was there a hill there?

It was good. The laughter started even before we got on the ferry to Bainbridge. John (left) got beat up because he's the only one without a Motorola Razr phone. Nancy (his twin sister, center) got beat up because, well, because she's the little sister. Terry (right) didn't get beat up, but that's probably because she has many years of Al Anon under her belt.

Only Terry slept where she said she would. Someone hid a tube of toothpaste. Many, many martinis were had. If Terry had a nickel for every time she did not say, "Tsk!" at our antics, she'd be right behind Bill Gates on the Forbes list, except she'd have spent most of it in the shops in town. Nancy got over her imagined deep vein thrombosis and put up with vast amounts of abuse about her Invisalign braces (which I had to flake out of her mouth at a restaurant one night as she had forgotten the pulling device). John, away from home, stayed well lubricated. We had lots of coffee, lots of meals out, lots of fresh air, and lots of happiness. And I sprang for lots of dollars to get them a cab back to SeaTac. It beat driving lots of miles at 4 this morning.

And I'm exhausted. Or maybe this is just the old age setting in.

Oh, and here's a tip I learned while spending a few hours at our favorite PT pub: if someone offers you a duck fart*, especially if it's your favorite bartender Natasha, say yes and enjoy it. Tasty!




* Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream and Crown Royal.

farewell to meat!

Happy Mardi Gras, people! Nothing like kicking off the Lenten season with unabashed debauchery! This is an activity at which the denizens of druid labs are quite accomplished. Probably not tonight, though, since we both have class.

Anyway, here's the customary "what I'm giving up for Lent even though I'm no longer a practicing monotheist" list:

1) The slightest notion of control over anything for the next month or so.
2) My unhealthy obsession with money.
3) Any vaguely negative attitude towards myself.
4) This cold. Yes, folks, it's going away! No hospitalization required.

Short list, huh. Oh well. Chug a hurricane for me and do, indeed, earn those beads today!

pity party

I am not feeling well. Fever, wracking cough, congestion. And I have a really busy week, including getting ready for the onslaught of siblings on the weekend.

Lucky for me, Zach is pretty mellow. He did his morning thing at 6:45 today, and I fed and watered him right away in the crate. After eating and having some water, he eventually fell asleep until 10:30 a.m. Poor guy. That's not right for him, and he's out of his routine. I can't blame him for the couple of accidents this morning. They wouldn't have happened if I was feeling up to snuff, and though I'm grateful to have it, the Little Green Machine isn't easy to operate when you feel the way I do.

I'll stop complaining now, take some aspirin, decongestants and expectorants, and take the mutts to the beach for a nice long walk. Then maybe we can all have a long afternoon nap after I down some delicious home made chicken soup loaded with garlic.

I can hope, can't I?

zach attack

Zach's shadow is a Doberman.




















Don't they both look like angels? Think again.

yowzah

So, I'm back in the saddle with fiddle class, after missing the past two weeks and being unable to practice because of a kitchen accident. Well, that's my story, anyway.

It's getting very hard. I am going to have to practice to have any hopes of keeping up now. The teacher is giving no ground, nor should he. Hey! I'm an adult. I can handle it. Right.

When I brought the fiddle to the teacher before class for tuning, he commented on how much nicer it sounded now that it has new strings and the first set of "repairs" were repaired. There's a violin maker in class who consulted with the teacher on the sound of it some weeks ago. Cliff is blind, and couldn't tell why the thing sounded odd. David took a good hard look at it, saw what was wrong, and then made a favorable comment about it being probably the nicest instrument of any student, while pointing out some quality features. And in the intervening weeks, he did some research on it.

Turns out it's probably worth about $8k.

And I still suck.

grrrrr

So. Zach is here.

He trembled and cried for the first half-hour of our trip home, then fell into a deep sleep in my arms for the next hour or so. He missed the rainstorm on the ferry. He missed the beautiful mists rising in Discovery Bay. And when we got home, he was so excited he missed his opportunity to pee outside. Luckily for me, he peed on my kitchen rug, which cleans up nicely in the washing machine.

Inti wasn't sure about him at all, but didn't so much as curl her lip. She's pretty fluent in dog talk now, after spending 18 months on the beach with the neighborhood gang. Before she learned the lingo, she'd go from annoyed to snarling and snapping. Now she goes from annoyed to growl. Zach understands it. Last night she didn't want him too close.

The cat is not amused in the least. She's fully armed, so she can take care of herself. Zach has only tried to puppy-play with her, but he is bilssfully unaware of what might befall him should he push her too far.

He doesn't like the crate. At all. But it was only about 20 minutes of whining, punctuated by periodic shrieking, until he dropped off to sleep and slept pretty much through the night. Inti took up residence on the bed, out of insecurity, I'm thinking.

hobbitt had to get up super early this morning for a long dental appointment. That got Zach awake and screaming to be released, which got me up, robed, and carrying him out the door for a much-needed morning pee, prior to 8 a.m. I fed both the mutts, after which Zach promptly crapped on the carpet under the dining room table, which got me on the floor with the Little Green Machine, also prior to 8 a.m. (Okay, each bodily function gets one mistake in this house. Now I know what he needs. Though he's not completely trustworthy about his potty habits, he does understand what's what. I just need to be vigilant.) I wanted to go back to bed for a bit, but didn't want to deal with the whining from the crate, so I allowed him on the bed with me. He fell asleep on my shins. Inti wasn't entirely pleased, and though she kept him away from her, she didn't otherwise interfere.

So anyway, I'm up, I've had my shower and coffee, and now I'm being battered by two slobber-soaked dogs, one of whom keeps running off with things like the tag from under my desk chair, receipts, the key to my file drawer, and pretty much anything else he can get his puppy-breath, needle-toothed mouth on. They're wrestling. They're romping, together. I think they're friends now.

He's an assertive little wanker. I'm going to have to be on top of my game to be the pack leader with him. For now I have Inti's help. And I'm calling on a higher power to ensure that he doesn't get too much bigger.

In a little while I'm going to introduce him to the beach, after which I'm going to try to take a nice long nap.

time for a change

It's been coming on for a long time. For all my speechifying about giving up attachments, I am the attachment queen. Mostly I'm attached to old hurts, old wants, old bruises, old injustices. And for the past several weeks I've been having big dreams about those particular attachments, and even letting them go.

I don't know why this is happening now. I wasn't even sure what was going on until yesterday, when I thought once again about bringing a new pet into the house. "Inti wants a puppy," I've been saying. The truth is, it's time for new life, new habits, new engagements. bhd wants a puppy.

Sure I've been talking about how perfect our household is, with Mollie and Inti (1 cat, 1 dog). Our routine is gentle, easy, relaxed, and, well, routine. I've been pining for something new and unwilling to commit to anything like a job or more volunteer time. Pining and doing nothing to change this comfortable ennui, to break out of habits (surfing and crossword puzzles) that ultimately lead to me being tense.

bhd needs a puppy. Okay, I really didn't want a puppy until I started noodling around the PetFinder adoption pages and saw this guy. Click that link for more pictures.














Oops.

So I filled out the adoption form. Told the honest truth. Emailed it back. Worried that they wouldn't consider us. Got a phone call within 10 minutes of emailing the form. Evidently we're primo. It might have been the answer to the question: "If you move, what will happen to your pets?" That's simple. I would never move anywhere without my pets. Ever. Or this question: "Under what circumstances would you give up your pet?" Answer: Cannot imagine any circumstances other than a threat to my life, or a severe personality defect in the pet, or that the pet was a danger to my other pets or neighbors.

We're heading to the other side of the Sound on Sunday. Chances are, Zach (his mother was a pregnant stray, his father likely a swell pack of dogs as each puppy in the litter looked different from the others. Think: Lab, Aussie shepherd and maybe a little dose of pit bull) will be coming back with us. And at 12 weeks, he's likely going to be puking all over me during the ride back. We're in no way ready for such a young puppy. I haven't had to housetrain a pet in 20 years. But most importantly, I didn't wake up this morning with a start, thinking "What the hell am I doing?"

It's time for new life, new habits, new family. It's time.

a quick trip

This morning I enjoyed sunshine from the patio at the home of friends in southern California. The trees were full of oranges and lemons. A hummingbird visited the feeder for hours. We played a last long game of UpWords together, and wandered toward the lunch buffet as we needed to. We were drinking our way through a pool of bloody marys. It was a Good Day.

There are a lot of fine people in my life. I get to be with some more than others. I'm blessed by knowing them all.

And it's good to be home in our little cocoon, with our cat and dog and our own bed. In less than three weeks my siblings will all be here. March is crazy packed with visitors. I'm heading up to Vancouver in April and am just beginning to consider a train trip down the California coast in May. I have very tentative plans for a return visit from my most recent hosts, and for a bit of a retreat with a friend, both in June. hobbitt travels to Peru in July.

Wow. I guess this isn't likely to be a lonesome year for me, huh.