Ain't No Trip to Cleveland

Miles and I decided on a band name, I'm pretty excited about it. Summer continues to be awesome. As much as I love how wintertime feels around here with its fog and rain and heavy trees... I have to admit that summertime feels extra amazing. We had our first river day this past weekend and I was so PLEASED! I feel so lucky and thankful to live in perma-vacation-land. We laid on floaties in the shallows and drank beer and admired the brilliant blue and greens of our surroundings. How far our life has come!

The Weather Is Not Like It Was Before

Another awesome welcome-summertime weekend. Charlie met a young Golden puppy on a walk and they romped together. Charlie pinned the pup, and then let the pup pin him. Then they were pooped & laid down facing each other, paws intertwined. Charlie also got to hang out with us while we played pool. Miles and I played poker, played Wii, drank champagne out in the sun, hung out on our deck and watched one hundred episodes of Friday Night Lights. I have the sweetest pair of gingers ever:

Hello, Birthday

Hello Diane, and hello Wii. My husband, my best friend!

I Beat August Bodine

It's been a fun couple of weeks! Miles and I stayed at the Wynn in Las Vegas for four nights and it felt like such a real vacation. We completed everything on our checklist except for roulette (good) and swimming in the pool (bummer). We: Ate at SW Steakhouse, spent a retarded amount of money at XS at Encore and danced, played tons of poker, did the freefall on top of Stratosphere twice, ordered biscuits & gravy room service, saw Cheryl Hines and Treo Hatchets (Teri Hatcher), paid for our trip in cash, made friends with Bill, and bet on the World Series of Baseball. I continued my excellent record of taking down small Vegas tourneys and won $1300 in one of the Wynn dailies, and angered a cocky young drunkard in the process. It was our funnest trip yet & and we'll certainly stay at the Wynn again.

Last weekend we went ziplining in our backyard... well, in Occidental. It was well worth it.

Charlie has been enjoying the river for some time now, but it's river season now for the humans.

I turn another year older tomorrow.

Been A While

It's been some time. One particularly important piece of news: I bowled 188 the other night! Also 160 and 135 - averaging to 161! I'm pretty pleased with this. My parents visited a while back. That is always ve pleasing. We played lots of games, as we are wont to do... billiards, Yahtzee, dealer's choice poker, Liverpool Rummy, more Yahtzee. We ate good food. Dad bonded with the Charlie. I miss them now, but hopefully not for long! Charlie had his Year One birthday! We didn't get him a doggy cake like we wanted, but we did take him for an extra long fun day dedicated to him! I started a gluten-free diet three weeks ago. The idea is that without gluten, my diet will be less inflammatory, and with less inflammation my wrists, shoulder and back will ache less. I'm hesitant to get too excited... but there really seems to be a difference!!!! Now the only thing left it seems is the arthritic type pain in my hands, which was always a separate pain from the rest. The gluten-free has not been as hard as I thought it could be. No tonkatsu though, what?!?!! All in all I have felt pretty good lately, though anxiety lingers and takes hold a lot still. After-work Charlie walks are a good temporary cure though. We cut Miles' long hair, now no longer long. He looks as he did when we first met and it is my personal fave! Swoon!!!

Negative Negative Negative

Surprise steak and movie drop. I love the Nard-Dog!! And surprise DST drop this weekend! I'm getting some adrenal glad testing done soon. Will it tell me something about my fatigue? Hopefully.

Rain Outside, Cozy Inside

It's a great to have cancer in my rear view mirror. The way the mind forgets is amazing. I don't think about cancer much anymore, and I've all but forgotten what baldness was like except when I see the photos. No matter what, life moves ahead. I'm just pleased my brain is following suit. I haven't had much anxiety lately. I can't think of a true panic moment in the last month. I'm not sure what changed. Maybe my stress in general has decreased? Having a dog is so awesome, it's true what they say about animals enhancing your life. Of course I have my moments where I freak out about losing him and how in the world will we deal with that... but that's typical me. At least the thoughts are fleeting. On the other hand, Nutsy - my little girl going on 15 - I have a feeling she's going to be around forever. My little grandma girl. Miles and I talked last night about how much Trigger would have loved our new house. On Valentine's Day I came home to a candlelit, daffodil and wine dinner -- with apple-cinnamon pork roast and mashies & peas. Miles is the sweetest and he is my best friend, and for that he gets to eat all the saltwater taffy!!! I am so blessed. Nothing could be better than sitting on the couch beside the love of my life, with Doug on my lap, also Charlie's head on my lap, Nutsy meowing every 5 seconds into my ear, and Joseph watching us from his armchair.

WE ARE THE LUCKIEST!!

Tonight I had the most awesome massage locally. The massage was incredibly grounding (I know... royg...), and she was kind and insightful. She went thirty minutes past what she charged me, and sent me home with mini-daffodils and carnations. She also told me that she thinks I'll be a teacher and a leader someday, based on the hardship I've endured.

Now onto a "therapist" of a different kind... Last week my psychotherapist told me that when I talked about anxiety, he felt a "swarm of bees" between us. And also that he felt a lack of connection between us. I guess it's time to find a new therapist...

I love my husband! I love my puppy/real dog! I love my kitties!

The Elusive Joseph

Made an appearance on my lap tonight!

How Many More Days Til Five Years?

Charlie officially weighs in at 71 pounds. We finally granted him bed privileges and it's the very very best! Nevermind that it means sometimes I have 70 pounds of crushing puppy-weight across my chest... it's so adorable when he falls asleep with his head in the crook of my neck! It's even more adorable when Douglas joins in on the cuteness, which is usually! Speaking of Douglas, here is a nice morning glamour shot of him:


We took the Christmas tree down and it made me sad so Miles turned on the banister lights and that made me happy. For old times sake here's a photo of me and the tree:


So I found that, indeed, I have sleep apnea - but the good news is that it's a "very mild" on the severity scale. That means I can do nothing and probably be fine for ten years as long as I don't get fat.

Nutsy has serious oral disease/inflammation and is getting the rest of her teeth removed! Poor thing! I feel terrible for her and wonder how long she's been in pain for. The vet told me I could give her warm baby food to help her eat more - and I had flashbacks to when Trigger's vet told me the same thing. :( But this is very different, so I don't think we're gonna lose Nutsy any time soon. She is one spry old grandma cat!

Charlie has parasites and an ear infection. Sheesh, what is happening with the zoo!? I have a hunch he may have gotten one or both as a present from his doggie daycare. He is pretty obliviously happy-go-lucky through the meds though, save for being a little lethargic.

Joseph has been more of an upstairs-cat than downstairs-cat lately, hooray!