12 weeks!

Peter and I tried to do a comparison picture to gauge how big Teddy has gotten since we picked him up.
He is growing like a weed!

Summer in SF

We took Teddy down to the beach this afternoon - after being spoiled rotten by endless space in Covelo,
he seemed somewhat grateful for getting to walk around a bit.

Covelo

Peter and I spent Memorial weekend up in Covelo with Teddy & family. Teddy thought that Evelynne's left cheek was especially sweet.

Birthday at the Buckeye

I took Peter out to dinner for his birthday at the Buckeye Roadhouse, a "high-end, down-home" steakhouse in Marin.
This chocolate bread pudding, and the port we got to go with it, was RIDICULOUS. Brother Patrick very kindly dog-sat.

Teddy had a BIG weekend - went to Crissy Field on Friday afternoon to let him run around on the beach - not surprisingly,
he easily out-ran his out-of-shape parents! Saturday morning was Cleaning Day - while poocher slept,
Peter and I up-ended the house and shook out all the dust, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed and dumped all
the pine shavings. Then went back to another part of Crissy Field in the afternoon. Yesterday, all 3 of us loaded up in the car and
went to Uncle Matt & Aunt Kassie's house - Teddy got to play with some big dogs and run around in a spacious
yard occupied by a gopher. It's Monday, and we're back to his usual routine of chewing everything and visiting his reflection in the mirror.

The Grand-dog

We went over to Peter's mom's condo last night - much to Teddy's delight, Grandma's carpet has a whole lot more traction than our wood floors! He was racing around, jumping off the staircase into the living room and being a general freak. We got home & scooped him out of his crate - he as a limp as a rag doll & slept like all night. Such a good boy! :D

Plum tuckered

The pooch is settling in - right now it's a struggle for me and Peter to keep from spoiling him rotten. He doesn't quite understand yet that "don't touch" means you dont' eat it, whether it's pine shavings, my forearm or fallen leaves. He's into everything. He's a challenge, but he's worth it.

Theodore ("Teddy" - formerly known as "Oliver")

It won't be long before he outgrows this adorable habit. He dives into the space in the coffee table and stretches his belly across it. We've discovered that he likes cool surfaces - his favorite is the tile in the bathroom.

Sooooooo much has happened. If anyone were to tell me that this was what my life would be like in a year's time, I never would have believed it. We picked up Oliver (our puppy) yesterday and took him home. He's 7 weeks old and growing like a weed. He's still in the infant stage (i.e., eat, sleep, poop, play), so he needs constant care. We are elated and exhausted.....finally, we have our POOCHER!!

It's official!!!! Peter and I are engaged as of Sunday, April 29th, 2007. Wedding is scheduled for November 3, 2007. WOO HOO!!!!!!

Our new family

This morning, Peter and I made our 4th trip (together - Peter's been 5 times now) to see the puppies, and we chose the one that has been weighing on our minds for weeks. We have a list of names going, including "Theodore," "Oliver" and "Winston." We agree that uptight-old-white-guy names make fantastic pet names. If you think of a good one, feel free to chime in!

Back in the swing

One last picture from Florida.............aaah, Florida. But it is GOOD to be back in SF.
I am busier than EVER & it's good to be settled back into a routine. Peter & I went to Ocean Beach for an end-of-the-day stroll yesterday, which was a lot colder than we'd expected, but still beautiful. I was happy to see that the same funny birds that look like roadrunners live on both coasts. Wind was blowing the sand into wave-like formations, which reminded me of the movie Woman in the Dunes. Peter found an unfortunate little sea bird that apparently couldn't stand up, and we finally got in touch with wildlife rescue to come get it. He also found a sand dollar that is in near-perfect shape, except for a tiny hole through the middle. Despite our love for SF, we're ready to move out of the city, and it looks like we'll be doing that fairly soon. Venturing deeper and deeper into the territory of suburban domesticity....and it's not that bad!

Me and the cherubim

Peter and I have spent a blissful, virtually carefree week in Florida visiting family and friends. I got to see my surrogate nephew and niece and be 'Auntie Jenty' again. We went swimming and played several rounds of "Marco Polo" before sitting down to take-out seafood from Outback Crab Shack.

In other news - earlier this week, Mom had a party & Peter got to meet and see Mom & Dad's St. Augustine friends, including our elementary school principal! For the party, we bought several bottles of wine, one which was absolutely outstanding. It was ANTIS Malbec 2003 - we paid $12 for it at the Joyful Cork in St. Augustine (don't even get me started on the name - coming from San Francisco!) - ruby red deliciousness. We saved it for sitting around the fire (yes, in April - we had ourselves a fire) and talking about everyone after they left the party. :)

Heaven on Earth

Sekitei - synonymous with "paradise." Food is amazing, the people are incredibly hospitable, the place is beautiful and you're spoiled rotten in every way you can think of. It ain't cheap, but it's worth it. www.sekitei.to

Ditto on this one. I haven't seen English this nonsensical in a long time! The caption on the bottom-left says "A Clever Dog."

If this shirt had not been made of really scratchy, cheap material, I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

This is one of my favorite parts of my tours - this is a REAL maiko (apprentice geisha) in her final year of training.
She will become a geisha (known as "geiko" in Kyoto) at the end of this year. Her skills in tea ceremony are excellent.
Graceful, charming and adorable - a little doll come to life. うつくしい、でしょう！？

Flush, dammit!

If any society has mastered the art of making life more complicated than it needs to be, it might be the Japanese. In America, rules for flushing a toilet are very simple - find handle, push down. Here, they make a little game out of it - would you like a BIG flush or a SMALL flush? Oh yes, and you have to be able to read kanji in order to actually execute your final decision. Buttons on the very top of the box are for flushing (left one is 'big' flush, right is small), numbers across the top turn on the bidet, and the small, circular buttons below are for moving the stream of water around AND for a little massage on your backside. Kid you not. Most importantly, the red button at the top left-hand is the STOP (the madness) button.

Cherry tree on Tetsugaku-no-michi (Path of Philosophy), Kyoto