It's been a while, so hopefully no one's checking the blog anymore and I can noodle about with my writing without much notice. Plus, it's bedtime so I'll make it quick.
This year is our 81st birthday, and mine has already passed with K's coming on Tuesday. This means we held our annual backyard birthday BBQ on Saturday (yesterday), with perfect weather and a traditionally randomized cast of attendees.
I like our BBQ for a number of reasons. It lasts all days so parent and kids can come early, or anyone can stay late. Lots of folks bring food to share, which invariably results in a delightful smorgasbord of tasty food. We've got enough kids that they're mostly self-entertaining. And we get to hang out with a fabulous cross-section of our friends. I was really happy that an old high school friend (reconnected to on Facebook) came by, even as some other regulars couldn't make it for mostly legitimate reasons.
Plus this year I feel particularly grateful - I've described my June as one full of gratitude. May was a tough month: K was bumpily starting up his job search and structuring his downtime while we were all living in anticipation of R's heart surgery. (R, my niece, was born in late January with Tetrology of Fallot - a fancy way of saying "four things wrong with your heart".) The surgery went well, K has settled into a routine of vigorous networking and job interviewing, and I'm approaching my ten years (TEN YEARS) at Robert Half.
The way I figure it, my family is healthy, I have a job, we have a roof over our heads, and our cats are darling (if psychotic). The only things I can winge about are the pounds that refuse to come off, and signs of age (eyesight, vocabulary recall, aches). And that just doesn't seem like much. On the flip side, I am grateful for heart surgery technology, my fabulous family and friends, quiet moments at home, and so many other things.
So I put my love and gratitude out there, take a deep breath, and enjoy the days.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The Great Cat Escape
Three weeks ago we were working on our garage as part of a long-term effort to clean out our basement. We were sealing the concrete so as to be able to use the space without quite so much dust being constantly created. While we had the garage door open to facilitate drying, the back door of our kitchen blew open (a not-unusual occurrence that has resulted in false-positive house alarm alerts in the past), and our cat Ka went downstairs to investigate. When I realized what had happened, I managed to follow her down the stairs and into the garage at exactly the right time to scare her onto the street. Kyle was just a few seconds too late to stop her from running away entirely, and followed her a few houses down, and then lost her in the bushes.
Disaster! Cats are normally hard to catch, but our Ka is a class-A fraidly cat and has never been comfortable being petted. We're not even entirely sure she likes us, for that matter. Well, she seems appreciative enough when food is in the offing.
So what to do? Not a day later, the woman from whom we adopted our cats emailed us with a cheery, "How are you doing and how are the cats?" check-in email. We had to tell her that Ka had gone missing, at which point she started showering us with information on how to find lost cats. Key points included: 1) have patience (cats take a while to get bcak) and 2) the cat is probably very near by (within 5 houses). She continued to pepper us with other advice, including how to leave tuna trails, walking the neighborhood to leave our scent around, and how to design an effective lost pet flyer (ask me if you ever want to know). She even brought us one of her humane traps (she catches lots of feral cats and takes them to get their shots and spayed/neutered) and a blanket to conceal it with.
Over the course of the next two weeks we did just about all the things I listed above. We left out food and water daily, and hoped that she was getting it (someone was definitely eating it - was it Ka?). We left tuna trails. We walked the neighborhood, making noise with her favorite toys and calling her name. We even posted signs on the block and talked with neighbors. We did manage to trap two possums (ick) and feed the local skunk trio (thanks for the smell guys), but no cats and definitely no Ka.
Finally, the day K came back from Comic Con in San Diego, he was putting out the cat food and came back into the house looking for a flaslight. "There's a cat eating the food right now and I think it's Ka!" It was, and we put the cage out with great anticipation. A few hours later, we had trapped something - another possum! (2 of 2) Catching possums, aside from being disappointing and somewhat guilt inducing (sorry, dude), requires that the cage and blanket be washed (to get rid of the scared possum smell). So on Monday I came home early and hosed everything down so we would be ready to set the trap again.
That night we set the trap, making much noise with the food bag and hoping fervently that Ka would still be in the area. Just as I was headed for bed, we heard the trap spring. Kyle went to check it, thinking, "Please no possums, please no possums!" and was delighted to find it was Ka. She was initially terrified and mewling to break your heart, but once we got her inside she very quickly realized she was home once again and seemed visibly relieved. She was hungry, thirsty, tired, and quickly went to sleep.
The only lingering bumpiness was that Pi'i did not recognize Ka at all and hissed at her viciously. We looked it up online, and after 2 weeks on the outisde, Ka smelled all kinds of foreign. Her familiar face was not enough to convince Pi'i to welcome her back. (Plus, Pi'i had seemed quite happy to be a single cat during those two weeks - perhaps she had pushed Ka out the back door??) Friends with cats reported that visits to the vet and even short separations could result in this kind of hissing behavior, and that it would pass. Even so, we decided to invest in a cat pheremone diffuser (Feliway) which would hopefully calm both cats and help Ka get rid of her old smells faster.
It's been almost a week since Ka came home, and I'm happy to report that the two cats are snuggled on the sofa now. Thank goodness. Ka seems much calmer than when she left, as though she recognizes a good thing now that's she's been without it. She's much less jumpy, and almost tolerates being touched. I'm just glad she's back, and glad Pi'i has company again. Let the romples resume!
Disaster! Cats are normally hard to catch, but our Ka is a class-A fraidly cat and has never been comfortable being petted. We're not even entirely sure she likes us, for that matter. Well, she seems appreciative enough when food is in the offing.
So what to do? Not a day later, the woman from whom we adopted our cats emailed us with a cheery, "How are you doing and how are the cats?" check-in email. We had to tell her that Ka had gone missing, at which point she started showering us with information on how to find lost cats. Key points included: 1) have patience (cats take a while to get bcak) and 2) the cat is probably very near by (within 5 houses). She continued to pepper us with other advice, including how to leave tuna trails, walking the neighborhood to leave our scent around, and how to design an effective lost pet flyer (ask me if you ever want to know). She even brought us one of her humane traps (she catches lots of feral cats and takes them to get their shots and spayed/neutered) and a blanket to conceal it with.
Over the course of the next two weeks we did just about all the things I listed above. We left out food and water daily, and hoped that she was getting it (someone was definitely eating it - was it Ka?). We left tuna trails. We walked the neighborhood, making noise with her favorite toys and calling her name. We even posted signs on the block and talked with neighbors. We did manage to trap two possums (ick) and feed the local skunk trio (thanks for the smell guys), but no cats and definitely no Ka.
Finally, the day K came back from Comic Con in San Diego, he was putting out the cat food and came back into the house looking for a flaslight. "There's a cat eating the food right now and I think it's Ka!" It was, and we put the cage out with great anticipation. A few hours later, we had trapped something - another possum! (2 of 2) Catching possums, aside from being disappointing and somewhat guilt inducing (sorry, dude), requires that the cage and blanket be washed (to get rid of the scared possum smell). So on Monday I came home early and hosed everything down so we would be ready to set the trap again.
That night we set the trap, making much noise with the food bag and hoping fervently that Ka would still be in the area. Just as I was headed for bed, we heard the trap spring. Kyle went to check it, thinking, "Please no possums, please no possums!" and was delighted to find it was Ka. She was initially terrified and mewling to break your heart, but once we got her inside she very quickly realized she was home once again and seemed visibly relieved. She was hungry, thirsty, tired, and quickly went to sleep.
The only lingering bumpiness was that Pi'i did not recognize Ka at all and hissed at her viciously. We looked it up online, and after 2 weeks on the outisde, Ka smelled all kinds of foreign. Her familiar face was not enough to convince Pi'i to welcome her back. (Plus, Pi'i had seemed quite happy to be a single cat during those two weeks - perhaps she had pushed Ka out the back door??) Friends with cats reported that visits to the vet and even short separations could result in this kind of hissing behavior, and that it would pass. Even so, we decided to invest in a cat pheremone diffuser (Feliway) which would hopefully calm both cats and help Ka get rid of her old smells faster.
It's been almost a week since Ka came home, and I'm happy to report that the two cats are snuggled on the sofa now. Thank goodness. Ka seems much calmer than when she left, as though she recognizes a good thing now that's she's been without it. She's much less jumpy, and almost tolerates being touched. I'm just glad she's back, and glad Pi'i has company again. Let the romples resume!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Freeway Sightings
Noticed a few things on the commute recently:
-Overturned car. Yikes. I just don't see those often, thankfully.
-Wild turkey. Hopped up onto the outside rail as I drove by, proud as you please. Hope it didn't try to cross the road.
-Blue Miata with license plates "UH WTF". I laughed out loud.
In home news, the cats are adjusting nicely. Pi'i is the affectionate one, Ka'ohi more shy. They excel at CatOlympics including Hide 'n' Seek, Wrestling, and the CatChase.
-Overturned car. Yikes. I just don't see those often, thankfully.
-Wild turkey. Hopped up onto the outside rail as I drove by, proud as you please. Hope it didn't try to cross the road.
-Blue Miata with license plates "UH WTF". I laughed out loud.
In home news, the cats are adjusting nicely. Pi'i is the affectionate one, Ka'ohi more shy. They excel at CatOlympics including Hide 'n' Seek, Wrestling, and the CatChase.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Denver Weekend. Geh.
Spent the weekend in Denver with my old buddy J and his fiancee L. He's been there for almost four(?) years now, and pathetically, this is the first time I've gotten out to visit him. He has a lovely house in an area that features Craftsman bungalows (just like home!), and seems to be doing well at work for Lockheed...not that he can tell me what he's working on of course. He and L have adopted a dog, B, who has the magical quality of shedding hairs that are visible no matter what color clothing you're wearing. (In fact B's main breed - Swiss Mountain dog - is known for being "tri-colored". It's a feature.) We had just about a perfect Denver weekend. On Friday morning we picked up L's engagement and wedding rings, and got them insured on the way home so L could wear them with a clear conscience that day. They are, of course, gorgeous! J and I went cross-country skiing at Eldora near Boulder...and I'm happy to report I survived with most of my muscles in decent working order. J bought himself a new pair of gloves because the ones he had were waaaay too thin for the near-katabatic winds that were howling through the base area. Thankfully, once we were on the XC trails we had protection from the trees. I only wiped out twice: once when I wanted to turn - and failed - and once when I wanted to stop - and failed. I can carve an S or do a mean hockey stop on downhill skiis, but not on teles. No way. No idea how. Ouchie!
When we got home, J was unable to find one of this gloves. A thorough search was conducted, but no glove. Perhaps it had fallen out in the ski rental hut? Or on the way back to the car? Bummer.
That night we had dinner downtown (bison burger, baby!) as it started to snow. Neat! Happy, fluffy snow. Yay! Late that night when J when to pick up L from downtown (she was at a birthday party with friends), he said the roads were full of accidents - the temperature had dropped and created icy conditions. Thankfully they got back safe.
Saturday dawned with an even coating of snow. Fabulous! It being Denver, though, the morning sun slowly melted the snow, and B was able to roll about in the grass and mud, tracking only some of it back into the house. Silly dog. As we were watching him in the backyard, I happened to notice a glove partially visible in the snow. Was it the missing glove? Turns out that B had stolen J's new glove and taken it into the backyard for overnight safe-keeping! Well, at least we had both gloves back.
That morning we strolled along the Dinosaur Ridge, a simple but effective showcase of the local geology and its propensity for hiding dinosaur tracks and plant and animal fossils. While not particularly eye-popping, it did make for a nice walk and some insight into plate techtonics. The weather was warm and clear, which meant we had a great view of the surrounding landscape. After that we went over to the Red Rocks Ampitheater, a performance venue built into the dramatic rock shapes. It was impressive and beautiful, but by then my head was hurting due to altitude incompatibility so we called it a day. On the way back we stopped by their wedding venue; unfortunately there was a wedding going on and J didn't feel like crashing, so we looked at it from the outside and imagined how nice it will be in summer with the hogback mountains and flowers.
On Sunday we checked out the Denver Art Museum (nice acronym, guys). Designed by Daniel Liebeskind, the new buiding looks like a large, crazy, titanium ship. We took the architectural and the collections highlights tours which turned out to be a much better approach than just wandering the (confusing) halls. I really enjoyed the space, and how it encourages exploration. The curators have a challenge in figuring out how to display the art, but I don't feel the building detracts from the artwork on display. Rather, it put me in a more open and thoughtful mood, which accentuated the experience of seeing new art. Though truthfully, the angles also made me feel queasy. I was personally fond of the floor map.
It was a very fun and chatty and interesting weekend. We had good food, talked a lot, and do a bunch of things. I'm glad I went, and even gladder we'll be back in July to celebrate!
J's new favorite lamp
Kittehs!
We've adopted some cats. Long story short, we think they are Russian Blues and we got them from a woman who was fostering 10 other strays in her garage plus owning 12 cats of her own in her house. Yeaaah. I just uploaded pics on Facebook so check there for more updates.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Birthday Bash
Dad's 70th birthday party was this past weekend in SF. The weekend started with a Chinese banquet dinner at Great Eastern restarant in Chinatown on the actual day of his birthday (Dec 5), followed by the birthday (observed) dinner, and rounded up with dim sum brunch on Sunday at Canton Restaurant south of Market. Am I full yet?
We started planning for this months ago, of course. IWOM put the venue negotiations and menu in motion; Dad slowly filtered names for this invite list to me. I sent a "Save the Date" email consisting mainly of one of his baby photos. Later, Dad and I selected and ordered the invitations online (note to self: October is rush season for card-printing due to the holidays) and then he went out of town, leaving his near-career-long admin and me to address the invites and send them out. Thankfully, they turned out great - another victory for the internet!
Once he returned from his trip, we went to design the cake, and I was struggling to think of something appropriate. Something from Dad's professional career, like a microbe or infectious agent? Or maybe something travel-related, like the glass pyramid at the Louvre? I finally hit on it as he told me about his most recent blue-and-white purchase, a Ming plate in the shape of a lotus. We showed the cake folks what we wanted, and they said they'd give it their best shot. Dad went into their storefront wanting passion fruit flavor, and thankfully it was one of their options. Done!
Meanwhile, I had a dress and matching necklace made in Shanghai. The dress was based on a design by Valentino from the Neiman-Marcus website and the necklace was made of weird pearls that looked like teeth. I felt like an extra from "Conan the Barbarian" wearing them.
The actual party was a tremendous success, which I judge mainly by the sheer bliss exuded by Dad. He's not someone to get emotional, but he was clearly happy to be surrounded by friends, and they were happy to get a chance to celebrate their experiences with him. Toasts were funny, heartfelt, and exemplified the diversity of his experiences. One of his oldest friends, S, had a typed copy of a letter that Dad wrote to him in 1960 after a trip to Europe with comments that had the audience howling. His sisters were generous and sweet, and I learned that I'm not the first relative he's subjected to his opinions on opera (apparently he lectured Auntie P. on a number of musical topics before he left for college). The reception started at 6:30, and the last guests wandered out around 10:30, whereupon the aunties and cousins and our family migrated to the lobby for drinks. Dad disappointed by not falling asleep at that point (an historical tendency of his), and we finally went to bed around 1am.
And the cake was totally awesome. Beautiful AND tasty!
J managed to tough it out for most of the night, and came down for a final bow in jammies before going to sleep. She was a high point of the evening.
We started planning for this months ago, of course. IWOM put the venue negotiations and menu in motion; Dad slowly filtered names for this invite list to me. I sent a "Save the Date" email consisting mainly of one of his baby photos. Later, Dad and I selected and ordered the invitations online (note to self: October is rush season for card-printing due to the holidays) and then he went out of town, leaving his near-career-long admin and me to address the invites and send them out. Thankfully, they turned out great - another victory for the internet! 
Once he returned from his trip, we went to design the cake, and I was struggling to think of something appropriate. Something from Dad's professional career, like a microbe or infectious agent? Or maybe something travel-related, like the glass pyramid at the Louvre? I finally hit on it as he told me about his most recent blue-and-white purchase, a Ming plate in the shape of a lotus. We showed the cake folks what we wanted, and they said they'd give it their best shot. Dad went into their storefront wanting passion fruit flavor, and thankfully it was one of their options. Done! Meanwhile, I had a dress and matching necklace made in Shanghai. The dress was based on a design by Valentino from the Neiman-Marcus website and the necklace was made of weird pearls that looked like teeth. I felt like an extra from "Conan the Barbarian" wearing them.
The actual party was a tremendous success, which I judge mainly by the sheer bliss exuded by Dad. He's not someone to get emotional, but he was clearly happy to be surrounded by friends, and they were happy to get a chance to celebrate their experiences with him. Toasts were funny, heartfelt, and exemplified the diversity of his experiences. One of his oldest friends, S, had a typed copy of a letter that Dad wrote to him in 1960 after a trip to Europe with comments that had the audience howling. His sisters were generous and sweet, and I learned that I'm not the first relative he's subjected to his opinions on opera (apparently he lectured Auntie P. on a number of musical topics before he left for college). The reception started at 6:30, and the last guests wandered out around 10:30, whereupon the aunties and cousins and our family migrated to the lobby for drinks. Dad disappointed by not falling asleep at that point (an historical tendency of his), and we finally went to bed around 1am.And the cake was totally awesome. Beautiful AND tasty!
J managed to tough it out for most of the night, and came down for a final bow in jammies before going to sleep. She was a high point of the evening.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Bah, Humbug
I hate Christmas. Well, I hate shopping at Christmastime to be more precise. I wrote more about it in another blog I've started experimentally, where I can put my thoughts around how to make the world a better place. I did say experimentally.
We had a great B'giving at Stately Rawson Manor in Oregon, with giant piles of food, multiple sets of electronics simultaneously in play (computers, Wii, drum sets), and even a plate-painting session where K created the "Caffeine Threat Levels" mug a la Homeland Security: zombie (low), human (guarded), awake (elevated), alert (high), ADHD (severe). Totally. Awesome.
Dad and I got to see the SF Opera's production of "La Boheme" last night, which was pleasingly decent. The last time we saw "Boheme" at SFO it was awful and we left early, so we were both happy that the leads could carry their arias (unlike the last time). I love the moment in this production when Rodolfo and Mimi are singing their love duet, and the sides and back wall of the garret disappear, leaving them bathed in moonlight and singing about love. It's a class-A romantic moment.
It's been a tough week at work from an attitudinal standpoint. I'm hoping I'm just suffering from post-vacation seasonal affective disorder and will be put right by consumption of massive quantities of calories. That starts tomorrow with my company holiday banquet, followed on Friday by Dad's Chinese banquet and (same night) K's company party, and then Dad's 70th birthday party on Saturday. Oh, and dim sum brunch on Sunday. Am I full yet?
Can't wait to see C & J & J - they're staying with us on Friday and have had quite an adventurous trip, starting in Hawaii to see Popo and currently in Oregon with J's family.
We had a great B'giving at Stately Rawson Manor in Oregon, with giant piles of food, multiple sets of electronics simultaneously in play (computers, Wii, drum sets), and even a plate-painting session where K created the "Caffeine Threat Levels" mug a la Homeland Security: zombie (low), human (guarded), awake (elevated), alert (high), ADHD (severe). Totally. Awesome.
Dad and I got to see the SF Opera's production of "La Boheme" last night, which was pleasingly decent. The last time we saw "Boheme" at SFO it was awful and we left early, so we were both happy that the leads could carry their arias (unlike the last time). I love the moment in this production when Rodolfo and Mimi are singing their love duet, and the sides and back wall of the garret disappear, leaving them bathed in moonlight and singing about love. It's a class-A romantic moment.
It's been a tough week at work from an attitudinal standpoint. I'm hoping I'm just suffering from post-vacation seasonal affective disorder and will be put right by consumption of massive quantities of calories. That starts tomorrow with my company holiday banquet, followed on Friday by Dad's Chinese banquet and (same night) K's company party, and then Dad's 70th birthday party on Saturday. Oh, and dim sum brunch on Sunday. Am I full yet?
Can't wait to see C & J & J - they're staying with us on Friday and have had quite an adventurous trip, starting in Hawaii to see Popo and currently in Oregon with J's family.
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