No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have, however, been attached to a giant sander for the last few days. The floor isn’t done yet but I had to take a break from it. For whatever reason, I have lost feeling in my left thumb. It went numb yesterday but I figured it was just the vibration from the sander that put it to sleep and keep on going. Well, it still hasn’t woken up yet so I’m taking a day off from the whole sanding gig. You know me and my crazy Terry drive. Once I get into a project, it takes a team of wild horses to stop me. Either that or a the loss of all feeling in a finger.

But, I just need one for marathon day of hand sanding and then I’ll be ready to apply the varnish and enjoy my new hardwood floor. Oh man, I can hardly wait.

Stupid thumb.

It looks like Kevin is going to live.

I caught him last night working with his power tools so he must be feeling better. It was, however, a pretty miserable weekend for him. He spent two full days on the sofa with ice packs on his face watching home improvement shows with me. Must have been the medication because after the first four hours, he actually began to enjoy himself. Artie was pretty miserable since no one wanted to play with him until he had a visit from his old buddy, Eugene. Anna and Todd headed out of town for the night so we got to look after the cute little guy. Last time we had him, he was a mere puppy and pretty much terrorized our household. This time round, he was quite the little gentleman and spent most of his time barking at birds and attacking his chewtoys. He loved Kevin and was quite the snuggle-buggle as you can see.

The weather has turned cold and while Artie likes his new little pad, he still sneaks up on our bed and pushes us around. I may have to put some kind of electric blanket down for him or something. Either that or put a fence up around our bed. Stupid dog!

My latest passion is squirrel hunting. We have a ton of them living in our trees and they are horribly annoying. They keep burying these walnuts in my yard that then turn into baby walnut trees. My mother didn’t believe me until I pulled one out of the ground and there was the walnut sitting on the end of the plant. The last thing I need is more trees so I spend a large part of my day digging up these buried nuts. Hence, the squirrel hunting.

My backyard is squirrel mecca because of one simple fact. Water. Yup, my little pond out back is one of the few sources of water around right now. (We just went 35 days without any rainfall which, here in Oregon, was a record.) We get birds, cats and squirrels who visit our water hole. So when I see the little buggers sitting in our tree out back, I quietly open up the back door and call Artie over.

I think Artie was designed to hunt. He’s quite simply amazing. Unlike some big old goofy golden retriever or lab, when he sees a squirrel, he doesn’t start barking or jumping. Oh no, my dog goes into stalk mode. It’s quite simply amazing. I’ll hold him by the collar and we’ll watch that little squirrel climb down the tree. Artie’s fir will stand on end and he’ll crouch down really low and hold totally still. Once the little bugger has left the safety of the trunk and is drinking away, I’ll release Artie’s collar and whisper “go gettum.”

Artie takes off like a shot – totally quiet. No barking for jumping he’ll make a low and silent dash for the squirrel. Unfortunately, he is rather large so the squirrel usually sees him coming and it’s a race to the tree. So far, the squirrel has won but sooner or later, Artie has to catch him. Instead, the squirrel shoots up the tree and Artie leaps after it. The first time this happened, Artie almost got the little bugger who only scampered part way up the tree. I guess it thought it was safe. Little did it know that my dog loves to climb trees (or at least try). Now, they are on to us and will scamper almost to the top of the tree and chatter at us. Artie will dance around the trunk, howling while the squirrel sits up high chattering. Even though the chase was unsuccessful, I’ll usually praise the pooch and give him some hot dog as a reward.

I figure, if I ever do make it to West Virginia, I can bring my squirrel hunting dog and fit in just fine. Maybe I’ll even bring him next time I visit Erica. You know how those Kentuckians love their squirrel!!

Today I planted 250 bulbs. Of course, I still have another 150 left but I think I’m making progress. It sounds so impressive but it’s really pathetically easy. Dig hole, drop in some bulbs, fill. I’m a bulb fiend because you plant them once and they come back year after year with no maintenance or worry. Even better, if they like where they are, they spread and multiply so you get more and more flowers. The only down side is that they bloom and fade so quickly. If I could, I’d just use all bulbs all the time.

Summer is trying to hold on but the days are getting shorter and the nights colder. I must say, however, that September is my favorite month here in Portland. Winter is coming though and we’ve got to finish stacking firewood, lowering storm windows and tucking lawn furniture out of harms way. Funny enough, I’m actually looking forward to winter. I can’t wait for the rains to come. This year, for the first time, I won’t have to brave the elements and stand outside at the bus stop while icy winds whip past my shivering legs and aching feet. Instead, I’ll be curled up in front of a fire with a pot of tea and my dog and my cats and a little project or two. It’s been so long since I’ve used the oven for something other than pizza! I can’t wait for homemade mac ‘n cheese, roasted chicken, and twice baked potatoes. Yum!

Hmmm. I seems I have managed to make myself hungry. Guess I’ll just pop up to the kitchen and rummage for a late afternoon snack. Yum!

Well, there’s another cute baby in the world. Dave, another of Kevin’s groomsmen, just met his son Max. This was a very happy day for me because it meant I could go shopping for baby clothing.

I have this disorder you see. I L-O-V-E to buy little teeny baby clothing. This could be some strange offshoot of my general love of small things but that hasn’t yet been confirmed. All I know is that when I get around those little onesies and mini wash cloths, I go nuts. All the coordinating bibs and booties and barretts – it’s almost too much for me to handle. So when I got Dave’s email that the little guy was here, I immediately rushed out and bought a ton of baby clothing.

I paraded my newly purchased baby finds for Kevin over dinner but he was unenthused. He didn’t even let out one squeal of “oh how cute”. Not even the matching washcloths brought forth the small gasp of pleasure. Put a router bit in front of him and he melts like butter but a teensy tiny baby outfit evokes as much enthusiasm as an empty pop can. And so I found myself admiring my purchases by myself. Sigh.

Now I have to make a personalized baby card to enclose with the outfits and I’ll be set! Too bad they grow up so fast.

And we’re back! Greg and Lani were successfully married. Everyone said “I do” in the right places and all the exs decided to forever hold their peace. This wedding was especially fun because Kevin was a groomsman and got to see all the behind the scene chaos. Of course, to those of us sitting in the pews, everything looked smooth as silk but, like all weddings, there was a certain degree to hysterial panic behind the scenes.

After the wedding, however, I managed to convince Kevin to take me to Ikea. I have seen the catalog but never actually visited the store. Oh. My. Goodness. Lets just say that poor Artie ended up riding back home partially wedged into the trunk of our civic. I’m seriously thinking about renting a U-haul and going back. As Kevin likes to says, I’m not doing anything so I could (hypothetically) drive up to Seatle, shop, and make it back in time to have Kevin’s dinner on the table. Very tempting.

I may wait till next week though because both Kevin and I are still a little bleary eyed and sleep deprived from our whirlwind weekend. I’m thinking that people in the wedding party should be allowed to take a honeymoon as well. They do just as much work, after all!