No, really, BITE ME

Tooth number 2 arrived while we were in Portland last week, just in time for Samson to nibble on Auntie Mir's fingers. Four days of sightseeing, dining out, shopping, and walking around the city's lovely parks. But most importantly, four days with LDB and her new baby girl, Samson was fascinated with the squirmy pink thing, almost as much as we was with chewing on the leg of the coffee table. It was a great week, and we can't wait to go back again soon.

Max is getting in some good Father's Day COD4 time, and Samson is napping...I'm not sure what to do with myself! I mean, of course I could unpack on of the last straggling boxes, or fold some laundry, or vacuum...or I could read some blogs and take a nap. Hmmm, wonder which option I'll choose.

MLK Day is now in April

Happy birthday, my new little friend! Welcome to life. Don't worry, you ended up with two very cool parents--they have four cats between them. And Portland will be an awesome place to grow up. It'll still be a few months before you have to really learn about this thing we call horrible crap ass Pacific Northwest weather. And as soon as you're old enough to cut your mommy a little bit of slack, Samson and I will be up there to say howdy, and take lots of pictures of your sweet golden locks.

Like it always does

Not the best video ever, but the song is my song today. Because I miss Mir so damn much.



That night lives in infamy. On Mir's car.

Another Lump for Nanna

And this one's another cancerous tumor. But thanks to constant belly rubs and our daily post-breakfast love fest, I found it really early and the vet thinks it will be no problem to remove the whole thing and get good margins on Thursday. The same day Miru goes in for his echo-cardio-thingy to check the status of his heart murmur. We'll probably have to go in even earlier in the week because we found another lump last night, this one on Ozzy's belly. His first lump. My first 3-animal medical crisis week. Plus, when Miru got out last week, he brought home some fleas. Yay.

But not all news is sick animal news. Some of it is expecting friend news! LDB up in Portland is growing a little friend in her belly for Samson to play with! How cool is that! Four hundred cool.

The portrait shots from the wedding are up on Picasa Web. There are still some digital photos and a few quick cams to handle, but I think we're mostly set on picture posting.

dks

I'm back from the wedding, complete with a new last name! How exciting. I won't say much in this post, as I am totally and utterly exhausted, but I will say that it was THE PERFECT WEEKEND and everything went wonderfully. It was the best wedding ever, and we have the best friends and families and dogs ever. Pictures and musings shortly. Big ups to my ridiculously helpful friends from Portland, San Antonio, San Carlos, Brooklyn, Minneapolis, and beyond.

Take my sanity, please

Wow, it's really almost time for the wedding. Family and friends started arriving from out of town today, and the chaos has begun. It won't be in full swing until the middle of next week, and by then, I do believe I will have gone bananas. Once the actual celebration starts on Friday, I'll be nothing but smiles--surrounded by friends and family with no prep left to do. But this week it's kind of overwhelming, getting the finishing touches on seating arrangements, flowers, and various bits and bobs. Even for such a small wedding, there are so many little details! And I suppose we didn't have to move into a new place during the same week. Or buy a new car. Or a new bed.

It's been challenging, but it's totally worth it. I am SO EXCITED for this wedding, and I love love love our new place. The transition from Dublin to Foster City has actually gone really smoothly. We kind of treated it like how one treats swimming in Fall Creek in Oregon: close your eyes, hold your breath, and jump in. Then pray as hard as you can that your lungs don't seize up from the freezing cold water. If you just stick your toe in before you jump, you'll never succeed. It's all or nothing, and this week has been an all week.

Other news: my good buddy Tiny Trousers appears to be on the mend! We here at Extra Super Fantastic wish her and her mom all the best.

Mini Update

I am still here--busy with work, and a fabulous pre-wedding fact-gathering mission to the Sea Ranch. More about this later, and pictures of Ozzy's not-so-close encounter with a trio of deer.

One other thing: big hugs and warm thoughts for my good friend Tiny Trousers (and her ever loving mom). Who knew an Australian shepherd mix (or whatever the lying sack of crap at the pet store said you were), who is almost certainly part mountain goat, could get herself stranded on the dusty crags of my heart and mind for so long? Well, I guess I knew.

The Varros Come to Ireland

They came. They saw. They drank Guinness. We had a wonderful week with our New York friends, the Varros. The weather didn't really cooperate, but that didn't stop us from doing all of the fun Dublin stuff. We also took a 3 day road trip to Galway and Bunratty Castle and to County Kerry--Sarah's ancestral home (she was a Sullivan until last October). We saw sheep and cows and goats (oh my!) and enjoyed our fair share of Irish goodies and full-car sing-a-longs. Pictures!



That, my friends, is Picasa's fancy new slideshow embedding feature. Pretty cool! I like to embed things within other things. Like embedding pigs into blankets, or jalepenos into poppers. Mmmm, snacks filled with other snacks.

Baby update: we have have movement! Unless it's some kind of weird prolonged bout of gas, I've been feeling Max Jr. squirm around for 2 weeks now. It feels a lot like riding a roller coaster, specifically the part where you go down a big drop and your stomach follows you down a little bit slower than the rest of your insides. But just slightly and only for a second. It's really quite amazing. Nothing like the hiccups and acrobatics that I'm sure will start in the months to come, but enough to bring a smile to my face when I'm just sitting there minding my own business and he reminds me that I'm not alone.

Other than that, it's time to pack it all in here in Dublin. Moving (part one) is less than 2 weeks away, and there's much to do. So I'd better get doing.

I don't know whether I can handle this weather

Stupid rain. Stupid, stupid rain. It's been raining all week, anywhere from hot and muggy rain a la the East Coast to cold pelting rain that makes me frown. Our good friends the Varros are coming to Dublin on Saturday to visit for a week, and there's a lot of rain in the forecast. I've only got 3 1/2 weeks left to complain about the weather, so I guess I'd better get busy.

I wanted to post a song that sort of fit this weather-induced mood I'm in, but I couldn't find an online version (to purchase or otherwise, including iTunes) of the one I had mind. So here's a link to a place where you can listen to it. It's from a Channel 4 Radio ad that plays on our UK TV channels regularly, and it makes feel kind of gloomy-happy.

And here's another song that kind of works for my mood today, too.

Don't You Forget About Me

Boy, have I ever been MIA. Incommunicado. Fallen off the face of the earth. And what's worse, I've left that clip from the Sarah Silverman Program as my last post for people to see when they check in on the blog. Not my finest bit of blogging. Oh well.

I've been in San Francisco since Friday (technically, Foster City and Palo Alto), and the weather alone has made me consider skipping out on my flight back to Dublin on Sunday. 70's and 80's, clear blue skies--flip flop weather. It's been great being back in the office this week, actually seeing and talking to people during the day. It's a big change from my life as a Dublin hermit, and a very healthy addition to my daily routine. As much as I'll miss Ireland and Europe, I'm looking forward to coming back to a place where I can interact with friends and family on a level other than email and long-distance, time-zone impaired phone calls.

Lots of extra super fantastic things have happened since I got here. Beli Deli sandwiches. An A+ grade on my checkup at the dentist. More Nanna belly than you can shake a stick at. Alaskan King Crab legs. Pie day. Sharks hockey. Hugs from my local nearest and dearest. And even though my peeps in Oregon, Texas, Colorado and Minnesota aren't represented, I feel a little closer to them than normal.

Crash Course in Israeli Holidays

There hasn't been much time to blog due to all of the fun I've been having. Here are some highlights:

1. Brekhat Ha-Meshushim (Hexagon Pool)



We took a little break in the Golan Heights over Christmas. The Hexagon Pool is on the Jordan River where it meets the Sea of Galilee, and it's this amazing pool of water surrounded by long hexagonal columns of rock and it looks amazing. Any Israeli will tell you about how it's the only place on earth like this. Very special. You like it.

2. The Original Israeli Pancake House. Super Fantastic!

3. Trick! I've been getting plenty of cuddles from my doggie nephew. He winks.



4. The Hevre: in Hebrew, a "hevre" is a group of close friends with names like "Yair" or "Yossi." By definition, they are dependable, funny, and like to drink. Many dinners and poker nights. The fun is non stop!

Holy Matrimony, Batman!

Congratulations on the nuptuals of my good pals Alene and Jim! Now that you are no longer living in sin, your cats can go to school with the other cats without feeling so sinfully ashamed. Mazel tov!

If I had a Nanna, I'd hug her in morning

Oh! Wait! I do have a Nanna!





Yup, this weekend's going to be chock full dog belly. CHOCK FULL.

Don't fret, I will involve Ozzy's belly as well. But girl belly is just so much nicer.

And all of this supposed cuddling and dog belly will take place assuming that there's room for me on the bed. which is questionable.



Other parts of the coming week will be spent with this lovely creature:



Mammas, don't let your best friends from high school grow up to be cowgirls!

I Like My Meat Like My Men: Grilled and on a Sword.

In honor of APV's birthday last night, a bunch of us went out for Brazilian BBQ. Have you even had Brazilian BBQ? No? Well let me tell you, there's nothing like having a guy with a sword full of meat come up to you every three and a half minutes to offer you food. Nothing. In fact, for my next birthday, I would like everyone to pitch in and hire a guy to following me around all day with a sword full of grilled meats.

You think I'm joking?

To celebrate the birthday factor, a pasty guy in a blue oxford shirt came out from the back of the restaurant and blew a horn (looked to me like an elaborate shofar):



It's common knowledge that Adam blows. So it was no surprise when he persuaded Mr. Pasty Hornblower to fork over the horn.



What was surprising, however, was just how much Kevin Punzalanski loves cake!



Who knew! Not me. I do know how to shop for birthday gifts though. Check this bad boy out.

I'll end this with my first Photo Friday entry in a while: One.

More Gopher, Please

We're off to Minneapolis tomorrow to visit the lovely and talented IJR family, complete with the new addition: a squiggly, giggly, 4 month old baby girl. And from what I can tell, the weather seems to be slightly different than it was the last time I visited. And thank goodness for that. It's the perfect weather for watching babies do baby things and spending many hours at the Mall of America.

Mmmmmmmm......Mall of America.....

Keep me warm all through the night

I finished weaving a nice, snuggly baby blanket for little miss LHR this week--just in time to for those cold Minneapolis Summer nights.



The combination of the chunky baby alpaca yarn and the satin border are sure to create a sensory overload for that child--in a good way. Until I get out there to meet her in person, I hope this blanket will convey the hugs to come.


It went out in yesterday's mail, I & J. Sorry to ruin the surprise, but I just couldn't keep it in any longer.

A day of well-wishing and thinking good thoughts

A big, frothy cup of birthday wishes to my good friend and soon-to-be traveling partner, DRB (known in some circles as little db). There few people in this world that my dogs like better, and there are even fewer people in this world with whom I'd rather be stuck on a desert island.



This is a picture of DRB in her natural habitat. A hiker by day, and a camper by night, DRB took me on my first and only backpacking trip back in 2000, for which, someday, I will forgive her. Actually it was one of the better vacations of my adult life, despite the name of the location--Desolation Wilderness--complete with dogs, swimming, and large rocks. I've know DRB since my college days, and she will forever be my favorite tree-hugging dirt-worshipper. Plus, she has 4 cats: 2 twin girls, one
a former ninja and one with a taste for blood, a big fluffy boy who regularly hits on my boyfriend, and one rescued stray with a detatched retina (detatched retina = one rather noticeable bug eye, Don Knots style). And you just can't argue with that! To celebrate the anniversary of her birth, I will go see M. Ward tonight, who is also from Portland.

Baby Talk

One of my favorite people in the world is pregnant. In fact, she's very pregnant. Like, 4 days past her due date, camping outside the hospital and ready to pay someone to induce labor pregnant. Her husband is another one of my favorite people in the world. They are going to make the most kick-ass set of parents any little kid could hope for. Last September when they told me that they were pregnant (joyful squeal!) and moving to Minneapolis (depressed sob!), the baby was approximately the size of J.'s fist. Of her fist. The baby is now the size of some thing much larger than a fist, the size of something that makes the woman carrying it in her body determined to destroy all cameras in a 3 mile radius. Godspeed, little Baby Redman. Please hurry and relieve your mommy--I know she'd appreciate it.

So I've already got baby on the brain. One of the best bloggers around writes wonderful anecdotes about his kids (as a good daddy should). Another one of my favorite bloggers wrote about her very pregnant friend today. All of these baby-doin's a-transpirin' make me look around at my two 65 pound dogs and my two 14-pound cats and think, "Thank god they don't wear diapers."

Gimme an M!

It's funny stuff, this Google April Fools' Day tradition. And it's healthy, if not imperative, to be able to laugh at yourself. Heck, I laugh at yourself all the time. Aaaaaaaaaaalllllllll the time.

Is it a testament to my love of marquis, or to M's position as the ultimate show date?



Is it a testement to my love of dingy little bodegas, or to M's position as the ultimate show date?



Hooray for M and her ability to open herself up to new music, like going to see M. Ward with me, and hopefully the Fiery Furnaces and Q and Not U. Hooray for M and her ability to force me to tone down my critical judgmentality and my general dislike of people in order to go see new music like Jolie Holland. We'll just not mention Coco Rosie or Antony and the Johnsons.



Indeed, hooray for M.

Hey! Ho! Let's Go!

Let me just say, hooray for the Ramones. Thier lightning-quick beat, 3-chord melodies and barely intelligible lyrics make me so excited about everything, I just want to jump up and down. The weather is GORGEOUS, our new sofa is being delivered this weekend (our new greenish-grey, dual-reclining sofa, mind you), and hey, it's Friday. You just can't beat that. Friday feels nice.

I wore these earrings today in honor of M. who is into dangly earrings these days.