Stuff

Busy days for us. I have had some work done on my house in anticipation of winter. I am not sure who is enjoying the upgrades more, me or the animals! The first upgrade was a new gas fireplace insert, just in time for fall storms and winter snow. I am taking the cost of it out of Stabby's allowance because she hogs the fireplace from the moment I turn it on (with the handy remote) to the moment I turn it off.

I can't believe you made me suffer without this for so long.

Unfortunately, the floor in front of the fireplace also puts her on a level that the orange menace can reach and he waits outside on the deck benches for her to fall asleep in her blissful ignorance. No sooner is she snoozing in front of the fire when a ninja attack is carried out. Poor Stabby.

What? I bear nothing but goodwill. Mwah mwah mwah.

In addition to the new fireplace, new vinyl windows are being installed as I type. My house looks 20 years newer with these heat efficient, noise dampening, crystal clean windows. We are ready for winter...and whenever I relist the house for sale.

The PB is completely unmoved by my attempts to make the house even more livable and comfortable, still preferring to be outside, even in the fall wind and rain. Yesterday I found him outside with leaves on him and he never even opened his eyes. He is a polar bear after all and eagerly awaiting snow!







I myself am eagerly awaiting Lilly. Trying to get a timely response from the Texas rescue is causing me to lose what's left of my mind. The house visit was completed last week and the report sent the day of the visit. I have heard nary a word from them so called again today wondering a little more forcefully what is going on and when I get her. I have transport lined up and waiting for the word from me. We should be all clear to go if only I could talk to a live person. I'd post a picture of lovely Lilly....but they already took her post off of petfinder. Not sure if that's good or bad!

Last Thursday, my friend Bonnie from work and I decided to take advantage of some spectacular fall weather and go for what I thought was a little hike. Bonnie is from Georgia and still adjusting to mountains, altitude and cold! So I looked up a few hikes and picked Mt. Washington which I mistakenly thought was 4 miles round trip. Turned out to be 9. Oops. Sorry Bonnie. However, the view at the top was fantastic and we both agreed it was well worth the extra mileage. Ignorance is bliss!

Mt. Rainier in all its resplendent glory.

It may look warm and sunny but do not be deceived. It was *freezing cold* and sunny.

The valley around North Bend.

In other news, the motorcycle has been retired for the winter and my skis moved to the front of the garage in anticipation of what appears to be shaping up to be a fantastic winter of skiing. Crystal, Mt. Baker and Whistler will all be open as of Friday. I had to forgo crew and hockey for now because they are expensive sports and it was recreation or windows. But we live in the PNW people and there are too many free outdoors activities to count so I have nothing to complain about!

In anticipation of ski season, Ben and I went to see a new ski movie which has won numerous awards. We saw it at the King Cat Theater in Belltown last Friday but is available on Blu Ray. (So much for the "premiere") The name of the movie is All I Can. Best on a big screen but if you can't manage that, still worth watching. I was in awe. (Of the skiing too...not just seeing a movie for this anti-TV chick so you can all keep your comments to yourselves!)

Before the movie, we went to an interesting restaurant for dinner called The Icon Grill. Different menu and good but not great. Maybe we were disappointed because the week prior, he took me to a fantastic little Italian/Greek restaurant in Bothell named Vivendo. For those of you that live near, it is worth making the trip to Vivendo.

Last but not least, a couple excellent books I just finished. The first is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.




This book has received an enormous amount of press coverage as well as word of mouth recommendation. I had heard about it from numerous people and tried to buy it while I was in San Francisco earlier this year but all the bookstores were out which says something as I was in Palo Alto on the Stanford campus. I finally bought it last week and finished it in 3 days. I could not put it down.

It is a difficult book to describe but in short, it's a novel about identical twins born to a nun in Ethiopia (are you already starting to see the complexity of the story?!). Verghese is a doctor and you will have renewed faith in doctors when you read a book that is this nuanced and multifaceted. Verghese is an extraordinary writer who defies the usual stereotype of the rigid doctor who sees people only in terms of diagnoses, science and rates of cure. I will say no more about the book other than: read it! If nothing else, you will fall into the category of literary outcast if you can't say you have read this book.


The second book I recently read was Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna.




This book is a fictional account of a writer who the author puts in the lives of Frieda Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Trotsky amongst others. I love Barbara Kingsolver because every one of her books is vastly different. She takes on such disparate subjects yet she has a fantastic way with words and the manner in which she imagines her characters. Also definitely worth reading. When I have time, my next Kingsolver book will be Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If any of you have read it, let me know what you thought.

And on that note, it's time to extract Stabby from behind the dryer where she is hiding from the window guys! Happy soon to be Thanksgiving to all.