Things on Monday

It has been cold the past few days. I think it was me who said I preferred being cold to being hot, but now I'm not so sure! It was NOT a "spare the air" day, so we were able to light the fire and move our chairs around next to it and keep warm and cozy Saturday and Sunday. http://sparetheair.org/ It's 57 in the house! We are in the office, where it's 74 when the door is mostly closed (with enough room for a cat or two or three to get in or out), but it feels a lot colder than 74 in the office. And don't even think of leaving this sanctuary!



This was taken from out front facing the backyard. That's the neighbor's huge magnolia tree, but I digress. Notice the blue sky and only a few white clouds. Don't let that fool you.

Facing the hills were some dark, ominous clouds.

Will RARELY leaves the home office, but of course today he had a meeting almost 30 miles away in Silicon Valley, aka Silly Valley, or worse, and when he left to go there it was pouring at home, and when heleft to come home, it was pouring in SV. Not just raining, but pouring. When it was pouring in SV, it looked like this here - it had cleared up! The crepe myrtle tree has lost most of its leaves.

It's clouding over again, so we may see more rain.

It's supposed to be warmer when it rains - something about the cloud cover keeping the air warmer. 50 degrees in our backyard - can you imagine what it would have been had there not been any clouds?

Ziggy is happy sleeping on his pad that lies on top of my client's closed laptop that lies on top of a printer stand that lies on top of some other nerdy equipment.

Does he look happy to you? I think he is! He got up and I captured this picture with a shadow of him reflecting on the wall. In order for there to be a shadow, there has to be some sun! But don't be fooled. It's clouding over again.

As I type, Zig Zig just meowed, so Will picked him up and he was purring and kneading.

We did a transfer and he was on my lap for a few minutes, but that picture didn't come out as good so it's not here!

He's comfortable enough to clean his paw!

And because cousin Barbara loves to see pictures of Mowry, and because today is her birthday (happy birthday, Barbara), here it is:

That is an architect's rendering of the Di Guilio Pontiac dealer in Fremont. I think it was in Niles, but I am not sure. I know the Di Guilios lived in Niles. Here's an article about them:
http://www.tricityvoice.com/articledisplay.php?a=2351

In the "equal time" department, it's hard to capture a picture of Alex since he often hides in the closet, but I caught him yesterday on the back of the chair.

OK, it's not funny anymore....UPDATED AT 2:45 pm!!!! Read on.....

1. Where is my camera? If I was to think about replacing it, I wouldn't even consider it until after the holidays when stores are begging people to buy their products.

2. Why does my mouth still hurt? For people who said it wasn't that bad, it was worse than it should have been. Advil time. I'm happy Advil works.

3. It's only 26 degrees outside! That is very cold for 12:45 pm. The good news is that we are lighting a fire (Will is doing this as I type) and we'll sit by the fire and relax today. I will knit, we'll watch TV, read, etc. Oops, I typed 26 degrees - it's 46 degrees! See how much better that is already?

4. It's 5 degrees in Castle Rock, CO. and snowing in Seattle. Here are some pics from around the country:

Montrose, CO (where Will grew up):

Castle Rock, CO (where my niece and her husband live):

Plowing at Jackson Hole, WY on Saturday

Sea-Tac Airpot - see the snow? See why we don't go to WA in the winter? And it's not technically winter for one more week!

It's barely rained at home - the ground is a little wet, but that's it.

Updated at 2:45 pm:

I FOUND MY CAMERA! We thought we would have to replace it, and then it would show up as soon as we had a new one, but instead, all we had to do was talk about replacing it! Ha! Where was it, you ask? I thought I had exhausted the obvious places such as knitting bags (yes, I use more than one), or purses, but apparently I had not because I decided to look in my purses, and there it was - in the third purse I looked in! My parents swear that when you can't find something, if you turn over a glass and leave it, you will remember. This was NOT a matter of remembering. It was, as are most things when I lose them, a matter of coming across it. This time was a little different - I decided to go thru purses and knitting bags, but it wasn't an "aha" moment when I could say "oh yes, I remember when I had it when I used that purse". I have no idea when I last used that purse! I just knew it had to be here!

We went out back a week or so ago and found these balloons! Someone must have had a party! Probably next door. It's these little things that I missed taking pictures of!

Look at the crepe myrtal tree out front. It's lost most of its leaves. I guess we have some sweeping to do when the wind and rain are done. We watched the monthly street cleaners go right around our leaf pile last time!
Now that the tree across the street has lost some of its leaves, we can see the Niles sign from the office window!And for the obligatory cat pictures ---- today is 4 weeks since Ziggy came to live with us. Does he look happy on Will's desk ensconced behind the monitor?

Maybe she won't see me taking pics if I hide here....
Alex has found a new hiding spot. He hides on top of the pillow that sits on top of my yarn bin in my closet. You can almost see him below the black and pink flowered jacket. The blip of black is Alex.Mowry is king of the bed during the day. It's bath time now. Again.
And close up, if not a little blurry.... Look at the beautiful markings on this boy!
As per #3 above, it's so nice and cozy sitting next to the fire. See the wood snowman? I schlepped that from a thrift store in Santa Barbara several years ago. We had our car on that visit, of course. It's heavy because it's all wood.
I need to go take some more pictures to make up for lost time!

TGIF

First let me say that periodontal surgery sucks! Maybe because I had both sides of my bottom teeth done at once because I told my perio that I'm a wimp and he knows I wouldn't come back to do the other side. It is just annoying having packing on both sides of my bottom teeth, a plastic guard on top to protect the "pizza burn" area where they took the skin to graft to the bottom, and I feel stinky even though I just took a shower. I am trying not to whine because I know it will heal, but I get a little whine time!


I still cannot find my camera, and I'm convinced that the kitties conspired to hide it so I would stop taking pictures while they sleep, which is basically all the time except when we are sleeping. But I have many pictures in my picture stash, so I'm using those until I find it, which I will.


I had the brown sweater knitted almost to the elbow of the 2nd sleeve, but I decided I wanted the body longer, so I ripped it to the armholes. Here are Ziggy and Mowry in the hallway. Notice Zig's front paws have less white than Alex's in the picture below.



While they don't look that much alike since Alex now has some gray, and Ziggy's been shaved, so his hair is shorter, if we need a quick identifier, we can look at the front paws, or the ears. Alex has white in his ears, and Ziggy's are black and smaller. Ziggy is also bowlegged, but don't tell him. I don't think he knows. (This is an old picture of Alex before he started turning gray).
A more recent picture of Alex and Mowry.Mowry is checking out something. Note how he's used this crow's nest scratching post. I know, that's what it's for, but I don't want it to get all straggly. Note the loose pieces of carpet by his feet!
Mow on my desk.Mow coming thru the opening in the sheers by the TV room window. Will is always amazed that Mow knows right where the opening is and jumps right up to it.I haven't been out of the house since Tuesday. That could be part of my whining problem. While I love being home, and I can work, knit, hang with kitties and Will, watch TV, I also like getting out. This morning we went to an estate sale in the neighborhood. There wasn't anything we needed, or wanted, but we got out, saw a cute old house, and that was all good.

Quiet weekend planned, and then Tuesday I get the stitches out. That doesn't sound like fun, does it?

More cat pics - these are some I had saved on my computer.

Mowry sleeping with his paws up!A very young Mowry intently using the scratching post.

This was taken in the garage when we were having an open house at our townhouse in November 2006. When we adopted Mowry in August 2006, Alex did not like him. He growled and hissed and was a cranky old boy. Then a few months later we put them in the garage because prospective buyers don't like to know you are a real family with animals, and Mowry meowed until we either stayed out there with him, or put Alex with him. This is how we found them. I had to crop it and frame it because they were lying on a pile of dirty laundry next to the washing machine and you could see the dirty underware. Gotta love kitties!

This gives me hope that Ziggy will be accepted by these two brats. Granted, Mowry was a cute, adorable, irresistible kitten, but Ziggy is awfully sweet and cute and loves people. Zig Zig came out twice this week when friends stopped by! If only Ziggy wasn't so frightened of Alex and Mowry. If he wouldn't growl every time he saw them, they wouldn't take advantage and chase him. Does this remind you of elementary school dynamics?

Where is my camera?

Was Thanksgiving really one week ago today?

I still can't find my camera, but I know it's here. Where else would it be? I need to check the car closer, and maybe the sunroom, but other than that, I know not what I did with it. I do know it's not hidden in the chair as it was last time I couldn't find it. Yes, this has happened before, and no, I'm not going to turn a glass upside down to help me remember where I put it (as my parents swear by) because it's not that I don't know where I put it, it's that it ... well, I don't know!!!!

This weekend we're going as guests on the Niles Canyon Railway Train of Lights. http://ncry.org/

It's decorated inside and out with Christmas Lights. The train we'll take leaves from right here in Niles.

It will be cold even if we're in a closed car. Because we volunteer during the year, we got invited last year and this year for a ride on the test train. We went last year and nearly froze. We declined this year because we're going as guests of Ken and Diann this weekend. We'll know to dress WARM this time. Not that we didn't dress warm last time. Maybe I should say dress even warmer! We're taking an earlier train than last year, so it shouldn't be as cold. Right? I hope?

No matter how cold it will be, it won't be as cold as it is right now in Castle Rock, CO where it's 7 degrees! That's 25 degrees colder than freezing.

It's 46 at home right now, and that is cold for us, especially since it's only 8:00 pm, but it's STILL 39 degrees warmer than Castle Rock! I am a California Weather Wimp, and proud of it!

Wednesday

Have you seen my camera? I think the cats hid it because they hate when I take their pictures, especially when they are trying to sleep. I think I have some pictures saved, and thanks to the internet, this won't be a pictureless post. (Say that fast 3 times).

Yesterday I attended a business seminar at Santa Clara University.

It's a beautiful campus, but I never liked going there until I figured out that I can take the ACE train. So now it's a favorite spot. The ACE train once stopped at the Santa Clara Station...

but because of stupid people who crossed the tracks regularly, they closed it about 3 years ago for a 1 year project to build an underground tunnel. Yes, the math doesn't work. I'm told now that the project is on hold pending the outcome of the bullet trains to Southern California. That seems like a bad idea since people can't seem to stay off the tracks with the regular trains, but my vote only counted once. There are people who think it would be a great idea. See the Amtrak coming thru? People would walk to the farther track, and then a train would go by on the closer track. I unknowingly did that ONCE and it scared the pants off me. The next day I told someone about my scary experience, they listened, and then they proceeded to the outer track to wait for their train. People ARE stupid.This old picture is supposed to be the Santa Clara station. Since there isn't an ACE stop at the Santa Clara Station, I took a shuttle from the Great America Station to the Santa Clara Station and walked a couple of blocks to the University.
Our meetings are in the Mission Room, formerly the "Brass Rail". It's been updated and renamed since this photo.
I send out calenders to my clients each year. This year I found one with the Golden Gale Bridge on it. I was disappointed that the company I've ordered from the last several years did not offer this calendar, but I went with a new company. I started writing out envelopes and was literally about to put one in the envelope when I decided to look at it more closely. This was the editor in me hard at work. I checked my information at the bottom, and it was okay, although I didn't like how they underlined my email address and website, but then I looked at the calendar, something I've never done before. It's small, and hard to see, but look at this. What's wrong with this picture?

There is a February 29th! There can't be a leap year because - a) there was a leap year in 2008 b) leap years are only in even years c) all of the above, d) none of the above. C - 2009 is NOT a LEAP YEAR. Then it gets even worse, and more obvious. If January 31st ends on a Saturday, wouldn't February 1st START on a Sunday? In 2009 it does, but from February to December the months are from 2008!!! It is a $&%$# good thing (mostly $$$) that I looked. They are sending a replacement order.

Monday

Yesterday we took a walk into town. Isn't this Eucalyptus tree shaped funny? Obviously they cut it to keep it away from the wires, but didn't top off the rest.
We even saw a lizard on the street. It ran into the road as we approached. It had been sunning itself.

Isn't this a cool picture of the old house, old bike, white picket fence, foliage, and pumpkins left from Haloween?

Yep, that's 3 cats on the bed. Ziggy in the back by my pillow, and Alex and Mowry up front. I think this may be progress.

Mowry is too cute, but check out Ziggy in the back with his back paw on my pillow!

This wasn't cropped. I accidentally only got Zig's paw, and I thought it was funny!

Here's the full shot of him. He is very good about not having his face to the camera, and when it is, his eyes are never open.

Last night the sky was beautiful! Out back you can see a Southwest Airlines plane flying to the right of the apple tree. You can't tell it's SW, but trust me, it was.

Out front the colors were beautiful, but I couldn't get them to photograph well. I thought this blurr of the colors was interesting.

I was surprised to see that the moon photographed as well as it did.