered with Lebanese Cedar in a pita pocket, its a local delicacy. Please pray for our trip and our time there with Mr. Toastmaster (who will be receiving Toastmaster literature and Fritos) and Mrs. Good Earth Tea (who will be receiving, I kid you not, 198 tea bags of Good Earth Tea, thats about 15 boxes). As a side note, we will be transportating about 100 lbs of items for our friends, which include, mayonnaise, maple syrup, regular syrup, candy candy and more candy, chocolate, books, birthday presents, soaps, salsa, stuffing, taco seasoning, and so much more. We love you guys and will see you soon.

Chicken Wing Out

P.S. The pictures of our luggage (six bags total) and of our send off last Friday night.

Check! Kitty Finds a Home

Just a quick update: Little Kitty found a great forever home yesterday at a cousin of a mom of a friend of a friend’s place, who lives in San Francisco. Wow – talk about a team activity finding this little one a home!

We were going over the nicknames we had for this little kitty (who we desperately tried not to name due to the additional attachment factor with naming her). Here are a few names for your reading pleasure:

Mini Meow
Minnie
Kitty Pot Pie
Kitty Pocket
Little One
Little Miss Moustache Kitty
NO KITTY! (as she sharpens her claws on our newish couches)
BAD KITTY! (as she shreds our front porch screens)

Thank you for being a part of our lives, Mini Meow… good luck on Lombard Street, City Kitty!

Adventure Coundown: Post #2

There are only 1 ½ weeks left until we hop on a plane to Denver, to London, then Beirut. On the way back, we’ll fly from Beirut, to Frankfurt, to San Francisco, then to Sacramento. Sheesh. We’re planning on missed flights and lost luggage, so if anything (including us) actually makes it to our final destination as planned, then we’ll be pleasantly surprised. :)

We’ve been collecting presents, packages, and other important items (like Best Foods Light Mayonnaise and eye contact solution) for our friends, Mrs. Good Earth Tea and Mr. Toastmaster. It’s going to be like Christmas in August for them! The love of their families and friends is very encouraging to witness. We visited with Good Earth’s mom (she lives about two hours south of us) on Sunday to talk about her trip there 8 months ago to Lebanon, look at pictures, and pick up more great stuff. It was inspiring to share lunch with her and prepare ourselves via her experiences and wisdom.

During recent communication with our friends, Chicken Wing and I would like to ask for prayer for the following:

· Enlightening personal stories that we can tell to demonstrate our beliefs, that will cut through any cultural barriers and communicate the Truth in love.

· Arranging prep logistics (all the details of leaving can be a little overwhelming – dog care, cat care, house care, clown care, airport rides, *hair cuts, culturally appropriate apparel, etc).

· Good times together – times of laughter, fun, and complete silliness. Things can get pretty serious over there, and although there is a time for serious stuff, there is also a time for laughing and dancing (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

Support keeps rolling in as well – we continue to be blown away by your prayers and dollars. We plan on writing an “official” letter at the end of our trip that will include a big personal THANK YOU to each one of you, stories, and a complex financial spreadsheet. :)

Pray on, dudes!

* We must bid farewell to Chicken Wing's shoulder-length ringlets. We understand that long hair on guys can be taken as a symbol of belonging to a specific political party.... any guesses on what political party it might represent?!

Marriage Is What Brings Us Together, Today

Time is whizzing past us…. it’s our 8th anniversary today. It seems like just last week that I was thinking, “Yah! What a great wedding – we’re married!” and then next thought was, “Man, we should have eloped.”

That’s the thing about weddings: people don’t realize what a big stress and money monster they are, even though the rest of us “married folk” try to recommend again and again that they just elope. SeaStar and I had a conversation yesterday about this: we decided that we’re going to impress upon the new generation that you want a nice, simple elopement…NOT a big fat wedding.

“Now, go get your pretty white dress and play elopement on the sandy beach.”

Besides, this molding-of-minds will REALLY pay off in the future when Doodah wants to get married. Brother and SeaStar will save a ton of money on wedding hassles and costs (this will be in is in 25 years, so inflation is also a factor).

Anyway…. Just wanted to say to the world:

“I am so in love with you, Chicken Wing. Thank you for marrying me and loving me,” to my favorite almost-30-year-old. :) Yeah for marriage!

Adventure Countdown: Post #1

Our trip to Lebanon is quickly approaching: August 24th - September 4th. We plan on keeping a log of our adventures leading up to the trip, during the trip, and after the trip on our blog (as much as possible). So, please feel free to momentarily check in for step-by-step instructions about how to bargain on the street for bananas, resolve major political conflicts in Arabic, or disarm a landmine.

We can’t tell you how excited we are to see our friends, Mr. Toastmaster and Mrs. Good Earth Tea (their website is http://www.ethnojournal.com/). We are reading a few books regarding crossing cultures and belief systems in preparation for the trip. Because of these books, we are now paranoid to talk, act, or even think because of the high chance of unintentionally offending someone, somewhere.

Heck, I just offended myself with that statement. :)

There is so much we don’t know, and so much that is going to result in more questions. We look forward to all things that will come from this trip: deep questions, deep discussions, deep answers. Deep.

Deep and wide… deep and wide… there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide…. Warning: you may have that song stuck in your head now. Sorry about that.

On a serious note: we have been completely overwhelmed by amazing support from family & friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Our socks have been blown off by your generosity.
It is an amazing feeling to know that we are not in this alone. Some of you know this, but we were originally struggling how much we should involve others, and we are so thankful that the responses we’ve received are so supportive. We have full confidence that God's hand will be on our trip. This is our prayer, "You are awesome. Thank you so much for providing - you truly are the Great Provider and Comforter! And please don't let us mess things up. Aaaaaaaa-men."

We will be having a few phone conversations with Toastmaster and Good Earth Tea before we leave to also help prepare our hearts and minds. The thought of this adventure completely thrills us. We hope to pass those thrills along to you. Thanks for reading!

Another Picture of Kitty

New Kitty Picture :)

Kitten Needs a Home!!

Chicken Wing here:

Just wanted to report an interesting development. The Director and I (update: The Director will have various nicknames throughout this blog, these include but are not limited to the following: suzee, sharon, lewis, bob, cruise, babygirl, suzee don't call me sharon, sussee etc, good luck!) found the cutest little kitten in front of the KL post office. We brought her home and would love to keep her, but our current zoo is overfilled. She is a wonderful kitty with a great personality and if you take her, your life will be filled with joy and happiness. We have included photos and a video of the kitty. Please let us know if you or someone you know would provide her a forever home.

Chicken Wing out.

Wonder Woman

It’s funny how the extended absence of a person (in this case, my beloved Chicken Wing) throws everything out of whack. Chicken Wing was stationed in “The Armpit” (center of the state) since last Wednesday. He has the opportunity to return back to The Stink in another week, which means I need to enjoy my time with him while I can! Anyway, I am pretending to be Wonder Woman while he is MIA, so I did the following this weekend:

· Painted the exterior of our master bedroom addition (yippee!).

· Waged war against a pack of wasps nesting under the eaves of my house. I won, but only after a major freak-out session (my knees were totally shaking as I balanced myself on the top of the plastic dog house NOT intended for use as a step ladder and sprayed them with super foam).

· Attacked 8,142 HUGE spiders that strung themselves between my trees, posts, plants, etc. They accosted my garden and won. I couldn’t even pick my veggies. Seriously hate spiders.

· Walked Cooper. Actually, the "walk" on Saturday night was more like a series of wind sprints, or suicides. Please allow me to set the stage for you: the sun had already ducked behind the hills, but I still wanted to go for some type of adventure since it was finally cooling off from the 98 degree day. I remembered that there was an abandoned shed by the river that I really wanted to check out, so Cooper and I boldly marched out the front door, up the gravel path, and towards the shed. Luckily, I had opted for tennis shoes instead of my normal flip-flop getup, or else this story would have gone really badly.

Sorry. I digress.

So, we when were about 10 feet away from the rickety shed, we both peered into the open doorway, straining to see what the heck we were seeing. Suddenly, we looked at each other (think Scooby Doo and Shaggy – rut ro rooby!), saw the glimmer of fear in each other’s eyes, and both totally wigged out. We tore off running in the opposite direction, and never looked back. I don’t know what he saw, but I’m convinced I saw a man sitting in the doorway, staring at us in silence. FREAKY! So, we’re running and running away from freaky shed man, and I figure, “Heck, I haven’t gone for a jog in a while, let’s just keep going.”

Okay fine. I wanted to get out of there as quick as possible.

So, we “jogged” for maybe ½ mile or so, and came to a stretch of unmowed, incredibly dry weed field. By this time, Cooper was totally slacking behind me, so I was encouraging him, “Common, Coop! You can do it… just a little further!” when suddenly we heard a BIG rustling in the weeds. We turned to look to see what it was, and then spotted an enormously large black and white tail rising out of the dark weeds. I screamed, “AHHHHH! SKUNK!!!” and started dragging Cooper (85 pounds of pure hunting dog) down the circular path, trying to get away from the beast as quick as possible. It was actually quite surreal: as I was sprinting, I rationally thought to myself, “I forget: does tomato juice get out skunk spray, or is that an old wives tale? Perhaps it’s vinegar. Oh man, I HATE vinegar. I really hope tomato juice works. I’ll have to call my mom, but she’s traveling. I guess I’ll have to Google it.”

Then I remembered why I was running and looked back. Skunky was not staying put. Skunky must have thought we were invading his territory, because the ferocious beast started pouncing after us. I ran even faster, and Cooper was convinced that it was play time (why else would an animal follow you unless it was to play?!). I dragged the dog and finally got out of there, and back into the paved paradise of KL. My heart was racing like never before. Big sigh of relief – we were skunk-spray free. Thank you, God!

Between the spooky shack and charging skunk, we slunk back home, locked the doors in order to keep out all wasps, spiders, and skunks, and fell asleep.

Night time walks were confirmed as a bad idea. Even for Wonder Woman.

First Ground Rule: Names

In order to protect the innocent, I will be using nicknames on my blog, except when referring to pets. I had all the pets sign legal waivers, which allows me to use their real identities and stories as my own.

Suckers. :)

Anyway, I will try to make my nicknames of people as obvious as possible, because I think it stinks when you read a blog and can’t figure out the cast of characters. If it is not apparent who someone is, email me. I’ll let you know.

First Blog EVA!

How exciting is this!?!

I am a blogger.

I HAVE A BLOG.

More to come.... blog on, duders.