Can't sleep...

I should be dreaming away the night... but I am sitting here wide awake. I'm not sure why I can't sleep, I tried, and my brain just wont shut off. I tossed and turned for a bit, but decided to get up. Keith has to work in the morning, and there is no need for him to not get sleep. I tried to lay on the couch, but with the same result.... so here I am at the computer... wide awake.

Cinnie is laying on her cat condo next to me, and as I type she keeps turning her head to see what I am up to. She is such a cutie!

I hope you are all enjoying a restful nights sleep. I guess I will play a game of solitaire then give it another go...
Sweet dreams!

Jeans...

I don't get it... I have a pair of Levi's that I LOVE! they are wearing out, so I decided to replace them with new ones. I found a killer Kohl's sale online, so I ordered a few pairs. I got the same style and size of the pants I have and love... they finally arrive, and they are HUGE! I ordered the same size, I verified they are the same style... I don't get it! I returned the jeans to the store, tried on a few different sizes, and the ones that fit are a size smaller?! Are they messing with me???

I would LOVE to think that I am now skinnier, and can wear a smaller size. But the fact that my existing Levi's are the larger size and they fit exactly the same as the new smaller sized ones... well I am just baffled! I guess I should just enjoy the fact that I am wearing a smaller size jeans (at least one day a week) ;)

New Fur-baby!

As of yesterday afternoon, we have a new addition to the family! Our new fur baby is Cinnie! She is adorable! We are still getting her and Hercules used to eachother. As of right now she has the upstairs and he has the downstairs. We are slowly introducing them. Any tips on helping them get used to eachother would be appreciated... for now, separation is what we are doing. After the 'fight' last night. I am not ready for another yet. No one got hurt, they hissed, and scratched at each other then Cinnie ran away, but it was hard to watch!

Here is Hercules resting on his couch this morning

Cinnie on our bed this morning. She doesn't sit still for long, so it took a few tries to get a shot of her that isn't blurry. She is still adjusting to being in her new home.

Hercules and I 'reading' the Sunday paper yesterday.

This is her exploring the apartment, Hercules was not far behind her, so she was a bit skiddish.

September 11th

Well today is the 8th anniversary of 9-11... It's 8 years later and we are still at war. We are still sending our babies to battle, hoping and praying that they come home safe! To all the men and women that serve, have served, or are thinking of serving this country, THANK YOU! Thank you for doing what you do! So that we can live the lives we live. Thank you for all your sacrifices. Thank you for leaving the comfort of home, the arms of your loved ones to protect the rest of us. Thank you.

Do you remember where you were when the planes crashed? I'm pretty sure everyone does. Me, I was at work, sitting at the R.A.S Desk in Salt Lake. Warren walked in at about 7:30 and said, did you hear? When he told me, I thought he was pulling my leg, as he usually was. But no, he was not, and it was just after he walked in that we heard about the second plane. it wasn't long before the office was a buzz. I remember that sence of just waiting for the other shoe to drop. One plane, then 2... Then the 3rd into the field in Pa... planes were grounded... it was... surreal. Rumors that our CEO and other execs had left the building in Denver, but other workers were still there... not knowing if anything else would happen. if.. when.. It makes me wonder how folks in these war torn countries survive? How can life go on when you don't know if a suicide bomber will chose this place, or that place to kill themselves and others..

That day... It was so odd, to have a call center so quiet, there were no calls for most of the day... eerily oddly quiet. With everyone listening to the radio, trying to get internet to come up (there were ways around the proxy servers at work). We had a TV in the break room, but no TV reception (it was there for the VCR). We did our best to get a TV Station to come in, we had sound, and a bunch of fuzz for a picture, so I didn't really see the tape of the planes hitting the building until that evening when I got home. I remember Wade let me use his cell phone so I could call my Mom. He is a sweet guy! He knew I was from NY, but didn't realize I was from Central NY. Either way, he handed me the phone and told me to call to verify everyone was OK, she was, and said that they were closing her work for the day (she worked at the Federal Reserve bank). I also called my brother, and we made a 'plan' if anything happened in our area, we would all meet at his house. Luckily we didn't need the plan.

So, It's eight years later, and as I type I am surprised by the clarity in the memories... I don't even know if I could tell you what happened last weekend, but this day, 8 years ago, I guess I can tell you what happened. If you see a member of our Military, Thank them! If you are a member... THANK YOU! Thank you!! And to Jayge, my step son, who is about to head over to Iraq in just about 8 weeks.... be safe! We are proud of you!! We want you and your entire unit home safely!

Vacation extended

What a week it has been! We put just over 1700 miles on the car... had to buy 2 new tires... and extended the trip from the original plan of 4 days to 8 days. I guess we are flexible :)

We have been planning this anniversary trip to Las Vegas for months. Keith and I planned to go to Vegas with our friends Brian and Jackee (who are also celebrating an anniversary this month). We planned a few days in Vegas along with tickets to see Diana Krall in concert at the Palms. Then a few days in Mesquite Nevada, just to check out that town, and let the boys do some golfing. It was supposed to be a long weekend trip. Things change...

Where to start... As a last minute decision we decided to drive instead of flying (and it's a good thing we did), it is only 5 hours or so away. So Keith and I left here last Saturday morning. It was a fun drive! We saw a bunch of hot air balloons as we were leaving the Phoenix area. It reminded me of the good old Boise days... was it the river festival... Yeah I think it was river fest when all the balloons would launch everyday... oh the good old Boise days!!!!

We got to see the Hoover dam! It was a first for me, pretty awesome sight! They are working on a bridge to connect Arizona and Nevada, and it is now connected. I was hoping to see it not yet connected, but no luck :( a few weeks ago our local news reported that the two sides were about 6 feet apart, but they have since connected it. Cool sight to see!

After the dam, we headed into Vegas to meet up with Brian and Jackee, who had landed a few hours earlier. Let the drinking begin :) We got our Vegas on! :) Happy Vegas everyone! :) Here is a photo of us outside Jimmy Buffets store. We were wasting away in margarittaville :)

On Saturday night we went to the Concert... it was INCREDIBLE! Diana Krall is awesome! I love the sound of her voice, and her down to earth way... If you get a chance, go see her! Here's us as we crossed the street from our hotel to the Palms.
Sunday was a great day, we headed to Downtown, drank a bit on Fremont street... gambled a bit... ate a bit... giggled a lot... it was a good day! I can't say too much... what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... LOL! :)

The four of us at some brewery somewhere on Fremont street... I think it was the lucky 7 brewery... they had good beer! a funny bartender.. and yummy garlic cheese bread! mmm!


On Monday we checked out of the hotel in Vegas, and headed to Mesquite... Good times there also! It was only about an hour drive to Mesquite. I have to say, the town is smaller than I imagined... I think there are more casinos in Jackpot, than there are in Mesquite... but it was fun! The guys golfed both mornings, they got to check out two different golf courses. We did a bit of gambling :) and a bit of poolside sitting. The pool had a water slide, that was a LOT of fun... I guess we are still kids inside :) Here is a shot of me going down the slide... weee!
We did relax, and have fun, and definitely enjoyed catching up with friends we never see... we got a bit of sobering news while on vacation. Keith's Grandma Fuller passed away. The funeral was planned for Saturday in Salt lake city. So we made the decision to just head north, heck we were already half way there! This was when we realized it was a good thing we drove to Vegas instead of flying. Things always have a way of working out, don't they!?
We did stay in St George one night, then we headed to the salt lake area. It was a fun road trip! We checked out downtown Ogden, it is a cute town, and neither Keith or I had ever really checked it out before. This is us in downtown. What a view!


Were are we... it is now Friday (the 14th). We are in Salt lake, Keith's Dad drove up from Texas. So we went to cousin Duane's house to visit with family. I had never meet many of the cousins, so it was nice to meet new folks. I can't believe that Dad and Randi made the drive from Texas in one day... they drove non stop! Crazy! thankfully they made it safely! I have to say, I have a pretty cool father in law! He always puts a smile on my face, I guess Keith got his sense of humor from his dad :) they are funny boys! We visited until late Friday night. Luckily we got to sleep in for a bit on Saturday.
Oh on Friday afternoon, we got to buy 2 new tires for the car. I don't know how it happened, but my front tires were BALD! not just showing wear, but bald!! So we spend Friday afternoon shopping for tires. We ended up at Costco, got a good deal, I think. Did you know that you can fill your tires with Nitrogen instead of Oxygen? I guess Nitrogen has a larger particle, thus it doesn't leak as much... and there is no moisture, so there is no expanding and contracting with temperature variations. I did not know any of this a few days ago... now I do! So my car tires are now filled with nitrogen. Oh, and we named the car... I have had her for 5 years and she has gone nameless. Somewhere along the way Keith and I named her Sam! short for Samantha. and she has a mascot... I got a stuffed cat while we were in Vegas, so now the cat sits on the back window area, and she is Sam's new car mascot!

Saturday afternoon we had the services for Grandma Fuller, then we headed back to cousin Duane's house for dinner. Vicky had prepared buffalo roast... mmm! so good!

Randi, Dad and Keith at the cemetary

Mom, Keith, Kristin and Autumn

Dad was in charge of the beer... he found himself a cold one!

Sitting around after the services, cousin Duane, Dad, Elivia (sp) her cat Alex and Vickies feet.

Keith, Glen, Aunt Donna and Randi

It was nice to see everyone again. I feel slightly guilty that I was in the Salt Lake area and I did not see any of my own family... but there is always next time, right. I guess this trip was all about Keith's side of the family.

Sunday morning Keith and I piled into the car, we planned to leave at 5... I think we did good, it was 5:20 am as we were pulling out of the driveway. We had a GREAT drive home. Since Samantha had new tires, the ride was much smoother :)

The moon as we were heading out at 5:20am on Sunday morning

I am not going to lie, the 12 or so hour drive home was not something we were looking forward to, but we made it! the drive was beautiful. Southern Utah is a beautiful place! We stopped at Glen canyon dam and walked through the visitors center, took a few photos from the middle of the bridge.

On the road....

Large rock at the Glen Canyon dam


View from the bridge looking south of the dam Or was it west... ?


Keith in the parking lot of the visitors center

Rocks on the side of the road somewhere not far from the grand canyon

Well that about sums up our last week or so. It is nice to be home. Hercules missed us! I was worried about leaving him, but he seems to have survivied, even if he won't leave my side :) I'm not complaining.
I guess that's it for now, it's almost bedtime here... good night all! :)

My little cutie patutie!

I have to share how cute my little snookums is! I may have been pampering him a bit in the past few weeks. I've been a bit worried about how he is going to adjust to being the only cat here. And he has developed some odd behaviors.
First he has started napping in the closet, among my shoes... he has always had a thing for shoes, but usually it is just to drop his toys into them, then fish them out... but now he is napping on them (he lays so he leans on them). Strange! Now he had brought his ball up there with him, and is using it as a pillow, SO CUTE! (see photo). This is the same ball that he will yell at from time to time. Really, he yells at it.. I wish I knew what was going on in that little cute head of his!

Hard day

It's been a hard weekend, on Saturday morning, Kitty left us. I'm sure he is somewhere now chasing, and of course catching moths, without worrying about his legs hurting him anymore. He is jumping up onto anything and everything he sees! And I am sure that he has found someone to scratch his ears for him!

We tried to make the last few days he was here filled with all he loved. On Thursday he got cheese snacks.... On Friday I had tuna for lunch, just so that he could have the tuna juice, then I picked up a bit of cat grass from the pet store for him to nibble, he LOVED grass! He got treats when he looked up at me with those loving blue eyes... and for Friday and Saturday morning, he didn't have to eat the Rx cat food, he got just the fancy feast stuff that he liked. He had put up with the Diabetic diet for long enough.

We gave him lots of kisses and rubbed his ears and belly the way he liked... I made sure he had his rubber band to chew... Kitty loved rubber bands! When I worked in Twin I would come home with them on my wrist, on 'accident' so he had a fresh supply of them to chew through... I guess I stole office supplies for him :)

Despite trying to make him happy... and thinking I was ready for this... it still hurts me to realize he is gone. I keep expecting to see him come waddling down the hallway. Or hear his soft whisper of a meow when he wanted something... We went to rent movies this morning, and I expected to see him sitting at the top of the stairs, waiting for us when we returned.

Yesterday when 7pm rolled around I almost lost it completely... Kitty got his insulin injection twice a day, 7am and 7pm... I guess I don't have to worry about being home at those times everyday anymore. sigh.

It has never been a burden to take care of him, in fact, he has made me so much stronger! I used to hate needles! When the vet told us he had diabetes, I told Keith he would have to do all the injections... but then Kitty didn't mind them at all... so after just a few days of Keith giving him the medicine, I decided to 'gave it a try'. Nothing to worry about, it's easy! I need to not be scared of the unknown!

To anyone who has had to make the decision to put a pet down, I am sorry! I never knew... I had no idea how hard it would be... I am sure we made the right decision... but it doesn't help the pain. And to see Keith right now.... man... that hurts more.
I wrestle with the idea of 'playing god'. Do we really have the right to make this decision? In the end I suppose I decided yes we do. Kitty had a full 15 years here... July 9th 1994 was the birthday on his adoption papers... Kitty was only a kitten when he came into Keith's life... and it's been a good one... R.I.P Kitty... we miss you! (kisses on your head)