An Exciting Evening... or "No, that's not a kitty!"

Though I don't talk a lot about them, in addition to our two dogs we also have two cats. Isabel is a "tuxedo" cat, meaning she's mainly black with a white chest and white feet. Clementine is a predominantly white kitty with black spots. Why am I telling you about our cats, you might ask? Because of what happened last night...

Winston is usually a very sound sleeper. He jumps up on the bed and he is out until morning. So, the few times he has jumped off the bed, I've known that he really does have to go out. Therefore, at 2:30 this morning when he jumped down I said okay, turned on the outside light and opened the door (we are very lucky to have a door to the outside from our bedroom... something that being a dog owner now that I have I don't think I'll ever be able to go back). Winston headed out the door and ran up to the "visitor" who was standing next to our house. It was at this moment that I remembered why living in the country does have its disadvantages. I screamed, slapped the door closed (so that Tater didn't join Winston) and flipped on the light to grab my pants and shoes. Reid leaped out of bed (sorry for such a violent waking honey!) and asked "What?"

"Skunk!"

Once dressed, I ran out the door again, assuming that what ever was going to happen had. So fortunately for us, the skunk had sprayed, but not on Winston. Winston, being the sweet fellow that he is, was not chasing the skunk to kill it... I honestly think he wanted to play. In this regard, I'm very glad it was Winston who went out and not Tater who has a higher kill drive than Winston. So, when it sprayed, he probably thought "Ooh... this is an interesting smell" and stayed where it had sprayed. When I went out, the skunk was still running up and down the inside of our fence (no doubt trying to remember how he got in) but Winston was standing a good distance from it. I grabbed him and ran back inside with him. It was at this time that I could almost hear Winston's voice saying, "What mom? It looked just like our kitties. Why can't we play?"

Luckily for the dogs, Reid has a terrible sense of smell. So, he got to sleep in the bedroom with them for the rest of the night... I crashed out on the sofa. Luckily, I woke this morning to a dog who doesn't smell like skunk... we really lucked out on this one!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Happy daddy's day to all of you daddies out there... I got to spend last weekend with mine and I tell you what... there are no better dads out there than my dad. It takes one moment to become a father... but it takes a lifetime of commitment to be a dad.

I love you daddy! I hope you are enjoying your father's day!!

Hello Old Friend...

I'm back in Colorado (have been since Wednesday afternoon). Wednesday was a long day. My travel was completely uneventful, but what with getting up at 5:30am eastern time (that's 3:30am mountain time folks), two plane rides and then a four and a half hour drive... by the time I got home I was exhausted. Case and point, I slept until almost eleven o'clock this morning. I never sleep that late. What a great hubby I have who took the dogs out and fed them and let me sleep.

Our little garden is doing well. I mean to take pictures soon and post them (though that will be a whole different adventure since my laptop won't talk to my camera anymore, some sort of lover's spat I suppose, so I have to download them to our PC and move them over). We are growing, with varying degrees of success:
Pumpkin
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Snap Beans
Snow Peas
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Spinach
Beets
Carrots
Thyme
Mint
Chives

Now, do keep in mind where I live. While many people are already harvesting fruit and vegetables from their gardens, most people here don't direct seed until Memorial Day (I did it a few days before that) and don't transfer plants started indoors until around now... so, we'll be lucky to have good fresh stuff by the end of July (except for our herbs which we bought as transplants and which can yeild small amounts now). But I'm looking forward to harvest already!

And tomorrow I'll be back there...

So I realize that my blog posts have been pretty few and far between. I've been busily helping my mom pack and rearrange their study and her sewing room (both of which are very near to staging ready!). Therefore, I've been busy shlepping boxes and when I've sat down I have wanted to veg rather than blog. But do know that I've been thinking about the blog (and reading everyone else's). I will be back in Colorado tomorrow and plan to garden/post about my garden (once I see what it has been doing while I've been away!) very soon... and hopefully some other house projects too.

But since my plane leaves tomorrow morning at 8:40am (which means leaving here at 6am) and I'm not packed yet, I'm off to do that!

I'm Here...

I'm here! Actually, I've been here since last Saturday night but Sunday was taken up catching up with my parents and in-laws and today I've been helping back books in my parents' study... so this is my first time updating. Lots of stuff to do... lots of stuff to think about too!

Not sure how much I'll be updating this week but I'll be checking in with all of the blogs on my blogrolls 'cause I just enjoy reading about your lives! Oh... and I'll do my best not to melt in the lake that is Indiana humidity! My goodness!

Heading Back to Indiana

I am now officially done with my summer class (having just submitted grades about five minutes ago) and in about two hours I leave here to drive to Denver, where I'll get on a plane and fly to Indy. I'm going to help my mom in the preparation of putting their house on the market and also to see family and friends... I expect it to be a lot of work but also a lot of fun! I'm sure I'll be updating while I'm there!

A Friend Came to Visit...

This past weekend my good friend Jamie came to visit. She was in Denver this past week on business and had the good sense and willingness to make the four hour drive down to our little slice of desert! I am so glad that she did as it is infinitely easier (I think) to talk to someone who knows where/what you are talking about.

She arrived Friday and got the tour of the house. Then she and I each took a little nap on our sofas until Reid got home. We had friends over for grilling and all in all it was a very pleasant evening.

Saturday we took Jamie to Adams to show her the campus. Then we stopped in at Milagros, the local not-for-profit coffee shop where you can get yummy coffee drinks AND feel good about yourself because you are supporting the local homeless shelter. Then we drove out to Zappata Falls and then finally the Great Sand Dunes. We learned two important lessons... in regards to Zappata, the walk up there is beautiful in late May but the water is still much to cold to walk through (especially when attempting to carry a 27 lb. beagle and a bag!). None of us made it all the way to the falls.

We got our shoes off at least! Here is Jamie and I by the very cold Zappata stream!

And here is the view on your walk back down from Zappata... which prompted me to happily exclaim that I think we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world!

In regards to the Sand Dunes, late May is the perfect time to go! Medano Creek runs at the base of the dunes and still had water in it. But the water was only a few inches deep which meant it was warm and lovely. We walked around for over an hour and I think all three of us would have gladly gone back the next day if our schedules/weather would have permitted.

Jamie and I (in shadow) in front of the gorgeous Dunes

Then in the evening we went to Calvillo's, one of the local Mexican restaurants (because really what is a visit to this part of the country without at least one Mexican meal?) and then finished the evening off at our local brew pub where people enjoyed a cold beer and/or bread pudding (I'll let you guess which of us enjoyed which... I'll take my calories in refined dessert sugar, thank you very much!).

Unfortunately she had to drive away early Sunday... but even though her visit was brief, I'm so glad she came! Thanks Jamie! And thanks to her husband Alex who kept their kids for an extra weekend so that she could come!