Random Rainy Thoughts

Ok, not just about rain, it only sounded catchy, is all. And, it IS raining. It's been raining. Several days now. SICK OF IT!

I found it really ironic that, no sooner did we install an underground sprinkler system, we start getting all this rain. This goes hand in hand with the phenomenon of, if you forget your umbrella, it rains, if you lug it all around with you, it doesn't rain.

Really, rain is a good thing, I know. And, given how parched we were last year, I shouldn't be complaining. But. I. Am. Mostly because it's dreary, I can't let Lucy out without having to wipe her feet off when she comes back in (no fun for either one of us; she does NOT like me wiping her back feet AT ALL and it's a fight for the foot every damn time) plus I'm forever running around the house opening, then closing, then opening, windows. And, the bugs. UGH. They've been awful this season due to all of this rain, which causes big pools of standing water in the yards of nearby neighbors who haven't done a damn thing with their landscaping. As previously blogged about, the ticks have been really bad (Mr. B is due to retreat the lawn soon and all the pets (at least ours) will get their dosage of Frontline tomorrow) as have the brown spiders. I'm not sure what they are, exactly, but they are all over the place. Luckily, Lily has turned out to be quite the adept spider hunter.

We've settled into a routine with The Greek Gang. After Lucy's am walk, I let them out for several hours. They run all over the place upstairs; tearing about from room to room similar to what Pete and Lily did when we first got them. Pete and Lily, in their turn, will run around, too. Pete has pretty much stopped hissing at the kittens and, just earlier, I saw him playing with Zeus (or maybe it was Ares; one of the grey ones!) Around lunch time, they go back into their room (usually they are tired enough to go in and sit around me if I sit on the floor reading the paper). I leave them in there until 3 or 4, at which point I go back into their room, visit and give pets and cuddles, and out they go again (they have NO interest in being petted or picked up when they are roaming around). They go back in around dinner time and then the whole fam-damily goes into the room before bed time for a play and pet session. Pete and Lily are really enjoying this as they get in on the playing action as well.

Oh yeah, there is the drudge routine of feeding, watering, and scooping out the litter box 2X a day (plus Pete and Lily's) but, such is life.

They have had two visits from family; Sunday, Jon and the girls came over for an hour or so (kittens were tired, didn't want to come out much from under the bed) and yesterday, Shannon and the girls came over. Sorta the same thing; around lunchtime (as I said), they are ready for a long nap. I guess the best time for family visits are in the morning or early evening (not really convenient, I know).

BTW, both visits with the girls were a lot of fun. They are so cute and they are into EVERYTHING! Jacqueline found Lucy's water bowl yesterday and tipped it over and proceeded to crawl into the water. Sophie had great fun banging Lucy's water bowl on the table in the sunroom (until Aunt Amy went and found paper bowls and plates for them to play with).

Mom and I had a nice day shopping on Monday. Mostly for stuff for their trip to Alaska (we went to BJs so she could stock up) but also for the girls' b-day gifts. We also stopped by Wal Mart to get a few things. Normally, I have a huge aversion to Wal Mart but the one near our house is actually quite nice. And, seriously, their prices are LOW.

I saw a great tee shirt and had to buy it. It has a applique of the ruby slippers (Wizard of Oz) on it with this around it, "It's All About The Shoes". Love it!

The Kid was over Monday night. That went ok. She seemed a bit subdued to me; mostly, I think, because she is taking a pre-calculus class at UNC CH starting this Thursday and she's nervous. I can't hardly blame it; going from a small private school to taking a class M-F at a huge school like UNC CH? But, it'll be good for her. She said she's interested in pre-med (college major). Yet, she still has no clue, really, where she'll go to college. She's been to a few (in NC) but apparently no decision has been made. There has also been no further mention of her dad's involvement in this decision, financially or otherwise. Which is no surprise. At least she FINALLY sent a thank you to her grandparents B. It only took her six months.

I'm pleased to report that, weight-wise, I'm back under 120. Amazing how easy it's been to keep it off. It's sorta weird, actually. I'm not sure how I ever lived with those extra 13 or so pounds.

There is an off chance my niece Natalie will come visit for a few weeks in August. But, I'm waiting on her mother to get in touch with me about details, so I'm not sure about how this will all play out. Her mom sure was gung-ho to send her down a few weeks ago, but, maybe the logistics of getting her are causing issues.

In any case, we're off to Ithaca NY in a few weeks for a five day vacation/visit with Mr. B's family. We're staying at a B&B that is near to both Cornell and Ithaca College and are looking forward to going to some wineries, going out on the lake with Mike and Kym, and attending a family reunion.

Hey a fun thing! I connected on FB with a woman who used to live on the same street as we did in San Diego. She is about three years older than me, so, when I was living there, I'm sure she didn't give me the time of day (although she was always polite). Well, we've been chatting back and forth; catching each other up on what we know of what happened to other folks that lived on the same street. It's been extremely interesting!

Well, it's 11:00. It sounds like the little monsters have settled down for now so I'll sign off to go herd the cats back into their room.

They go in for neutering/spaying a week from today. Ouch!

Mrs. B