lazy weekend

so i finally really started using a calendar. old dog haven sent me theirs, and i like looking at it, and ever since my ocd mysteriously disappeared last year i've been struggling to remember all the things i used to double-check relentlessly. until now. how freaking easy is it to just write stuff down? pretty easy, and it's kind of nice to not live in a panic all the time. i even wrote down my major expenses for the month in the margin, so i can cross them off as they get paid. voila. instant peace in the brain. and it's such a busy calendar! there are rehearsals, meetings, workshops, pet sits, social events, and all kinds of crazy stuff on there. but somehow today managed to avoid all of that, and the only thing on the calendar is to make amish bread, as the goo has fermented on my counter long enough. which means, by default, that today should be the day i clean my house. will this happen? we shall see... dun dun duuunnnnnnn!!

the problem with being a sucker

is that i end up with things like a clingy cocker spaniel at my house. trying oh so very hard to be in my lap. also that i deal with poo-coated mister on a daily basis. okay, so i deal with mister daily. sometimes he does other annoying things besides throw a techno poo party in his kennel. i couldn't actually find the main chunk of poo - i think it had all been reduced to kennel, blankie, feet, and face smears. except for the dab right on his id tag. and i think it was ground into his fur some. i washed him off in a tidy cats bucket in the shower. the kennel was left to soak, and i was late for work. he is the danged cutest little thing though. and the most endearing little weirdness-noises come from his bed when he's rolling around all happy.
he behaves wonderfully for everyone except me. i think he's making me out to be a liar.

in the meantime, our spay/neuter clinic was a success. 32 critters owned by low-income families in my area will no longer have the opportunity to reproduce. we did the math. we prevented about 1200 dogs and about a billion cats from needing homes here in the next few years. pretty good deal. so maybe we can focus a little more on finding good homes for the critters already here - and maybe educate some people about better care for the animals they have (like that an obese animal isn't "happy and healthy"). yeah, that.

also, i have the best insurance guy ever! i gave him all my car specs yesterday, and today i got a whole packet of coverage comparisons, with suggestions and explanations and all kinds of stuff. and i found out that if my car was in "fair" condition (without significant cosmetic damage, and all the parts working) it would be worth about $1100. so if i totalled it as is, i might get about $20 towards a new car. if i get a low deductible. methinks i'm gonna go with just liability coverage here...

some fun things i've done lately

i had friends in town. which was awesome. also, we got out and did stuff while they were here, which is even more awesome. a reason to not spend the evening dinking around on the internet has got to be a plus.

i went hiking out at griffiths priday state park. it's got standard woods and dunes and such, as well as a creek, a dead end road at the edge of a cliff that eroded all away, and my favorite cold-weather beach ever. i tromped around in dune grass, built a slide out of logs to get down a cliff to the beach, felt the wind (and felt amazing) at the beach, tromped around in sitka pine woods, saw a baldy, followed the copalis river for a while, and then tromped around in what turned out to be a sulphur marsh. eewwwwwww! good thing my asics, socks, and pants below the knee are washable!

i went to the pacific science center in seattle center. the current special exhibit is all about star wars! they made sure to tell us ahead of time that there is no re-entry to the exhibit. also that there are no bathrooms in the exhibit. did i think about much else besides potty while i was in the exhibit? yes, by sheer willpower. also the star wars stuff was cool. i got my picture taken with darth vader and built a magnet-lego car that didn't slide along its track as well as most of the small children's magnet-lego cars. after star wars, and a visit to the coolest public restroom i have ever seen (complete with bright, colorful cartoons and random entertaining urine/feces facts posted on the walls), i went to the fake dinosaur exhibit. the fake dinosaurs roar and electronically jerk about fakely. i noted that the "apatosaurus" is finally admitting that it is "also referred to as brontosaurus" since that was the ORIGINAL FREAKING NAME!! seriously! for some reason, at this point i was introduced to charlie the unicorn. also, the fake dinosaurs were scaled down significantly - horse to elephant sized instead of real sized. one of the features of the exhibit was the fake dinosaur skin that patrons were allowed to feel - so we would know just what fake dinosaur skin might have felt like if people had any idea what it was really like. after the dinosaurs i went around the rest of the science center and participated in multiple random science thingies: i turned on a lightbulb by pedaling a bicycle, demonstrated how tides work by dumping ink into the water in a topographical-ish 3-d map, watched naked mole rats burrow around in plastic tunnels, made a silhouette on a shadow wall, found out that my eyesight is, indeed, horrible - by reading the E and the next line below it on a sight chart... and more cool stuff like that. made me wish i could do fifth grade (or 6th form) again. then i got cotton candy as we left the science center.

while in seattle, i indulged and got INDAN FOOD! it's been about two and a half years since i've had real, non-pre-frozen indian food, and goodness, it was wonderful! now i'm craving more, despite the frozen version i ate yesterday and today.

i went to astoria and visited a bunch of goonies sites. the houses are real, and currently inhabited, so they don't have tours. the residents are pretty good sports about it. there was a guy pruning his yard at mikey and brand's house. he ignored us, but i'm sure he's used to random tourists in pirate garb photographing his house. yes, we dressed up as pirates. arrrrgh! i broke my first fake cutlass on the... um, the air while i was prepping for the trip. so i got another cutlass on the way out of town. i went to the county jail, which is now a film museum, the bowling alley, mikey's dad's museum... and haystack rock, which, despite being depicted as close to astoria in the movie, is really about 15 miles away. teddy and mister had gone along on this day trip, so they got to go out to haystack rock and explore the beach and tide pools with me. mister got lots of funny looks. i don't think people are used to seeing a chihuahua running around at the beach.

a different day, i flew a kite on the beach, for the first time since i moved to the home of the national kite people champion-thingies. guess i should have tried it earlier. my kite flew for a total of about 43 seconds all together, in between multiple repairs and reinforcings. i probably should have gotten it somewhere other than the dollar tree, what with the winds gusting at ridiculous speeds that day and all. also, it was raining. some park rangers stopped by and suggested, as my kite whimpered along the ground like an injured stingray, that today might not be the best day for kite-flying. i agreed that it was stupid, but said thanks and i'd stick to it anyway becuase it was fun. i think they think i'm retarded.

speaking of which, i had had dinner with the park rangers the previous night. lots of people didn't show up to a spaghetti and game night, so the rangers got invited over for food. they did not stay to play uno.

that was april first - the same day i masterminded the best april fool's day prank ever: my coworkers and i prepped a dummy medical chart, told the vet that she was going to check a dog's ears, and sent her in to an exam room where she found waiting... the state park's mascot: Eager Beaver! he got his annual exam, and we took pictures for the local paper. there was much laughter.

another thing i did: i purchased new laundry bags in flourescent colors that say things like "grimy" on them. i didn't notice until i was emptying a bag into the washer that the bags' tags say they are to be hand washed only. yes, the grimy bag from the dollar store is just that delicate.

i made amish friendship bread a few times. every 10 days the bag of starter goop quadruples, so i have to pawn the goop off on other people. i'm running low on people i hang out with who want goop any more. some random clients and church ladies have taken some. next victims: volunteers at the spay/neuter clinic tomorrow. there are 31 patients lined up. here's hoping they all show!

i have slacked

so i've got a few minutes between my workout and rehearsal, and i haven't blogged for a while, so what the hey. yes, i said workout. they got me hooked down there at curves - not that i'm a huge fan of the workout itself, but after a month i feel healthier and more in control of my muscles - i can tell where my muscles are. so i signed up for a year. we'll see how that goes. i got miss connie adopted out just over a week ago, so i'm down to 2 dogs now (and i'm bound and determined to keep it that way! 3 was too many for my lifestyle and little house). theodore is still an immensely good dog with medical issues coming out his ears. well, no the ears have been okay lately, but he has the flaky skin and a bad tooth, and i've had to change his diet, and now we're going to see if we can wean him at least partly off his prednisone. yep, my dog is on roids.
not sure if i mentioned that the next play is the lion the witch and the wardrobe, or that i've been cast as one of the children. yep. i get to be a twelve year-old. as my boss says, "that'll be a stretch, usually she acts about ten". speaking of boss, she's in ecuador with blue and colleen on another world vets project. world vets also has teams in belize and japan. i'm insanely jealous of the team in japan. if i had more time, i'd blog all about the tsunami and whatnot, but i'll have to come back to it later. my public awaits...

...and i'm back

so my laptop got broken in the move somehow and i've been using computers at work to keep the world updated via facebook. until now. i have purchased a new hp laptop. at the expense of not having purchased laundry machines. yet. so i'm listening to pandora again and i watched a bunch of better off ted yesterday. that was fun.
i crossed an item off my list of goals - i entered fudge in a recipe contest at the chocolate festival last weekend. i contend that they must have lost mine as they somehow failed to award it the first prize. but winning wasn't the goal. entering was, and i did that. it's amazing, really. just over a year ago, my boss told us all to write down some goals: short term, long term, in between. and i set some. and then a few months ago i found the list, and darned if i didn't get to cross off a few items that i actually did. and that was pretty darn empowering. so i got all motivated and did some more goals. and now here i am entering fudge contests and going to the gym. yes. i did. i was given a gift month at curves and made it three times in the first week. go me. woooo.

mister

got a new old dog haven dog. he's terribly cute. and i have to admit that he is both a chihuahua and currently wearing a sweater. i know, but he was shivering, and he seems to like wearing clothes... about 12 years old, failing kidneys, but he doesn't know about either one of those things. also, his name is mister. see, you'd thought i was crazy for that weird title, right? or just thought i was crazy anyway.
so the little football is fitting in really well at my house. the cats don't like him much, but they don't like any dogs, so that's to be expected. speaking of my house...
i loooooooove my house! mostly unpacked. still need to purchase an additional closet and a shed so i can finish putting stuff away. but oh! despite some more boxes, my house is incredible. i sleep in the loft, where the whole south wall is windows. when i wake up in the morning, it looks like i'm in a treehouse - just birds and leaves and clouds... my kitchen is wow. just that. wow. super space efficient, super modern and fancy. and the shower... i could go on. and in. and stay there. ahhhhhhh.
not having carpets is incredible too, especially with a bunch of senior critters. yesterday, for example, when i had to clean up every conceivable bodily function at least twice, i did not curse at all - the messes simply wiped away. none of that shampooing and worrying about stains. bliss, i tell you!
in further adventures, i learned that if you tell a fancy hotel front desk that hotels.com told you that you would get free breakfast, they'll give you a free breakfast? in their fancy restaurant? made to order? i didn't know that for sure until last weekend. and after paying a whopping $4.15 for the room (no, i am not kidding), i'll just go ahead and call that the most economical work trip EVER! also, the conference itself was at a marriott, and the catering was ridiculous - local cheeses paired with appropriate fruits and wines, grilled asparagus, mushroom quiches... quite the spread for a free event!
then i went to ikea and faced the grim reality of living in a small town and how that makes dealing with large crowds and commercialism a bit much. i didn't like all the people. there were too many things. too much moving around. by the time i left i was sick to my stomach. and i used to enjoy manhattan for crying out loud. bah - i gotta get into some more cities more often. or just never ever leave shores again.

being a real grown up

so the mortgage finally went through. and escrow closed. and the title got recorded. and then they decided that i'd put down too much earnest money and i got a check back. and my first payment is due in march. so i have funds to purchase things like a laundry machine and mattress and table and oversized recliner...
and then as i'm contemplating these purchases i hit some black ice (i was driving at the time. on the highway. fast.) managed to spin around so that when i slammed into the guardrail the engine didn't get damaged. i lost the bumper and all of my rear light covers and the use of my trunk. i'm uninjured except that i jammed my finger while stuffing the damaged bumper inside the car. so now my poor trooper of a car is even less pretty than it used to be, but still chugging along.
and there are so many other things going on, but those are the two biggies.
that's it for now.

xolo xmas

rain, wind, emergency eye surgery assisting, "sleeping in" until after 8am... some of the many joys of today. not that it was bad. not that i didn't enjoy my shopping bag "stocking" or cauliflower casserole. and having neil around for a sleepover was fun. and i got lots of stuff packed/shifted around. the spare room is mostly cleared out - just gotta take care of the futon. and clean the carpet. and touch up the paint where shadow stretched out his claw muscles...
and for some reason i'm listening to love the way you lie repeatedly.
on the theater end of things: there is much debate regarding our next performance. as in, what play is it going to be. "nana's naughty knickers" was submitted and very nearly approved (i.e. everyone except the artistic director loves the idea). so now we have to come up with something else by about next week so we can start rehearsing.
what a weird christmas.

so many things

the plays were awesome. great cast, great audiences, awful review (someone didn't like the actual scripts, and decided that meant the entire review had to be negative), and while we were striking the set i struck my face. with a hammer. i caught most of the blood on myself (hands, clothes, etc.). thank goodness our president had an awesome first aid kit. yeah, it was awesome.
for some reason, i also had really misbehaved dogs during the weekend. destroyed items include food and laundry. also, teddy pooped on the floor. hobbes behaved well. i am confused.

wig problem - solved.

did i mention that on saturday my wig fell askew part-way through rehearsal? my co-actors just about died laughing, and i'll admit i lost a few chuckles myself. costume malfunction, but hey, there have been worse. so i went out and bought a giant squeeze bottle of mega gel and made a do-rag out of a knee-high stocking. ta-da! i now have post-play crusty head, but the wigs stayed put. of course, i got to rehearsal all dressed for the magi play, and we were practicing the hillbilly play first, but dad-gummit if i didn't just play a hillbilly in my fancy 'do - because there is no way i was going to try to recreate the madness in between plays. for the real performances i'll do the wigs play first. now i just have to figure out how to de-gunk and make some braids in the 5 minutes between plays. oog.
on a side note, the dollar store frozen pretzels i've been snacking on are mighty good.

sleeping

the intention was to go to work after rehearsal today. the reality was that i went home and went back to sleep. for nearly 4 hours. woke up to a hobbes face about two inches away from mine. there are worse ways to wake up. teddy and connie both got up on the bed for some snuggling, and teddy laid on top of hobbes and made him squeal. the joys of critters.
speaking of joys and critters: i started all the cats on a diet - as part of purina's project pet slim down because twilight was a tad on the portly side. okay, i admit it, she was fat. when she was lying on the floor she became a circle with legs and a face. very fat cat. so anyway, the cats all eat out of the same dish, so everyone had to go out on a diet. my estimation on her weight loss over the last 3 months is about 2 pounds (that's like 30 human pounds). she's leaner, faster, and obviously more comfortable moving around. she's jumping more and getting into things, and this morning she actually played and wrestled with shadow for several minutes. she hasn't done that in years, and i didn't realize it was connected to a lack of comfort with moving around in her royal fatness. don't get me wrong - she's still a tubby little thing. but oh, it's nice to see her happier. so i recommend purina OM to anyone with a portly pet.
and on that note... i'll go feed the critters.

holidays alone

welcome to my first holiday season without relatives. i basically went straight from my family to shaggy's, with a quick christmas in new york in between. i've never not had a tree or stockings. i've played santa ever since i was twelve. and now the dillema of (and i know this grammar is terrible, but...) now who do i play santa for? i already bought myself some fancy chapstick, but do i really make a stocking for myself? and a tree? if i was already moved in to my new house, no question, i would get a tree. but i'm still camping and living out of boxes at this apartment. yesterday i made my annual chocolatey meringue stars - usually the first on my holiday baking list. so now do i keep baking? i'd have to unpack a bunch of baking supplies to do that. worth doing? maybe.
or should i just sleep through the whole season?

things i'm thankful for today:

my critters! hobbes' mischevous sense of humor, snotty cold early morning kisses, and heart of gold. balloon's clingy-velcroness and sweet biscuit making. twilight's gritty meow and new found love of play (thanks to purina OM and project pet slim-down!). shadow's, well... shadow's relative lack of fear lately - he's taken to hissing at the dogs as he walks by them, instead of hissing while he flees from them. theodore. so many things about my teddy boy. his sweet face and gentle nature. the fact that he tries so hard to be a good boy. his patience, his "inside voice", and his happy smile. such a good dog. and of course, the foster connie. she really needs a home of her own, but i'm thankful i can provide her a place for now.
speaking of place. i know i complain about my leaky roof, but i am so thankful to have this apartment right now. it was perfect for this time of change - being this close to work this cheaply was incredible. i got lots of amusing stories and lots of "this is how to fix problem x" experience. now i can take care of just about any problem i might run into as a homeowner (or at least i know who to call if i can't), and i got to practice painting on somewhere they'll probably repaint as soon as i move out anyway...
my car. holy smokes am i thankful for my free car. the engine is just about the only thing that works on it, but that's all i need. heaters, pshaw. speedometer, pshaw. door locks, trunk seal, gas cap that opens properly, pshaw. i love having a car i can put bumper stickers on. i love having a car that's mine. i love the freedom of being able to just go in to town on a whim, or purchase more stuff than i can fit on my bicycle.
my bicycle. holy smokes am i thankful for my bicycle! it's a purple electra with all the fixin's and i just love it to bits. my last couple of bicycles (which were also purple, but much cheaper and less awesome) got retired by being tossed in the dumpster at whichever apartment complex in san diego i was moving out of at the time. yeah, not too fancy or anything. this smooth ride... ahhhhhhh.
speaking of smooth, i am thankful for my dutch cocoa. it's dark and smoky and practically sinful. mmmm.
i'm thankful for food. for yummy food, cheap food, yummy and cheap food (macaroni and cheese, among other things). the flavors, the textures, from cocoa krispies to a garlic-buttered artichoke. can we say i love my food?
i'm thankful for the fun places i can buy food. trader joes is incredible, though a little far away. clauson's liquidation! wow! i got a 5lb bag of raw sugar there for 5 bucks yesterday. they've had truffle oil, gluten free bread mixes, chestnuts, cases of gatorade, veggies galore, and all kinds of fun candy stuff, all at ridiculously low prices. grocery outlet. again YUM and very cheap.
i'm thankful for my paychecks. they're not a ton, but they are sufficient and i'm grateful to have them. i'm thankful for a boss who appreciates the work i do and doesn't mind me putting in a bit of ot to get a project done. i'm thankful that i get to be silly at work.
speaking of work: can anyone imagine a better job for me than the one i have? not by much! i get to work directly with animals, i get to help awesome people and hold stupid people accountable. i get to organize things and track statistics and be all anal about that. i get to bring my dogs to work with me. i get to talk about things like animal behaviors and new medical breakthroughs and go to trainings that build me up personally as well as professionally. i get to do all that stuff and i get paid for the privilege. not a bad deal at all!
i am thankful for my coworkers! i work with some amazing people, and it is amazing to me to be able to interact with them on the level that i do. there is no petty sniping. we don't wear our poopy potty pants to work, and we don't have to deal with any of the normal girl-type snitty stuff. instead we build each other up and help each other learn and share the workload like no place i've ever been. what an incredible team!
i am thankful for my freedom. from government oppression. from societal and economic oppression (maybe living in the middle of nowhere has something to do with that). from any kind of oppression. what an amazing country i live in, where a bunch of idiots in washington (d.c. of course) pretend they run the show, but in real life we all go on living our daily lives as we choose to do. my travels this year have really reminded me how amazing it really is to be an american citizen and i'm proud of that, regardless of how silly we can be.
which leads me to being thankful for our soldiers. our troops. our marines, airmen, seamen, whatever you want to call them. the people who wear a uniform to ensure our safety and security. my hat is off to them and their families.
i'm thankful for my personal freedom of choice. i'm thankful that this year, i was able to really get to know myself, and realize that i really am kind of cool. i kind of always thought i had some good stuff to offer, and now i know it. yay for realization! what an amazing feeling - i like myself. i like who i am and what i do, and i am proud of the choices i make. i don't care if i don't have a huge impact on the world, but i can make a small impact on lots of lives, and i choose to do that. i've learned that it's more important to be happy than to be "right", and i am so glad i can choose to be wrong sometimes. because i am happy.
i'm thankful for words, written, spoken, non-verbally expressed. i love communicating, and seeing how different kinds of communications work. i like to see how people interact with people, critters with critters, critters with people.
*i'm thankful for melanie and eric who just brought neil by to say hi and happy thanksgiving! i do love that dog, and i'm sooooo glad that he is happy with them!*
i'm thankful for the good deeds i'm able to do. once in a psychology class we held a debate as to whether any action could be truly altruistic. i argued no. good deeds are rewarded, and i think people have an innate sense of that. i got to foster poki the broken-legged weiner dog last winter. i didn't get any money or fame from that, but it felt so good to see her with her new family.
i am thankful for the internet and my telephone that keep me connected with the outside world. it is amazing that i can be back in contact with people i knew years ago in other countries.
that said, i love living where i do. my favorite stores are far away, but that makes it even more special when i get to go there. most people i know are in other states, so it's that much cooler when i get to see them. i am thankful that where i live helps me appreciate what i have.
i am thankful that i've been approved to purchase my cabin. i'm finally going to be legit and own a house. i'm really going to live here, not just rent or squat. i'll really belong somewhere. wow. that's a load off my shoulders. i am so excited to be a real grownup and pay a mortgage. i am thankful for government programs that make it possible for someone without a big down payment to be able to buy a home. i am thankful for my realtor and loan officer who are making this happen. and i'm thankful that the builders made such a cool little cute cabin for me to buy.
i'm thankful for my laptop. it was an amazing gift, given at a very opportune time. i'm thankful that it was missed when the majority of my other electronics were stolen.
i'm thankful for my layers and layers of clothes, including my frontline fuzzy jacket and my ridiculous hat that are keeping me warm(ish) right now. i'm thankful that my boss told me to take home an additional heater from work, so that i was warm enough last night to really sleep. i'm thankful that i was able to sleep in today. really sleep in. the poor critters didn't get breakfast until about 10:30. then i went back to bed. i'm thankful for a paid holiday! i'm thankful that i'm getting a chance to rest and let my body admit that i'm sick, so i can start to get better. stupid head cold... i'm thankful for ricola and halls lozenges, for theraflu and the dutch theraflu-ish stuff i got there, for hot cider and lemonade and herbal tea. i'm thankful for vitamins and excedrin and tissues (especially the ones with lotion in them...).
i'm thankful that i have enough money in my bank account that i don't have to freak out about black friday or camp in front of anywhere to get something cheaper. i can get what i need, when i need it, and if something is expensive, i can budget and save for it. i am thankful that i have the security and stability to be able to do that. i am thankful for my absence of debt (until i get the mortgage).
finally, i am thankful that i know there are other things i didn't list, but that i'm going back to bed again, so they can stay in my subconscious for now.

... because i can't resist

jibjab christmas

more pirated romania photos

a mix of photos from dan and laura's cameras...
the night of the blind people party, there was a dance at the hotel restaurant. i do not know this dude's name, but he danced with several of us.
and as we were waiting around outside the clinic, i got this itch inside my nose...

apparently it was a really, really bad itch:

while at the mud volcanoes, i had fun leaping from peak to peak. then i got a tad cocky. surprised i didn't fall down at this point:

and a random stone lion "got" me at castle pelles. yes, i am a ham, but i didn't mean it like that!

still catching up

so i got as far as the spay/neuter clinic. we started early (i got there about 5:30) and people started showing up with their pets a little before 6am. at a little after 6:30 i started calling the people whose pets weren't there yet. we got most of 'em to show up. then surgery started at about 7. as per normal, the food brought in by volunteers was awesome, and boy, did we earn it! i think the clinics are getting more and more popular - we had so many volunteers this time that i stationed one person with the boss' and my dogs in the office to pet and love on and keep 'em happy. it was great to get all these incredible people together and introduce them to other people who love animals. and we did good deeds at the same time! double win!
so then i finally got to relax a little bit on sunday, after helping work with an agressive puppy. then monday was a real monday, and tuesday went really smoothly until the end of the day when i got to start driving. see, i got to go to an inventory/osha training on wednesday and thursday up in everett. yeah, long drive (also that's where the ex lives now. awkward!). so i drove up on tuesday, got there about 9:30, and checked in to my motel 6. sort of eeew, but i had a freebie coupon, and we know i can't pass up a freebie. first the heater wouldn't get warm, then it got too warm, but altogether not too terrible. the training was awesome. webster veterinary supply has a webster university program, and this was the first time i'd gone to any of their classes. there were only about 15 of us, with a great instructor, and i think we all learned a lot. plus, all the other people there were veterinary office managers, so we got to talk shop and help troubleshoot each others' issues and whatnot. got some really good advice and met some great people. they fed us too, which is always a plus in my book. hot breakfast and lunch at the courseroom, and then they took us all out to dinner on wednesday to an italian bistro. yum! can we say tirami-awesome-su?
finished up with osha stuff on thursday at about 1. just in time to go to the irs office to get copies of tax returns for my loan officer, and then hit trader joes and big lots before the first time homebuyers class i had to take to get a deal on my down payment. since they don't offer those classes out here, i scheduled it for thursday evening while i was in civilization. great class, and i learned a lot, but i didn't start the drive back until almost 10.
so then there was a little bit of sleep before i got up to take my car in to the shop. i swung by the new house on the way there. it seems the cabinet guy had a family emergency, so it's still almost done... at least everybody's ok and it should be ready by closing (maybe dec. 15th?). i took the dogs along for the ride, so that we could all walk back from the mechanic. i think they had fun, at least on the walk back, since teddy's not a huge fan of riding in the car. then i left 'em at home because the rain was picking up, and i went to work. once i'd caught up on most of my piles of stuff, i realized that it wasn't just a scratchy throat that had been bothering me - it was full-blown achy/fevery/swollen neck glands and grossness throat. so i got kicked out of the office a couple of minutes early. like that did much good because i had to drive in to town again anyway. at least i got some sleep after i got home.
so on saturday i felt a little better (yay) and (gulp) went and watched harry potter. i know, i know. i haven't wasted theater time on any of 'em so far, but hey, i'd already gone bowling and scoped out the volunteer recognition thingy at the convention center... it was definitely a harry potter movie. partly weird, partly obvious (does anyone else think malfoy is going to pull a darth vader and turn good in the next movie? guess i could read the book and find out...) and harry's just a little full of himself again. so it's not okay to steal necklaces unless harry does it, in which case whoever tries to stop him is a bad guy? animal farm much? just a tad frustrating that this series was a whole huge thing and that masses of children have idolized these books and now have been "taught" (or at least had it reinforced) that it's okay to feel entitled and that people should just help them in their quests, regardless of whether or not they agree, and that fighting is an acceptable solution as compared with rational discussion, etc. etc. not a huge fan of the potter kid, i know. and that was my tangent for the day.
finally almost caught up to today, in which the snow fell, blew around, stuck, melted, stuck some more, and turned the world all magical for a few minutes. then i got really cold, hence my 3 layers of socks. hot cocoa time!

since the trip...

i got back on saturday the 6th. we flew in at about 2 in the afternoon, got back to the car, drove home (with a couple of stops along the way for food (to eat then) and food (from a produce place to take home). got home about 6 to find a crock pot of veggie soup (my pet sitter RULES!). i tried to stay awake until normal bedtime. by normal bedtime, i was no longer tired. so i stayed up for most of the night. i think i napped some in later morning. then i went in to civilization for a while, and on the way home i got pulled over a block from my house. seems i'd started speeding just then, after being soooo careful the whole way... and i'd forgotten to put the new insurance card in the car. the officer told me to drive home safely and pay better attention to how fast i was driving. sir, yes, sir, i guess.
and then i stayed up all night again, just in time to go back to work on monday. there wasn't as much stuff piled up for me to deal with as i expected. nice surprise, but then there was plenty to do getting ready for the spay/neuter clinic for the 13th. i tried out the new italian restaurant in town after work. very yummy, but kind of pricey. probably worth it for a special occasion or something. and since i'm on the food topic... darn blue opened up a can of worms by bringing bagels to work and restarting my bagel kick. way to go keeping the fransz baking company in business this week. also, i didn't start sleeping well until about wednesday night.
the clinic on saturday went well - 32 critters "fixed".
and i'm losing battery, so i gotta go.

the trip: amsterdam

pretty much as soon as we got to amsterdam, i realized i had picked up "the creeping crud" that poor dr. steele had been fighting for days. congestion, wooziness, sore throat, the whole bit. despite that, we resolved to have fun anyway, and off we went. we spent our first afternoon on a city tour. the buildings are mostly tall, narrow, and so old that "paul revere weren't born yet when that was built". most of downtown was built up in the 16 and 1700s. i can barely comprehend that people still live and work and go about their daily lives amid that kind of history. there are canals every which way and boats and houseboats that remind me of trailers at a trailer park. and there are bicycles everywhere. i thought i saw a lot in japan, but those were nothing compared to this! the bicycles rival cars for numbers on the streets, and people use them as a regular, daily means of transportation. they ride 'em in their work clothes, and with their kids. people talk on their phones and text on their bikes. they attach little trailers to haul stuff in. we even saw a multi-level bicycle parking garage at the train station. i'd have to say that the immense weight of history and the bicycles were the biggest culture shocks.
the tour included a stop at a diamond factory. grrrrr. don't get me started on the whole blood diamond thing. i have not, nor will i ever voluntarily wear one of those rocks. still, now i've seen how they cut and polish the things.
then we got back on the bus. each passenger was given a little headset, which we plugged in to the side of the bus, and then selected our language of choice. the tour was set up via gps, so the descriptions supposedly matched what we were seeing. some of the time, it did.
after the tour, we got all set up in our hotel room and then went out to find food. we found a mcdonalds, some italian places, and about five different falafel houses. so i ate falafel. then we called it a day.
day two started with breakfast at the hotel (they gave us non name-brand nutella!! among other things). then, after a quick stop at a pharmacy for some creeping crud killer, we set out to explore the city on foot. we went through several markets and shops and were horrified at the prices of things. we perused the flower market and walked up to a giant windmill - one of the few working windmills left in the area. we decided that since food was so expensive, we'd just get bread and vegetables at a market and make sandwiches. and then we found avocadoes. really cheap, good avocadoes. and some rich, nutty bread. so that was dinner for a few nights. om nom nom. the next day, we set out for the anne frank house first thing. it was depressing and inspiring at the same time. i'd read the book, and even been anne in a play, but it was very sobering to stand in her room and look at the movie star photos and news clippings she'd hung on the walls and written about.
and then, to counteract the melancholy, we met a young american guy who was passing out flyers for a comedy show that evening, not far from our hotel. interested? yes i was. the club (and the group) are called boom chicago, and they were quite good. most of the show was improv, with just a few pre-rehearsed bits or clips. i enjoyed myself and some nummy hot cocoa.
day three we visited rembrandt's house (that was foreclosed on, and has been restored to the level of fancy he thought he could afford). it was ornate, and fascinating. some historians had assembled a collection of natural artifacts that resemble rembrandt's collection he used for artistic inspiration. he had some really weird stuff, like lizards and dried armadillos. after rembrandt's house, we went to the historical museum and learned about amsterdam. there was a fashion exhibit at the museum, so we saw lots of clothes in addition to bits of amsterdam history. towards the end of the museum, there were a series of scenes/stories depicting the lives of children through different times and socio-economic classes of the city. it turns out that amsterdam has always been very progressive in caring for the poor and needy. they had a huge old-folks home downtown, and fed homeless people and orphans. there were work programs for poor people there a couple of hundred years ago, where instead of being just given money, people were given jobs building infrastructure and such. so the new deal turns out to have not been such a novel idea after all. i guess you learn something new every day.
after the museum, we took a canal boat tour in the dark. so we got to ride around the canals for about an hour and see what amsterdam looks like all lit up for the evening.
then on our last day we visited the van loon museum - a ridiculously expensive canal house that has been restored to what it looked like a few hundred years ago. the van loon family still owns the house, and they let people come in and wander around (for a fee, of course) to see what it looked like back in the day. and what it looked like was very nice.
after that it was off to the famous sara's pancake house for some ravioli.... heehee no. apple pancakes and boy was it yum! pricey though, like everything else. so then we went down to the market by the hotel to spend the last of our euros. and then colleen showed us a confectionery so i wished i had a few more euros left. then when we were packing up our stuff at the hotel, my wish was granted because i did have a few more euros in my bag. so then i ran back down to the confectionery. i told the lady behind the counter that i wanted to spend the last of my euros there, and she helped me pick out some awesome sweets. then she winked and stuffed a few extras in the bag. nice! we had a chocolate party back up at the hotel room. after the avocado sandwiches and some of the most amazing garlic olives i have ever experienced.
then i drugged myself up with dutch creeping crud remedy and went to bed.
the flight back home was awful - ten hours of congested misery. then the three hour drive from the airport was a lot less miserable. then i got home to find out that my pet sitter (who is freaking amazing) had already walked my dogs and left me a crock pot of veggie soup. ahhhhhhhh. and a day off on sunday before the drama began again.

the trip: more stuff

in addition to our arrival and our clinics, we did some other cool stuff in romania as well. a few people in our group were invited to be on romanian tv, and on the last surgery day, i got to play hookey for a while and be on buzau city's morning show. they asked me what i liked about romania, and i responded that the food was pretty good. they asked me what i had eaten. i said "i don't know, but it's good!" i think that made 'em happy. then andrea told them that in the us, dogs live inside the house, and hers sleep in the bed with her. and that if it gets too crowded, that her husband moves to the couch. they didn't really know whether to laugh at that or be disgusted: dogs being in the house is not something that happens over there. the day we were on the show was also "turkish" day, so there were belly dancers performing and lounging around the stage before and after our interviews. i'm not sure if it was supposed to be a serious, or if it's their version of the daily show...
we visited some mud volcanoes in buzau county and were pleasantly surprised at the lack of restraint offered to mud volcano tourists. i would have expected at least a bunch of "don't touch the mud" type signs, but no - a guy at the gate took our money and waved us on in to acres of mud/stone stuff. basically, there are some hot springs underground that combine with silt, which all bubbles up in a gooey mess and runs down the sides of the hills made by former mud. then it all solidifies and over about a billion years, i'm sure it will turn into sandstone. in the meantime, it made a whole bunch of awesome mountain/crevasse-y formations that reminded me a little bit of sand dunes at death valley. no hamburger-butt from these though - i was careful not to slide down any. we had some fun running around and climbing through the little mud valleys and making crude jokes (c'mon, they were "blup-blupping" like a bean fart in a bathtub).
our driver told us that there was a monastary on the way back to the hotel, and asked us if we would like to go see it. sure we would! then we learned that "on the way" doesn't mean the same thing in romania that it does here. so after we went over/around a mountain or so and around a bunch of curves (still at a ridiculous pace and again with the accordian music) we arrived at a monastary just in time for it to be too dark to see anything. after our driver asked around, he found a monk who was willing to let us in to see thier chapel and talk to us about it. turns out this particular monk used to work at the casino on a carnival cruise ship before he became a professional basketball player, but then he realized that something was missing from his life and he became a romanian orthodox monk. he explained that this was the newer chapel (only about 180 years old) because the 600 year old chapel had gotten too small for all the people who worshipped in it. the paintings and sculptures and stained glass were impressive. as we were leaving, he gave us all bracelets that had been blessed with holy water (except our driver, who had one already). then we made friends with a pack of local dogs in the parking lot before we drove back to our hotel.
that night, there was a banquet of sorts for blind people in our hotel. each blind person had an escort, and they started partying just after we got in. there was traditional romanian music and dancing, and we were invited to join in. several of our group did, and we had fun. after some liquid encouragement, more of our group joined in. eventually we all trickled away to get some rest before our trip to transylvania the next day, but the party went on long after most of us "crazy americans" had gone to bed. towards the end of the party, someone noticed a water leak, and several of the upstairs showers had to be turned off before it could be fixed. thank goodness our group had people on both sides of the hallway, and that we were willing to share. so in the morning we all got our showers in and packed our bags and got back on the bus. the drive took a couple of hours. there were some gorgeous hills in full autumn colors to watch along the way. sinaia is a tourist hotspot in transylvania with little coffeeshops and pubs and restaurants and whatnot, as well as street vendors and little souvenier shacks all over. we drove through the main area of town to get to our hotel, which was basically a 3-d ikea catalog. very nice stuff. we got all checked in and then started exploring the town. there ws a nice central park with random statues and benches and walkways around a fountain. downtown had food (cheesy noodles for me) and some guys playing ecuadorian music on a street corner - pan pipes and all. i got some wiener coffe in the grocery store (couldn't resist) and was really, really excited to find both kinder chocolate and jaffa cakes there! the jaffa cakes are already all gone, by the way.
that night, we intended to go out for dinner as a group, but the first place we tried turned us away because we didn't have a reservation. so we went somewhere else and were ushered in, given drinks, fed, and well taken care of. there was music and dancing, and fancy napkins and whatnot. it was only after we'd been served our meals that we realized we had crashed a wedding. whoops! then the musicians took a break, and all the dancers went back to their tables to light up. did i mention that romanians don't have a problem with smoking indoors? this wedding was one of heavy smokers, and the restaurant was not well ventilated. we ate, paid, and left coughing. there was an "after party" planned, but it fizzled into watching the second charlie's angels movie on cable. yay.
that was saturday. sunday was halloween. halloween was castle day! we started with castle pelles, a fairly modern castle, which was walking distance from the hotel. vendors upon vendors plied their wares while we trekked up the hill to the castle. and it was pretty impressive! the exterior is in good repair, and really looks like a castle. there are statues and towers and all kinds of fun stuff. then we went inside. the opulence was ridiculous. fancy carved stuff plated with gold decorated with crystal, piled on more fancy carved stuff. i couldn't even imaging living in a place that ornementated. i'd be afraid to break the whole thing. it was fascinating to see how much decadence can be crammed into each room. for example, the theater room, in addition to having carved cushioned chairs and velvet curtains on the ornate stage, also had murals painted on the ceiling. and fancy carpet.
the grounds were lovely. woods and hills and a stream beside the cobbled road... as we walked back down from the castle, i purchased a woolen poncho from one of the vendors. it was all fringey and awesome, and i (as usual) was cold. i got some candy from another vendor (again, big surprise, right?). after pelles, we went out for lunch (at the irish pub, where i ate spaghetti and listened to the ecuadorian guys' music) before getting on the bus for bran castle. dun dunnn dunnnnnnn! dracula's fortress, here we come! along the way, we saw the gypsy village where part of borat was filmed. exciting stuff...
so we got to castle bran and i should have expected it to be crowded, but this! i've been spoiled by living in the middle of nowhere these last couple of years. there were masses of people milling around, tourists, vendors, locals, and dogs in between begging for food. we waited in line to pay for the castle. then we walked up the hill in a herd. then we waited in line at the heavy door (with a gargoyle doorknob - pretty awesome). then the crowd moved into the castle. yes, it was a castle. yes, it was pretty cool, but the best part by far was when cristina put fake blood on her face and fake fangs in her mouth and whirled around growling and hissing at the hordes of children following behind us. their screaming and fleeing was a delight to witness. then we had a little more space for the rest of the castle. whereas pelles gave us a guided tour (probably to make sure we didn't touch anything) bran let people pretty much just wander around and explore. i found several windows that weren't sealed shut, and let a little fresh air into some of the rooms. i found the wooden swivel shutter thing that made room for archers to aim at enemies. that wasn't sealed shut either. then i found a door that was locked, and it was annoying. oh well. if one locked door and screaming hordes of children are the worst that happens, i guess that's not too bad. probably the most disturbing thing i saw at the castle was the epoxy-encased vampire bats for sale in the gift shop. i was appalled and i was fascinated. i very nearly purchased one, they were so gruesome. (shudder).
after we'd all had our fill of crowded castle, we went back to the bus and learned about "satisfaction bread". the bread dough is wound around a wooden dowel, doused in some sweet syrupy stuff, and then roasted over live coals. the finished "loaf" is shaped like a big toilet paper roll, but oh, the goodness! three loaves lasted about four minutes, and that was just because the passing them around took time. and, thanks to the guys on our trip and its unique shape, the bread was named for its potential uses "when you're lonely, and you need a snack". yes, they meant it that way.
following that, dinner was at the steakhouse (where we said goodbye to new jersey, who had an early flight in the morning), followed by an after party at the irish pub, followed by a bunch of shivering people chattering our teeth back up to the hotel, where a few of us warmed up in the lobby and said goodbye to aurash, since he would be leaving early in the morning.
speaking of morning, that's when some of us went up to the cable car/gondola place to see if we could get a signtseeing ride. we couldn't because they were closed, but it was still a nice walk. then there was another walk to the train station to buy our tickets for that afternoon's train ride. then there was some shopping and another irish pub and some satisfaction bread before we collected the luggage and went back down to the station. the train was delayed a few minutes, so we got to watch some construction guys jauntily build while balancing on girders way up high... and we got to feed some stray dogs wandering around on the tracks. eventually our train showed up and we piled on and piled in and off we went. it took a couple of hours to get to bucharest, where we checked in to another hotel, and then walked down the block for dinner. we went to a romanian restaurant, where we were served traditional romanian specialties, and boy did the vegetarians luck out! we got bean paste and eggplant paste and some sort of ratatouille, and roasted peppers. om nom nom... the poor meat eaters got pork rind and chunks of pork fat and fish paste and yeah. heehee. there were local musicians at the restaurant and lonnie proposed to the violinist on the spot after he serenaded her. so that was dinner, and then we went on back to the hotel and set up our wake-up calls since we all had to leave pretty early. except taryn. she stayed a few extra days in bucharest and brought marius (the dog) and bobbi/el presidente back stateside on the airplane with her. the rest of us met up with cristina in the morning. she had gone back to buzau during the night to pick up mika the puppy and bring her out to us so that she could fly on the plane with jennifer to san jose. we made it to the airport, but it took a long time to finalize the puppy's paperwork. long enough for her to throw up in her carrier anyway. lucky me got to hold her while other people cleaned it up (as soon as we got through security). then it was goodbyes all around, as lonnie went home to va, the california folks all flew through paris, and us amsterdam-bound folks headed on out that way.

some photos

so the local spay/neuter clinic (and remnants of romanian flu) distracted me from finishing my story. dan took lots of photos, and i've pirated some of his here.
we visited some mud volcanoes, and they just matched my outfit:
for some reason, when we threw up signs, i was a vulcan...

i made a random glass/ashtray tower at a romanian wedding we crashed.

and the notorious leopard pants:

oh yeah, we saw some castles too. this one is the most impressive - castle pelles:

the trip: the clinics

the original plan for our trip was to set up shop in the city of buzau, where there is a dog shelter of sorts, and the romanian army brings in up to 30 dogs daily that they've dart-gunned down on the streets, in addition to individual citizens bringing in their own pets for surgery. the last trip was insanely swamped, and we had a team of surgeons ready to rock-n-roll. well, yeah. those darn best laid plans again...
we set up shop in our little village (in some empty rooms at the mineral springs spa). we taped garbage bags to some desk-table thingies and used concrete blocks to raise them up for use as surgery tables. we spread out foam padding and set up a space heater in our recovery room. we got out all of our drugs and gloves and sutures and whatever all else, gave ourselves a pep-talk, and the army brought us a total of 4 dogs. several people brought us their own pets, and our amazing new friends duena and marius caught lots of street dogs for us, but there was barely any time that all four surgeons were operating at the same time for more than a few minutes of overlap. dr. colleen spent a good hour luring one semi-feral dog with snacks so that we could spay her. dr. lonnie did some great kitty snuggling in recovery. dr. andrea went on romanian tv three times, and dr. steele, well, she pretty much got in on all the surgeries she could, and worked with dr. dan (a romanian vet who joined us at the last minute). dr. dan had never spayed a cat before, but now he's awesome at it!
i was one of the people who went out an wrangled street dogs (and in one very exciting instance, a feral cat) leash in one pocket, muzzle in the other. we'd lure the dogs with snacks, lasso them, tackle 'em and slap on a muzzle so i could carry them back. not that they were super bad, but they were all terrified of walking on a leash, and i'm not gonna have a dog i don't know that near my face without a muzzle on. so we got a good dozen or so dogs that way, in addition to the friendly street dogs (el presidente/bobby the beagle, beetlejuice/marius the shepherd mix, and a few others) who followed us right to the clinic, and then hung out there for days after their surgeries. they loooooved the attention. and yes, some of the team fell in love with them. dandrea adopted marius, danielle has bobby, and jackie, bless her, is adopting palinka (a pup whose mom we spayed the first day) that means i'll get to keep tabs on her, since jackie's already a client at my office. woohoo! (side note: "palinka" is a homemade pear brandy, sort of like extra-strong tsuica. bobby is named bobby because one of the guys down at the cafe where he regularly begged called him that. marius is marius because "the real marius" is just an all-around amazing guy, in addition to being an incredible dog catcher and handler. also, it's a romanian name. and dandrea is like bennifer or brangelina. you know.)
back to surgeries. most of our patients were dog spays. most of them were not puppies. several of the dogs had some sort of blood clotting problem (local disease?) and oozed significantly during surgery. poor doggies. we had a couple of scary surgeries, but no fatalities (a great record when anesthetizing and operating on all ages of non-preexamined random dogs). on day one, we did 30 surgeries. when i wasn't out rounding up patients, i worked in surgery, monitoring patients and giving additional anesthetic drugs when needed. not being the hugest fan of blood and guts, i was glad to move to recovery on day two, when we again did 30 surgeries. strangely enough, day two was mostly cats. yeah, and i have cat allergies. and recovery was a small room with all the cats who needed handling/medicating/cleaning up/monitoring while they woke up. so i got pretty congested and sneezy. on day 3, i got to sneak into pre-op for a minute to help wrestle some terrified feral puppies out of a crate for anesthesia. yeah. so the one with explosive diarrhea also had the screaming-flailies and thrashed and squealed and sprayed filthy stinky poo all over me. yay. thank goodness i had pajama pants on under my scrub pants, as i was able to peel 'em off before the poo soaked through. oh... of all the days to wear the fuzzy leopard print pajama pants. photos were taken, laughs made, and then we got on with the work, fuzzy leopard pants and all. one of our "clients" on days two, three, and four was a lady we nicknamed "babushka". at first she came in pulling a wagon full of bundles. it took a while for us to figure out it was really a wagon full of cats! it turns out that, in romania, burlap shopping bags double as cat carriers. she had at least 8 or 9 cats all piled on the wagon. we "fixed" them all, then loaded 'em back up in their bags, helped her pile them on the wagon, and sent them on their way. she came back later with more cats, and then again with some religious pamphlets. we tried to explain to her that, since we don't read romanian, we couldn't read them anyway, but she insisted, so now i have a romanian religious pamphlet. by day two, people started bringing us goodies to thank us for helping out. we got still-warm homemade bread, some amazing eggplant/pepper stuff in a jar to slather on the bread, fresh pastries, cookies, fruit, and bottles of homemade tsuica, palinka, and red wine. this all in addition to the lunches that our hotel made and had sent down to us. lunches were a variety of soupy/stewey things, with mushrooms or cabbages or whatever. they always sent us two pots - one with meat and one without. how awesome is that!
by day 3, the americans in town were too big of a deal for people to miss out on - we had some looky-loos scope us out, and some of them picked on babushka for a while. they didn't seem to understand why we weren't impressed with their mocking of her. stupid guys.
and i know i left out a lot of stuff, but it's really morning now, so i'm gonna go start my day and get back to documenting the trip a little later.

the trip: the post: the arrival

holy guacamole - day one started at oh-dark-thirty in the morning with a drive to sea-tac. we got a late start due to teddy's refusing to poop and some forgotten boots. so we didn't get to stop for breakfast as planned. mcdonalds had to suffice, and i have never been less impressed with a mickey d's than the one in tacoma. blech service, blech for messing up orders and blech for lack of cleanliness or organization... overall not such a nice time. also, my beverage came sans sugar, which i did not realize until we had driven away. so i got to the airport only vaguely gruntled. then we met up with jackie and began the epic journey - nine hours to amsterdam, getting jackie to her plane, then meeting up with colleen, then getting to our plane and meeting the "rest" of the gang (dan/andrea/jen/randy) from san jose. then the 3 and some change hour plane ride to bucharest. i made barf bag puppets, but the small child sitting next to me was not at all entertained. oh well. i was pleasantly surprised at the caliber (and quantity) of food klm provided us along the way. during the layover in amsterdam, i met a guy named ronald (you may have heard of him - he represents a very large worldwide fast food chain). there were several representations of ron around the airport, and we met several times, most of them amicably. at one point ron got a bit fresh and i had to have a serious talk with him afterwards (photos to follow).
so, we made it to bucharest and met back up with jackie, who had connected with cristina, lonnie, taryn, and new jersey (maria, danielle, and laura). we passed around a bunch of beleagured hellos and pleasdameetchas - i didn't know this yet, but that whole group was comprised of awesome people! team romania, take one: lights, camera, action!
we got local funds from atms (currency in romania is composed of lei and bani, and yes, there were all kinds of fun references made throughout the trip regarding how many lei people had gotten from whom in romania.) then we met our driver, aurash, and clambered onto the bus. then we discovered that aurash likes techno music. loud techno music. very loud, nonstop, swerving madly about on romanian highways at night techno music. eventually we made it to our hotel, the casa cu tei, where we checked in, plopped our bags down in our rooms, and meandered downstairs for dinner. that part perked people up a bit. cristina, our romanian liason, had arranged with hotel staff for the booze to flow freely, including tsuica - basically romanian moonshine, sweetened with honey and flavored with walnuts. in addition to large quantities of alcohol, we were plied with large quantities of meat, potatoes, rice, potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, probably some more potatoes... once the staff became aware that there were four vegetarians in our group, they added cheeses and more mushrooms. everything was wonderfully warm and filling and rich and om nom nom nom. i pretty much ate myself to sleep.
the next morning started early (hooray for time differences!). mine at about 3:30. colleen was already up watching movies, and we found some apples and cookies to munch on. at about 4:30 randy joined the party too. after a couple of movies and some channel surfing, we all went and got ready for our day. after a filling eggs/cheese/meats if you want 'em and toast with homemade jams breakfast, most of the group went on a walk or two during the morning - exploring the general vicinity of our hotel. we stayed in a small resort village whose claim to fame was a mineral spring and some roman ruins. so we tried the mineral water (ick!). and looked at the ruin. and then looked at an orthodox ministerial school (absolutely gorgeous grounds, with stone carvings and fall leaves...). then i was documented trying to break into what turned out to be a mausoleum (hey, i don't read romanian). thank goodness the door was locked. the grounds, again, were just gorgeous. also, there were cows on the side of the road, and several stray dogs including a one-eyed beagle and a polydactyl shepherd mix who begged for food, then begged for petting, then followed us along the road. the beagle followed some of the team all the way back to the hotel. enter filip, the resident st. bernard who basically owns the hotel and sleeps on the lobby couch. turns out he's not a fan of one-eyed beagles in his territory, especially when they try to defend random black-and-white dogs he tries to attack first. yeah, that little beagle stood up to the bernard, and even started their brief skirmish. thank goodness there were several practiced animal handlers and vets around. they got filip away and treated "el presidente"s bite wound, then sent him on his way. mid-day was spent with our "dear leader" and the mayor trying to decide where to hold our actual clinics, as the previously planned location had fallen through at the last minute.
after all that was settled, aurash took us into the city of buzau for some exploration/shopping. we got some postcards and i got my first taste of cappy juice (cappy became a recurring theme during my visit - super yummy juice in a variety of flavors...). we noted that the majority of shopping in buzau concerned boots and jeans, although there was also a street vendor selling chainsaws. that was pretty awesome. (side note: it was generally agreed that over the course of the trip, we devalued the word "awesome" to the point that someone saying "that's awesome" became the equivalent of saying "oh" or "huh".)
on the bus ride back from buzau, aurash treated us to traditional romanian accordian-style music, instead of techno. we were grateful, for about eighteen seconds. the ride home lasted much longer than that, and as we bounced around crazily, someone commented that, had we been shown fast-forwarded, or had we all been cartoon villains bouncing along, the music would have been appropriate. after we got back to the hotel, we were supplied with much more awesome food in the hotel restaurant.
the hotel's main floor consisted of a restaurant with country-style decor. the upper floors (with wooden, adventurously-placed stairs) were bedrooms. the rooms were well-heated, but since we couldn't figure out how to change that, most people slept with our windows open. the hotel itself was obviously old, with creaking wooden floors, quirky nooks, and the varying-sized stairs. it was pretty darn clean and well-kept for all of that, and the staff were very accomodating - even letting us use their computer to check emails once in a while!
and that, ladies'n'gents, brings me to the first morning of surgeries, which i'll attempt later.

kittens in the house!

i'd forgotten how one tiny kitten can centralize the entire energy and focus of a household onto its kitten antics. and two kittens? if i didn't lock 'em up every so often neither i nor the dogs would do anything but follow them around. neil is ridiculously conscientious of monitoring both kittens any time they are out of their kitten pen. he puts on his worried face and follows them around, making sure they are okay after exploring, swatting him in the face, stealing his food, or "treeing" hobbes on the counter. it's an incredible change to see in neil - now that he has a real job to do, he is so much more confident in his good-dogness. i've never seen him like this before. he is so much more secure and comfortable. makes me wonder if tank at paws (who reminds me so much of the neily boy) needs some kittens of his own to follow around. i let the kittens run amuck for about an hour, and now they and the dogs are sprawled out all over the place, exhausted. it's hard work laughing that much, after all.
hobbes despises the kittens. especially after they treed him. he has abandoned me for the day, and i expect something along the lines of floor poop later. balloon became insecure and started crying as soon as he realized the kittens were here. he's been clingy and whiney... shadow is hiding, and twilight took the opportunity to monopolize my bed for her own uses.
on a more teddy-ish note: i finally made the last payment for teddy's leg surgeries. i set it up to auto pay yesterday. within probable minutes of the electronic transfer, i noticed that teddy is holding his head sideways and flattening out one ear. he cried when i touched it. on closer inspection, i found out that he has an ear hematoma (blood pocket from some busted veins, often caused by excessive scratching, which teddy does due to allergies, despite twice daily medication). the ear, of course, requires a surgical procedure to repair. i love teddy, but sometimes... oh it's a good thing he's cute!

in case anyone was wondering...

no, i did not swing by the liquidation store and get veggies after that last post.
i'm still fighting connie pee and now i'm sitting neil (the big deal) who used to be my dog, and his two kittens. all at my house. six cats, three dogs, and one frazzled hillbilly/crazy cat lady. for the weekend. by monday i expect to be calm, composed, and ready to face my last workweek before romania. since i still haven't moved yet, i get to unpack some boxes so i can pack a duffel bag for the trip. speaking of not moving... now the bank is still willing to finance me personally, just not the property i want. meaning i need to either find a new broker or pick a different house. and since i already put down earnest money on this one... i get to redo a bunch of loan paperwork on monday. whoopee. ish.
balloon despises the kittens. connie is fascinated by them. neil is intrigued by connie and repeatedly tries to flirt with her. teddy is just puttering around all darn excited to have more friends here. hobbes is furious at the disruption of his dignified pooping on my floor.
although i have let the dishes pile up alarmingly (again), i managed to make room in the kitchen to throw together some cinnamon bread, which is sweetening up my evening quite nicely. speaking of nice evenings, i've spent the last couple of nights rehearsing. and we are still without a "jim" character for my gift of the magi play. it's going well other than that. i've got some stunning wigs... and the hillbilly play is a blast! we're tossing in a bunch of slapstick and gags. the audience will be rolling. can't wait to do that one!
as of last week, it seems like summer finally found its way here. we had some beautiful sunshine and it even got warm enough to go without a jacket in the middle of the afternoon...
so i'm spending the evening with the blog, a queen cd, and a medley of critters. joy and tiredness, i'm going to bed.

shoulder to the grindstone

yesterday was beyond a typical monday. in addition to the normal my-pet-started-having-the-runs-this-weekend calls, we had three emergencies - two hit by cars, and one poor li'l guy got kicked by a deer. all three survived, but boy, did we dole out the pain meds! we had to refer a couple of 'em out to other places with more hi-tech equipment, but word is they're doing okay so far. we also had a new employee start work. so we did paperwork, gave her the tour, got her started on reading manuals... fun stuff. and i got to coordinate our film shoot. yeah, we're making a commercial, and the film crew is coming out tomorrow. we had to line up some of our favorite clients (with well-behaved pets) to come and help us out. those were fun phone calls to make! the clients are all pretty excited about it. and my team members are all trying to decide which scrubs to wear... i figure that since the shoot is after work, we'll probably be all grubbied up by then anyway, so it won't matter much which scrubs.
so today i finalized all that and got the final lists of pets signed up for the spay/neuter clinic on saturday. besides filming tomorrow, i have to try to get the paperwork all set up for that. oh, and i'm now in charge of last minute additions because the normal sign-up person is going out of town. and i found out today that two of our hardcore volunteers can't be there. bummer! we've got plenty of substitutes and fresh meat (heehee) for me to boss around, but still... so there is some cleaning out of kennels and putting together of assignments i gotta do to get ready for that. i keep looking at the calendar wondering just where i'm gonna squeeze it all in.
the new employee is doing great so far. and connie had a great time out in the yard with the other dogs this afternoon. it was the first time i let her out of the kennel off-leash since she got spayed. she rolled around in the grass and chased other dogs and just generally had an awesome time. and then we had an emergency right at the end of the day. sick cat. he's probably gonna pull through, but what a way to end the day.
and then i went to learn the ropes of my pet sit for the week - three cats and two big dogs, one of whom needs meds twice a day. thank goodness she's good about pills. they live just around the corner from my new place, which would be really convenient if i had been able to move last weekend... (no, i'm not bitter).
did i mention that hobbes pooped on the floor? he was upset about something and took it out on me that way. poor connie noticed, and i could just about hear her response: "hey, i didn't know we were allowed to poop on the floor here! that's awesome!" so she pooped on the floor too. and peed for good measure. and was very careful to pee in the same spot this morning. i think she thinks that the whole world outside plus that one corner of carpet is fair game. that's not counting the dribbles she leaves pretty much all over the place - can't blame her for what she can't control, but holy moly, did the breaker-inners really have to steal my carpet steamer?
thank goodness for a generous donation of large towels that were intended for the clinic, but are currently spread out all over my floor (i'll get 'em there before saturday, really). yay for not discovering urine puddles by stepping in them!
so this evening i finally cracked and opened the chocolate orange that i gave myself last christmas... not bad. i probably deserve it.
tomorrow: work, film shoot, another pet-sit prep visit, paws shift, rehearsal, and if i'm lucky, swing by the liquidation store and grab some veggies. if i'm lucky.

days off

my boss went to a vma meeting thing. all the relief vets were booked up already. so we had to practically close the office. minimal staff (2 people) worked each day, answering phones and working on projects (i have never seen the floors look so nice!). and i took 2 days off. those days were supposed to coincide with my move. should have seen that one coming.
on the first day off i "slept in" until about 8am, then got involved with productive activities (cleaining, packing, painting, etc.). i started laundering all the blankies that kitties sleep on, so that i can pack them and move them sans cat hair. as though this is important. as though they won't become almost immediately saturated with hair from all the same cats once they're unpacked. i also played in my kitchen. packed some jars and all the fridge magnets. caught up on dishes (i can't wait to use the dishwasher at my new place!!). took down all the window blinds and piled them up to spray off in the shower. then i heard that cadillac jacks was closing and i'd better get on down there. so the blinds are still sitting in a pile, and i'm being careful what i wear in front of my windows.
on my way to jacks, the hillbilly play director pulled over and said he'd see me at rehearsal. i'm pleased to report that he still doesn't know i'd completely forgotten about it until then, as i played it off as that i just had to run an errand and i'd be right there. said errand involving going down to the bar to wish them the best. made a new friend(ish) who started trying to introduce me to people i already know. that was unique. when i hillbilly'd it up, someone tried to hook me up with a guy named bobby, since they said he's a billy too. i told 'em that if he really was a billy, i'd best not even try, as i was sure things wouldn't work out, what with me not being his sister and all.
then i went to rehearsal. cora belle had fun. and that was about it for day off number one.
number two was pathetic by comparison. got lots of quality facebook surveys done. got lots of chapters read. got lots of macaroni eaten. and went to iga to redbox a movie. yeah. good times.
so today is day three. had rehearsal as della in the morning. i still don't have a "husband jim" cast, so the assistant director read in. i need to get lots of props for the part, and a couple of wigs. what fun! after rehearsal, i went to iga, the thrift store, paws, the iga again, and probably somewhere else - oh, the gas station. it was a gorgeous day, and i feel like more things should have happened in it. guess i shouldn't complain.
one more day of trying to be useful-ish tomorrow. i think i'll be ready to go back across the street on monday.

the bank said yes

but the new place isn't done being built yet. so i'm renting for another month. i pointed out that i wouldn't have to pay rent if i could move in to the cabin, so i might get some more money knocked off the purchase price. that would be nice.
today is thursday and i'm not working. not working?!? yep. i've got a four-day weekend. the plan was for this time off to coincide with my move... yeah right. so now i'm thinking i'll move out of a really, really clean apartment. i've already packed a bunch and taken some stuff to the thrift store today. next project - clean out the windowsills in the front room and scrub off the mildew. yes. it grows in through the window edges.
and that is gross enough that i'm putting it off by dinking around online.

since monday:

got a gorgeous bouquet from old dog haven. which they got from beach bouquets - they do a nice job. also got a new old sheltie from old dog haven. well, from the shelter in olympia via odh. she's a beautiful little girl, except for what looks like stick-in teeth from a halloween shop. they are nasty, filthy, stinky, dark, and sticking in multiple directions with gaps in between. eeeeeew. since she's a dainty, petite little dewdrop, but her "overbite is an understatement" her new name is connie conundrum. i'll probably drop the conundrum part after her teeth get fixed. which might be tuesday. (please please please).
cracked and bought water and more laundry detergent. got a drink and did laundry.
packed enough stuff that i had to open two boxes today to get out stuff i needed...
finished painting the ceiling (finally!!!)
spent lots of quality kitty time. found lots of little owies - hobbes and balloon don't just wrestle i guess. they've been doing some nipping and slapping. so i trimmed some toenails and gave them a talking to. not that it'll work, what with them being cats and all, but hey.
worked and worked - i've kept my desk majoritarily (hee hee - new jumbleword!) cleaned off the last couple of weeks. it's been easier than i thought it would, and very, very nice. i can actually find stuff and get things done in a timely manner... who'da thunk?
went to the zoo yesterday! we were invited to tour their animal hospital, and (of course) said yes in an excited manner. we crammed the boss' car with staff and set off pretty early in the morning. sang a bit and laughed a lot in the car on the way up (someone has a droid phone with multiple fart functions - how could we not laugh until we nearly peed our pants?). toured the hospital and saw how they do things. then got into the zoo for free. even got to leave the car in the employee lot. yay - no parking fee! had a nice long day in the sun, with some shade and drinking fountains and handfulls of wild huckleberries. saw some awesome critters - the african wild dogs were out and about, and the great apes were very accomodating, making faces and kids and all that. we saw komodo dragons and a king cobra, and about a bajillion brazillian cockroaches (say that ten times fast - i dare ya!). all in all a very fun excursion.
then went to elmer's for lunch/dinner. YUM!!! try grilled swiss cheese, tomato, grilled walla wallas and avocado sandwich! and nearly five beverage refills. i guess that day in the sun made me thirsty...
after the fabulous meal, we went on to summit referral and emergency medical center to see their hospital. amazing! the doctor on shift was able to give us a tour. she's showing off thier ultrasound equipment and our staff got all excited about the over-the-door shoe holder they use to organize endotracheal tubes. ("wow!" "hey guys, check this out" "this is so awesome - we need to get one of these!"). it was nice to see the place and meet the people we've heard such awesome stuff about. i'm pretty sure that, based on the experience, we'll keep sending our specialist referrals their way.
also this week - getting excited for romania - now less than four weeks away. how am i ever going to get everything done in time? i'm supposed to move! if the bank comes through for me and/or if i can get alternate financing. and if they finish building! the place isn't done yet! and i was supposed to close on thursday. but now, well, kind of in a bind what with already having given the bank that owns this place a notice of my intent to vacate... what does one do? i think i'll call the bank, but i'd rather do it after i hear back from my bank about if/when i can expect to really move, pending that construction gets done. i think they're still just putting in cabinets and hardware... so pending, pending, pending, and then maybe pending that i'll get some relief.
just in time to finish packing, move, unpack, and leave the country. for two weeks. to somewhere i don't even know any of the language (in nicaragua at least i knew "hola", "bueno", and "habla poqiutito espanol"). and then stop in amsterdam for some fun on the way back.
and then get to know the new dog all over again - if i still have her by then. if she's as healthy as i think she is, she ought to get adopted out quick!

goals for the end of the year:
be moved in, unpacked, sorted out, decorated, and no longer ridiculously behind on laundry. this may necessitate getting rid of some clothes, as i generally store large quantities in the hamper.
replace the digital camera.
make huckleberry cookies at least once before they're all gone.
build a fire pit. use it.
chop down scrub and dig out a garden. mulch said garden with poo from the stables.
get the cattery built.
learn the lines to and not mess up too badly on either play.
get signed up for dog training certification.
save a couple hundred bucks.
finally get the car's brakes worked on.
maybe even the speedometer fixed.
decorate for christmas? recognize at least the existence of a holiday?
and whatever other billion random things come my way.

bring it on, world! i got my cocoa today, and i am soooooo ready to mix it up (multiple meanings there)!

lest i forget...

the 8 days of jj:
day one: met in a parking lot. collected his stuff. posed for some adorable pictures. went to a park, walked through the woods, and onto a pebble beach. took it very slow on the walk back. jj had a blast - smiling and smiling... seemed like a happy little guy. he slept (and farted) the whole ride home. when we got to the house, he walked on in and puttered around like he already lived here. he briefly said hi to hobbes, and ignored the other kitties. didn't eat much. i chalked it up to an exciting day and new surroundings. slept like a log.
day two: fought over taking pills at breakfast. barely ate, except for some turkey dogs. went to work to meet "the pack". offended poor betty (the boss dog) by pointedly ignoring her when she tried to intimidate him. puttered around the yard and staked out his spot by the back door. ate even less. had some icky poo. fought over taking pills again with dinner.
day three: jj showed his little attitude with morning pills. after i had the pill in his mouth, and was holding it closed so he would swallow, he started coughing. so i had to let go, and he spit out the pill. the look he gave me! it said, "ha ha" plain as anything. then, after he finished coughing and i was about ready to start fighting again, he ate up the pill from off the floor. again, "ha ha".
days four, and five: went to work. slept, played, came inside when it rained, puttered around the yard some more. on day four jj learned how to fetch, and actually ran a few times.
day six: saturday. napped most of the day. went for a couple of short walks in the rain. threw up friday's lunch and everything he'd eaten since then. took more naps.
day seven: napped most of the day. threw up everything. wagged his tail when we went out for walks. had "empty ketchup bottle" diarrhea. started shaking in his sleep about 8:30 at night. kept shaking even after i woke him up. went to the hospital. got x-rays. got fluids. got anti-nausea meds. left the poor dude in a kennel overnight so he wouldn't have access to food or water - so he wouldn't throw up.
day eight: drank a little bit. went outside. puttered around. didn't play, but watched the other dogs running around like idiots. got more fluids and a blood panel. went for a car ride to buy chicken for trying to get him to eat. he wasn't interested in the chicken. started breathing strangely about 9:30pm - rapid and shallow. gave me the "help me" eyes and leaned in for lovings. he hadn't done that before. i tried to calm him down, distract him with a walk. he liked the walk, but his breathing didn't get any better. i called emergency, brought him in, told him he was a good boy. we x-rayed again. diagnosis: system failure. so we let him go.

reasons to celebrate

went by the new house. it's not complete yet (still). it smells new and clean and exciting. it feels raw and unused. i can't wait to fill it up with hope and dreams and events and memories. also critters. scoping out where to put the cattery. picturing the huckleberry cookies i'll have to bake almost right away, since the huckles in the yard are ripening fast. breathing the ocean breeze and loving it.
tried out for the community theatre group's set of christmas plays. was cast in two. i get to play hillbilly cora belle, whose maw is set on marryin' up with a mean ole polecat. then i get to be della, newlywed new yorker who sells her hair to get her dear jim a watch chain for christmas. the part of jim is still open. first read-through is on wednesday night.
i embarrassed myself in front of the entire invited community at the annual cardboard boat race today. my team definitely had our boat done the quickest. we had a plan and we executed it well. our design was based off the southern illinois university's physics program's best boat. hence we thought it would float well. "they" gave us paddles, but my paddle was too long, so i started using my hands. then the boat shipped water and i tipped out. i tried to swim and drag the thing, but it turned into soggy dead weight really fast. so that didn't happen. the water was not as cold as i expected. and i was able to tell the emcee that i was thinking of him when i put on the burro hat... good times.
i have critters. i have more than i probably should, and i barely have the time they need, especially with the new sick old guy. but they are so incredible. they greet me. they hang out with me. they wash themselves and i get lost in the zen of it all. then they balance it out by vomitting on the floor and such. so i have to laugh, clean it up, and move on. critters...
the sky is amazing today. it's every color sky can be: golden, blue, silvery white, and misty grey. the wind is fresh, the air is almost tangy. i love living near the ocean!
the breaker-inners did not take my music. i have cds and a cd player and i can hear/sing all i want. i can hum, dance, and chicken head right along to whatever i want.
i have a car! and a bicycle! means to escape when i need to. means to feel free and capable. means to do things for myself and others.
i have the ability to make choices. i decide what to do and when to do it. i make plans and keep 'em or break 'em as i see fit. the power of choice is amazing and i know so many people take it for granted. i love being able to say yes, no, probably, or probably not. and which one i say is up to me.
massage. 'nuff said.
food! the amazing variety of it. the different types, styles, tastes, textures, combinations... yesterday went from bagels with leftover gravy to strawberry chocolate tea (yes, chocolate tea, and it was incredible!). i have so much, and so many ways to use it. and sometimes out here, there is wild food, sitting around outside, for free. also, lately, several people have loaded me up with a variety of foodstuffs and enabled me to not shop, for which i am very grateful.
the outdoors and exercise. i don't mean lifting weights in a gym. i mean going out and doing something, moving, feeling, using the body to get something done. it feels good. more, it feels great.
humans! my greatest frustration. also a reason to go out and be me - so i can be around them. because, being a social animal, i want to hang out with 'em. and sometimes it's worthwhile.
sleep. wonderful, refreshing, good-for-me. ahhhhhhhh.
telephones and internet - means of communication with the outside world. yay, technology!
and that's the list right now.