Pets from the Past

I had a friend on Facebook ask me if I had my old yearbooks from Marina del Rey Junior High School.  She wanted copies badly and even contacted the school but they said they were gone for good.  I told her I thought I had them but I would have to conduct a search in the dreaded entryway cubby where we store all our old photos and albums.  To make a long story short, I found them, sent her copies that I printed and then spent about the next 3 days totally organizing everything that was in the cubby.  I was so excited to find photos of pets from the past that I didn't think I had any photos of at all.

This first photo goes all the way back to the 1970's.  I was a student at UCLA and living at home and this stray mother cat had 3 little kittens in our backyard.  A few days after their birth, she took them all away and I was sad about that.  A week later she came back with all 3 and left them for good.  I kept this boy kitty that I called Gypsy (because of his past) and found homes for the other 2.

     ~ Gypsy ~

I loved this cat soooo much.... he was so affectionate and wanted to be with me constantly.  I even took him out with me on weekends.  He used to climb the backyard fences and one day he came home really sick.  Much later we found out that a man who had bunnies left out poison for cats. He died a miserable death and I was so traumatized that my mom had to take him to the vets early in the morning.  I was so upset I gave her the wrong address to the vet... and that's how I ended up eventually meeting Jeff because he worked at the wrong vets.  Those of you who've known me for a long time know the story of how we met and began dating.

After Gypsy, Jeff and I got another cat- Hobie- and when he was a year or so old he went missing.  It was then I learned about the man with the bunnies... he trapped Hobie and took him to a wildlife place (for ducks, etc... ) in the Marina.  (I guess he stopped poisoning and went to trapping.)  Hobie found his way to a backyard where a man had put out some salmon for his cat and he called us- Hobie still had his nametag on- this was 6 weeks later!  We never thought we'd see him again.  We were so happy to have him home...it was like a miracle.  After that, we printed up a letter to all the neighbors exposing this man - we gave his name and address- and passed it out to all the houses in the neighborhood.  When we moved to Agoura Hills, Hobie and Jeff's two cats- Mark and Mickey- came with us.  Here's a photo of Hobie Cat!

 ~ Hobie Cat ~

Finally, I found a photo of Clancy!  I'll bet you thought we've only ever had big dogs like goldens and labs.  Well, here is the pound puppy I brought home one day.  This photo was taken at the park- neutral teritory- when we first got Dylan as a puppy and wanted to introduce him to Clancy.  Clancy was so taken aback by the boisterous little Dylan that he climbed up Jeff's back for protection.

~ Clancy ~

  

Ryan's 6th Birthday

Ryan turned 6 on Thursday, the 17th.  He got really sick on Wednesday and Jessica kept him home.  We weren't sure if he'd be okay by his birthday but he was.  Jessica brought in Halloween-themed cupcakes for his class to share.  He wore a crown with his name and 6's in glitter and they sang Happy Birthday to him.  Here's a photo of the cute cupcakes and Ryan with his birthday crown.

 I remember when I was growing up having a girlfriend, Katie, whose birthday was really close to Halloween and she would always have Halloween-themed birthday parties.  We would dress up in our costumes and her garage was turned into a pretty great haunted house.  Her grandmother would dress up as a witch and tell us ghost stories.  I think Halloween is a fun holiday.  I like to drink out of my Halloween mugs.

Another fun thing about this time of year is all the craft fairs and local farms that have pumpkin patches and hayrides, etc... We have our local Thousand Oaks Street Fair to go to on Sunday.  I guess one of the things we miss in Southern California is apple-picking.  I never even realized that apples were associated with fall until about 10 years ago when some of my graphic artist friends made fall graphics with apples.  Have a great weekend!    

Birthday Week

Saturday was my birthday, Sunday was Audre's (Jeff's mom) birthday, this coming Wednesday is Robin's birthday and Thursday, the 17th, is Ryan's 6th birthday!  To celebrate my birthday, Jeff and I went to a movie and dinner on Saturday night.  We saw Gravity in our Muvico's 21 and over theater.  You can have food and alcoholic beverages in the theater and you get free popcorn.  We saw Gravity in 3D which normally I'm not a big fan of but it doesmake sense for that movie which has stunning cinematography and makes good use of the 3D technology.

We had Audre and he sister, Auntie Joy, over on Sunday night for a birthday dinner for Audre.  Her memory is fading more and more and didn't even remember that it was her birthday.  She stays pleasant and good-natured so that is a plus.  Jeff really has his hands full with helping her to remember things like taking her medications both morning and night and driving her wherever she has to go.

We will be celebrating Ryan's birthday this weekend.  I think he wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  I've promised to buy him a game on my iPad and Jeff is buying him a game on his Kindle on his actual birthday but the rest of his presents will probably wait until the weekend.

My Facebook friends have seen this video but I thought I'd share it here.  After several years, our peahen (female peacock) still resides in our neighborhood.  She pretty much hangs out in the backyards of about six of our neighbors- the three houses at the end of our block and the three that are directly behind us.  This past week, we found her on the balcony off our master bedroom.

     

Dog Day Afternoon

Happy Birthday Sadie!!!

We went to the 2nd annual Bark in the Park in Thousand Oaks on Saturday.  We went to the first one last year and enjoyed it so we made sure to catch it again this October.  Everyone brings their dogs and there are lots of activities and booths to explore.  The dogs got so many treats from the people running the booths and I walked away with a big bag full of samples of treats and dog foods.  Camp Bow Wow had a booth with a "Wheel of Fortune" type prize wheel.  I spun and won a free bath for Kanan and Jeff spun and one a free one hour training session fro Cooper.  Cooper could use some training to get him to stop pulling on his leash.  Not to be outdone, "The Barkley" had a spinning wheel and this time Jeff got a free day of doggie day care and I won a toothbrush.  That was our only booby prize.  The other 3 prizes are all quite valuable!  They had all kinds of contests like best howler, dog/owner look-alike and Halloween costume contest.  They had an obstacle course that we took Kanan and Cooper through.  There were even celebrity dogs you could take your photo with:  Beatrice from Modern Family and Aspen from Disney's Dog with a Blog.  All in all, a fun day!

From there, we went to Chris & Liz's for dinner and to meet their new English Springer Spaniel, Maverick or Ricky.  He's a rescue and a real sweetheart and got along fine with Cooper and Kanan.  It was unusually warm for their area which is closer to the ocean so we were able to sit outside and have a delicious dinner of BBQ leg of lamb!  

Spur of the Moment

We had a quick little trip up to Morro Bay over the weekend.  George and Robin were on their way down from a Washington/Canada trip and called and asked if we might want to meet up with them in Morro Bay.  Jeff's grandparents built a home there many years ago and it is still in the family so we had a nice place to stay.  It was our first road trip with the dogs in the new Prius.  Remember I showed you the liner that Jeff made to protect the back area when the seats are down?  The dogs are great travelers and they had so much fun hiking and going to the beach.  Here's a photo of a trail we took high above the Morro Bay area.  Off in the distance, you will see the big Morro Rock in the water that is a landmark for the area.  My physical therapist would freak out if she knew I did this strenuous uphill climb!

We've visited Morro Bay a lot over the years but this weekend was, without a doubt, the best weather I've ever experienced there.  It's so often foggy and cool but, as you can see, it was sunny and clear with temps in the mid-80's!  We did this hike with Jeff's cousin Susan and her husband Greg and their 12 year old Golden Retriever, Sophie.  We had a nice BBQ back at the house that George and Robin fixed for us all.  Delicious tritip steaks, George's famous twice-baked potatoes, salad, and apple pie a la mode.  The following night, we went out to a Mexican restaurant.  

Jeff, Kanan and Cooper at Morro Bay beach

Cute Sandpipers running in the soup

Otters Galore!

Catching Up

Sorry to go missing again but I am struggling with mixed feelings about blogging.  I guess I'm just plain tired of writing posts after 11 years of pretty consistent posting.  I'm not tired of my blog friends or reading their posts at all though and I miss you all and think about you often!  So I'll do a quick catch up of what's been going on.  As you know it's a busy month filled with birthdays and an anniversary.

I started Physical Therapy last week and will go twice weekly for 6 weeks.  I thought it would be mostly core-strengthening exercises but I'm also getting the little electrode zappers and the best part... a nice massage!  I'm feeling pretty close back to normal although they tell me that sciatica nerve may take a while to completely calm down.  

Ryan is back in school and doesn't get home until almost 3 PM so I only have a little over an hour with him each day.  Jacob, on the other hand, is here all the time.  He's still really good about his "Quiet Time" so he's in the downstairs bedroom with cartoons turned on at low volume and has my iPad and Jeff's Kindle.  9 times out of 10, he falls asleep so he's usually in there from 1 to 3 PM.  He was resistant to taking naps but since he falls asleep so often, it's pretty obvious he still needs naps... as long as we don't call it nap time!

Justin and Jessica both had their birthdays and Justin had some interesting developments at work.  The computer projects he's been doing for the last 10 years were winding down so he was beginning to wonder if he was going to need to dust off his resume and start looking for something else.  He was given the opportunity to do some work as a "Business Analyst" and really loved it.  He's a very good writer and in addition to his Computer Science degree, he has a Communications degree from UCLA so he was able to apply those skills to the Business Analyst work.  He had a big interview for a Business Analyst position within his company, Computer Sciences Corporation, and he got it.  The project is out of the Boston office but he will be able to work from home!  He and Sarah are going to San Francisco and Santa Rosa (Wine Country area) this weekend (the trip a birthday present from Sarah) and we will be dog sitting Sierra while he's gone.

Speaking of wine... remember my wine glass chandelier from Pottery Barn?  I found this at HomeGoods to hang on the wall.

What I love about shopping at HomeGoods is I usually go there with nothing special in mind and it's fun to find something unexpected.  I also got some really nice fillable seeded glass lamps there for our bedroom. Don't think I'll fill them with anything but I like the way the glass sparkles.  The shades are burlap  and I have them on a dimmer switch.  Lamps like this cost 3 times as much at Pottery Barn!  I often shop at PB or PB online for ideas and find similar items for much less at HG's! 

   

My comment above about finding something unexpected reminded me of the word Serendipity.  It's a word that I love and always reminds me of our dear friend Elizabeth whose first blog was named Serendipity. "Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; a fortunate mistake. Specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it. The word has been voted one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company."  Serendipity is also the name of that fabulous restaurant in Manhattan where you can get Frozen Hot Chocolates.  And don't forget the movie Serendipity!

Happy Labor Day!

Never like this end of the summer holiday time but in SoCal we have plenty of summer left ahead of us.  The last few days have felt more like Florida or Hawaii with the high humidity.  On Saturday, Jeff and I went to Fiesta Hermosa which takes place over the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.  It sort of kicks off and wraps up the summer.  Ryan started 1st grade last Wednesday so we mainly have Jacob here with us during the week.  Ryan's school doesn't get out until 2:30 and his dad picks him up here at 4 so he's only here for a little over an hour in the afternoon.  Here's a photo of Ryan walking to school on his first day back.

Not too enthusiastic!

I can relate!  I always thought the last day of school was the best day ever!  All the anticipation of what the summer ahead held!  It seemed to go on forever...all those lazy, hazy crazy days... and now summer is over in a blink of the eye!  

September is a busy month for us.  Jessica's birthday is the 7th, Justin's is the 10th, our 39th anniversary is the 14th and Jacob turns four on the 22nd.  Jeff and I are determined to do something really, really special next year on our 40th!  This year was kind of spoiled by my back problem.  I see my doctor this Friday and I'm sure I'll be able to cast my back brace aside and begin physical therapy!