Our Dynamic Duo

Funny, isn't it, how sometimes life repeats itself?

This morning as I was reading the paper, our cat Mika (that's her as a kitten, playing on top of a lamp) came in the cat/dog door and dropped a live gopher on the carpet. Yay, Mika! I know, I know - but our yard has been mostly gopher free since Mika grew up and started hunting. It's a lot more natural than the unpleasant alternative - poison.

Sparky promptly grabbed it, took it outside, and now I expect we'll be experiencing the joy of "gopher farts" for the next couple of days.

When I was young, we had a cat named Shadrach (Kitty) and a Boston Terrier cross named Meshach who would do the same thing.

Deep breath....

As we ramp up for the opera, it always amazes me how much there is to do. I've been doing this a while now - since August 2004. 9 operas. You'd think I'd remember - must be like childbirth. When the baby is born, all you can think about is this wonderful little baby - I guess the opera is our baby, so it makes sense in a weird sort of way. So I might not be blogging much for the next couple of weeks, but you can always check out my work blog at pacificrepopera.blogspot.com.

Tomorrow, though, I'm going to be finishing up our work on the chicken coop - adding a little more protection, figuring out a better watering system, leveling out the base and hopefully putting the shavings in, if we can figure out all the other problems. We're really excited about getting the chicks - 8 different breeds, two each. 16 babies! Boy, are they going to be a handful. Peep peep peep all day. I'll bet it will make the rest of the pets crazy, not being able to get in with them! And they smell like raw dinner, to boot!

I'm still dealing with a 'frozen shoulder' - adhesive capsulitis - I still don't know what caused it to happen but it's been months now. So I've been doing to physical therapy, and it was working until one of the exercises made my back go out. So I've been trying to do the exercises every which way, but no juice. So we finally are changing what I'm doing, and I hope we finally see some results. This is getting really, really old. I am not supposed to lift any more than 5 lousy pounds on that arm! Kinda hard to shovel shavings and wrestle plywood when you're not supposed to lift anything. My kids are great, though. Bob is in the middle of tax season, so I'm reticent to ask for a lot of his help. But sometimes I just have to.

Let's see, what else.

Oh, my Sparky is getting pretty old and grey - doesn't see so good out of one eye - but we still manage to go for walks, and he managed to do Madonna Mountain last weekend - a strenuous hike for an old guy! So he's still strong and healthy. He does stumble quite a bit, though I check his feet, and he doesn't seem to be scraping them. I thought maybe we should change his name to Tripp.

Dorothy just found out that she doesn't have to finish the last two Algebra Two tests from last year in order to graduate. She was so happy! She's been taking tutoring for months to try to get ready for them, but when you're working just as hard as you can to do your workload, it's so hard to try to pick up a math subject you're not doing in class, and preparing that way. She did take one a few days ago, but she says she's not so sure she passed. But she scheduled her appointment with her counselor on her own, I'm pleased to report. I like it that she's taking responsibility to get things done!

Speaking of getting things done - our last (I hope!) court appearance (civil suit) is coming up next Tuesday, and then if all goes according to plan, we will start to receive the money to pay back all our medical related outlay. Whew! So, if you're of a mind, give a little prayer for us that all will go well next Tuesday morning early.

Well, this is all for now. Take care! Thanks for reading!