We'll Soon Have Two New Additions To Our Family!

PeteLily

Yey! I just got word from the cat adoption place that, after a bit of pins and needles waiting, everything checked out fine with our application! We'll be bringing Pete and Lily (AKA Scooby and Velma) home this coming Saturday!

I have to say...although I certainly understand that these organizations put their hearts and souls (and money) into caring for the cats/kittens before they are adopted, I felt sort of like it was going to take an act of Congress to get them to say yes. Of course, it wasn't all that bad, it just seemed that way while I was waiting.

The one potential snag was I'd commented on the application (in answer to their question as to whether they'd be indoor or outdoor cats) that, although we firmly believed cats should be indoor cats only, we had, on occasion, allowed Nigel outside (supervised).

Ooops. Wrong thing to say. I got drilled over that one! They wrote back and said we'd have to commit to NEVER letting them outside EVER! Ok, fine; we will, but, please, check out our vet reference as I think the fact we've both owned pets for long periods of time, have cared for them, loved them, etc., shows we have always been responsible pet owners. Should that not be more important than an occasional outside romp?

Case in point, we WON'T be letting Pete and Lily outside. I don't want to worry about them scampering under the fence or scaling up over it before we can get to them! Not to mention, the backyard is Lucy's territory.

I almost had a melt-down in between the email drilling me over the outside thing and the one saying everything came back fine (they'd probably since talked to "Uncle" Chuck Miller who I am sure gave us a rave review). I was freaking that "someone" was questioning my cat-caring ability/technique (now I know how some parents might feel when people they don't even know question what they are doing with their kids). I was wishing there was some way for this lady to do a quick seance and check in with Nigel and Clyde and Freckles and Muffy and Buppy (Mark's dogs who lived long lives as well). Seriously, this seemed worse than the process of obtaining a security clearance!

Anyway, what really matters is we were approved, they'll be coming home soon and...Mrs. B is about ready to embark (along with Mr. B and Lucy) on hopefully another 15+ wonderful years with a pair of kitties!

And man, is life gonna change around here :-)

Mrs. B

PS

Yes, I know; these are the same pictures as before but they are the only ones I have (right now). I'll have the camera charged up and ready!

Our California Adventure Part Two

Here is the next entry from our travel journal regarding our California trip!

Mrs. B

The resort is very nice and we are really pleased with our villa. It is HUGE, and nicely laid out, too. It is #252 in the Carnival building up on "Broadway Hill" (apparently every building up here is named after a Broadway musical). We lucked out, also, in that we are in an end unit. The only "bad" thing is the continual drone of traffic from I15 (the freeway that runs in front of the resort). But, as the resort is set back a ways from the freeway (in a valley), it isn't too bad and, since it is continual, you sort of get used to it.

Here are some pictures of it:

After checking in yesterday, we drove to Vons (grocery store) for provisions. I asked a lady in line behind us if we could borrow her Club Card; this saved us over $35!

Mark grilled steaks and asparagus for dinner last night and we also had a Caesar salad. Then, we sat out on the balcony for a cigar (you can only smoke on the balconies which is a very good thing). We tried to watch a movie later (we brought our NetFlix and they have a DVD player in the villa) BUT it was so awful (the movie) that we shut it off after 15 minutes.

Today we went to the Wild Animal Park (thanks to Kathleen for giving us free passes!) It's an interesting place and real nice to walk around. We walked for about 2 1/2 hours and had a few beers while peering at the creatures (Stone IPA, woo hoo!)

After leaving the WAP, we found the Mexican restaurant that I used to take Grandpa T to all of the time (for his margarita and shrimp burrito fix). Yum. The food is still excellent and huge huge huge portions (we both ended up taking about 1/2 of our lunches home.

After that, we found a Trader Joe's to get more wine (FYI $2 Chuck is in fact still $2 in California (unlike the $3 it is in NC)) and some pasta for dinner.

Kathleen came by around 6:00 pm for a glass of wine and to check out the joint. After she left, we had pesto ravioli for dinner. We just finished watching the latest Indiana Jones movie; not too bad (a hell of a lot better than the one we attempted to watch last night). Mark is already snoring away as I write this!

Tomorrow we are driving down to San Diego/Tierrasanta to see Kathy N and others. We "should" also walk around the resort a bit and find out if we can play golf Friday morning.

Did I mention that the average age of guests at the resort appears to be 80 or 82? Wow, we feel young! Even more to like about this place!

So far, this has been a very nice trip (the flight out and lost luggage not-with-standing!)

More soon.

Maybe...

I finished Clyde's album right before we left for our vacation to California. Mr. B joked to our friends while we were there that I'd have picked out our new kitties by the end of the first week after we returned home. I laughed and said, "Oh, no, not that fast!"

Well...

Yesterday Lucy and I went out to run errands. Lucy loves to ride in the car now, it doesn't matter where to or if she ends up sitting in the car while I'm inside a store. As long as the weather is "safe", we do this (meaning it is not too hot, I don't want a cooked Goose!)

So, yesterday, we went up to the big outdoor mall so I could get some stuff from that testosterone sucking store, Michael's. Right next to Michael's is a Pet Smart. I've been avoiding Pet Smart on weekends because I know they typically have cat adoptions going on and since I wasn't ready, I didn't want to see a bunch of cute kitties. But, now...

I said, "What the heck" and strolled in. Yep, right in the front of the store were the cat adoption people and all of their foster kitties. Lots of kittens, which surprised me. Also, a few older cats. I stopped and chatted with one lady, Christy, who had a cage with two almost identical looking tabby kittens. I asked about the application process, price, etc. She told me about this and then talked about her foster "babies", Scooby and Velma (they had been part of a litter of five that she pulled from a storm drain when they were barely old enough to be weaned...no mother cat in sight...siblings (already adopted) were Fred, Daphene and Shaggy).

"Oh", she said, "they love each other SO much and I really hope they will go to a new home together". Hmmm...I'd wanted two boys, but, well, they ARE cute and do look like they get along well.

Anyway, I told her and the other nice and informative people working there that I had to discuss this with my husband.

I got home and waited for Mr. B. When he finally got home, we talked about it and I realized maybe I DID want these two! So, I went onto their web site and filled out an application form and sent it in. Ah, the joys of technology! Less than 1/2 hour later, I had a reply from the organization saying they had my application for Scooby and Velma and would do the "vet check" Monday or Tuesday (this is when they call your vet to make sure you are a responsible pet owner). The only question they had about my application was not about the "declawing" question (I'd replied that this would be TBD, we'd prefer not, but, if we did, we'd probably do laser declawing and would consult with our vet before doing anything) but about whether we'd let them outside unsupervised. I'd written something about walking them on a leash and they were curious about whether I'd ever done that. I told them I hadn't but my brother had with some success. I wasn't sure, really, if I'd do it or not; likely, they would go outside in our fenced backyard from time to time but only if supervised.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Maybe we'll have new kitties next weekend!

But, they won't be called Scooby and Velma. They will be Pete and (probably) Lily.

Here are their pictures! Aren't they cute?

"Scooby"

"Velma"

Mrs. B

Our California Adventure Part One

I know I blogged about the first part of our "adventure" already but indulge me in a bit of repetition so I can also post a few pictures here that some of my loyal readers probably have not seen yet! Mrs. B

Here we are in Sun City, California with Don and Kathleen. This is actually Day #2 of our vacation, but, it is the first time I've really had the opportunity to write (in my travel journal).

I have to say our travel here from North Carolina was a bit frustrating. Our flight out of RDU to Atlanta was supposed to take off around 4:30 pm. Well, due to "weather" in Atlanta, flights to and from Atlanta were all late. What weather? A few sprinkles? Anyway, departure time moved to 5:30 pm, then 6:30 pm, then 6:55 pm, etc. So, we sat in the bar, had a few drinks, ate some dinner and played cards (Gin).

We finally got on the plane and made it to Atlanta and just barely made our connection to Ontario. Thankfully, that flight was also delayed because the pilot had been stuck in Miami. We got on the plane and sat there waiting for him.

The flight was long and there was a family with two small kids sitting behind me. Ugh. But, all in all, fairly uneventful.

We arrived in Ontario at 11:30 pm, went to baggage claim...no bags for us. So, after filing the claim, we went to Alamo to get our car. The agent tried to talk us into upgrading to a larger car; no thanks. We went out to get our car...no cars (except the larger ones she'd tried to talk us into upgrading to...hmmm...) We ended up with the larger car at no extra charge (obviously, since there were no compact cars!)

Made it safely to Don and Kathleen's (lovely new) house. After a welcome tour and an even more welcome glass of wine (and a bit of a chat with Kathleen) we crashed.

Yesterday we found out our bags would not arrive until 9:00 pm that night and, since they can not deliver to a residence after 10:00 pm, we would be SOL until Sunday morning. This meant we had to make an emergency run to Target for a few essentials.

Despite all of this, we had a wonderful day and evening with Don and Kathleen. We went to Ponte Winery in Temecula for tasting/tour/lunch. We ended up buying a case of wine (no surprise, that; especially since their wine is made in the Italian style that both of us love). Our lunch was wonderful although the guys broke with tradition and drank beer with their meal (Kathleen and I shared a pitcher of Sangria...woo hoo!) On the tour, we learned all about the grapes, the vines, the climate, what "pink" wine is, got to do some "barrel" tastings (stainless steel containers here) and I impressed the tour giver with my knowledge of wine. Ha ha. Seriously, he was a bit of a card, anyway, and, when he said, "What is the best wine in the world?" I shouted "The one you LIKE!" to which he replied, "I love her!" Okay, keep in mind, we went on this tour AFTER we'd been tasting!

The wine tour guy at Ponte

Mrs. B in the vineyards at Ponte

Kathleen, Don, Mr. B and Mrs. B in the tasting room at Ponte

Mrs. B learns about pink wine (wine in the stainless that has yet to be turned into either white rose or red; did not know that!)

Did I mention it was HOT? Something like in the mid-90s. Temecula is in the desert, after all. But still, a tad warm for late October, even by California standards.

We got back to Don and Kathleen's house and settled in for a great evening of chat, card playing (Kathleen and I beat Don and Mark at Euchre...not once...but twice (and I know Mr. B; he'd NEVER EVER let someone win, it's not in his nature)), listening to 80s music ("SISTER CHRISTIAN!") and made a Jack in the Box run for tacos (2 for 99 cents, some things NEVER change) and curly fries (theirs are the best I've ever had).

The signs says it all, baby!

BTW, while listening to music (courtesy of Kathleen's iPod through a boom-box contraption), one song came on that cracked me up SO much that I had to add it to my Play List. It's called "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk"; you've GOT to listen to it right now! Of course, Mr. B is already tired of me complaining about my big fat badonkadonk! "Lord have mercy how'd she even get them britches on?"

Indiana James models his Halloween costume

This morning has been laid back; breakfast, mimosas and waiting for our luggage! We can check into the resort at 4:00 pm. The rest of the week will be relatively busy and we'll have to find a grocery store to stock up on "essentials" for our stay at the resort. But, tomorrow is wide open!

James gave me my own private "concert" on his clarinet!

The Decision Has Been Made...Time To Move On!

Ok, I know that after such a HUGE decision, there has to be some time allowed to process it; I think of it as either the "basking" in the glow effect or the "bitching" pissing and moaning effect. Both are likely a bit extreme, but, it's all part of the gig.

This brings to my mind, though, a comparison with a) my decision making style and b) how things are typically run in the corporate world (when making critical personnel decisions).

I've taken more "personality" type tests and been evaluated until this way from Tuesday so many times I can't even recall them all. However, one in particular sticks out and I've never forgotten it and that was one on decision making styles. Maybe it's because I was given it at Cornell University at the end of one of the most memorable weeks of my life (for other reasons)? I don't know. Anyway, the result was this (paraphrased):

"You tend to gather quite a bit of information pertaining to the decision at hand before you decide. You are fairly objective about the data and process it in combination with what you already know. It may take you a while to make the decision but, once you do, you are satisfied with your choice and don't typically second guess yourself or want to enter into conversations of "what could have been done differently?""

Yep, that's me alright. I'm not saying it is the BEST style, it's just the way I am.

The other comparison is the personnel one. As a former HRD, I used to have to coordinate the process of selecting people for fairly critical roles in the organization. This meant determining who should be considered within the organization, going outside the organization to find others to also consider, and setting up a team who would then interview all candidates (sometimes more than once) and make a recommendation to the VP who would make the ultimate decision (he'd also interview them but his interviews were notoriously short...refer to another of my Blog posts about interviewing with him with a "Hello! My Name is Amy!" name tag stuck to my butt).

I can assure you that there was usually A LOT of discussion, haggling, arguing, etc. amongst the panel members over the candidates. RARELY did one jump out as the obvious contender. We'd sometimes sit in those meetings for hours going back and forth (sort of like a jury trying to reach a verdict). Ultimately, we'd come to some sort of terms, perhaps it meant putting forth two candidates for the VP to elect from.

And he would, and we'd all accept whomever he picked. Because, we'd done everything we could do, offered our opinions, made our arguments. In the end, we had no choice but to stand behind the person who made the decision and to do our best to support the person who had been selected. To do otherwise would have been counter-productive AND we would have all looked like a bunch of idiots to our employees and to our competition.

I feel the same way about this Presidential election.

Hey, not everyone is pleased about the outcome. That is understandable and to be expected. But, we all (hopefully) participated in the process. (BTW, if YOU did not vote, just shut up, I don't want to hear a word out of your mouth because you have not earned the right to even comment on who was elected!) And, we made our decision and we provided our input by voting for whomever we voted for. If the person we voted for won, we're probably feeling pretty happy. If not, we're probably feeling sorta glum. Again, perfectly understandable.

But, the decision's been made. There is no other option now. It is what it is. Time to put aside all the differences and get behind the candidate so that he can be successful.

Obama has a TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH road a head of him. As would have McCain. In general, I think the "world" is happy with the decision. What sort of fools will we look like if we continue to wail and cry over it? I'm not saying one must be a Zombie and mindlessly "accept" everything, but, let us at least put on some show of unity and maybe, just maybe, it'll go from an act to reality.

As a complete aside, I have to say it WOULD have been something else again to see, had McCain won, Palin and Pelosi going toe to toe! MEOW!

Mrs. B

One Way Or The Other...

History will be made later on tonight/early tomorrow morning (EST).

This, in and of itself, is exciting to me.

What a country we love in. Gotta love it :-).

I know I that I do!

OOPS (EDIT)

I meant..."I know that I do!"

Thanks, Doc!

Mrs. B

We Are Home :-)

What a fantastic trip we had! Seriously, the only things that went "wrong" were airline related. Now, I'll take that (assuming we're talking no plane crashes) over getting sick on vacation any day.

Although, I must gripe about this one thing.

How could our suitcase (which we weighed in Raleigh after switching things around some) come in at 50 pounds on the way out and 61 pounds on the way home? We did not buy anything while in California AND Mr. B packed all of the heavy items in the smaller suitcase. Still, we got to the airport and it weighed 11 pounds more. NO WAY! They gave us the option to move stuff around, but, we'd already done that. So, we had to pay a $90 fee! Can you believe that? We could have checked a third suitcase for less than that. I think they rig the scales because they know you have no choice; either pay the fee or the bag doesn't get checked.

Shouldn't they have paid US for the inconvenience of not having our bags for two days?

I will definitely be complaining about this on Delta's website (not that it will do any good).

Ok, so, while I was fuming about this on the plane yesterday, I observed just about everyone on that plane come down the aisle dragging suitcases and other items and trying to cram things into the overhead bins. How come THEY don't have to pay extra to hold everyone up while they try to shove something into an overhead bin that obviously won't fit?

Or, for running over people's toes with their bags?

There is just no rhyme or reason to airline policies! I must say, I'm happy we won't be flying again for a long time!

Ok, but, on to happy memories! Here's a picture of us wine tasting this past Saturday. More pictures and stories to come!

Mrs. B