Well. Here is the video we took of the DragonCon Parade yesterday morning. We were positioned at the very beginning of the parade route so we saw most of the people - except we were about 10 minutes late due to a MARTA train being stuck on the tracks (of course, if we were hardkore we would’ve been there like 30 minutes early with our spot staked out with our folding chairs.) Still, for anyone who hasn’t ever seen the parade, this gives you a good idea of what it’s like -
And yeah… I think I’ve said this every year so far - but next year I wanna go to DragonCon… and next year we just might actually go.
So. Since the losing of my job went down (where’d it go?!) we’ve been looking for free things to do - as opposed to just staying home and watching our terribly pixelated cable from Comcast (we dislike Comcast! - ha, I said dislike.) ummm oh yeah, so we gathered up our friends (well, Chris & Anna) hopped onto MARTA and went to downtown Atlanta for the DragonCon Parade.
For everyone else not living in Atlanta or not in any way aware of ‘fandoms’ - DragonCon is a big big big convention for… I think all fandoms? You know, like SciFi fans, Anime Fans, Weird Fetish Fans, Furry People (well… not like, hairy people - just the people who wear animal costumes (mascot costumes) and ummmm… get into that mode of acting like animals?) - and many other types of fandoms that I’m sure I’m not aware of - but really, it’s just an excuse for people who don’t get to wear their movie/cartoon/video game costumes anywhere else - to meet each other and say things like, ‘cool costume’ blah blah blah oh man the Original Series Klingons just don’t look anywhere near as cool as the ones from TNG. And by the way, Jean Luc will always be better than Kirk. But I’d totally rather be a BrownCoat ’cause um, that’s Shiny - however I find it odd that I enjoy GiTS on the same level as anything from Miyazaki - ARRRRRR Matey.
(see what I did there?… nevermind.)
So… then we slept. For a long time I think - and then later in the evening we went to a gathering at the home of our new friends Laxmi & Chuck - for some Indian food and hanging out. She’s from India and we actually met them at the sad sad sad Indian Festival a few weeks back. They were in front of us in line and started a short conversation - but then later on, Leah ran into them again and we ended up giving them one of our friend cards and ta-da! New Friend. See how that works?
Of course - they live faaaaaaaaaaaar away - but still, it was a good gathering and we met so many nice people and hopefully some of them will check up on us every now and then and drop a line. Hello!
This concludes the free events portion of our weekend… well, of yesterday. I have some video of the parade and even cut & pasted it together… but the program I was using couldn’t adequately handle the video quality and… it just came out poorly - so I’ll have to make the move to Premier now for real editing… Have an awesome day this Sunday and I promise no more breaks in posts like the 3 day break we just had (I know - but it’s a big deal for me to not posts these meandering… posts.)
*oh and totally sorry Gabrielle! I forgot and we’ll definitely do something else another time.
Oh. And we are really going to try to go to DragonCon next year.
One more thing - thank you to everyone who’s said nice/encouraging comments to me and even offered to help out/keep their ears open/pass on job positions at their current companies… and keep it up! no really, thank you for all of your efforts now and later until I find a new job. It’s all very much welcome and appreciated - and in some instances, the efforts you’ve gone to so far have been much more than I could possibly ask for up front. So thankyouverymuch.
As the title of this entry suggests, I’ve been let go from my job. Laid off. (Although I have never liked that term.) It happened yesterday afternoon around 1:30pm, relatively non-eventful and without any dramatic scenes. Basically, since I had changed departments a few weeks earlier and hadn’t ever unpacked my boxes - I grabbed the two of them, walked to my car and drove off - after deleting all of the junk I could from my work computer - mostly loose files that don’t mean anything to anyone except myself - just in time too because the IT guys arrived right after I had logged off…
Of course this isn’t my first time losing my job due to the industry/slowdown/company troubles. However, this one is slightly more inconvenient. Plus I’m not getting anywhere near the same amount of severance. I will say that telecommuting, and being a bit stubborn has helped in that I was paid ALL of my vacation time - even though arguably I wasn’t in the office for almost 6 weeks this year - but nothing’s on paper, and in the end I always completed my job duties. Although not much, the vacation pay helps greatly.
So while there is that initial stress of ‘not having a job’ - I can’t freak out yet. Not yet. I’m waiting on 2.5 jobs to get back to me with an answer so I’ve at the very least got to get through the weekend without freaking out. And still - it’s like red alert around here. Cost cutting measures and reduction. With real efforts towards curbing spending and such, we’ll be fine for at least two months - and that’s if I do NOTHING during that whole time (which obviously will not be the case.)
But I’m awake again today at 4:30am because I feel like I have to keep to my normal schedule… If I do not keep myself busy I will fall into that slump, that depression or overwhelming high anxiety that I suppose some people get after something like this happens.
And yet, we still went to our regular Wednesday night StandUp for Kids outreach - where we work/counsel/provide food and hygiene packs to at risk, about to be homeless and homeless RIGHT NOW kids. And although it’s very easy to become disillusioned with them, with their no action and lack of progress - lately I’ve been working with two youths whom I actually connect with. They live in an abandoned school which I’m sure is quite condemned. It’s been raining a lot here lately and I know the place leaks and floods badly. They didn’t even have flashlights until I gave them a few last night.
And while they may have made some unwise choices such as leaving their parents (which in cases like these is always a difficult call since MANY parents truly are that awful) - they are not like so many of the other kids. At least to me. They communicate. They don’t have that ungrateful attitude of entitlement that many other streetkids present (and I’m not saying that I don’t understand the facades that many have to take on). I simply feel like these two genuinely appreciate the help I give them, and are not taking advantage of the system that to a degree does enable their lifestyle.
Sure they have to turn some corners such as getting their birth certificates so that they can get an ID so that they can get jobs - but that’s in the works… and we’ll see how that actually goes. However until they let me down - but more importantly themselves down - I am left with thinking about them going back to that abandoned school that’s been flooded by the rain, and sleeping there at night.
These are the latest entreprenuers to receive loans from LeahAndMark.com! thru Kiva.org - I decided to change things up this time - instead of choosing people who were already close to meeting their requested loan amounts - I chose people who had just started taking lenders and still had a substantial way to go.
While I admit this is partly a distraction from other things on my mind - I suppose there are arguably worse things I could be doing with both my time and money. And yes, I am definitely at the very least, going to make the suggestion that you should consider signing up with Kiva and loan out the minimum $25 to one of our two people up above! (You’re so cool.)
Clearly you’ll receive no pressure from us on this matter - just try to keep it in the back of your head the next time someone ask you for money - someone as in that guy on the street corner, or even another NonProfit effort where a substantial portion of donated monies go to paying for the huge overhead/infrastructure of running such an organization - and the fact that you are guaranteed to never see that money again - whereas with Kiva - you have a 99.97% chance of getting all of your money back… so you can send it back out again to help someone else.
And if you do sign up - let us know ’cause that’s awesome and we can be Kiva Friends.
In case you didn’t notice, we recently included a translation button bar at the top of each post! It’s kind of fun in a rosetta stone/engrish/chinglish sort of way. Clicking on the french translation and reading how the google algorithm decides to translate certain phrases, and which ones it just gives up on and simply uses what we typed is… well.. kind of interesting?
Chinese would be fun too - except reading chinese is a lot harder than reading french or spanish.
The underground project I’ve been working on should be complete this week (hopefully) and that means that both of us will soon have iPhones! Leah will be getting the 8gig and I’ll get the 16gig. My contract with Sprint finally runs out this month so I’m free from that and while I thought about getting a new and improved blackberry… ah forget, the fact is that if I did I know I’ll just wish I had gotten an iPhone. So. I’ll just give into that.
Okay. After this I’m done for a while with the China materials. We’ve got a backlog of Atlanta stuff and I’ma try my hand at making an ‘Atlanta’ video - ha, and the people who live outside the perimeter (in the suburbs) can see what it’s like to live ITP and in the neighborhoods… but first! I started out making this video and then quickly realized that it was going to require a gabillion cuts… and then eventually I stopped and told myself that I’d just work on it a little at a time everyday… and then I stopped… so I’m really stopping now - so it’ll just forever be unfinished… but I suppose that’s good… cause we’re clearly not finished traveling. And although leaving the country for a month or more at a time always seems like it’s going to be a challenge… we have no doubt that we’ll be doing it regularly… until we eventually make the actual leap and move abroad.
So, Grad School has started and we’ve hit the ground running. I love it. I’m so happy to be back in school, you don’t even know! But I’m also VERY BUSY! Mark went out last night to see friends at the Yelp Elite Event, and guess what I did? I stayed home and read. And read. And… read. That is going to be a big part of my life for the next two years.
We’ve been talking/dreaming a lot of travel/moving abroad, too. As excited as I am about moving to China… I also really, really want to live in Nepal at some point, too. After China. Mark hasn’t been there yet, but do you see that picture up there? How could you not want to live there? Huh? It’s gorgeous.
Anyhow, since I’m so busy and really should be doing some more reading right now, I’m just going to jot off a few other things on my mind real quicklike…
I really can’t stand that “I kissed a girl” song. Arrrrgh. Who’s with me?
I think my pregnant and mom friends are super awesome. Seriously.
I can see how protesting the Olympics in China can make a statement about their human rights issues. However, I think most countries/governments are guilty of violating human rights and I think the Olympics is a not the most appropriate venue to voice concern/anger over those issues.
I also think that boycotting China as a whole- everything made there, traveling to China, basically everything that supports their economy- is not only an ineffective, but also a misguided form of protest. Travel especially is such a great way to truly learn about another country and culture. And to give the people you meet a taste of you and where you come from, too. The Chinese people are not their government, just as we Americans are not ours. Not all of us support the practices, policies, and mistakes the government makes. Not all Chinese people are human rights violators. Most aren’t. At all. Not even a little bit. In actuality, everyone we met was full of warmth, genuine hospitality, better educated than most Americans I know about political issues, and excited to get to know two crazy American travelers. They are so proud of their country’s history and culture, and so excited to have the opportunity to host the Olympics. I don’t agree with everything the Chinese government does. I don’t agree with everything the American government does. But unless we get out there in the world and MEET people, and talk about issues, and try to understand each other, how can any meaningful, long-lasting change occur? What good does boycotting an entire country really do, especially if you’ve never taken the time to go there and find out for yourself what China is like? A lot of issues need to be addressed. But making China out to be a “bad guy” and pointing fingers without taking a good, long look in the mirror doesn’t seem like the best approach to me. There are other ways, other venues to speak out and get some attention, start some dialogue, etc.
Okay, that was a little longer than I anticipated. Oh well. Time to hit the books again. Toodles!
Last night was a Yelp Elite party - sadly, Leah couldn’t make it. Too much school work and reading that she needed to catch up on for class. I however made the time sacrifice and decided to go get some… terrible free drinks and then a glass of wine provided by our friend Lauren. Oh. I also won two free tickets to a German Bierfest! that’s being held in Woodruff Park in Downtown Atlanta this year. Score? What’s funny is that to us (LeahAndMark) Woodruff Park is nothing but the hangout spot for all of our homeless/soon to be homeless youth that we see at StandUp for Kids. I mean, obviously they’re going to block off the area since they’re selling tickets but still… that’s our perspective of the place. Whatever. It’s beer I suppose.
So a few weeks ago I signed up to receive the brochure from this guided travel tour group - Intrepid Travels - and wow. If you need any motivation, or ideas on where you’d like to go… you should go sign up and get a brochure. If you read our blog, you probably want to travel abroad at this point after seeing so many photos (or you have the other reaction and never want to go to China.) But wow, we started looking at the brochure and saw all of these planned trips across several countries and it really got us thinking. Now, obviously we’re all for not going on guided tours because of the schedule and the whole rigid nature of the thing… but there are benefits to it.
And before you think that we’re plugging something (god we totally would if we could get free stuff… but the only people that give us free stuff is Deanna from Yelp! - and she gives everyone free stuff) - the reason I started even looking at Intrepid Travels was for ideas. And then I realized that for people like us, who wouldn’t really mind being dropped in the middle of a country without reservations - these travel tours are as close to a relaxing all inclusive resort as we ever really want to be. Obviously the price is slightly more in some cases than what we would end up spending on our own (and in others less) but when you take a trip like the 40 days across all of India - the hassle and trouble is easily paid for - and with this group the max number of people is 15 - but trips are guaranteed once at least one person pays in full - and apparently there are instances where it’s only a handful of people in your group. It’s just… would be fine for a first tour of such a vast and overwhelming country such as India. Or one of the month-long southeast Asia trips that covers 8 countries - it’s a very good overview and introduction to eventually doing your own travels.
But… since the bank of LeahAndMark is currently running on a limited cashflow supply - these trips will have to wait - besides, we’re saving up for a honeymoon in Belize!
Great things on the horizon and although there is that saying ‘when it rains it pours’ - it’s happening in a good way for me. This week? The potential goodness is overwhelming and it’s as if everything was being held back for the last 3 months and now it’s all happening at once. I cannot wait to be able to let you in on the the breakthrough. Oh. And hello to our friends Rick D. & Liz A. whom I met (again) last night at the Yelp Elite party - y’all are nice and awesome and thank you.
*Note!: …and now that I read that line about the breakthrough - it sounds like I’m a Scientologist and I’ve finally reached a higher Thetan level or something (Tom Cruise here I come!) - or that I’ve delved into the world of The Secret and I’m finally law of attracting things into my life… ummm… it’s not like that. It’s just normal not really crazy good stuff.
You may have seen this photo posted before and thought that I was just sneaking a shot of some stranger on the train in China. Nope! Well, I was sneaking a shot but she’s no stranger! Her name is Xie Ying (American name Helen) and we couldn’t have asked for a better person to meet up with when we got onto the 24 hour train ride from Beijing to Guilin.
She’s actually a college professor in Kunming (in the south) and she was in Beijing with 3 of her students for an enviromental conference. Yes. We were just as surprised to run into not only one chinese environmentalist, but four of them on the same train.
We honestly could not have asked for better cabin-mates (of course it wasn’t a real cabin since we bought hard-sleeper tickets.) If you ever have the choice and you’re traveling in China by train - get a hard sleeper and start talking to some people with their broken english and your almost non-existent mandarin.
Xie Ying had a text translator/thesaurus on her cellphone which really came in handy during our trip.
Why are we talking about her? Because the other day I finally wrote her an email and today we received her reply:
Hello! LeahAndMark!
I’m ( xie ying ), your friend whom you met on the train last April going from Beijing to Guilin. I feel so glad when I received your E-mail! I’m very happy because you remember me! Thank you!
Actually, I want to write to you on several occasions. But, my English is not well, I’m afraid to write. Now, I gather up my courage to write to you with the help of translation online sometimes. If you find my mistake, please tell me. Thank you!
(By the way Xie Ying - your written english is WAY better than my written chinese - TRUST ME.)
It was just an extremely awesome surprise that dropped into my inbox while I sat at my desk in the office today. In fact, today has been a pretty awesome day in general and the rest of the week? - it’s looking even better - thanks to my friend Rick, some other occurrences, the Twelpers, and of course the general awesomeness that is LeahAnd (ha! see what I did there? I’m Mark… that makes her LeahAnd… um, nevermind. - okay that would technically make me Mark.com which I’m alright with… because she’s LeahAnd!)
(This was taken while we sat waiting in the Beijing train station - absolutely massive and people everywhere - so we sat on the floor of course.)
About a month earlier, our friend Jeff Shia emailed us from Guangzhou (I think). And then Wang, an engineer we briefly met while in Shangri-La also wrote us a while back. It’s all just… see I know how common and easy it is to connect with people who live on the other side of the planet, but it’s just a whole different thing when it’s people you actually met in person. What am I getting at? I don’t know, but I’m just so very happy that we created our friend cards and even to this day still hand them out to people we meet that we may want to say hello to in the future for whatever reason.
For us - they’re brilliant because we can hand them out without giving up too much contact information (phone/address) and then we also get new people to check out our blog here - and even though most don’t ever comment or probably even keep up with the reading - they email us and say hi - so less and less we’re not having to lose those happenstance connections with people that occur while we’re standing in line someplace and a conversation strikes, or we’re at a party, or any other stranger to stranger situation where maybe, just maybe we’re interesting in finding out if you’re cool or not.
(That’s Jeff on the left there.)
Because obviously, for us our blog isn’t just about ’speaking to an audience’ but also to our friends - and anyone who’s found themselves increasingly busy with less time to simply hangout - will understand the importance and convenience that a blog provides to friends and family who otherwise would only ever get the once a month ‘update phone call’ if even that (of course that could just be me.)
(This is Xie Ying and ‘Lucas’ - he didn’t have an American name so we named him um, Lucas!)
So yeah. While attempts have been made to get our blog our there - it’s really just a medium to grow our friend-base! And we’re always happy when we see new people signing up for our rss feed. Which oh, look at that, is right here - or if you noticed, at the top right of our blog in the sidebar, is a easy email feed signup box.
So while I may have wondered whether or not this week was going to be good - I now have no doubt. There are too many things in the works and we have good friends all around - new, old, and even undiscovered. Oh, and if this is you don’t live here in Atlanta, and one day you find yourself stranded for a few hours at the airport and you’re up for it… let us know. We just might be able to kick with you - old skool style.
In the meantime, some strung-together clips of the train and Leah interacting the way she does - oh, and our loooooooooooong walk from one end of the train back to the other after our fruitful search for some bottled water.
So. Next time we’ll just reach out to our extended friends of friends and ride one of their horses. Even if we have to make new friends to accomplish this. Sunny Farms North? Generally disappointing. Sure we were probably a bit naive to think it would be anything more than the trail rides offered by… stables of this sort… but damn, their website does specifically say:
“We have fast horses for people who like to ride fast. We have slow horses for people who like to ride slow. We have big horses for big folks & we have little horses for little folks. For those who have never ridden before, we have horses that have never been ridden”.
So I like to think that we had at least some reason for thinking that Leah could at least take off for a short run and not do the usual horse follow horse follow horse routine. Generally disappointing all around. Mind you, I’m probably just bitter about the whole thing - compounded by the fact that we were grouped with other people (and while the people were fine and awesome and no problem at all - it’s a F*cken annoyance when you don’t think that you’re signing up for a group activity. If we wanted a group adventure, we probably would have gone looking for something else instead.)
Basically, if you’ve never ever ever ever ridden a horse, or have kids and want them to ride the type of sad stable horses you feel sorry for - take them here. I could say more, but I have to stop because it’d just all come out really, really mean and completely biased - biased by nothing more than my actual experience with Sunny Farms North in Dahlonega, Ga., just past the end of 400. Oh yes. In order for you to truly get the picture - as Leah was getting onto her horse Max, the owner was holding the reigns - and then Max tried to bite him. Okay, I’m not so naive that I’m surprised by any ‘animal’ trying to bite a human - but this guy, grabs the horses head and loud enough for Leah to hear clearly, in effect says, “If she wasn’t already sitting on you I’d beat your f*cken brains out of your skull” - and you kind of get the feeling that he’s not one to kid about such things. Now, I’m probably out of line and this is how everyone in the um, horse-world treats their animals, but I don’t know.
After our awesome trail ride we decided to drive into downtown Dahlonega and on our way there we saw this guy selling boiled peanuts on the side of the road! These were exactly how boiled peanuts should be. Their greatness was compounded by the fact (or due to?) that they were prepared on the side of the road, in a huge pot, and with a propane heat source. We’ve been fortunate enough to find one of these both times we’ve gone to Dahlonega - it makes the drive back to Atlanta so much better.
The other ‘event’ we went to last Saturday was the Festival of India - held by the… Indian group of Atlanta… well, that’s not their official name but whatever. Seriously. Like me, you probably understand the depth and general cultural richness of India - so you would expect that a ‘Festival of India’ run by the Indian American Cultural Association - to be better than a sad collection of booths selling cell phone cards, insurance, & vacations. If anything - you would probably think that they’d have some interesting food - and not just 3 sub-par indian restaurants and 1 decent indian restaurant selling up the common goods that the Indian branch of Panda Express will undoubtedly sell at the mall food court in the near future.
Granted - there were a lot of Indians that attended the Festival of India… I’m hoping that they were as disappointed in it as I was. I don’t see how they could find any real value in the whole thing since Anime conventions are more representative of Japan than this was of India. Of course, I could be wrong.
With high hopes for this event, Leah did wear her salwar kameez that she got in Nepal. See? We were totally hoping this would at least be better than the dealer’s room at a SciFi con. Next.
What did make the day better was that our friends Anna & Chris called us and invited us out to dinner with them. First we tried the Vortex down the street in L5P - that was a no go with the 45 minute wait (we don’t wait 45 minutes - not with SO MANY other places in Atlanta to go to). So then we drove over to Los Loros and had some good mexican food. That was our Saturday and Sunday was quite easy and sleepy and like I say every weekend - here comes Monday.
So, I turned 27 on Monday… I like my birthday, and I like the month the August. It’s a time of new beginnings and reflection for me, so I’ve been doing a lot of that. And this year - well this year is a really new beginning! I am so excited to be embarking upon the GSU Master of Social Work program. I’m working part-time, I have a Research Assistantship and a field placement, so I’m going to be pretty busy these next two years. But it’s a good busy, and it’s exactly what I want to be doing.
Still, I had some challenges this week in the terms of unexpected fees that had to be paid by Friday. I got used to having a paycheck that would cover all the bills and still leave room for savings and fun money. That’s definitely not the case anymore. But, I’ve got this new part-time job, and I’ve also got some babysitting jobs lined up, so we should be okay. Just no more going out every week for drinks, dinners, etc.
But that’s okay…it’s only two years, and we’ve got plans. Other plans. Awesome plans. And we’ll be fine.
This was the ‘fish in oil’ dish at Frank Ma’s South - we had dinner there last week with some friends and yeah, it’s good stuff.
Although it’s well known among the Atlanta Yelp folks - any place connected to ‘Frank Ma’ will be god. He’s a chinese restaurant consultant and he basically goes to a restaurant, teaches the staff how to cook great chinese food (closer to the stuff you would actually find in China) and then eventually leaves - and Yelpers pretty much follow.
His latest spot is just a few miles up the road from us so we really should go there a little more often than the last place which was almost OTP (outside the perimeter.)
Oh. It’s good stuff. And not really anything weird like you’re probably thinking - just more authentic (oily) and flavorful.
Part of the reason we’ve been stretching these entries (and writing late) is that… we just haven’t been doing that much. Or rather, we’ve run into a blank spot where everything is more stressful but not that exciting + we just aren’t able to talk about it until long after the fact.
I know, you’re probably thinking well just don’t blog, problem solved. But clearly that’s not us, or rather, that’s not me… I’ll struggle thru the ambiguous statements and vague sentences. Because long after y’all are done reading us, and have moved onto only reading Perez Hilton or Gawker, we’ll still be regularly reviewing our own lives on this blog.
Oh. I was telling Leah how impressive I am these days since I have actually made some small effort towards being social and having regular acquaintances and possibly even people I would almost accept as calling friends - mind you it’s a very small effort and my primary method of communication with these people is still thru online means such as twitter/yelp forums/text/email (people who live here in Atlanta - and many who live less than a mile away.)
But it’s an improvement. Oh. Did you know about this?
At the section of the Great Wall of China that we visited - THERE IS A SLIDE TO GET BACK DOWN THE MOUNTAIN! It’s actually kind of fun - and way cooler than walking. Sure I know, it ruins the whole ‘epic greatness’ of the Great Wall of China - but again, if you’re at any of these locations where it looks ‘perfect’ then you’re at a rebuilt portion and they’ll eventually have the same thing in Las Vegas - so don’t get all ‘authentic’ on me. The slide was fun.
Horseback riding tomorrow. Video-ing that will be interesting. We’ll see how that goes. Oh. And then the India Festival. I hope it’s a big deal. One of my co-workers is going to be there with her family (they’re Indian) so it’ll be cool to see them. And the food. And um, the food again.
The problem. Or, one of them - is that we’re having to deal with more and more problems. General normal stuff brought about our own decisions, but still… after such a relatively easy couple of months… I had forgotten what climbing up hill (metaphorically) is like.
And then I have to remind myself that I’m well beyond my old self who would’ve quit early on - or at the very least, done nothing. So clearly the only choice left is to go all out. To whip myself up in this deliriously mental frenzy where I can do anything and believe so with unrelenting conviction to the point of… ah nevermind on that. I know.
Still. Tomorrow is Saturday and Monday comes fast. I’m hungry. I’d forgotten that.
Have an awesome today and take some photos.
Oh. And thanks to everyone who posted a suggestion on where else we should go/put on our list of places to go. Seriously.
I know. I know. I know! I’ve been day dreaming and forever trying to not be present - because it’s just been… I don’t know what it’s been. Still. We’re here today to give you an update. Okay not really, but to post some photos of us, Atlanta, and our friends here. New and Old. Up above? from our sushi dinner with the SuperCute! -1 due to circumstances. Still. An awesome time.
I am quite sure that Shelli will be very pleased that I posted this photo of her. This was taken… last week? the week before? But I also ran into them tonight while at the Kroger getting some food. It’s like a magical Kroger where we actually run into people we know. Okay look, I’m not used to really knowing a lot of people, so that meant my chances of running into someone I knew was waaay low. But now? I know (sort of) more people so we run into more people we know. It’s all fun - but don’t tell anyone I’m anywhere near nice or friendly.
While Leah was in Phoenix, I went to a birthday party for our friend Lauren. A few days before the party she painted one of her walls with chalkboard paint. So… I wrote on it. Dot Com!
This would normally be a photo of OneTwo cuddled up with Leah, but this time it’s ThreeFour! He’s a big cat too and he seems to only want to drink warm water as it drips, right out of the faucet. And we believe that’s partly why he got a UTI soon after we moved here. He just wasn’t drinking much water. (Our old place did have a small dripping faucet that he would always drink from - here? well this is a good place so no dripping faucets.) So now, every morning when I wake up I spend a few minutes letting him drink as much as he wants with his head under the faucet. And then if he tells us, again in the afternoon. I’ll eventually get a dripper and set it up to recycle the water in a self contained unit (instead of those water fall automatic water things that they already sell for pets.)
Ah. I can’t resist. Anyways, time for some vague-talk.
Something’s gotta happen soon. I’ve been waiting for a few months now and still. I will admit that I’ve gotten a bit more help but… So anyways, Leah’s starting school and I’m continuing school and it’s crazy hectic again. Oh yeah. Horseback riding on Saturday and then the India Festival! Saturday nigh will probably consists of us staying home because we’ll be so tired. But who knows. Oh. Leah used to ride horses quite often and I’ve gone riding… maybe twice? This is gonna rock! ha. Well, hopefully this ranch is exactly like their website feels/looks and everything goes well. Sunny Farms North.
All I gotta say is… I am not giving up coffee anytime soon.
