Category Archives: Family Stuff

Well, I didn’t really get much done at Friday other then a few errands and my nails done.  I should’ve done work, but really didn’t feel like doing much.  After working so hard all week, I just hit a brick wall and needed a break.  We didn’t go to the gym, both of us were hurting from the last few days.

So after the news, we finally got around to watching the House of Saddam.  Which was interesting but they totally sugar coated his sons and made his 1st wife and oldest daughter as victims….that was the disappointing part of it.

Saturday it has been crazy on the weather.  The interstate is closed from our exit until Hood River and it scary windy and stormy out there.    It is pretty bad out there and it is nice that we don’t have to go anywhere.  I did get some work done, but was able to take my time and do some things for myself….even baked some cookies…grin

 Saturday…..the Beginning of the Winter Storm

Catching a Ride……….lol

Today, we are completely snowed in.  If you’ve been watching my tweets, you’ll know that it has been pretty bad.  The interstate near us is closed, all PDX highways are requiring chains, our neighbor cross the street went from a small drift behind their SUV to it being half buried, there is a 2+ft drift in front of our gril,there is rain frozen on our windows and our local station (KATU) have been reporting heavily from our small town since we get extreme winds from the gorge.  I really feel like we are back in the middle of no where Indiana when it comes to the wind.

We get small snow drifts in corners around the front door, since they didn’t weather strip it very well at all.  That will be one the 1st things we get when we can get out of here, but for now we have towels in the cervices.  It is a day like this that I’m glad that we work from home so we don’t have to go out.  Even through my poor hubby has been bored stiff.

We moved our pcs downstairs just to get out of the office.  And it lets me both enjoy my tree and protect it at the same time….lol  I’ve been finding some work to do and am thinking of what I can do tomorrow, since we will be snow bound again and there will be no way we can get to the gym.  Hopefully the wind will let up enough that I can at least walk down the hill 2 blocks to the cafe and get out to take some pictures……but not holding my breath.

We were suppose to be back in the 40s and rain by Wednesday, but with every news cast it has been pushed back.  Now it is mid 30s Wed/Thurs and 40s maybe Sat.   If we can just get 2 days of mid to high 30s, like normal, it’ll all be gone without an issue.

Lets see, where did I leave off about my trip.

On the 8th, I drove up to Grand Rapids (5-6hr drive) to visit my  best friend/extra sister Sandi.  On the way up, I stopped to see my cousin Leslie Ann.  She is exactly 6months older then me and now has 4 sons, arranging from the age of 10-2.  We had a good visit chatting for a few hours, I don’t remember the last time I saw her, but she only had 2 sons at that time. =)

After my visit with my cousin, I finished heading up to Grand Rapids. I was up there for 2 nights and I loved visiting with Sandi and her family.  Of course, even against our plans, we ended up staying up way too late….which is bad, when she has to get up at 6am to get the kids off to school.  But we never seem to have enough time to talk and we talk about once a week for an hour or two.  What we really need to do next visit is get a portrait of us.  We haven’t done one since 2000 area.  The messed up thing is that we have been best friends since Feb ’89 yet neither of us have that many pictures of the other……totally goofy.  I do love spending “girl” time (lack of a better word) with her.  I don’t get to see her much and her life is focused on her family and kids.  So I like to get her out of the house and focus on her “time”.

After my visit, I headed back down to my folks.  Of course, having to stop by my Fannie May in Merriville, Ind to stock up and get some treats for my family.  Damn, I would love to have a store locally instead of having to order it online all the time…..Now you know what to get me……grin

I pretty much just spent my last few days with my family, working on things and visiting.  Never got back to any work….icks.  I paid for that when I got home.  But it was worth it.  =)

When thinking about it, I don’t think I’ll be visiting in Dec again.  It is too hard with trying to get the xmas presents for everyone and balancing everything.  I just don’t know if I should visit at the beginning of Oct or Nov.   Harold is suggesting 2 smaller trips instead of one big one since he doesn’t like it when I’m gone that long…..but I don’t know if that would work with me wanting to spend time with my best friend.  Unless, I do one trip to Grand Rapids and another to Indiana…..I don’t know, PDX to Grand Rapids is pricey compared to Indy, which is dirty cheap in comparison.  It has given me something to think about.

If you’ve read Harold’s post we now have 2 new members to our family.  In case you didn’t see his post, here are the pictures that he took, including our oldest 2.

http://www.tornrose.com/Odds_n_Ends/2008_1015_cats/Alexis.jpg

14 + years/female

http://www.tornrose.com/Odds_n_Ends/2008_1015_cats/Reggie_Miller.jpg

13+ years/male

http://www.tornrose.com/Odds_n_Ends/2008_1015_cats/Sakura.jpg

4 months/female

http://www.tornrose.com/Odds_n_Ends/2008_1015_cats/Drew_Brees.jpg

4 months/male

The kittens haven’t really slowed down enough when a camera has been in reach.  They are fast little buggers!

Harold  so totally surprise me.  I’ve been pestering him since Aurora passed saying that I wanted another kitten, a feisty one like Randi & Aurora were.  Reggie & Alexis are totally different from those 2.  And when we lost Aurora, it made me mourn Randi’s passing from 2 yrs before all over again.  So I wanted another cat as ornery as they were.

Well, my husband is a softy when it comes to animals, especially kittens…..grin  And he just fell for them, even though he was only going to get one.

Yes, I’m the one who named Drew……..grin  It just seemed obvious to me.  =)  It is weird as hell to have two feisty kittens in the house again….it is has been 13yrs.  They have no fear.  It doesn’t bother them when they are hissed or growled at by Reggie & Alexis, they just stare at them and back away.  They don’t know the work NO yet…..lol  And correcting them doesn’t faze them in the lest.

Drew has seemed to have become my baby, while Sakura has become Harold’s.  Which works, she seems possessive of him and reminds me of his late cat Randi’s orneriness and carries herself like she use to.  She is the trouble child, that is for sure…..grin…but we are loving it.  Drew loves to follow me and sleep in my lap a lot.  They play hard and fast, but they also chill out good and crash hard.

Alexis & Reggie are slowly getting back into their normal behaviors.  They aren’t growling & hissing as much.  But we have been trying to give them as much love as they let us.  Reggie has yet to cuddle on Harold like normal, but you can see he wants it….but is too annoyed at him to do so.  I will say, there is nothing like having kittens (even 4 month old ones) to make your older cats look huge in comparsion.  It kind of weird.

We have an appointment for Drew & Sakura next week.  The shelter said that they needed follow ups to their surgeries within 10days.  We are taking them to the vet that Harold really liked when he took Reggie.  What is cool is that they honor that visit as part of the shelter program, even though they weren’t on the list.  The shelter has it arranged with certain vets that your 1st visit to them is free.  So we get to establish their primiary care physian with the one we like, even though we were going to take them there regardless.

Our kittens came with those shoulder chips in case they get lost.  So all I need to do is to register them this weekend.  We just need to remember to bring pictures of them to the shelter in a few months, they asked to see how they are doing.

With having Drew & Sakura around, if they aren’t on our laps or playing (where we can hear them), I get worried on what they are up to….lol  For the 1st time in 2yrs I had to get a 3rd litter box going…….at least it isn’t 5……lol  I had to do that when we had Randi, Aurora, Reggie & Alexis because Aurora was picky as hell even though you kept it clean.

They have totally distracted me from work and I am behind…..icks.  I got some of caught up and I really need to write this, it has been awhile.  I really need to balance our books after this so I know what is going on.  I have a few errands tomorrow, but I really need to work around that and apply for health insurance.