Miss Ginger Turns 14!

When we adopted Mister Beans and Miss Ginger they were the children of a divorce...but arrived with AKC papers, every vet record, and even pictures of them as puppies! Who knew refugees were so pedigreed! Anyway, June 30 is Miss Ginger's birthday, and she turned 14. It's not really fair to call her a short-haired red anymore, as she's mostly white these days, but it's still impossible to wear her out. Happy Birthday G!

For some reason she's taken to not only sleeping under our bed, but between a pillow and our bed. Whatever floats your boat, little dog.

To celebrate her big day, she'll even have a sip of cabernet every now and then, when we're sharing. Beanie was more of a Guinness man...

A Day of Play!

On Saturday we didn't do a bunch of schoolwork, and we didn't destroy anything in our house. Instead, we played! We rode bikes to our new favorite breakfast spot, we bought new tubes and tires for my old green bike "Babar," and we took Miss G on a little hike at the park. We neglected to bring her collapsible water bowl, so she was gracious enough to drink from a baseball cap. Gross! But it was nice to play all day!

The Golf Tournament!

Well, we didn't come in first, but Team Publications didn't come in last either in Friday's company golf tournament. It was in the mid-90s, and we thought we might melt right there on the course. And the beer cart was nowhere to be found, so we had to use our drink tickets at the pro shop...but we had a good time, got some exercise...and you know the old adage...a hot afternoon of golfing beats working any day.

Golf...the only sport for which I own special shoes!


















Larry, my husband, and Brandy at the Warm Springs course.


















The men resting in the shade while the ladies tee off.


















It was a scramble, and believe it or not, this was our best ball. :)

Marmot Season is Over!

Softball season came to an end Monday night, with the final Marmot game! While I spent most games gabbing with other spectators or doing my homework reading, I'm pretty sure they won slightly more games than they lost. My husband mostly played third base, but pitched some, and was the third-base coach a lot. Big thanks for playing in my stead, and representing the family!

rounding first, bringing the guy on third in and winning the game!






















The final Marmot huddle. My husband is the one flanked by the coach's kids in green and white.

A Visit from the Willitses!

Aisha and Jason and their dog Kedzie are in Idaho for the week, vacationing and enjoying the spate of warm weather we've been having! As Aisha has already been on the house tour, we gave Jason the tour, which this time of year requires a LOT of time in the very chilly basement. After that, we were off to the Highlands pub for dinner, then to the backyard of the estate for jibber-jabber and a rousing game of fetch in an attempt to wear out the manic Kedzie. Miss Ginger, as usual, was having no part of running to get a ball. So nice to see the Willitses!

Miss Ginger protecting us from the very excitable Kedzie, who likes to play ball on his vacation. Note the large piles of "lath" behind us -- from the bathroom demo!

After a rainshower, we moved into the garage. (Kedzie is nearly worn out here!)

Elisa's Leadership Award Party!

My manager, Elisa, won a big fancy leadership award from the company, so we threw her a really fun party! We had twinkly party lights, a sparkly glitter tiara, and tiny plastic champagne glasses (though only sparking cider products in them). Marie even came from Portland for the event! I made a bunch of silly decorations involving putting Elisa's head on other bodies. It was good times!

Working hard at my desk!

Ridiculous decorations!

Brandy, Elisa, Me, and Marie!

Good bones, bad skin.

Bathroom sink before. Stupid sink. Stupid vanity. Stupid mirror. We are gladly remodeling the lone bathroom in our house. We knew when we bought the house that it had great bones, and we both loved the funny and quirky little nooks and crannies, but knew we'd have to put some "sweat equity" into it. And instead of doing at the end of our stay, like we did with our first house, we have decided to do it at the start of our stay, so we can enjoy it.























Sink after. Hard to brush your teeth. Apparently (based on the green) our house was either built or remodeled with "salvaged" materials!?!

Shower: Before and After

Not only will we remove the fixtures, we will also remove the surround, and replace it with....tile? We haven't yet decided. Though we did order the corner vanity that we have been eyeing. Love that Internet.

Shower before...























Shower: After

Working Hard.

Sooooooo many options...which sink/showerhead combo defines me as a person? Get to pickin', Ikea Boy.

My husband did most of the hard work. Thus the fancy respirator and spaceman suit.

Clean-up crew on duty. Much dust in the air?

Roller Derby!

Friday night we went to watch a coworker compete in flat-track roller derby! Such excitement!

Marmot softball last week was particularly gruesome, with two players each taking a ball to the face, resulting in 6 stitches for the pitcher (bottom teeth through bottom lip) and a possibly-cracked cheekbone on another player. Thankfully neither player was my husband.

So when we went to roller derby, the twisted knee and heavily strained knee we witnessed were old hat. But the competition was compelling. And Raquel Welch was nowhere to be found.

NO ONE TOLD ME THERE'D BE SLUGS HERE

Slugs? SLUGS? In Idaho? How did I get all the way over here before discovering that there are slugs here? Isn't it too dry? Too hot? Too acidic? Too salty? Something?

Our house in Beaverton was slug headquarters. Between Miss G's doggy door and the low-grade seal on the garage door, I'd find these disgusting creatures on the Pergo at least once a week. Gross! WELL. While taking Miss G out last night before bed, I had my first slug sighting. I discovered this filthy beast sliming his way across my deck. UNACCEPTABLE.

The only sort of slug I had expected to find in Idaho was the kind fer yer shotgun. Hmph.

Mmm....Clams....

I was sad to miss the annual family trek (stupid school...) to Dosewallips State Park on Washington's Hood Canal for camping and slaying of the local seafood. But fear not! This is the year Dad mastered the harvesting of the wile geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck"). This giant clam is native to the Pacific Northwest and is the largest burrowing clam in the world. They average about 3 pounds each, but can get up to 15 pounds/6 feet in length. We have had spotty success in our hunting of this crafty beast, but a nice family from...Middleton, Idaho! was in the camp next to the parents and shared their locations and technique. Behold this magnificent meal...!

Poo's Visit: Winery Tour!

As Poo has an attraction to any tour showing how things work, are built, or are made, I was able to find a small tour for us...the St. Chappelle Winery in Caldwell! Not only was the winery lovely, we tasted 5 wines and were able to keep our fancy new St. Chappelle wine glasses! Earlier in the day we had gone on the Boise Trolley tour -- in one of those open-air vehicles designed to look like a trolley. We learned lots, and sister only slept a little bit...as dancing downtown until 3 a.m. will make a girl sleepy!

I've decided my favorite part of the winery tour was me, in the tasting room, singing Poo the song from the Cat in the Hat, with accompanying dance moves. You're sorry you missed it, I know.

Panorama of the winery




Sisters in the vines











The tour guide said the winery will slowly phase out use of the barrels. But they're so romantic!

Poo's Visit: BBQ? In Boise??

Well, after our trip to Kansas City, we got the BBQ bug, so did us up some ribs. Delish! While we were off touring wineries and riding in trolleys, my husband slaved offer a smoky barbecue. Even sister, who historically doesn't really do meat on the bone, enjoyed herself some of this fabulous meal!

Our new family photo...

Poo's Visit: To the Moon!

On Sunday of Poo's visit we took a little road trip! We were off to the Craters of the Moon National Park for some cinder cone climbing and some spelunking. It really does look like you are on another planet there. Next, a small break for dinner in Sun Valley, then up to Stanley for views of the spectacular Sawtooths, then back home.

Spelunking in the lava tubes...

Sister in snow!

At the top of Inferno Cone...

Checkin' out the Sawtooths...

Poo's Visit: Water Park!

Oh. My. God. Sister and I went to the water park on Monday. SUCH fun! We went on everything except the baby pool. The park includes a river, not unlike those we've enjoyed at the MGM and the Monte Carlo hotels in Vegas, except a little faster. But don't assume this bounty of events was just another day at the [water] park...it was tough work! I bonked my head on the concrete, sister wrenched her knee, and nearly choked to death in the 5-foot drop into the 10-foot pool. Plus, we got quite a workout running up those towers of stairs. We capped this awesome day off with Icetinis and a delicious ceviche platter before heading off to watch the Marmots win. Fabulous!

Poo's Visit: Doin' Time

As you may know, many members of my family have an unnatural obsession with imprisonment. As such, the crown jewel of sister's tour was our tour of the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, and the adjacent Women's Prison. We had such a lovely time touring this museum. We were able to catch up to a tour that had just started, which we agreed was lucky...a tour is always better when given by a tour guide.

Hardened criminals


















The lovely Rose Garden. Ten hangings occurred here over the years.


















Good advice.


















What is sister so frightened about? Perhaps the notion of spending 10 to 20 years surrounded by this color.























Seems like such a small sign. The other one says "Gallows Witness Room." Nice.