Flu, Flu, Go Away!

Yep. We got it. That dreaded flu bug that's been kickin' everyone in the patootie. Thankfully, ours was of the 24-hour variety. Mac was pukey all day on Wednesday. I felt like I was gonna vomit that entire night (it's a wonder I got any sleep)! And Brent stayed home from work on Thursday due to a sour tummy and not much sleep... what with me tossing and turning, and then Mac joined us for the night since I just don't like him sleeping so far away if there's a chance he could vomit. We are on the mend, however. Mac seemed like his usual energetic self both yesterday and today. My tummy is still a little tender/ sensitive. Not eating much... but, then again, I won't be withering away from lack of food anytime soon. :) Maybe this is just the "boost" I needed to start my winter cleanse?!? Wish me luck!

July 4th - Weekend In Crouch.

It really was a FABULOUS weekend away from the "city." We always have such a relaxing and fun time with our friends, Brian and Jen (and kids), in their cabin when they've invited us up there. And, apparently, the 4th of July is THE time to be there! I don't know that I've seen such a huge celebration & firework display in my life! Not only does the town of Crouch have a pretty amazing display, everyone brings their own and sets them off - right in the middle of town! Yep. Even the "illegal" ones! No one gets in trouble though. Law enforcement is just there to regulate things; making sure everyone is staying safe and not getting too crazy! Most likely taking precautionary measures just in case something does get out of hand. We just had to make sure to find a spot that was upwind of all the smoke floating around. It got quite hazy in town. But it was fun! The only disappointment? I didn't take ANY pictures the entire weekend!! Not until we were in the car and headed home! I grabbed my bag, opened it, and saw my camera sitting there at the bottom staring back at me! Frustrating!! So, here's what you get: a few insignificant shots from the car on our way back into Boise. Brent asked if I wanted to stop and get out. Eh. What's the point. It's not like we spent our time there. The things that really mattered: our friends, our retreat, our fun, the excitement of watching fireworks - none of that was captured on film. Click here for a little bit of what was captured... and here are a few pics for your immediate viewing pleasure:



Quaint little town.



At least the scenery was pretty!



Mac didn't feel too great this morning so he slept most of the way home.



At The Park.

Headed down to the park this evening just for a change of pace. The weather was nice, so off we went. There's lots of things to explore and fun stuff to do. Swings. Slides. Jungle gyms. Even ducks! (We tried to feed them but tons of other folks had the same idea, and they weren't hungry.) Oh. And here's my rant for the day: Where do people get the idea that it's okay to leave plastic bread bags on the ground after they're done feeding those ducks the stale old bread that's inside?!?!? Have we, as a human race, really not gotten any smarter when it comes to disposing of our refuse? REALLY?!?! Wow. I am seriously appalled and embarrassed by this city. Ok. Rant concluded. Now for pictures... of which there are several... so I'll put a couple here now, but click on this link to view the rest.

Backyard Fun & Friends

I watched a couple of cuties today. My friend, Steph's, kiddos. Mac LOVES hangin' out with them! A nice change of pace and some good peer interaction. I've already posted the pics on Facebook so I'll just leave a link to take another look and one uber-cute photo!

Chillin' In The Backyard.

Quite a nice day for relaxin' outside. To view more pics of today, click here.

Mother's Day 2010

Went to one of my favorite places for lunch today: Chapala. My sister and her kiddos were able to join us and it was quite entertaining to watch Mac interact with his cousins. He would copy what they were doing... so I got a series of cute and funny photos of him. So sweet!

(It's taking forever for pictures to upload to my blog so I will try and add them here for you to view.)

Just As Cute As Can Be!

Some backyard fun with my boy and his big blue "bah" - what fun! I couldn't decide which photos to post so, once again, here are a couple for your instant viewing pleasure... To view the rest, click here.

Bein' outside is so much fun!! Mac just loves it!

It's even better when there's a huge bouncy ball to play with! :)

Random Road Trip

What a great day to just go for a drive! We were feeling a little restless so we decided to head out. Not necessarily out of town... just out. Sometimes it does wonders to just take a look at our surroundings and reconnect with nature. I took quite a few pictures of just random things - too many to post here - so click here to see the rest. Here are a couple of teasers:

Back atcha, babe.

A bit chilly out... but lovin' it!

Mac In The Box

Well, we got some new little storage ottomans and Mac just thinks those are the best things to climb in and out of. And, of course, too many pictures to post them all here so if you want to take a look, click here. Here's a teaser though:

Another Monday...

Just a few pics from today:

Cutie pie. By the way, we're lovin' the sliding glass door! Lots more light coming through... makes things brighter!

Sweet boy.

Found some new dishes for Mac at Target today. I may try to incorporate this design into his bedroom décor! So cute!

Couldn't even wait for his bed... Tired boy! :)

I also took a few more pictures of our place today... wanted to show the progress we've made with unpacking and getting things in place. Take a look here. We found out we have both colors of Bleeding Heart flowers in our front walk. So pretty.

Move-In Day!

Talk about a looooooooong day! We rented a U-Haul truck to make things faster and it still took 2 loads in the U-Haul and a few other "regular" truck loads!! We have a LOT of stuff!! We need to have a yard sale, BAD! :) And now we have our own space where we can have it! Heh, heh. We're fortunate to have several good friends who were able to help us out today! The husband of one of Brent's co-workers is even a professional mover! He's not a huge guy so we were wondering how he was lifting all that heavy stuff! I think he was just doing it the "right" way! We'll also have to head back over to the Holly house at some point to clean, clean, clean! Here's a link to check out our not-so-bare-naked house. It's quite full now and can seem totally overwhelming if I look at the big picture. I plan to just take one room at a time. Moment by moment, day by day. If I break it down into little segments, it's definitely doable. And I know exactly where to start: The Kitchen! I know it'll help to have dishes and utensils in their places. Yay for new beginnings! :)

My starting point.

The Master bedroom was Brent's starting point. :)

Movin' In - First Load!

For pictures of our mostly bare-naked house, click here. We got the keys a little bit earlier than we thought we would so we decided to head on over with a few boxes and other miscellaneous things. Fun times! :)

Happy boy!

Playin' in his OWN room. Had to bring over a few toys for starters. :)

Kitty Woes

This was originally written as a response to a blog post by Denise. I had only gotten about as far as the "Henry annoys Brent" point when I realized this was going to be waaay too long as a response! It ended up being a cat novel rather than just a cat tale. So, I decided to blog about it myself. Here it is:

I can definitely relate to your cat woes!

I considered myself a "dog person" in my younger years since we mostly owned dogs. Any cats we had were most likely strays that "adopted" our family. I think I was even as fanatical about dogs as your nieces, M & H, are. Eventually, my love for all things furry extended to the feline variety as well. I think that may have occurred at some point during my recent job at an animal hospital where I saw what was done to unwanted animals... or even wanted animals who were too aged or infirm to have any "quality" of life left, so why prolong their pain. Sad. But I digress.

It was at that very job where I acquired 2 kitties: Madison - whom I had to put down 4 years ago, and Henry - still with us. I loved those cats. Yes, past tense on both accounts. Now that Mac has joined our family, Henry is simply a nuisance. I feel sorta bad for saying that because it's not Henry's fault. It isn't even that Henry bothers Mac... in fact, it's quite the opposite. He'll run the other way if Mac gets too close!

There are a couple reasons for my change of heart. The primary one being all the HAIR!! I can't stand it! He's an indoor-only cat but enough already with the incessant shedding!! Yuck! I didn't mind it so much when it was limited to my own clothes (people would take one look at me and say: You must have a cat.) but, now that Mac's here, it seems like it's EVERYWHERE! And since Mac has been more mobile these days (he's doing the army crawl now!) and wanting to put anything and everything into his mouth, I'm noticing Henry's hair in places that I thought were "safe." And I can't stand to see a cat hair in Mac's mouth let alone clasped in his sweaty little hands. Ew. *shudder*

Second, while Henry's still fortunate to have all his teeth, he apparently can't seem to chew his food up either, therefore, encore appearances ensue. Often with a little bit of HAIR in it. Did I mention the hair??? That I can’t stand???

I guess the third and final reason is this: It annoys me that the cat annoys Brent. For some reason Henry likes to "walk" with Brent. He's always at Brent's feet! Then one of the following will inevitably happen: a) Brent trips, then yells something... usually including the words "hate" "stupid" and "cat." b) Brent steps on or kicks the cat, then trips while the cat is howling, then he still yells something with the above words only this time trying not to curse. Or c) Brent stops for a brief second to let the cat walk by… only Henry will take this stand-still opportunity to plop his furry little body right down onto Brent’s feet. There’s no tripping this time but still the slightly raised voice saying "Henry, STOP!" and then asking me if I’ve given anymore thought to finding Henry a new home. Poor guy. And poor, neglected kitty.

There are a couple of reasons why I haven’t pursued the finding of a new home yet. This is what I like to call: The Flip Side. a) I think Mac is fascinated by that silly cat because he’ll smile and try to get near him whenever he saunters Mac’s direction. Nevermind the utter look of terror in Henry’s eyes when Mac tries to grab his tail, I think they could be great friends later on. b) Henry’s still pretty stinkin’ cute when he isn’t being annoying. And c) Ethically, I’m feeling obligated to carry out the commitment (of caring for this animal) that I made when we got him from the Humane Society. Not to mention he keeps the moths at bay. ;) There might be different (i.e. better) options perhaps. At least one I can think of off the top of my noggin anyway: Transition him to OUTdoor-only status. But even then, I’d prefer to be in a quieter neighborhood when that takes place. One where college students aren’t feeling the need to barrel down this 20mph road at sound-breaking speeds. And where we don’t have an accumulation of vehicles parked outside our door every time there’s an event at the college community center… all of which are then backed up at every available exit, trying to get out of here and to their respective garages.

So, for now, Henry remains. I’m a little saddened that I haven’t been able to give him the amount of attention he received pre-Mac. I’m sure he thinks that this tiny person we call "Mac" is to blame for his current state of solitude and any other kitty-problems he thinks he has. Oh well.

Anyone want a cat? ;) … Kidding ... Sort of.