Welcome to the Hotel Reptilia

So I was going to start this blog off sweet, and serious, but I just have to let everyone know I have a squatter wintering under my house. Three nights ago, I thought I heard a frog while I was reading, but the Hermit didn't hear a thing. He did take the opportunity to equate me to a cat-lady with all of my reptile yard statues, art and nick-nacks - ha ha so funny, now I hear them.

However, our Siamese, Fokker, would not leave the bathroom this morning. When I went in to investigate what el gato loco was up to, I caught him trying to remove the floor vent for the central heating system. I know that sounds weird, but the cat thinks he is our child and has hands. As I stood there, I heard the croaking again, only this time much louder. It was very much the call of a Western Toad, and if he wants to winter there, and can somehow get in and out, then go for it buddy.

We had a great Thanksgiving with the Hermit's family in Wenatchee yesterday. On the way there on Wednesday, I kept thinking of my friend Jen, and the long drives we would put in to hang out after her parents moved her to Mount Index (yes the mountain, not the town) in our Junior year of high school. We had fallen out of touch the last year and a half, since she went to the dark side and took a job in Boise with Supervalu/Albertsons. I'm sure most of you won't understand that, but the Hermit and I both left that company with a sour taste.

But Jen's a great gal, and has 2 great boys with her hubby. With me in school, and her in a new busy corporate job, we just lost touch. Well lo and behold I get home last night, sign onto Facebook, and there's Jen with a friend request! How random and great is that?!

In Wenatchee, the hubby was able to kick back and hang out with his aunt and cousins, which is something I've been trying to convince him to do for a while. After dinner yesterday, we all pulled out our cell phones and exchanged numbers, email, facebooks, etc, so he has no excuse to not get out and do something once in a while. He was also able to spend some quality time with his grandpa, who's Alzheimer's is progressing more rapidly than the Hermit thought.

It's such an ugly disease, and most relatives don't realize how fast detioration can be. I've lost all my biological grandparents, but am lucky to have Granny on my step-dad's side and Ruth on my step-mom's side still around, and the hubby's grandparents. Harold, my step-mom's dad recently passed away from Alzheimer's and Ruth was diagnosed right around the same time as the hubby's grandpa. It's so hard to see such bright people get so confused, and the frustration that happens on all sides.

I've always loved hanging out with blue-hairs. My paternal grandparents were 70 when I was born, and my grandpa used to golf-cart me around Sun City Center Florida to hang out with the other old guys when we would visit. My favorite customers are mostly older adults, and I love talking to them, no matter what they want to talk about. You can always get a good laugh, or learn something. So it was good to visit with his grandparents this week, and keep his grandpa company.

And speaking of blue-hairs, it was good to talk to my dad yesterday, too, (ha ha just kidding?). We got some good ideas for a family project next summer, and my siblings on Dad's side are gonna love it! Uncle D and Dad will get it as a present, and they will have the option of ordering their own. I've got to get to the Seattle Public Library to get some historical documentation, so I can put together an album of our old family photos from the teens, twenties and thirties. My great-grandpa was a prominent lawyer, lumber tycoon and Seattle downtown developer after the historic fire. I have pictures, but no stories. I also want to get some info from UW regarding my grandparents' pictures from their college years in the twenties, before they graduated and grandpa whisked grandma off to live in Hawaii.

And speaking of UW, I'm taking sides in the Apple Cup for the first time since I moved here 20 years ago. I really didn't care when I moved here, as I will always root for the Maryland Terrapins, but I've been trying to respect the Cougs since I've worked for my employer the last 8 years. But my grandpa was UW ROTC, in football and crew, and my grandma was one of the first women to receive a Master's from the UW Information Science School (or whatever they call Librarian School), and my step-siblings have been rooting for them for a lifetime. So here it goes - GO HUSKIES!