| Gina's profileeugemar strikes backPhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
August 30 not quite the end of summerFriday night I pulled all of the squash bushes out of the garden. We ate our fill of zucchini's this summer and it was time to remove them. Last night, Roger and I pulled down the green bean vines and cleaned up all the growth along the fence line. All of a sudden, the yard went from horn o' plenty, to desolation street. I felt kind of depressed about removing the green beans last night. They had a perfect little spot in the backyard and grew like crazy. It was a wall of green leaves marching up the fence and it really made me smile to come home at the end of the day to look at the plentiful crops and see the growth and change. It was the most successful round of green beans, sunflower, and zucchini crops I have ever grown. The crops fed Rog and I, but were also able to feed Tina, Chloe, and Tad and also my family for the week they stayed with us. Next year, I know we can do with half as many green bean plants. Everyone may have been sick of eating zuc's and beans by the end of their stay at the Krib, but I was pretty pleased with the harvest. One of the greatest sources of satisfaction in my life is to be able to grow my own produce. It may not be diverse like a box of Pioneer Organics, but it feels so good to put a seed in the ground, watch it grow, and then reap the fruits of your labor.
With all of the greenery removed along the fence line--the backyard looks barren and depressing. It symbolizes the end of the summer for me, even though I know we still have several more weeks to go. Yeah, I'll plant some leafy greens so that we'll have salad this fall and winter, but it isn't the same. I'm a little behind in my veggie garden phasing because of all the traveling, guests, and busy August calendar, but I'll get there. I'm just not as thrilled about winter gardening as I am with the summer stuff. And I kind of feel bad that the nicest parts of the yard this summer have been gutted...right before Roger's parents come to visit. I would have preferred them to see the nice yard as opposed to the barren yard. Oh well. Roger says I focus on the negative too much, and he is right. Rather than mourn the yard, I should instead focus on drawing up plans for the front yard ...which never happened this summer and likely won't be implemented until next spring (hopefully). That's what I'll work on this winter...when I can't garden. Too bad I have been unable to motivate to do the plans this summer...I do planning all day professionally. When I get home at the end of the day all I want to do is act and stop talking about it. August 23 morning ritualsMy typical morning rituals on houseboat consisted of:
The beauty of houseboat--when it is time to get ready for the day all I had to do was determine which cute bikini to put on, remove glasses and insert contact lenses, do a quick check of the bikini line to make sure I was looking tidy, pull hair up into a ponytail, find my towel, and apply sunblock. Voila! All ready for a day in the sun. Variations could include: Feeling grimy or tired? Maybe your hair feels a little limp or greasy? The solution---jump in the lake for a quick swim or take a quick shower off the back deck. Feeling a little listless or achy? All I had to do was stretch and do tai chi or kung fu on the beach.
Upon return from houseboat, I have found my typical morning rituals to be exhausting and cumbersome. I consider myself an easy kind of lady when it comes to getting ready in the morning. If I wake up at 6, I can be out of the house by 6:35 and sitting at my desk by 7. But now, I have found getting ready in the morning to be an overwhelming process. Waking up to an alarm (instead of the rising sun) is tough. Taking a hot shower just makes me feel like I can't breathe. Each morning after I have taken a shower, I fall back into bed for another 1/2 hour catnap while in my robe. I can't be bothered with picking out clothes in the morning--let alone iron or steam anything. Clothes and shoes feel constricting. Applying makeup is a drag. I can't even motivate to comb my hair. I just towel dry it, spray some product and run out of the house with my hair all wild style. Thank goodness I am not a celebrity and I don't have to worry about my appearance all the time. That just seems like too much work. August 22 VertigoThe result of 1 week on houseboat:
One thing I did not expect after a week on a boat...vertigo. As soon as I walked off the boat on Sunday I experienced a major case of vertigo. I almost fell over trying to use the restroom at the dock. While driving back I was having a weird time/speed dilation issues where I would be driving 70mph, but it felt like I was driving 20 mph or slower...more of a lumbering pace like the houseboat. I think between the monotonous landscape between Davenport and Moses Lake and my overall disorientation with being on land made me feel weird. I've never had vertigo before. It lasted through Sunday night (I found myself bobbing about while trying to brush my teeth) and into Monday morning as I was attempting to drive to Tacoma. The vertigo appears to be gone, finally.
Now back to my regularly scheduled life. Back to work. Back to training. Maybe gear up on some house and yard projects and finally finish painting the interior of the house. It is about time to pull out s ome of the summer crops and plant seeds for fall harvest. Yeah! August 09 our dog, the stress caseThe Rooster is back to normal! It appears the one downside of having the brussard/vu household at our house was that Roo had some kind of anxiety and depression while Cini was there. Roo has always been a submissive dog. I think she was potentially beaten before we adopted her, and she was mauled by a pitbull prior to joining our family, so she's always had some 'issues'. She used to submissively piss anytime a male friend (particularly roper or tad) came over the house. It took a while for that to go away, and she still does it on rare occasion. Of the two pewps, Roo gets along best with Cinnamon. I figured that over the course of their stay that Cinnamon would begin to dominate Roo in her own household, but that it wouldn't be as drastic or dramatic a deal, as compared to when lil' Nutter comes over--who needs to express her domination overtly since she doesn't get to at home. I was mostly concerned that Mini would attack Roo a lot. I figured there would be some fighting, but I was hopeful because Roo and Cinnamon generally get along just fine.
When Cini first joined the household, I could sense that Roo was acting a little different. She was much more demure and kind of mopey. She seemed to be saying "Gosh, why is that feisty little one around all the time?" At first, the dogs seemed to just tolerate each other's existence. They didn't fight, but they didn't really play either. There wasn't a whole lot of domination going on---Cini would take over Roo's bean bag (she'd lick the inside of Roo's ear non-stop until Roo would just stand up to avoid her and then mini would slip right into the baggage). Over the course of a month, however, you could tell that Cinnamon began to treat the house as her house. She became more of a guard dog and established her dominance around the house. It is only natural. One of them has to be the dominant one, and Roo is just so submissive that she didn't really put up a fight. On occasion, they would even play. It was cute.
Along with the change in the household, Roo started to have some bowel issues. Blood in stool, a lot of vomiting, eating a lot of grass, she rarely ate her food, she was kind of listless, and generally not the same dog. There was much discussion in the household about Roo's eating disorder. She appeared to be weight conscious--battling a bout with bulimia. Roo's eating disorder corresponded with all of the Star magazine reading going on in the house with the timely topics of "Skinny 911". Roo was just an example of how the media put pressure on ladies to be skinny :) It appeared it was time for an intervention.
We were concerned about the blood in her stool. Roger, the good pup-pop that he is, was exceptionally concerned. He took her to the vet and they said nothing was really wrong with her. They gave us some pills and put roo on a bland food diet for a week. Bland food in a can, which she appeared to enjoy at first. Even so, we had to devise tricks to make her eat. For example, we would let cinnamon come into the kitchen within Roo's sight so that Roo felt pressured to eat. That worked sometimes, but toward the end of Cinnamon's stay it had been days since Roo ate anything.
Friday morning I came home after everyone had moved out and Roo was so excitable and happy. She really did seem like her normal self. And then, her appetite came back with a vengeance! She ate two meals at once for breakfast. She started to roll her bowl around the kitchen indicating she was still hungry on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She had a hop in her step and her normal doggie smile. I swam her hard over the weekend and she had a ton of energy. My poor lil' girl just didn't like having another dog in the house. Or maybe she just didn't like having a pewpie in the house. Hard to say. As Rog stated, maybe this is a good indication that we should not be getting another dog any time soon. Roo can't handle the competition.
Roo is loving all of the attention that my family is bestowing on her. She gets multiple walks a day, lots of cuddles and cooing from the girls, and no competition from other dogs for pettin's. In the end, I think Roo's eating disorder was really just stress. She's like me. She gets an upset stomach when she is anxious or stressed out, which in turn affects her digestion and then deteriorates to puking. I'm hoping she'll be ok when we leave her at PetPals next week. Me in 5 daysDon't I look relaxed and chill? I barely remember what that feels like. I don't think I've looked or felt that mellow since last year. Maybe in Jamaica. I am so looking forward to the upcoming vacation. Why is it always so difficult at work on the days leading up to vacay?
4 more days til we hit the boat and 5 days til I am swimming in Lake Roosevelt.
A-game, here I come. August 04 welcome to WWIIIIt is a freaking warzone outside the house. The sounds of blue angels, hydros, people, and traffic is um, a little disturbing.
By 1pm, every single parking spot in front of our house has been taken. I came home to take a nap and was awaken to the sounds of the blue angels flying overhead and the local neighborhood kids squealing with delight. Genessee was totally packed with traffic. Alternative routes are a must. I'm not sure I like this business. It is a little intense and it is only Friday. No wonder some of the neighbors said they go away on vacation during Seafair. Ugh.
Updated: Oh man, the boats out on the lake were so noisy last night. I was having major flashbacks to the ol' hood as I laid in bed at 1 a.m. listening to blaring music, hootin' and hollerin', and engines gunning. The only difference--it was white folk music and hootin' and hollerin'--which means coordinated " 1,2,3....wooooooooo" yells, lame ass Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, or "I'm too sexy" music. Thankfully no loud curses, broken glass, or boomin' bass--then I'd have a problem. This certainly isn't the introduction to the new house that I wanted the family to have, but it is temporary. Today blue angels at 1:30, air show, and fireworks and nighttime airshow.
As a side note, I don't understand why Seafair is so popular is Seattle. It seems so out of place. I'm going to be a bit rude-- but it is so white trash and redneck...a veritable Budweiser celebration. These folks are not Seattlites, are they? Where do they come from? Cause they ain't from around here. Last night while on a family walkies some woman asks us "where is Sue-wahrd Park" ? It was obvious she had never heard of the place and she could not pronounce it. I point across the water to the park and she looks at me with a blank stare. "Well how do I get over there?" LAME.
out with the new family, in with the oldThe Kurtz Ko-op is officially closed. Everybody is moving out today and our family time with Peter, Chloe, and Tina has come to an end. I'm kind of sad about it. It is going to be lonely without our new family. It has been a lot of fun and surprisingly stress free. I'm amazed that our house was big enough to accomodate 3 additional people and 1 dog with minimal impact. I'm gonna miss all the yummy family meals, bbq's, ice cream making, quality television/movie viewing, inside jokes, impromptu dancing, cuddles with Cini, 'Too Much Booty in the Pants' blasting in the basement, and of course the peeps. I am, however, looking forward to being able to watch whatever I want on TV...whenever I want :)
It won't be lonely for long because my family arrives this afternoon. Our house is a major destination these days :) I understand from the neighbors that Seafair weekend makes the neighborhood go crazy. I noticed this morning that all the streets are being blocked off and everyone is getting hype for the big weekend. I've never really been that interested in Seafair before, but I am now that it is hosted in the 'hood. There will be booths and stuff down by Genesee Park. The neighbors shared that the blue angels go right over our house and that we'll be able to see the fireworks from our front lawn. I was also surprised to find out that Seward Park is closed to the public this weekend b/c it is an emergency landing location for the planes.
I"m not exactly sure what we are going to do with the fam. We'll do some Seafair activities this weekend. I know we'll do lots of eating--sushi, dim sum, and backyard bbq is already on the list. We'll probably ride bikes and xooters around the park. The girls have asked to go toobing and to swim down at the lake. Bianca wants to go to the zoo and aquarium. All the ladies will go to North Bend Nails for a pedi. I'll probably take the girls shopping for school clothes. I'm really excited to have my family for the week and I'm sure it will help me to feel less sad about P, C, T 's departure. And the good news-- after the fam leaves, it will be time for....HOUSEBOAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
|
|
