Dancing through life...

I am still processing photos from our trip to Salem and Boston at the beginning of the month. While it's true that I took a lot of photos, I'm taking my time and doing a super-nice job with the processing because I want to have them done up into a nice little photo book.

Believe it or not, this was Rich and my first vacation alone together. It was splendid! We got to relax, and we also saw pretty much everything we wanted to see while we were there. It wasn't a terribly expensive trip, altough we *may* have done a bit too much shopping. Seeing as how it was also our first vacation in five years, I can't really blame us. We've decided that we're definitely going to make the effort to do this more often, even if it's just for a long weekend. We both came home positively rejuvenated. Totally worth it.

Oberon and Puck stayed with my parents while we were away. Puck got to play with my mother's iPad; Obi was more interested in watching/hissing at the birds and squirrels. My father, who has been a vocal cat-disliker since I can remember, encouraged Obi to snuggle with him on the bed while he was reading. Unfortunately, Obi's purr was too loud for Dad to handle at sleepytime, so Dad scooped him up and plopped him into his kitty bed in my old bedroom. (Dad said Obi purring sounding too much like Mom snoring.)

My brother, also a cat-disliker, came over for a family barbecue and spent TWO HOURS playing with Puck. I believe he is now considering getting a kitty of his own. ;)

Now that the boys have settled back in at home, they get along a little bit better every day. Puck is learning that if he asks Obi to play and is refused, the appropriate response is NOT to ask harder. He doesn't get it every time, but sometimes is ok for now.

Oberon is learning about bedtime cuddles. We think his last family never let him in the bed, so this is all very new to him. Recently he's been trying to kill the lumpy things under the sheets, i.e. me and Rich. I have a little tooth-shaped bruise on my thigh to show for it. Last night he seemed to get it, since there was much cuddling, no biting, and a minimal amount of pouncing.

Dinnertime in our house is always exciting now. Oberon sits quietly and patiently, while Puck FREAKS OUT. He cries like he hasn't eaten in DAYS, and recently has started attempting to jump to where the food is being prepared. I see this becoming a problem relatively soon, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I have video of the dinner-freak-out ritual, which I'll be posting on YouTube as soon as I get it edited. I also want to get video of Puck playing purrito with a large sheet of tissue paper. SO CUTE!

Anyway, aside from work stuff, that's what's going on in my world right now. How are you?

In about twelve hours, we will be on a plane to Los Angeles.

See you kids next week!

Have any of you been to Los Angeles? If so, I have a question for you.

Should we rent a car?

I have a book that's telling me the public transportation in the area sucks pretty hardcore. However, the husband of the friend we're staying with doesn't own a car, and gets around solely with public transportation. I'm not entirely certain where they live, so that doesn't help. They have to work during the week we're there, so they won't be available all the time to hold our hands and show us around. I was thinking maybe we should get a car with a GPS device.

The problem with renting a car is that I am under twenty five, so if I rented it there would be some ASTRONOMICAL surcharge. Rich doesn't have a credit card, so he can't rent the car, even though he is over twenty five. I called Enterprise and asked if I could pay and he could drive, and was told that wasn't possible.

I've never been there myself, obviously, and I don't know whether to believe the book, or the fellow we haven't met yet. He's probably not going to places like Disneyland or the tourist-y spots all the time.

Any advice?

Well, part of that is true. Rich and I are thinking of taking a little trip to visit friends in CA, so I'm pricing plane tickets.

Has anyone used Pricline's Name Your Own Price thingywhatsit? They want my credit card information right off the bat, and I want to know if they suck first.

Jet Blue seems to have some pretty good prices, so we'll probably go with them, but I was wondering if the Priceline thing was actually worth it.

Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

Today is so totally fired. I refuse, R E F U S E, to do someone else's work all the time, simply because I was nice a few times. Do not, do N O T, try to take advantage of my good nature. That will piss me off more than anything, as evidenced by a conversation that is going to occur between a certain person and their supervisor when said supervisor returns from vacation.

It feels like it should be Friday tomorrow. I may cry when the alarm goes off, and it isn't.

Friday means leaving for DC! ::wiggle::

Gonna see the baby panda! ::wiggle::

I got a new camera bag! ::wiggle::

It holds EVERYTHING, even my super shiny new lens, all at once! ::wiggle::

I made delicious delicious pasta with BACON, cheese, and tomatos tonight. ::wiggle::

I love my Rich, and he loves me. ::super happy wiggle::

Oh! Speaking of Rich, I had the strangest dream last night.

As if the baby dreams weren't enough, last night I dreamt that he proposed to me, sans engagement ring, on a Saturday. The following Tuesday, I was very excited, for we were to be married on Thursday. Not freaking out, not panicking. Just overwhelmingly happy and excited. I told my mom, "I'm going to be a Mrs.!" Then I woke up.

Rich and I agreed later that we won't do it that way when the time comes to do it for real.

I'm back, I've survived, and it was wonderful.
Further information, including pictures, to come when I get the eight rolls of film I took developed.
Time to unpack...