King of the jungle

Little Dude hates our annual visit to the groomer. He yowls in the car and looks all wide-eyed and pitiful, but once it's done he is much happier. He's a Norwegian Forest Cat -- which means big bones, a blocky head and LOTS of fluffy long hair -- and is prone to matted, tangled hair. I know some people get the lion cut for cats because they think it's cute but I do it because of the hair issue.

But it IS pretty funny to see.

Before:

After:

RAWR!

FYI, the cat's haircut is $90 -- way more than I spend on my own head of hair.

Fishin' 2

I am so disappointed in my swanky one-year old waders -- they have already developed a hole in the neoprene part of the left foot. So that foot (and left leg after 6 hours) was swimming in cold river water. It wasn't too bad though -- I took a few shore breaks to warm up my foot and then headed back in for more fishing.

So much excitement during the day though! A black bear and two cubs were nosing around the bank area looking for some easy meals. D took charge and scared the bears off (everyone else pretty much freaked out and jumped in their boats or stayed in the river.) He really is pretty handy to have around in the outdoors...I think I'll keep him.

D's mom Mim was able to snap this photo of one of the bears walking back in the woods after snatching a salmon carcass.

We had a discussion on whether this is a red squirrel or something else. This little guy and a friend kept nosing around the bank area on a mission for food.

I know this moose is difficult to see, but he is swimming in the river (directly between the guy in gray and the man in orange on the opposite bank). Hard to believe that such an awkward-looking creature could be a great swimmer.

Our fishing spot is a popular area for driftboats to end up in. Some were locals and others were guides with newbies or tourists. Flipping for reds is not rocket science, so everyone I saw was able to get the hang of it pretty early on.

You know, the family that fishes together, stays together...

I brought Drift down with me and he was excited to see D, Don and Mim!

The sweet campsite that D's parents were able to score. We stayed in this one last year with some friends. Love the beautiful view.

Tackle! (or crafts for boys, as I call it)

About ten minutes into the drive home on Sunday, I avoided disaster BIG TIME. D had spent the week with his parents so he had the truck and boat, while I drove down separately on Friday. When we left the campground on Sunday I followed behind his car -- and early on he passed a big motorhome while I was stuck behind it.

All of a sudden a big black cargo box flew off the top of the motorhome and crashed into the road. I managed to swerve around the mass of items that tumbled from the box (cooler, lawn chairs, children's toys...that's about all I saw in the confusion) and thanked my lucky stars that I was back far enough to avoid a really, really bad situation. About halfway home it registered that I could have had a cargo box in my windshield. Moral of the story? SECURE ALL CRAP to your vehicle -- and don't tailgate.

Day in the life

I have really been feeling two steps behind on everything this week. The to-do list is still pretty lengthy, even after my productive Monday. However, early this morning I dropped one of the cats off at the groomer to get a much-needed lion cut (those photos will be posted later when he gets home -- it's pretty entertaining) and took a few hours off to clean the house and wait for the garage door guy, who is replacing our old and drafty and broken down garage door. Then D left work early so I could head to the office. It's all about teamwork!

What I really need is a whole weekday off because about half of the items on my list need to be done during the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, which is when I am chained to my desk, zombie-like in front of my computer screens. It would be so fabulous if I had a personal assistant, even for just one day a week.

Fishin' 1

I'm still going through my photos from the weekend, but here are few to give you an idea of combat fishing in Alaska.

The area near the Russian River ferry is always crowded. Everyone is packed in, shoulder to shoulder. I cannot fish like this -- I need at least 5 feet between me and the person downriver or I get big-time crabby. I'm more than willing to trek an extra mile (in waders!) for a nicer spot.

Looking downriver.

The fishing was pretty good -- the reds are returning at such a high rate that Fish & Game upped the bag limit to 6 (from 3)!

We're #1

Holy moly, guess which city comes out on top in Business Week's "10 Best Places to Start Over" list!

http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=20441328&GT1=35000#1

Keep on keeping on

Yesterday evening I was feeling a bit anxious about the things on my to-do list for today. Mondays are always hectic, but I managed to make it through!

• At work, booked a photographer to shoot a new lumbar disc replacement procedure -- while my boss took care of the tv news station which filmed the same half-day procedure. It was SO crowded in the operating room today with all the cameras and staff and doctors! I even got to chat with the physician from France who created this new technology.
• Made airline reservations for trip to Tennessee in August (thankfully my boss approved the 9-day vacation request!) after many coordinating phone calls with family
• Found 10 lbs of fresh Alaskan shrimp and am having the company overnight the package to my grandma (we don't have that much shrimp in our freezer yet)
• Figured out how to fit enough salmon and cooked PWS shrimp in a box to mail to my California relatives
• Made plans to meet up with high school friends after work for a mini-reunion

Phew...I'm surprised I got any real work done today.

Later on tonight I'll go through my photos from this weekend's fishing adventures on the Kenai River and pick out some good ones to post. D, his parents and I had such a great time!

Happy camper

As I hoped, D loved his birthday present -- a mission/craftsman-style recliner! Last month I blogged about my search for the elusive Craigslist recliner, but was sure that one would not pop up before D's birthday -- what are the odds, right? The universe must have thought I needed a dash of good luck, because the perfect product appeared on Friday via Craigslist. Even better, the price was WAY cheaper than I expected -- so affordable, in fact, that I thought it was a typo!




The woman who sold it is moving out of state very soon and surprisingly accepted my lowball offer. It may have helped that I complimented the photos of her grandkids shamelessly and bombarded her with my most charming self. Anywho, the two of us barely fit it in my car and I'm still sore from doing this half dragging/pushing maneuver in order to get it up the stairs from the garage at our house. Um, mission recliners? Totally heavier than they look.


Oh, and I had to remove the stair handrail to get it in the living room. And I think one of the cats may have been a tiny bit squished in the process. It probably would have been slightly easier to take it up the front porch steps, but then our neighbors would have witnessed me grunting and cursing. Not the kind of impression I want to make.