..Wow, I cannot believe how quickly this year has passed, time sneaks by and leaves me with barely an after thought, and I am left counting my wrinkles, wondering how did I get to be this much older so quickly?  So while I trace my ever expanding creases, I will attempt to apprise you of how my time was spent... So what has happened since our last update?  So much, but not so much... work occupies much of my time, so if you want to hear about my work, then I have much to tell.  I am the typical women...working all day, picking up child, ferrying child to after school activities, bringing child home, welcoming spouse with beer and cashews, preparing dinner, serving dinner, helping child with homework, running baths, laundry, getting child into bed after much protest from child, pouring more beer for spouse, preparing school lunches, checking homework, pouring large glass of wine, drinking wine...falling into bed.  Life runs smoothly, clock ticks, and now summer is here.

 

My day job, however remains interesting enough to keep me, well....interested.  I did start a new ‘temporary’ position as a surgical technician for a fast paced spay/neuter clinic.  I’m just working there a couple of days a week to help a Doctor friend out until he finds a full time RVT, he of course wants to keep me full time, offering oodles of money, but I’m more of a job satisfaction kinda gal, preferring my work with the exotics.  I’ve managed to iron out the creases with that certain employee who wished to see my bottom swish its way through the exit door...permanently!  She quit..tee hee, so sad..too bad!  I love my job though, lots of interesting cases...tortoises with bubbles coming out of their noses, cats who can’t meow, birds with anxiety problems, dogs with anxiety problems, cats with anxiety problems (this is California, you know!) and goats who can’t poo!

 

I do have time to have a little bit of fun though, so make it a plan to meet up with ‘the girlfriends’ for a night out once in a while of sushi, dancing and drinks.

 

So, for the rest of the fam...what are they up to, you may ask....well, some of you know of Keith’s recent trip to England, business of course, with a little time out to chew the cud with the nieces’  Leigh and Tom were gracious enough to accommodate the old man as he passed through London, much to his satisfaction.  As always, he enjoyed his time immensely, and was saddened to leave.  I was however, able to lay my jealousy to the side long enough to review the lovely photos he had taken of Leigh, Tom, Ben, Harriet, Chrissie, Jon and Bump.

 

Bridget, is now in her third week of summer camps, she has a very busy schedule, but is enjoying every single minute of it...gosh, I wish I was my mum...she has just completed gymnastics camp, she is now spending a week at the Lake, swimming, kayaking, playing games etc, afterwards she has soccer camp (she will be wearing her Liverpool/England and Beckham shirts) and lastly sailing camp.  

 

As usual, I am on that never ending quest to loose that ‘safety’ tire around my middle (it’s there incase I should run head long into a wall at 30 mph during a wild night of line dancing! Well that’s what I tell everyone anyway, anyone who asks that is!)  I quit my very expensive, lavender scented, personally folded face cloths, and spa music enriched ‘women’s’ gym, and joined the cheap towel, unisex machined, sweaty, hairy chested men (and women) YMCA (too many activities for Bridget, to resist).  So, on that odd night when my legs start to twitch uncontrollably, because I have what I now recognize as ‘energy’, I take myself there and attempt to bang away at the machines in an effort to reduce fat, and artistically create muscle....and I do mean bang....I figured out, that if you let the weights fall back to their original position on the machines as loud as possible, people think that you are lifting more than you actually are....my workout session is usually very noisy, so I tend to wear earphones, with the music cranked way up!  Of course, being the competitive type, and not wanting to be out done by the men, I’ve found that the running machines can be more of a workout than I had originally planned.  If there is a man situated on the machines either side of me running on 6, then I have to run on 7 (actually, truth be told, if our paces are not in unison, and I look up, I tend to fall off....it’s that whole equilibrium thing)  I’ve concluded that working out is extremely hazardous to your health, and recommend that you do not try it!

 

On a different note, Keith has finally booked our tickets to Japan on September 15th...Keith of course is working, but Bridget and I are planning to explore the heck out of Tokyo and surrounding towns.  A colleague of Keith’s who lives in Tokyo has offered to help should we have difficulty finding our way around, and he has also booked us tickets to see a Sumo match, so I’m pretty stoked...also, I plan to take my Karate uniform and practice at the headquarters for Wado-Ryu (a dream of mine, I might add)  Apparently, it is a very formal affair, to which I need an introductory letter from my Sensei before being allowed in the building (which I have, yeh!).....ooh! so excited!

 

So that concludes my life to date....a few more wrinkles, a few less pounds, and a letter!  What more could a girl wish for eh!  So on that note, I shall leave you with this thought....

 

If you led a horse to water, and couldn’t make him drink.....then maybe he’s just not thirsty......!

 

I know....who gives a @#@#!

 

On a more personal note, I would like to mention the passing of two of my beloved pets.  Firstly, Kiaku, the cat that couldn’t climb down.  Six months after our move to California, Kiaku helped turn our house into a home.  Always willing to challenge Keith’s power of patience, his athletic abilities, and capacity to think on the fly, she would bravely place herself in strategically planned positions, such as balconies three floors up, with no means of escape, in an effort to condition her protege.  I know that when Keith dug that final resting spot beneath the lemon tree in our yard, three weeks before her eventual passing, it was with a heavy heart.  

Then Basil, a constant companion, who came into the world as my dog and left as Bridget’s best buddy, died after a long illness.  Always a nose for food, a tongue to lick and a tail to wag, even when ripe old age diminished his sight to see and stole his hearing.  I shall miss the constant shadow by my side.

 

“If I could climb the stairs to Heaven, I would bring you home again”