I'm growing out my hair!

Here is a picture of my hair as it is entering the awkward stage. Please help me stay on track with my plan to have long Mermaid hair!

We're hitched!

Tom and I just returned home from our wedding vacation. We had a wonderful time with all of our friends in Gold Beach and can't wait to return to the ocean. We're currently scheming on how we can buy the beach house we rented...lottery tickets may be in our future...after all, you can't win if you don't play! I am happy to report that we had no wind (also no sun, but oh well!) and the beach was deserted! Jeff and Jim did an AMAZING job putting together the "circle of love" and Ted blew me away with the walkway he created entirely out of driftwood. It was awesome! Our friends Tony and Terri-Lynn went waaaay beyond our expectations with everything they did for us...food, music, planning, officiating and video taping! We are truly blessed and we love all of you so much :-)

On our last morning in Gold Beach, most of us (meaning everyone but Tom) woke early and walked down to the beach at low tide. It was really cool to walk out past the rocks and say hello to all the starfish and mussels who live there. I can see how doing this could easily become a daily ritual...I really must get on top of those lottery tickets.

The only glitch in our plans was a wee bout of food poisoning on the last night of our stay in Ashland. We missed the end of "Cyrano de Big French Word Here", and I subsquently missed an entire night's sleep while introducing myself to the commode on an hourly basis. Other than that, though, things in Ashland were fun as well.

It is nice to be home, of course, and we are gearing up for our big picnic on Sunday. Love to all!
Mrs. O

Life is Hard

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of my kitty, Truman. He was assisted on his journey by his vet, who came to the house today around 2:00. I had spoken with her the day before, and so I spent Truman's last night with him...on a Thai Massage Mat laid out on the kitchen floor. He's been so despondent and weak lately, I'm hoping he knew I was there for him.

Today was even more difficult, and I could not bring myself to be present for his passing. I just did not want that memory in my mind, so I gave him some love and wished him a peaceful journey, then let Tom and the vet take over. I have to say Tom did an admirable job...staying with Trumie until the end, then wrapping him carefully in a cloth and laying him to rest. We just went and got a red hydrangea plant that will go right above my sweet little baby, so that his beauty will live on.

It's an odd feeling...sadness, grief, guilt, and relief all at once. I know he is released from his misery and pain, but I will miss him terribly, especially when things around the house remind me of him...his favorite spot on the sofa, the recycling box he'd sleep in at my feet, his spot on the bed, the absence of his impatient meow when breakfast is served, the sound of his purr as I fall asleep. For all of my sadness, I have countless happy memories of Trumie and feel so lucky that he chose me to be his mommy. All he wanted to do in his life was to give and receive love. He did both better than most and I know the soul of him, the thing that made him so precious and lovely, lives on.

So if you have pets in your life, give them some extra lovies today.

It's a good thing I don't have a problem with alcohol...

It's a good thing I don't have a problem with alcohol because I could NOT give up drinking wine. Went wine tasting in Napa yesterday with Tom, his friend Eric and Eric's squeeze Melanie. The boys, for reasons completlely lost on us, went on a bike ride while Melanie and I rented a chauffered Mercedes and traipsed around Napa sipping wine and having a grand ol' time. I am proud to say I did not get nearly as tipsy as I did the last time I went to Napa, so I feel I've regained some dignity in that regard...there's nothing like being gently asked to leave Mumm and having to walk to dinner thanks to a blood alcohol level almost as high as George Bush's IQ.

Before we dumped the boys and hopped into the S-Class, the four of us went to Sterling...here's a picture of us on the Gondola ride up to the winery...note to self...drink BEFORE getting on the Gondola...do not make Sterling the first winery of the day.

Our second winery stop was Frank Family Winery...they were very low-key and super nice. They also (BONUS!) had a big black kitty and great champagne. We spent quite a bit of time there talking with the wine pourer guy (who I think has my dream job, by the way) and, of course, drinking wine. The thing about wine tasting is that it's almost impossible to remember what you like well enough to buy, so at Frank Family I ended up with just one bottle of champagne, though now I'm regretting not getting a bottle of Zin. Oh well...

The third winery was V. Sattui (I probably spelled that wrong), where a friend of mine (Hey Coop!) had a gorgeous wedding. Talk about chatty and friendly wine pourer guys & gals. All that goodwill must have rubbed off on me because I gave a strange man from Israel a Fig Newton, which he described as a "very bad cookie." See pic of Me, Mel, the cute Isreali guy and his buddy from Colorado (who wasn't so cute and I think may have been stoned...but then again, if he were stoned he would have been jonesing for my newtons!)


Our fourth, and final, winery was up a windy mountain road...the type of place I would never be able to find on my own. Here is where we met The Rain Man of Wine. He was actually very nice, but he kept asking us impossible trivia questions like, "how much does an oak barrel cost? (Something like $750!), and I forget what all...I was liking his wine, though. It was here where I blew caution to the wind and dropped a cool $100 on four yummy botttles...can't wait to see what I got (Ok, I might have been a wee bit tipsy!).

In other news...Trumie is having appetite issues, but I'm hoping that will clear up as the Leukeran clears out.

A reason to NOT procreate

So, what's a compelling reason to NOT procreate? Pants pulled so low the entire butt-side of the underpants is exposed. If my child did this I would be moritfied.

I can only hope that my friends will teach their children the basics of good fashion sense.

Breaking out of Food Jail

Just recently I realized that I constantly, constantly think about food...when can I eat and what will it be? Once I've eaten I think constantly about what I just ate, fretting over it, worrying about it, obsessing with the guilt. Well I am sick to death of thinking about food all the time. Every time I go on 'a diet', all I think about is the next meal, the next snack, those extra 200 calories at the end of the day I've managed to snag by sweating my buns off at the gym. I'm sick of logging what I eat, tracking my calories, buying special "on-the-approved-list" foods...I am sick to death of it all.

So, I am officially breaking out of this prison of food obsession. I remember a time in the not so distant past when I didn't really think about food at all...when I was hungry, I ate something. When I wasn't hungry anymore, I stopped eating. I ate pretty much whatever I wanted, though this was when I was a pretty strict vegetarian so it was mainly healthy food. The great thing about being out of food jail at that time was that I was teeny tiny...well, teeny tiny for me...actually I looked darn good now that I think of it. Everytime I go on a special diet like Weight Watchers or South Beach or whatever, I always obsess to the point where food becomes the sole focus of my life. Bah humbug, I say!

Though I have only been out of food jail now for a few days I feel SO MUCH BETTER. So free...I am not beating myself up about every little thing. If I want some freakin' chocolate, I'm going to have a piece, enjoy the heck out of it and move on. I really feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders....aaaaaah, what a relief. I am reading a book called "How to Become Naturally Thin"...I'll let you know if there are any pearls of wisdom that must be shared.

So, that's the latest news...in other news I am sad to report that Truman doesn't seem to be feeling well right now. It may be the effects of the Leukaran, and I'm hoping once his bone marrow and white blood cell count recover in a couple of weeks or so he'll be back to his regular self. He did vomit a little blood this morning, but it was much less than a few days ago. Lets hope he doesn't have an ulcer...I cannot handle seeing him suffer. :-(

Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes on Mother's Day. I was mostly weepy the night before, but then was so busy preparing brunch for Tom's family that I didn't have time to sit around and feel sorry for myself. Stay tuned for pics...I may have outdone myself with this one. See my cute table???


Much love to all my peeps!
Mo

Happy Mother's Day

Well here it is, my second-most weepy date of the year.

I seem to always spend Mother's Day crying in solitude, though it is supposed to be a celebration. It simply reminds me of how much I've missed out on in these past 16 years and all I'll have to miss in the future. I do, however, cherish all things "motherhood" whether it's a friend of mine who has a new baby or the memory of my mother's Sunday-morning pancakes...I just want you to know you are loved beyond your imagination, even if it's been years and years and years. Much love,
Nik

35 5/6 years old and STILL getting carded!

It's a really sad state of affairs when the highlight of your week is being asked for your ID at a sushi restaurant. Not sure if it's because I look young or was acting like a dork (probably the latter), but it made me happy nonetheless. After dinner we went to see Poseiden, about which I have just one word...Netflix. It was entertaining, but not something that is so special-effectsy that you must see it on the big screen. The most amazing thing about the flick is how long those people hold their breath...David Blane look out!

Well, it has finally happened...Truman has started to refuse having anything to do with his tuna-water/medicine combo. The wiley little guy finally got hip to me. He has been off his "meds" for two days now and I'm hoping to see some improvements...the prednisone was doing icky things to his stomach, and I am beginning to see the benefits of a more holistic approach.

Good kitty: Kept at least 3 feet between myself and a box of Krispy Kreme donuts today at my client's office
Bad kitty: Ate more than my weight in sushi, edemame, agedashi tofu, wine and popcorn.

Why is everything so centered around food? I hate that I'm so obsessed with food...I wish I could just stop thinking about it and get on with my life!!

Nightie night!

The Garden of Eden

Hey there! If you've noticed my vocabulary lately has words in it like, "foxglove", "drip system" and "mulch", then it's because Tom and I have been working on the backyard! Yay! What started out as a huge expanse of weeds has become a mini-oasis (sort of...you have to squint and only look at one section of the yard under optimal lighting conditions, but hey...it's a start).

Here is a peek at our little slice o' paradise:


In other news...went on a bike ride on Sunday...I am happy to report that I made it up Daffodil Hill without stopping! It was touch-and-go there for awhile, but I managed to pull through. The reward was a nice long down-hill in which I may have broken my speed barrier. If not, I got close (it was either 36.1 mph, or 36.7 mph...next stop 37!)

A few of you have asked about Truman...thanks so much for your concern and kind words. He is doing good, though today there was some blood in his regurgitated catfood, but the vet prescriped some anti-vomiting meds and Pepcid. I'm hoping the vomiting isn't related to the cancer, and is just a factor of having a sensitive tummy. Poor guy. He says "thanks for thinking of me" and "meow" and a bunch of other indecipherable cat things that sound vaguely like "is this all that's for dinner?" and "where's my mousie?'.

Let's see...what else? I'm really trying to do exciting things so I'll have something exciting to tell you. Tom and I are doing the "Bay to Breakers" run on the 21st of May. Well, he's running and I'm walking it with my friend, Cheri. For anyone who doesn't know what this is, it's an annual run in San Francisco that starts at the Bay and goes all the way across town to the ocean. It's supposed to be rather outrageous as most things in San Fran are...outlandish costumes, people in their birthday suits and painted blue, music, etc... We're staying the night at a B&B in the Castro area...he doesn't know we're staying in a 99.9% male neighborhood and I'm going to just wait and see if he notices. Kind of like when I took him to "Brokeback Mountain" and told him we were going to see a western.

Well, gotta run and go help with dinner. Ciao and hugs!

Good kitty: Resisted the pull of "The Cookie Connection" while getting lunch today.

Bad kitty: I'm letting the laundry pile up...I hate laundry.

Ignorance is Bliss

As you probably know, my kitty Truman was diagnosed with gastric lymphoma just over a month ago. According to the doctors, in all their infinite wisdom, he should be dead by now, or dead soon. Truman, however, seems to be the only one who did not get the memo. He's tooling around the house, purring like crazy, jumping into my lap, giving me love-bites and basically doing all his normal, cat-like things. The big question as of late has been whether or not to medicate. I tried a cancer drug called Cytoxan, but Truman knew something was up...not sure if it was the funky smell of the food, or the fact that I was wearing rubber gloves while I prepared it. Anyway, he took one taste and the jig was up.

For some reason, he hasn't tuned into the fact that his nightly "tuna-juice-treat" is prednisone in disguise, and we're going to try another drug starting Monday. We'll see how it goes. For now, he's doing great and sends his volumous love.

If we learn nothing else from Truman, it's that you're only as sick as you think you are. Oh, and of course, beware of chefs wearing rubber gloves.

Have a beautiful weekend all! We're planning a bike ride on Sunday...the dreaded Daffodil Hill...3 full miles of up, up, up. My butt gets sore just thinking about it.

Hugs!
Maureen & Truman

P.S. Check out this cute T-shirt I got at J.Crew!


Short-term goals: Same as yesterday, only I forgot what they were.

Good Kitty: Initiated an apology to Thomas this morning :-)
Bad Kitty: Should be working right now :-(

I've Got Better Things to Do Than My Hair

Well, after months of suffering through the dreaded "grow-out" stage, I have whacked off all my hair once again. Here is a not-so-great picture of me...I should've taken the time to put on some lipgloss. The great thing about short hair is the freedom factor and the fact that it always looks good, no questions asked. The downside is that I can't leave the house without lipstick and earrings, or else I look like a boy.

Other items of self-interest...I have recently started using my Bar Method and Chicometrics exercise DVDs. I will take measurements and try to keep track of the horror as it lessens over time. I've read some pretty amazing testimonials about both videos, especially Chicometrics (www.chicometrics.com). The guy on the videos is funny in a folksy kind of way...keeps me from taking it too seriously. I decided since I've got a birthday (36...yikes!) and a wedding coming up I'd better start getting serious about losing some flab. Besides, I've got a ton of cute clothes that I can't squeeze my tushie into...time to change all that, for the sake of fashion if nothing else.

The wedding is less than four months away, so I figure it's probably time to start doing some planning. The trouble is, we have no idea what our budget is and never know how much money we're going to make. Ah, the joys of being self-employed. So far we do know it is August 19th in Gold Beach, Oregon. Stay tuned for more!

Goals today: No more chocolate (I've had my share...twice!)
Goals this week: Get all files off my old computer so I can be a single-computer gal, throw out old clothes & organize closet.

Good kitty: Exercised this morning :-)
Bad kitty: The cookies at the office :-(