It really has been... All in one day:

1. Nym caught a mouse... and prolly lost it.

2. Nym had a cat fight. Nym's backyard was invaded by another cat... there was much screeching.

3. Nym got stuck in a tree (Post cat fight trauma)

Nym has surprised me... I was sitting here doing some work when i heard a kind of screech outside. I ran outside to check and see what was going on and there I find miss Nym under the Japanese maple tree sitting there with a terrified mouse in front of her.

Now first I have to say that I didn't expect Nym would know what to do if she found a mouse. She tries to attack bugs and then doesn't know what to do... she puts a paw on it, and then picks it up and looks at it and then tries again, I'm not sure what she thinks should happen next but she eventually gets bored and walks away.

So now that she does seem to know what to do with a mouse I have a dilemma, do I let her go with her kitty instinct, or do I try and save the mouse. I make a feeble attempt to call her away and the mouse uses this to make a run for it... Nym goes after the mouse, picks him up in his mouth and carries him back. After a bit I decide to let nature run its course and as the bad mother I am I go to get the camera.

When I came back outside, she was lounging under the tree looking very proud of herself. I could not find the mouse. I don't know if that means that she should killed it and hid it, or more likely the mouse made a successful escape under the fence.

No mousey picture for the blog... oh well. Go Nym!!

Kevin is in Pittsburgh right now. I wish I was with him, I miss Pittsburgh in a lot of ways. I really miss the people and in many ways it was a cool place to be. We decided that I shouldn't go this time mostly due to the upcoming closing on the house. Oh well.

I miss my Kevin too... and he did the sweetest thing. Yesterday after he landed he called to let me know that the flight went fine and he was there safe and sound. We hung up before he took the tram from the terminal to the main section of the airport. A few minutes later Kevin called me back; he was on the other side of the tram and had just passed security and was standing where he and I had first met (yes, Kevin and I met face to face for the first time in an airport). We have been to that spot many times since or first meeting, as I picked him up from some trip or another or we both were traveling, but there was something super sweet in the thought that he was standing in that spot alone and thinking of me!

Okay, end the sappy... we will now return to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

Running a couple errands this afternoon I pulled up in the left lane to the intersection of El Camino Real and Castro in Mountain View. Sitting at the intersection waiting for the light to change I, like most other drivers, looked around at the people in the other cars. We really are all voyeurs at heart.

I looked to my left at the truck in the turn lane. Being a truck next to my little Subaru I had to look up to see the little Asian woman sitting in the passenger set. I couldn't see the driver however I did see did see the arm of a male next to a bird sitting on the steering wheel. That's right, a big white Cockattoo sitting there on the steering wheel.

I was flabbergasted. Someone had to honk at me to go when the light changed. I did manage one quick glance as I drove buy, just enough time to see a little asian man in the drivers seat with ANOTHER smaller Cockattoo sitting on his shoulder.

The things you can see just down the street.

Yesterday was an interesting and varied day.

We started with a 10.2 mile bike ride. Normally this is lots of fun however the day before I had pushed myself taking a pilates class immediately followed by a Kickboxing class. It was good but at the same time when I got out on the bike ride the next morning I was still feeling weak. My muscles weren't hurting or anything, I just wasn't back up to full strength yet. I'm a weakling. But I was already out so I pushed and got through it. I wasn't feeling that great though, so I skipped my plans to use the rowing machine and such, I rested on the couch for a while but still ventured to Yoga.

YOGA IS GREAT!! I went hoping that even though I was feeling weak, that some good stretching would relax my muscles so I could then relax the rest of the afternoon. It more than worked, my muscles relaxed and rejuvenated. I left feeling stronger and ready to go.

Body problems over for the time being I ran a couple errands. It will be a little while before we buy new furniture for the new house. We need to save some money and really figure out what we want. In the meantime, my love-seat is an UGLY-ASS thing. I picked up a wonderful faux-suede slipcover. It doesn't look spectacular now, but it looks much much nicer and it feels so good to sit on. It will be a huge improvement for the time being, I'm happy.

While at Target getting the slip cover, I was reminded of one of my weaknesses. HALLOWEEN!! All the halloween goods are coming out. Oh, its my favorite holiday and I can go crazy. We had a great costume idea for this year, however we don't have the extra time or money with all the move. So costume stored until next year. I am determined though to create a creepy graveyard in my front garden before halloween to entice trick-or-treaters. I LOVE HALLOWEEN.

Home with lunch and a little relaxation I was a happy girl. Just before 4 pm I went over to google for a lecture on being a homeowner as an investment. It was interesting, but I was still a bit tired and my mind drifted.

One of my favorite things about Google is the massage chair in the lobby of building 41. Kevin took 20 minutes to finish up a few things (oh yeah, he let me drive the Prius all day!! *grin*), so I sat down at the massage chair and relaxed. The massage chair is a wonder... it does a better job than any non-human massage device I've ever tried. It was a nice 20 minutes.

Done at Google, we hopped a train into the city for a baseball game!! I have missed baseball, there is something magical about baseball. The stadium, the lights, the smells. the green of the field, the hats and jersey's everywhere, hot dogs!! Cheers and songs.

It was a good game. The Giants vs. the Astros. Now the problem is we lost... not good. The Giants are in second place in our division, and of course the LA Dodgers, our rivals are in first. The Dodgers were playing at the same time and only ahead by half a game. So not only were we hoping for a win, but also for LA to lose. LA won, we lost... grrr... but still a wonderful evening. AND we are still in contending for the wild card slot into the playoffs, so we are still doing well, and I'm planning on seeing another game or two this season!

Back on the train and on the way home after a long day. We read and relaxed. At one point during the the ride a child's jean jacket dangled down above Kevin's head and swung around. It's like a cat with a string, its so hard to ignore. Kevin and I tried not to do anything, till Kevin couldn't take it anymore and 'quick of a fox' snatched it out of the air. And then dutifully held the jacket up in the air for the 5 year-old little girl to take back. She was having a grand time and during the course of the ride we were not his only victims.

Long night, happy times, good sleep!! Yay!!

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

So my grandfather had this game on big floppy disks when I was a kid. I think I must have been 11 or so. My grandpa also had a racing game but I have so never been good at racing games. I have always liked thinking games and somehow this text based game appealed to me. So eventually I would end up putting the Hitchhikers guide game in.

At 11 I had not yet read the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, but since when did something like that stop me from trying. Amazingly, even at that age I was able to figure out that I needed to take the pill in my pocket and pick up some stuff and go outside to find the bulldozer ready to kill me and my house. I do remember very distinctly never being able to make it past the bulldozer.

Oddly I never got around to reading the books until college, but I finally did and loved them. Since then I have thought back to this game a few times, but never since played it.

Today one of the blogs I read posted a link to the same game I remember from my grandpa's computer. So I sit down to try playing it again. This time I know that I need to lay down in front of the bulldozer.

Well I have tried it a couple times at this point and so far the bulldozer has just run me over again and again. I DON'T GET IT!! What the *&#@@@!*%$ am I supposed to do. So now given its been a few years since I have read the books, but still... why is it I can't get any farther then when I was 11. Grrr....

My guess is that I'm wording things incorrectly or something. Help anybody?

Do you remember "the Move" - I remember "the Move" and right this moment I am remembering it even more.

Why am I choosing to remember "the Move" right now you might ask? Well it would be because we are moving again, and I am again on the hunt for movers.

Now, we aren't sure we are going to use movers yet, we might have them do it all, we might have them just do the furniture and we will do the boxes ourselves... or maybe we will just do it ourselves (my back doesn't like that idea). No matter what the verdict we are moving, its coming up quick and there are lots of decisions to make. I'm just a little afraid of having another mover's scandal.

Where are you moving Rachel? Oh yeah, well Kevin and I haven't talked about it too much yet, for escrow reasons we have been observing a kind of "quite period", however contingency period is almost up and I think we are about ready to talk about it. I will tell you all that Kevin has bought us the most amazing house, I'm in love!!! (With the house, I was already in love with Kevin before that!). We are in escrow, we should close on October 8th and then we will be moving about 8 minutes away to a new sanctuary in Sunnyvale. We won't be that far from Cy and Athena.

The house is really amazing, and I'll give you all the run-down soon... for now, I have one more mover to call tomorrow. This one is recommended which makes me feel better... lets just hope that they won't want to completely rob us blind.

*develops a nervous twitch*

Pets are so very funny.

Last night Kevin and Athena and I watched Kill Bill. I won't spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it. However during one fight scene there is ball on a chain and it is being swung all around. The swinging is making this great wosh wosh sound that was moving through the surround sound all around us.

I love surround sound, however this was more than little Miss Nym could take. She kept running around toward each speaker, eyes toward the sky, trying desperately to figure out what it was that was making that sound.

Oh she wanted that wosh wosh thing! Eventually, driven a little crazy she gave up and walked off down the hall, head still pointed toward the ceiling. Keeping an eye out just in case.

It was the funniest thing EVER!!! I need to get a good copy of that wosh noise. Gotta love torturing your cat!

Okay, so I'm not quite that dramatic. It was a little out patient procedure. The worst part for me was having the IV. Due to a childhood experience with a very unprofessional doctor (thats another story involving being pinned to a table and the doctor even saying rude things to my parents afterward) I tend to feel like any needle is me actually being attacked. As a child I did actually kick a nurse. I'm much better now but its psychologically ingrained in me and I can't stop the emotions of fear that are accompanied.

This all explained to the nurse I put on my new little spa gel pack mask thingy, gave her my arm and tried my very best. She was pretty happy with my best, she said I have great veins and that I didn't flinch or tense that much. I'm very happy that she was really good at giving an IV. Don't get me wrong, I cried like a baby, but I kept all the stress in my head and didn't let it effect what she needed to do. That doesn't mean that I'm okay with needles again... just means I'm proud of myself and that I can pull it off when I have to.

I don't remember a lot of the procedure. My throat was very dry, since I'd been fasting all day and hadn't had anything to drink in hours either. I laid in the room for a while with electrodes and a oxygen monitor and the whole works and I watched the the computer that monitored my vitals for a while till the doctor came. Within a minute of the doctor entering and beginning talking to me they had me hooked to drugs and my head went fuzzy fast.

I remember them spraying this awful tasting numbing stuff in my throat a couple times and making me swallow. I don't think I actually remember them putting the tube into my throat. At one point I do remember looking at the monitor and seeing some pictures up there of my stomach. I think someone must have spoken to me to make me aware because there for four still pictures there, as in it was pretty much done. It was too bad cause I was kind of looking forward to watching the screen as they explored my inards.

I was wheeled to recovery where Kevin came to join me. And then after they decided I was good the put me in a wheel chair and took me out to the car. It was really good that they put me in a wheel chair, I was still very dizzy and getting nauseous. I had to lay down in the car and went right to sleep when I got home. Kevin has been doing a good job of taking care of me. I have more energy, don't feel so numb and drugged anymore. My arm is sore from the IV and my stomach is sore from everything but most likely from the biopsy and apparently pumping air into my stomach so they can look around. All to be expected. Overall I'm just glad that its over with.

Their findings, I guess I won't know for a while. They took a biopsy and some test of bacteria in my stomach. I have an appointment in two weeks. My tummy looks pretty clean on the inside, but that doesn't explain the pains I've been having. So I don't know.

But for all of your viewing pleasure I have included a link so that any who want to can see what the inside of my stomach/esophagus and top of the large intestines look like. These are good healthy organs by appearance, soon it will be time to find out what invisible evils they are hiding.

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

So I started writing this earlier this week, but Safari crashed and erased it all. So I will now try again!

Labor day weekend was a wonderful wonderful weekend! Kevin and I took off around 8pm and headed down to his Uncle's house in Carmel. We took our time, stopped for some great pizza in Los Gatos and talked and talked all the way. We talked about a house we looked at that we really loved. We talked about halloween costumes, we just talked and enjoyed the drive and each others company.

Not long after settling in to the house in Carmel Ali and Mark arrived. We chatted we set up and we all went to bed ready for the start of a great weekend.

Saturday was great. We started with a walk into town for some brunch do a little shopping, to check out the houses and take some pictures. On the way back we decided we needed to go to the beach. Changed and prepared we walked to the beach for a great afternoon of hanging out, beach stone hunting and exploring. The water was too cold for any real water play or getting very wet. I did succeed in numbing my feet however.

Home again we played some games and power-napped before getting ready for a very special dinner. All dressed up with somewhere to go we all took off for Marinus at Bernardus. Wow was that a wonderful dinner, we took four hours, had 5 courses, a lot of wine, great friends, a great staff.. oh it was wonderful. A little giddy by the end and the last people there at about 1am or so we played around and switched tables on the waiter while he was charging the credit cards. He was such a good sport and really seemed to like us.

That night, after a quick and giddy stop at Safeway for lots of water and a game of Simpsons Clue, we just passed out!!

Sunday was another success. We drove to Monterey to check out the The Monterey Bay Aquarium. I took LOTS of pictures, and they will be coming soon. What an amazing place, it was so very cool.

Down the the wharf for some great bread-bowl new england clam chowder, calamari, fish and marinated artichoke, we eventually headed home to play some more board games and plan our evening.

We figured out the tide schedule and made plans for an 11:30 walk at the beach during low tide for some tide-pooling. It was romantic, and fun. Ali and Mark did some serious exploring finding all sorts of star fish, sea anemones, crabs, barnacles and more of which Kevin and I followed them to photograph. We got to play with my super flash and also some real long exposure photography. It was a wonderful evening.

Ali and Mark headed back soon after coffee the next morning, but Kevin and I stayed and wandered the shops a little bit more. Did a little cheese tasting and then finished cleaning up at the house.

On the road again and having a great time we made a stop at an Artichoke farm/produce stand and loaded up on all sorts of Artichokey goodness.

Home, happy and relaxed from a weekend of good food, good friends, happiness and relaxation. Oh yes, it was a good good weekend.

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

I'm so very proud of myself... not only did I go to my Kickboxing class today, and feel like I was doing better in the class, but I also did an additional half hour on the rowing machine after class!! Yeah me! I still need to tell you all about the trip I'm getting in shape for... that will come this week.

On the flip side of body work, my stomach has continued to have issues. They have been minimal since the lovely weekend I had, but prior to that and a little bit since I have had continued issues. I called my doctor last week and she wants me to have a endoscopy next week. So next Tuesday they will be sticking a little camera tube down my throat to look at my stomach. I go for a consultation tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad I hope. Kevin wants to video my insides and blog them. I just want to feel better. We shall see how it all turns out.

I just don't understand... are they actually threatening retaliation and revenge if we don't reelect Bush/Cheney? Sounds like an hissy fit and a tantrum to me!!

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

A lovely long (5 Course) dinner last night at Marinus at Bernardus. Oh and lots of the best wine ever!!

"You can't pronounce blue letters!" -Kevin

"Lets keep some decorum! *burp*" -Ali

"Use the Fork, Fluke" - Kevin

"You guys sure know how to have fun" - Waiter, Robert

"Why yes, it's Pigeon Toes" - Mark

"What's that garnish" - Ali "Chervil!" - Mark ...3 hours pass... "I believe its Chervil" - Waiter, Robert "You pulled that from your ass Mark." - Rachel, me

"Its really good but all I can see is duck feet waddling around in my mouth!" - Rachel, me

"I licked the lobster off the truffle so I could put the Fois Gras on it." -Mark

"They seated us early and we are still still the last ones here" - Kevin

"Four Hours, thats about right" - Ali

"When we got here it was the 4th" - Rachel

"Lets go sit over there before the waiter comes back" - Mark

I received a blast from the past today. Driving to my massage this morning (oh was it good) I put on one of the radio morning shows. The DJ's are on vacation so they are playing taped shows from the past. On the show they were re-running this morning the DJ's had gotten ahold of the Fabio CD.

Ahhh... the Fabio CD... the worst piece of music ever recorded and yet...

Susquehanna University, around my sophomore or junior year Amy received a care package from her mom which included the Fabio CD she had picked up at the dollar store. We all rolled our eyes and laughed but we stuck the CD in. Oh its awful, corny background music while Fabio tries to use his sexy voice to tell stories about how he would woo a women in one way or another. The songs are all called things like "Fabio on Slow Dancing".

We rolled around laughing. Jay began strutting around the room mouthing along with Fabio. We did a mini photo shoot where Jay tried out poses that Fabio displayed in the dusk jacket. We just loved the dolphin pose!!

Oh those were good times. I can still picture that whole Fabio day.

I wish that the radio show hadn't been taped... I really wanted to call in!

A few RNC observations I find interesting:

Former right-wing Republican Congressman from Florida Joe Scarborough on the convention. (Thanks Kicking Ass)

"I find it remarkable. We are three days into this convention, and we have been talking all year about how this election is going to be about George W. Bush. The Republicans, with their ad campaigns, the third-party attacks, this convention, three nights into this convention, this convention remains about John Kerry. I can't remember a major presidential election where you have an incumbent that makes the central focus of their convention about the other guy, about the challenger. It is a radical departure from politics as usual. And what does it say about what they think George Bush has done over the past four years, and, more importantly, what the American people think of George Bush?"

Further Observations from Kicking Ass and the New York Times:

"The front page of the New York Times today features a graphic that counts the number of times certain words were used during the first three days of both the Republican and Democratic Conventions. We mentioned Bush 18 times. The Republicans have mentioned Kerry 86."

In Jon Stewart's Coverage of the RNC he pointed out with a lovely video montage, the lovely first day theme: September 11. Can we say EXPLOITATION!!??!!

Anything you want to tell me feel free!!

I got back late Tuesday night from spending a week in Florida helping out Rex. It was really good to be able to spend time with him again, in the 8 years of our friendship we are so rarely end up in the same state.

I'm glad to be home. I missed Kevin! I have missed my bed a lot this summer. I've missed my sanity at times. :)

The last few months (well the last year really) have thrown a few curve balls at Kevin and I. Not just at us, at a lot of people. I've decided that its done. Nothing else bad is allowed to happen for a while. I HAVE SPOKEN AND SO IT SHALL BE!! Or at least we are going to try for it.

It will take me a little while to rebuild my psyche, get my head and emotions back online. Kevin has been amazing, I can only hope I helped him as much.

Today Kevin and I went for a bike ride and I went to the gym for my yoga class. I'm feeling better already. My body is waking up again and it feels good. Tomorrow morning I'm treating myself to a deep tissue massage. I Cant Wait!! Then to top it off we are going to get away for the labor day weekend. I really looking forward to getting away to relax. Ali and Mark are joining Kevin and I for a weekend in Carmel. Rest and relaxation, good friends, good food, and a pretty environment. Just what the doctor ordered!