Last Day of Vacation

Wow have I been m i a. Some quick updates.

We now have internet at the house, finally. The floors are finished, again. The living room, Alex's study, the bathroom, the hallway, my study and the bedroom are painted, completely. The house is a home, and almost everything has found its way to its place in an organized fashion, even the flees. Yes, flees. We are not "infested", but we are being eaten. I'm sure the litter of kittens under the shed is not helping matters. Oh yeah, discovered a litter of 4 kittens under our shed in the back yard on Saturday night as I returned home from work. The only reason they were discovered? My neighbor was letting his dogs out at 2am havin a beer in his back yard, and Alex had let me use his moped (WOOT!) to go to work that night so it was to be parked in the back. Stopped to chat with neighbor Dave & what do we see but some little shaddows moving about in the ivy. Turns out to be 4 kittens smaller than a can of soda. Barely had their eyes opened. So of course I had to feed them. Went inside to tell a nearly unconscious Alex about the little things. He knew there had been cats under the shed, but had not known that there was a litter of newborns. Then he went through the inevitable progression of events as he sees them panning out:

Oh Alex look at the little kittens! So cute! And the runt! oh he's so little and wobbley!

and upon the discovery of more flees: Oh I had to bring him inside of course! He just needed some special care, I don't think he would have made it!

Do you think the kitten will eat the Turtle?

What shoud we name it????

I don't think I'll be bringing any kitties inside. But the runt is so awesome, he's black & grey & white but with a smattering of tiger stripes around his little face. Very cute. And when he sits he is so stretchy & wobbley that he looks like an old man plopping down at the end of the day for a porch sitting.

Anyway. The gym in the back yard is nearly complete, but usable so we've been working out every week. Tues, Thurs, Saturday I work out with Alex, Virgilio & Umair doing the power lifting. Mon, Wed Saturday I've been running, and Friday is my tossup. Last Friday I went to core Yoga with Ashley. It was an awesome class. Our instructor Tia works your ass off, for real. I don't know if I'm still sore from the lifting or the yoga, but man, I have to blast thru the delayed onset muscle soreness today.

Went to Claremont for dinner last night. It was a really nice visit & we stayed for quite a while. Found out that Christina is moving in with Ms. B! That sounds like a perfect situation for Christina, and for Ms. B as well to be honest. Jon Alan's doing better since his car accident. Other dude (drunk driver) was at fault so Jon might get a new car out of the deal. I want to try to get Claire to let Christian to come up for his last horra and maybe we can go tubing down the James (with life jacket of course). Been seeing a lot more of Leigh now that she is no longer with the boyfriend, and he has moved out of their apartment. Hopefully this is a new trend.

Classes start this week! GIS certificate here I come. Seriously considering the pros & cons of rolling the certificate into a masters. 1 yr vs 2? It'd be the masters of urban planning, so we'll see.

My poison ivy affliction has nearly abated. Scarring despite my best efforts to avoid breaking the skin. It was just so stretched out that there's no way it could go back to normal. The wrist & legs are the worst, thankfully the hips, face & neck didn't fare too badly. The only bad part about the face & neck is the longer than desired side effects of the prednisone: fat accumulation in the face & neck and acne like I've never had from face to shoulders. Hopefully these will go away soon, but in the meantime my Mom is happy to see that my face is fatter even if I haven't gained any weight.

hm... Three of my 5 female friends here in Richmond (which I have cultivated over the last 5 yrs) are leaving me. Just so happens to be the 3 people I actually get to hang out with regularly (the other two work so much!!!). They are going to Taiwan! WOW! Finally got their plane tickets and will be leeeeeavin, on a jet plane! 15 September. Dang. Umair joked that I'm gonna get even more buff because I'll be hanging out with him & Alex & Virgi all the time. Megan warned me not to become one of those people that does nothing but work & work out. I told her I already am. haha. Shovel all day long, then work out & go to classes. Sounds like that's what I'm about to be up to. Spending money only on the bills I've finally caught up on (almost) & the food I get reimbursed for.

My best friend will be married for 2 months at the end of this month. Haven't gotten to talk to her since they left for the honeymoon aside from the phone tag messages & txts. Have to say I've been anxious about getting to hear from her about everything. But also scared to hear concretely how much her life & perspective will have changed. It'll be good, I just want to be ready!

Going to be running sometime today, maybe I'll take Fenway if Ashley wants to go running with me. If not I will be heading out after lunch with Alex.

Wish me luck!