Colley is now home, somewhat groggy, and puttering around. The vet recommended isolating him to watch his food and water intake-- but so far, he really hasn't eaten much, and hasn't touched the water. He seems a bit too out of it. We're keeping an eye out, but it seems like he mostly just wants to wander around and do his normal house rounds-- it's apparently a Norwegian Forest Cat trait (and one that Colley definitely does).
He did have to have one tooth extracted-- his top right canine. Apparently it was loose--essentially no longer secure in the root bed. So one way or another, it was going to come out. So he's now officially a snaggletooth. However, the interesting thing is that aside from the little incisors in the front that he's lost (out of the twelve he should have, he's lost eight), he also had lost both of the top teeth on the outside of each canine already.
My cat doesn't need braces-- he's heading for dentures.
Once I heard the news this afternoon, I was feeling horribly guilty. I kept telling myself I was a bad mother-- how could I let my cat get to the point that he had to have teeth extracted? But both Erich and the vet assistant told me I had no concerns. And THEN... a series of phone calls came in-- and the vet assistant proved my point.
One caller had a kitten-- treated at another vet-- that apparently was constipated. The owner wondered if it should be put down (!!!).
Another cat owner called because there was a tick who'd lodged onto the cat, and the owner wasn't sure what to do (um-- take the tick off. If the head doesn't come with it, then take it to the vet!)
Another caller had a dog which had an antique bow AND arrow lodged in its mouth, and the owner wondered if he'd have to get stitches-- and did it need to see a vet.
I shit you not.
I feel sad for my oldest furball, but I realize that I'd be a bad mother if I'd just let his teeth rot and not do a damn thing. :( I'm feeling like Cat Mother of the Year after those calls.
26 April 2006
The cat needs braces
After a couple years of putting it off, entirely due to expenses, Erich and I squished Colley into the carrier this morning and carted him off to the vet. In his unique fashion, he told us off the entire way. You see, Colley always has this expression on his face that translates to "I didn't do it... don't kill me please..." Today, he accusingly was yowling for the five minutes it takes to drive into Warwick to the vet. He was convinced-- we're going to kill him.
And PETA nuts... this isn't in the literal sense... we're talking jovial here. I'm not killing cats, nor do I want to kill cats. Trust me-- I'm what you call a Crazy Cat Lady In Training-- we have five. We love all five. We spoil all five. I am well aware that Colley's a wuv (spelled exactly that way). It's HIM that seems to think I'm going to kill him.
Nope-- Colley's at the vet, getting his teeth cleaned. And if you thought it was a production to get human teeth cleaned at the dentist... heh, I've got news for you. $350+ news for you. They put the cat under general anesthesia-- which makes perfect sense, of course. But that means some extra bucks. And even more, if Colley winds up getting a tooth pulled (entirely possible, the poor guy). But hopefully this will decrease the not-caused-by-fish Fish Breath (ick), and give him a new lease on life. He's dealt with ginvitivis for a while now, plus he's lost half of the little milk teeth in the front between his canines. The ones that are left are extremely crooked. I'm a bad mother-- I should have done this a while ago. :(
My cat needs braces. And a couple bridges. Do they make them for teeth that small? And why am I getting the strange image of my cat having to wear the backward over-the head muzzle-style headgear that I had for my braces?
Heh.
Anyway, the preparations for today's plans began at midnight, when all food and water was pulled away to make sure he would be okay when put under. Bear in mind, pulling away the food from Colley also means that we had a total of FIVE irritated cats this morning. Around the 3 or 4 a.m. hour, the first round of antics began. As soon as the alarm went off after seven, we had a cat swarm on the bed.
I know he's going to be fine, but I hope he doesn't hate me for too long tonight. :(
And PETA nuts... this isn't in the literal sense... we're talking jovial here. I'm not killing cats, nor do I want to kill cats. Trust me-- I'm what you call a Crazy Cat Lady In Training-- we have five. We love all five. We spoil all five. I am well aware that Colley's a wuv (spelled exactly that way). It's HIM that seems to think I'm going to kill him.
Nope-- Colley's at the vet, getting his teeth cleaned. And if you thought it was a production to get human teeth cleaned at the dentist... heh, I've got news for you. $350+ news for you. They put the cat under general anesthesia-- which makes perfect sense, of course. But that means some extra bucks. And even more, if Colley winds up getting a tooth pulled (entirely possible, the poor guy). But hopefully this will decrease the not-caused-by-fish Fish Breath (ick), and give him a new lease on life. He's dealt with ginvitivis for a while now, plus he's lost half of the little milk teeth in the front between his canines. The ones that are left are extremely crooked. I'm a bad mother-- I should have done this a while ago. :(
My cat needs braces. And a couple bridges. Do they make them for teeth that small? And why am I getting the strange image of my cat having to wear the backward over-the head muzzle-style headgear that I had for my braces?
Heh.
Anyway, the preparations for today's plans began at midnight, when all food and water was pulled away to make sure he would be okay when put under. Bear in mind, pulling away the food from Colley also means that we had a total of FIVE irritated cats this morning. Around the 3 or 4 a.m. hour, the first round of antics began. As soon as the alarm went off after seven, we had a cat swarm on the bed.
I know he's going to be fine, but I hope he doesn't hate me for too long tonight. :(
20 April 2006
Spring has definitely sprung
My allergies are reminding me of this every hour of every day at this point. Thankfully I can solve most of my issues with basic antihisthamines from the grocery store. I perpetually feel like I'm that breaking point of a cold, but it's better than the alternative.
The magnolia trees and cherry trees are now fully in bloom, and the forsythia are starting to wane. In Copley Square the tulips are getting pretty close to opening. I'd give them perhaps another week. And trees everywhere are leafing out in various shades of green.
In my own yard, we have a bunch of violet-like wildflowers that have spread over a three-foot patch of ground near the back walkway. In one corner, we have tall stalks with small, carnation-like flowers beginning to pop over the stems (I'll take a photo this weekend once they're in bloom). The formations of lilac bloom shoots are developing-- we probably still have about three weeks or so until they open, though. Other than that, our yard is mostly weeds, including tons of wild day lilies that continue to sprout anywhere and everywhere in the garden. Last year, I dug up about 40 of them and put them in windowboxes, intending to replant elsewhere around the yard. I only managed to plant a dozen of them before the weather became too cold, though. The replanted ones are growing, but not well. I think I need to mix in some peat moss and better soil so they can grow a bit higher. It's in an area where I think a lot of the better soil has been washed away, so I just need to give it a good kick of nutrients.
The lillies I hadn't replanted, by the way, are growing happily out of the window boxes. Determined little buggers.
I'm definitely getting an itch to attack that yard and make it pretty. We have a lovely swatch of land that has tremendous potential. It just needs a serious case of TLC to make it beautiful. I know it takes time-- my parents did a huge overhaul of our yard when I was little, plus additional changes or upgrades every year. I know gardening is never static, and that things change or don't go quite how you want them to, and I'm definitely patient to watch the results of my ideas. I just want to dive in and get stuff started at this point.
My ultimate goal-- and this is one that will take several years to accomplish, is to create a garden full of heirloom plants, but with some more modern breeds to give it that necessary dose of contemporary flair. I love the look of English gardens- although I probably will lean to something looking a bit less controlled. Having a garden to me is experimenting in a collection of color and texture. And honestly, I think some of the dream comes from books in childhood-- having that Secret Garden to bring back to life.
In keeping with more of an heirloom feel to the plants, I've started with some of the very traditional old flowers- hydrangeas and bleeding hearts (both which I love). This weekend I'm planning to pick up some creeping phlox to plant down the hell strip between the sidewalk and the street. It's an area a bit too sunny for myrtle (plus, we have a major problem with poison ivy in our yard... which the ivy can easily hide in). I'll also probably find spots for the rest of those day lillies. It's still a bit too cold to get planters going-- the only thing as of last weekend in the stores were pansies and the first batch of hardy geraniums.
Anyone have recommendations for other flowers I might want to consider? Most of my yard is either sunny or partly sunny, and the soil ranges from near sandy-dry to (in summer) moist.
The magnolia trees and cherry trees are now fully in bloom, and the forsythia are starting to wane. In Copley Square the tulips are getting pretty close to opening. I'd give them perhaps another week. And trees everywhere are leafing out in various shades of green.
In my own yard, we have a bunch of violet-like wildflowers that have spread over a three-foot patch of ground near the back walkway. In one corner, we have tall stalks with small, carnation-like flowers beginning to pop over the stems (I'll take a photo this weekend once they're in bloom). The formations of lilac bloom shoots are developing-- we probably still have about three weeks or so until they open, though. Other than that, our yard is mostly weeds, including tons of wild day lilies that continue to sprout anywhere and everywhere in the garden. Last year, I dug up about 40 of them and put them in windowboxes, intending to replant elsewhere around the yard. I only managed to plant a dozen of them before the weather became too cold, though. The replanted ones are growing, but not well. I think I need to mix in some peat moss and better soil so they can grow a bit higher. It's in an area where I think a lot of the better soil has been washed away, so I just need to give it a good kick of nutrients.
The lillies I hadn't replanted, by the way, are growing happily out of the window boxes. Determined little buggers.
I'm definitely getting an itch to attack that yard and make it pretty. We have a lovely swatch of land that has tremendous potential. It just needs a serious case of TLC to make it beautiful. I know it takes time-- my parents did a huge overhaul of our yard when I was little, plus additional changes or upgrades every year. I know gardening is never static, and that things change or don't go quite how you want them to, and I'm definitely patient to watch the results of my ideas. I just want to dive in and get stuff started at this point.
My ultimate goal-- and this is one that will take several years to accomplish, is to create a garden full of heirloom plants, but with some more modern breeds to give it that necessary dose of contemporary flair. I love the look of English gardens- although I probably will lean to something looking a bit less controlled. Having a garden to me is experimenting in a collection of color and texture. And honestly, I think some of the dream comes from books in childhood-- having that Secret Garden to bring back to life.
In keeping with more of an heirloom feel to the plants, I've started with some of the very traditional old flowers- hydrangeas and bleeding hearts (both which I love). This weekend I'm planning to pick up some creeping phlox to plant down the hell strip between the sidewalk and the street. It's an area a bit too sunny for myrtle (plus, we have a major problem with poison ivy in our yard... which the ivy can easily hide in). I'll also probably find spots for the rest of those day lillies. It's still a bit too cold to get planters going-- the only thing as of last weekend in the stores were pansies and the first batch of hardy geraniums.
Anyone have recommendations for other flowers I might want to consider? Most of my yard is either sunny or partly sunny, and the soil ranges from near sandy-dry to (in summer) moist.
19 April 2006
La Jolla and the Zoo (San Diego, Part 2)
OK... so it takes me a week. Moo. :)
Anyway... I finally got the other photos uploaded from our trip. Not all are great (mostly in the zoo, sadly). But browse and enjoy (pops in new window).
So... for the rest of the weekend's tales, now that the photos are up...
As I mentioned in my last entry, our flights to San Diego were hellish. Part of this was our own fault when we made our reservations. We thought we were taking a 6 a.m. flight, and were psyched that we'd get there around 11 a.m. on Thursday, so we'd have most of the day to play around. But we didn't read things correctly... we were taking the 6 p.m. flight out of Providence. (sigh) Our first flight took us to Minneapolis. Thunderstorms throughout the ride made the trip rather bumpy, but nothing too horrible. We landed about 15 minutes late... and then pulled off to the side of the airstrip as we WAITED for a gate.
oh. joy.
Apparently, the thunderstorms had been bad enough that there was a groundstop in Minneapolis. Flights hadn't been able to leave, other flights were re-rerouted. So it was a big mess all over the place. At 9:15, we finally walked up the jetway into the airport. Our flight to San Diego was to leave at 9:20 originally-- on the opposite corner of the airport (as what always happens when I fly through Minneapolis... WTF?). I had no worries about missing it. We headed into the main mall area to grab a bite to eat-- everything was closed.
Random rant-- WHY do airports do this? Flights get delayed, and NOTHING is open in airports past 9 p.m. Regardless of the fact that the airport is PACKED with people almost on a daily basis from delays. Nothing's open-- no take-out restaurants, no newstands, nothing. It's stupid, people. I don't get this logic, especially in large airports such as Minneapolis, and especially now that airlines have craptastic food policies.
Anyway... we get down to our gate, where there's a McDonalds still open-- but it closes almost immediately after taking our order. Erich waits for food as I check the gate. 11 p.m. departure. Riiight... I didn't believe it would hold. (it didn't). Since I don't want to interrupt potential pre-wedding dining craziness with a phone call, I text Melinda letting her know the situation. At 12:30 a.m. central time, our plane takes off. Erich promptly passes out, and to my amazement, sleeps most of the horrendously bumpy ride there. I maybe get a five minute doze somewhere in the flight. We land at 1:30 a.m. pacific time, have surprisingly no problems with luggage or our rental car (heh... they gave us a complete overkill car-- a Grand Caravan... for two people!), and get on the road-- I text Melinda again to let her know we've arrived and that we'll call in the morning "when we get up... sometime after 10."
We get to the Days Inn in El Cajon about a half-hour later, after some wrong exits and wrong turns. By the time we get to bed, it's 3:30, and I'm griping about how it's LIGHT OUT at home by this time. We sleep... until 10 or so. We do a greasy-spoon breakfast at Denny's next door to the hotel. Because of the weird time shifting, we're pretty zonked all day, but we enjoy the Unrehearsal Dinner with Melinda and Kevin and their friends and family. The Italian food does give us a good dose of strength for the rest of the day.
After the dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a small rest. Erich took a nap while I did some internet touristy surfing. I was looking specifically for beaches where there might be seals or sea lions, so Erich could see them and his first view of the Pacific Ocean. The seals were an important thing for me-- one of my fondest memories with my mom was driving from her home in San Ramon (near San Francisco) down to Monterrey when I was about 13. We climbed along the rocks to a little secluded beach where there were about a dozen sea lions doing their thing. I wanted Erich to get a taste of that memory.
According to all of the tourist descriptions, we wanted to go to La Jolla. Once Erich was up, we headed down, taking a pretty route through the hills. We got to the beach just in time to do some photography and watch the sun go down over the water-- VERY romantic. :) After the sun set, we took advantage of the light skies to go look at the seals over at Children's Beach. Children's Beach was a man-made breakwater designed to give kids a safe place to wade in the Pacific. Due to the rocks, there are some impressive rip currents. Definitely not kid-safe. So this little nook was perfect for kids. Of course... the seals thought it was perfect, too, and moved in. Now they own the beach. No more swimming. :)
As it got too dark out, we walked up the hill to the main drag in La Jolla to find a place to eat. Almost immediately, we noticed a funky place with bonfires out front, and went in. Roppongi was fantastic. We sat at the bar (our exact chairs are in the website photo) and ordered four dishes from the tapas menu. They blew us away. It was definitely the expensive meal of the trip... but worth every penny. We chatted with the bartenders and with "that woman at the bar"-- one of those mid-50's regulars who has a thing for one of the bartenders. Much amusement was to be had once she left and we heard the rest of the story-- how she was downright possessive of the bartenders, and usually nasty to other women who flirted with him. :) Heh. By this time, we were both very tired and headed back to the hotel...
Saturday was the wedding, of course. Before the wedding, the only thing noteworthy was burgers at "In & Out," a California take-out chain. Erich kept snickering and making the obvious line of comments about the name, so we just had to go. Good burgers. Weird, but tasty fries.
On Sunday, per the recommendation of Kevin and his mother, we got up relatively early and headed straight for the San Diego Zoo. Coming from New England, we marvelled at the beauty of the highway heading TO the zoo- everything landscaped, everything lush and green. We arrived at the zoo a bit after 10, were happy that we definitely were on the earlier side-- good, close parking space, and headed inside.
Kevin's mom had recommended we immediately take one of the bus tours around the zoo to get an idea of what was where. After taking the tour, I definitely agree-- if you ever go to the San Diego Zoo, GO STRAIGHT TO THE BUS TOUR. Don't worry about sitting on the top level, either. Honestly, we had the much better views from the bottom level of the bus. The tour took us all around the park. We got our gratuitous elephant and gazelle shots in-- things that are always great to see as a zoo, but we've seen before. But we also got great recommendations of where to go, when to go see things, etc.
Once off the bus, we decided to head immediately to the pandas, since we knew there were two baby pandas at the zoo, and it was bound to be a very busy exhibit with the line of people we saw getting on the bus for the next tour. We ducked into one of the many newer nature paths in the zoo, admiring both the myriad of plants and animals as we made our way to the pandas. Kevin's mom had told me at the wedding that once we were at the zoo, her comment would make sense-- the plants at the zoo are more valuable than the animals in many ways. I could definitely appreciate that statement. We were overwhelmed by the beautiful plants. They came from all around the world, many being included in specifically themed habitats for the animals that live in a certain area.
Per Kevin's recommendation, we had a very good-- and thankfully light-- lunch at Albert's in the center of the zoo. After lunch, we headed back out. We saw polar bears, we saw all of the big cats. I did my girly thing and cooed at the meerkats and at the koalas. We went into the aviaries and were dive-bombed by birds. We walked everywhere until our legs were ready to drop off. By about 3:30, we were exhausted, out of camera space, out of camera battery charge, and so decided to head back to the hotel for a rest. We took advantage of the hotel pool and hot-tub to stretch and relax our sore legs before grabbing dinner.
Dinner that night, we'd decided, was going to be a very low-key, relaxed affair. And given that we were in San Diego, that meant one thing-- dive Mexican food. We decided to just stay around El Cajon and found, after some driving, Pancho's Taco Shop. (heh). We headed inside-- it actually wasn't quite as dive-ey as the name would suggest. BUT... we were definitely the only gringos there. :) The food was very good. Since the menu was in Spanish, we stuck to things we were familiar with. It was very tasty.
We were up very early on Monday morning, since our return flight was at 8:30. I wanted to make sure we allotted plenty of time since we didn't know the morning commute traffic patterns, plus we had to drop off our rental car. We were required to return the car full-- and the closest gas station to the rental place was not yet open when we arrived.
Thus began the Great Gas Search of 2006. Either we were going COMPLETELY the wrong way, but we discovered that all of the roads that looked logical to us had NO gas stations. At all. 45 minutes later, we finally dropped the car off. (this is why I always give myself 2 hours pre-flight at the airport... shit always happens. Always. TSA crap aside.)
Our flights home were much easier than going out west-- we were delayed in Detroit due to a water issue on the plane. But otherwise, things were very smooth. Erich got his first view of the Rockies, still heavily snow-capped this time of year. :) And he saw just how huge the squared off acreage known as the Midwest really is.
It was a wonderful vacation. I miss it already. I definitely will remember it as one of the best I've ever taken.
Anyway... I finally got the other photos uploaded from our trip. Not all are great (mostly in the zoo, sadly). But browse and enjoy (pops in new window).
So... for the rest of the weekend's tales, now that the photos are up...
As I mentioned in my last entry, our flights to San Diego were hellish. Part of this was our own fault when we made our reservations. We thought we were taking a 6 a.m. flight, and were psyched that we'd get there around 11 a.m. on Thursday, so we'd have most of the day to play around. But we didn't read things correctly... we were taking the 6 p.m. flight out of Providence. (sigh) Our first flight took us to Minneapolis. Thunderstorms throughout the ride made the trip rather bumpy, but nothing too horrible. We landed about 15 minutes late... and then pulled off to the side of the airstrip as we WAITED for a gate.
oh. joy.
Apparently, the thunderstorms had been bad enough that there was a groundstop in Minneapolis. Flights hadn't been able to leave, other flights were re-rerouted. So it was a big mess all over the place. At 9:15, we finally walked up the jetway into the airport. Our flight to San Diego was to leave at 9:20 originally-- on the opposite corner of the airport (as what always happens when I fly through Minneapolis... WTF?). I had no worries about missing it. We headed into the main mall area to grab a bite to eat-- everything was closed.
Random rant-- WHY do airports do this? Flights get delayed, and NOTHING is open in airports past 9 p.m. Regardless of the fact that the airport is PACKED with people almost on a daily basis from delays. Nothing's open-- no take-out restaurants, no newstands, nothing. It's stupid, people. I don't get this logic, especially in large airports such as Minneapolis, and especially now that airlines have craptastic food policies.
Anyway... we get down to our gate, where there's a McDonalds still open-- but it closes almost immediately after taking our order. Erich waits for food as I check the gate. 11 p.m. departure. Riiight... I didn't believe it would hold. (it didn't). Since I don't want to interrupt potential pre-wedding dining craziness with a phone call, I text Melinda letting her know the situation. At 12:30 a.m. central time, our plane takes off. Erich promptly passes out, and to my amazement, sleeps most of the horrendously bumpy ride there. I maybe get a five minute doze somewhere in the flight. We land at 1:30 a.m. pacific time, have surprisingly no problems with luggage or our rental car (heh... they gave us a complete overkill car-- a Grand Caravan... for two people!), and get on the road-- I text Melinda again to let her know we've arrived and that we'll call in the morning "when we get up... sometime after 10."
We get to the Days Inn in El Cajon about a half-hour later, after some wrong exits and wrong turns. By the time we get to bed, it's 3:30, and I'm griping about how it's LIGHT OUT at home by this time. We sleep... until 10 or so. We do a greasy-spoon breakfast at Denny's next door to the hotel. Because of the weird time shifting, we're pretty zonked all day, but we enjoy the Unrehearsal Dinner with Melinda and Kevin and their friends and family. The Italian food does give us a good dose of strength for the rest of the day.
After the dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a small rest. Erich took a nap while I did some internet touristy surfing. I was looking specifically for beaches where there might be seals or sea lions, so Erich could see them and his first view of the Pacific Ocean. The seals were an important thing for me-- one of my fondest memories with my mom was driving from her home in San Ramon (near San Francisco) down to Monterrey when I was about 13. We climbed along the rocks to a little secluded beach where there were about a dozen sea lions doing their thing. I wanted Erich to get a taste of that memory.
According to all of the tourist descriptions, we wanted to go to La Jolla. Once Erich was up, we headed down, taking a pretty route through the hills. We got to the beach just in time to do some photography and watch the sun go down over the water-- VERY romantic. :) After the sun set, we took advantage of the light skies to go look at the seals over at Children's Beach. Children's Beach was a man-made breakwater designed to give kids a safe place to wade in the Pacific. Due to the rocks, there are some impressive rip currents. Definitely not kid-safe. So this little nook was perfect for kids. Of course... the seals thought it was perfect, too, and moved in. Now they own the beach. No more swimming. :)
As it got too dark out, we walked up the hill to the main drag in La Jolla to find a place to eat. Almost immediately, we noticed a funky place with bonfires out front, and went in. Roppongi was fantastic. We sat at the bar (our exact chairs are in the website photo) and ordered four dishes from the tapas menu. They blew us away. It was definitely the expensive meal of the trip... but worth every penny. We chatted with the bartenders and with "that woman at the bar"-- one of those mid-50's regulars who has a thing for one of the bartenders. Much amusement was to be had once she left and we heard the rest of the story-- how she was downright possessive of the bartenders, and usually nasty to other women who flirted with him. :) Heh. By this time, we were both very tired and headed back to the hotel...
Saturday was the wedding, of course. Before the wedding, the only thing noteworthy was burgers at "In & Out," a California take-out chain. Erich kept snickering and making the obvious line of comments about the name, so we just had to go. Good burgers. Weird, but tasty fries.
On Sunday, per the recommendation of Kevin and his mother, we got up relatively early and headed straight for the San Diego Zoo. Coming from New England, we marvelled at the beauty of the highway heading TO the zoo- everything landscaped, everything lush and green. We arrived at the zoo a bit after 10, were happy that we definitely were on the earlier side-- good, close parking space, and headed inside.
Kevin's mom had recommended we immediately take one of the bus tours around the zoo to get an idea of what was where. After taking the tour, I definitely agree-- if you ever go to the San Diego Zoo, GO STRAIGHT TO THE BUS TOUR. Don't worry about sitting on the top level, either. Honestly, we had the much better views from the bottom level of the bus. The tour took us all around the park. We got our gratuitous elephant and gazelle shots in-- things that are always great to see as a zoo, but we've seen before. But we also got great recommendations of where to go, when to go see things, etc.
Once off the bus, we decided to head immediately to the pandas, since we knew there were two baby pandas at the zoo, and it was bound to be a very busy exhibit with the line of people we saw getting on the bus for the next tour. We ducked into one of the many newer nature paths in the zoo, admiring both the myriad of plants and animals as we made our way to the pandas. Kevin's mom had told me at the wedding that once we were at the zoo, her comment would make sense-- the plants at the zoo are more valuable than the animals in many ways. I could definitely appreciate that statement. We were overwhelmed by the beautiful plants. They came from all around the world, many being included in specifically themed habitats for the animals that live in a certain area.
Per Kevin's recommendation, we had a very good-- and thankfully light-- lunch at Albert's in the center of the zoo. After lunch, we headed back out. We saw polar bears, we saw all of the big cats. I did my girly thing and cooed at the meerkats and at the koalas. We went into the aviaries and were dive-bombed by birds. We walked everywhere until our legs were ready to drop off. By about 3:30, we were exhausted, out of camera space, out of camera battery charge, and so decided to head back to the hotel for a rest. We took advantage of the hotel pool and hot-tub to stretch and relax our sore legs before grabbing dinner.
Dinner that night, we'd decided, was going to be a very low-key, relaxed affair. And given that we were in San Diego, that meant one thing-- dive Mexican food. We decided to just stay around El Cajon and found, after some driving, Pancho's Taco Shop. (heh). We headed inside-- it actually wasn't quite as dive-ey as the name would suggest. BUT... we were definitely the only gringos there. :) The food was very good. Since the menu was in Spanish, we stuck to things we were familiar with. It was very tasty.
We were up very early on Monday morning, since our return flight was at 8:30. I wanted to make sure we allotted plenty of time since we didn't know the morning commute traffic patterns, plus we had to drop off our rental car. We were required to return the car full-- and the closest gas station to the rental place was not yet open when we arrived.
Thus began the Great Gas Search of 2006. Either we were going COMPLETELY the wrong way, but we discovered that all of the roads that looked logical to us had NO gas stations. At all. 45 minutes later, we finally dropped the car off. (this is why I always give myself 2 hours pre-flight at the airport... shit always happens. Always. TSA crap aside.)
Our flights home were much easier than going out west-- we were delayed in Detroit due to a water issue on the plane. But otherwise, things were very smooth. Erich got his first view of the Rockies, still heavily snow-capped this time of year. :) And he saw just how huge the squared off acreage known as the Midwest really is.
It was a wonderful vacation. I miss it already. I definitely will remember it as one of the best I've ever taken.
18 April 2006
Sorry for the absence
I had four emails today asking what happened- apparently the San Diego Pt. 2 is highly sought after (for my amount of readers, anyway!)
In any case-- I'm fine. Work was hellish last week, and I'm just dealing with a combination of an airplane-induced head cold and the explosion of my allergies due to the maple pollen in the air.
I'll be getting an entry up in the next couple days... I promise! :)
~ Mel.
In any case-- I'm fine. Work was hellish last week, and I'm just dealing with a combination of an airplane-induced head cold and the explosion of my allergies due to the maple pollen in the air.
I'll be getting an entry up in the next couple days... I promise! :)
~ Mel.
12 April 2006
Melinda & Kevin's wedding (San Diego, pt. 1)
So onto some travel stories... :)
Today, I'm going to talk about the important part of our vacation: Melinda and Kevin's wedding. First and foremost, that's why we went to San Diego, of course. All of the other stuff will wait until tomorrow's entry.
Erich and I have a ton of photos from the weekend. Other than ones that are blurry, I'm just uploading them all. I really can't eliminate any from this. So feel free to browse the wedding photos here (pops in new window). If you can't load them for some reason, leave me a message in the comments with your email, and I'll send you a direct invite to them.
On Friday afternoon, Melinda and Kevin held an "unrehearsal dinner" with family and close friends at a local Italian restaurant that apparently has been the host for many Melinda family events. Both Erich and I were barely functioning due to our horrendouns flights the night before, but with some serious Starbucks therapy, we managed to get ourselves up and dressed. Thankfully the restaurant was literally only about five minutes from our hotel. I met both of their mothers and friends and family of both the bride and groom. And I finally met Mary and her husband, Joe. By sheer table selection, we didn't have much of a chance to talk that day, but promised to catch up at the wedding. We had a lively conversation with everyone at our table, including (now looking back... I'm a bit embarrassed because it wasn't the place) topics on my upcoming wedding. Thankfully everyone had some very reassuring comments to give me to stand my ground on planning.
After stuffing ourselves full of entirely too much great food (oh god, those cannolis), we rolled ourselves outside, saying goodbye to everyone until tomorrow. Erich and I went back to the hotel to rest up and had a very romantic evening to ourselves (again... more on that tomorrow).
The next day, we puttered around for the morning before heading up into the mountains to the small town of Julian for the wedding. We admired the countryside on the hour-long ride up. This trip was Erich's first time west of the Missisippi River, so he was fascinated with how different everything was. (so was I, because it was quite different than the much more familiar terrain of Northern California to my eyes).
Despite some silent worry on my part, we arrived to the B&B with about fifteen minutes to spare before the ceremony. Melinda and Kevin, based on their spiritual and cultural background, had decided up on a Wiccan handfasting for their wedding ritual. The High Priestess was just casting the ritual circle as we arrived. Once she'd completed the circle and opened a spiritual door to allow us to enter, we joined Mary and Joe in the right seating area. We remarked on the beautiful scenery and the picture-perfect weather of the day.
And then the music started... and the ceremony began.
In a word, their wedding was beautiful.
I've been to many weddings in my life. Oddly, however, this was my first handfasting, despite my now thirteen years of following a Pagan path (however lax the past few years have been...). It also was the first wedding I can recall being completely relaxed at. It never felt like a function. It was completely relaxed. And with only about 60 people or so, it was incredibly intimate. During the ceremony there was laughter... and tears... but overall, complete joy from all involved-- including me, who normally is shy about expressing a lot of outward emotion.
As the High Priestess wrapped the wedding cord for the third time around their wrists, binding them together, I just beamed. Kevin and Melinda are married! Yay!
At some point in the afternoon, amid all of the conversation, I realized how strange but wonderful it is that I was celebrating the union of two friends on the other side of the country. Strange because this was actually only the second time I'd spent time with them in person, yet wonderful because despite not spending physical time with them-- I probably have discussed things deeper with them over the past five years than most of the friends I see on a regular basis here at home. Odder yet was meeting Mary and Joe for the first time, yet feeling that it was only the most recent in many times together. I suppose that's one of the joys of taking internet encounters to a more personable level-- after a time, there really isn't a difference between blogging friends and other friends who simply live far away. :)
Does that make sense?
By the end of the afternoon, we were celebrating the glory of the patio heaters. After all, we were more than 4,000 feet above sea level, and by that time we were entirely in the shade. Most of us were huddled in front of them in some form, chatting and laughing.
We ended the afternoon as the sun set over the mountains, giving a beautiful, colorful farewell to the newlywed couple. We said our goodbyes to everyone and made our way back down the mountain to our hotel...
It was a perfect day.
Today, I'm going to talk about the important part of our vacation: Melinda and Kevin's wedding. First and foremost, that's why we went to San Diego, of course. All of the other stuff will wait until tomorrow's entry.
Erich and I have a ton of photos from the weekend. Other than ones that are blurry, I'm just uploading them all. I really can't eliminate any from this. So feel free to browse the wedding photos here (pops in new window). If you can't load them for some reason, leave me a message in the comments with your email, and I'll send you a direct invite to them.
On Friday afternoon, Melinda and Kevin held an "unrehearsal dinner" with family and close friends at a local Italian restaurant that apparently has been the host for many Melinda family events. Both Erich and I were barely functioning due to our horrendouns flights the night before, but with some serious Starbucks therapy, we managed to get ourselves up and dressed. Thankfully the restaurant was literally only about five minutes from our hotel. I met both of their mothers and friends and family of both the bride and groom. And I finally met Mary and her husband, Joe. By sheer table selection, we didn't have much of a chance to talk that day, but promised to catch up at the wedding. We had a lively conversation with everyone at our table, including (now looking back... I'm a bit embarrassed because it wasn't the place) topics on my upcoming wedding. Thankfully everyone had some very reassuring comments to give me to stand my ground on planning.
After stuffing ourselves full of entirely too much great food (oh god, those cannolis), we rolled ourselves outside, saying goodbye to everyone until tomorrow. Erich and I went back to the hotel to rest up and had a very romantic evening to ourselves (again... more on that tomorrow).
The next day, we puttered around for the morning before heading up into the mountains to the small town of Julian for the wedding. We admired the countryside on the hour-long ride up. This trip was Erich's first time west of the Missisippi River, so he was fascinated with how different everything was. (so was I, because it was quite different than the much more familiar terrain of Northern California to my eyes).
Despite some silent worry on my part, we arrived to the B&B with about fifteen minutes to spare before the ceremony. Melinda and Kevin, based on their spiritual and cultural background, had decided up on a Wiccan handfasting for their wedding ritual. The High Priestess was just casting the ritual circle as we arrived. Once she'd completed the circle and opened a spiritual door to allow us to enter, we joined Mary and Joe in the right seating area. We remarked on the beautiful scenery and the picture-perfect weather of the day.
And then the music started... and the ceremony began.
In a word, their wedding was beautiful.
I've been to many weddings in my life. Oddly, however, this was my first handfasting, despite my now thirteen years of following a Pagan path (however lax the past few years have been...). It also was the first wedding I can recall being completely relaxed at. It never felt like a function. It was completely relaxed. And with only about 60 people or so, it was incredibly intimate. During the ceremony there was laughter... and tears... but overall, complete joy from all involved-- including me, who normally is shy about expressing a lot of outward emotion.
As the High Priestess wrapped the wedding cord for the third time around their wrists, binding them together, I just beamed. Kevin and Melinda are married! Yay!
At some point in the afternoon, amid all of the conversation, I realized how strange but wonderful it is that I was celebrating the union of two friends on the other side of the country. Strange because this was actually only the second time I'd spent time with them in person, yet wonderful because despite not spending physical time with them-- I probably have discussed things deeper with them over the past five years than most of the friends I see on a regular basis here at home. Odder yet was meeting Mary and Joe for the first time, yet feeling that it was only the most recent in many times together. I suppose that's one of the joys of taking internet encounters to a more personable level-- after a time, there really isn't a difference between blogging friends and other friends who simply live far away. :)
Does that make sense?
By the end of the afternoon, we were celebrating the glory of the patio heaters. After all, we were more than 4,000 feet above sea level, and by that time we were entirely in the shade. Most of us were huddled in front of them in some form, chatting and laughing.
We ended the afternoon as the sun set over the mountains, giving a beautiful, colorful farewell to the newlywed couple. We said our goodbyes to everyone and made our way back down the mountain to our hotel...
It was a perfect day.
10 April 2006
Home, happy, and exhausted
We just arrived back in Rhode Island about an hour ago after a very long day of flying cross-country. Lots of stories to tell, lots of photos to upload... but it will have to wait until tomorrow because we both seriously need to just sit and brain dump for a while.
But to sum up, we had a fantastic time. And we're home safe and sound...
Check back tomorrow for the first-of recap.
~ Mel.
But to sum up, we had a fantastic time. And we're home safe and sound...
Check back tomorrow for the first-of recap.
~ Mel.
06 April 2006
Preparations, preparations....
We head to the airport in about three hours, San Diego-bound. I seriously can't wait. :) The bags are not yet packed (working on that...), but we're doing some of the little chores we need to finish before heading off. Erich's getting the cat stuff under control. I'm currently reclaiming my natural blonde hair (grin). We're finishing the dishes and some of the laundry, petting cats, and getting some bills sent off.
The phones are charged, the camera is charged, and so are we. Wedding or bust...
(see you on Monday night)
~ Mel.
The phones are charged, the camera is charged, and so are we. Wedding or bust...
(see you on Monday night)
~ Mel.
03 April 2006
A beautiful weekend
This weekend was the first one where I truly was itching to get out of work on Friday and just get outside. The sun was shining and was wonderfully warm. The sidewalks and park benches were flooded with people. Everyone was smiling and being polite to strangers. The cabin fever of winter was already forgotten from every person's mind.
Ahhh... spring.
With my manager's "unofficial" blessing, I left work around 3:15. I was probably one of the last people to leave. I grabbed the 3:45 train home, and Erich (who had wisely taken the day off to catch up on yardwork) picked me up in Providence. We spent the evening with friends. The guys played poker. My brain was focused on getting the final stitches done on The Castle, so I curled up on the couch and just listened to them play. I got a lot done-- I have only about 20 stitches left.
Our friend Purkis spent the night at our place, since he and Erich had a scheduled D&D game back at the same house the next day. We did a morning run to Bickfords (or "Biffahds," as we've nicknamed it with an exaggerated accent) for the generic weekend breakfast plates & so-so coffee. Then the guys headed off to their game, and I puttered around the house for the day. I kept all of the windows open to air out the house. I had planned to finish all of the laundry we have piled up, but our bed pillows just would not finish drying. It backed up everything, and I only got another load done. (sigh) We had a small rainshower late in the afternoon. It seemed to affect all of the buds almost immediately. Things looked greener instantly.
I did a lot of World of Warcrack in the evening, and managed to level my character twice. I'm now at 47.
On Sunday, we slept in extremely late since the clocks changed. I don't think we actually started moving much before noon. It was another beautiful day, so we took advantage of the time to pick up all of the trash that had found its way into the yard over the winter months. We still have a lot of leaf raking to do, but getting rid of all of that trash made a wonderful difference. We also walked around the yard to take stock of what's growing, and where. I'll post some photos on Thursday morning of everything. We did some more World of Warcrack late Sunday, including one of the big instance "dungeons" (Zul'Farrak, for anyone interested). That pushed my character very close to level 48.
Now I'm on a short work week. We're taking off Thurday through Monday to head out to San Diego and celebrate Minarae and Petrouchka's wedding on Saturday. :) I can't wait!
~ Mel.
Ahhh... spring.
With my manager's "unofficial" blessing, I left work around 3:15. I was probably one of the last people to leave. I grabbed the 3:45 train home, and Erich (who had wisely taken the day off to catch up on yardwork) picked me up in Providence. We spent the evening with friends. The guys played poker. My brain was focused on getting the final stitches done on The Castle, so I curled up on the couch and just listened to them play. I got a lot done-- I have only about 20 stitches left.
Our friend Purkis spent the night at our place, since he and Erich had a scheduled D&D game back at the same house the next day. We did a morning run to Bickfords (or "Biffahds," as we've nicknamed it with an exaggerated accent) for the generic weekend breakfast plates & so-so coffee. Then the guys headed off to their game, and I puttered around the house for the day. I kept all of the windows open to air out the house. I had planned to finish all of the laundry we have piled up, but our bed pillows just would not finish drying. It backed up everything, and I only got another load done. (sigh) We had a small rainshower late in the afternoon. It seemed to affect all of the buds almost immediately. Things looked greener instantly.
I did a lot of World of Warcrack in the evening, and managed to level my character twice. I'm now at 47.
On Sunday, we slept in extremely late since the clocks changed. I don't think we actually started moving much before noon. It was another beautiful day, so we took advantage of the time to pick up all of the trash that had found its way into the yard over the winter months. We still have a lot of leaf raking to do, but getting rid of all of that trash made a wonderful difference. We also walked around the yard to take stock of what's growing, and where. I'll post some photos on Thursday morning of everything. We did some more World of Warcrack late Sunday, including one of the big instance "dungeons" (Zul'Farrak, for anyone interested). That pushed my character very close to level 48.
Now I'm on a short work week. We're taking off Thurday through Monday to head out to San Diego and celebrate Minarae and Petrouchka's wedding on Saturday. :) I can't wait!
~ Mel.
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