Squirrels, motorcycles and rain

Devin and I rode his Honda 954 to Florence, OR this weekend for the 100th annual Rhododendron Festival!! I was warned to bring plenty of ibuprofen by the Momin8tor, and I'm glad I did, as riding on the back of a crotch-rocket is quite a physical feat!! It rained a little bit on us on the trip there, but being hard-core Oregonians we weren't phased a bit.

Upon arriving at "Windy Haven" on Heceta beach, we were a little taken aback by the dead rat on the kitchen floor.

Now, I must mention here that rats freak me out in the worst way: I've had several nightmares about rats attacking me, I get the heeby-jeebies in a major way if I see one "in the wild" as I did in SF by the Palace of Fine Arts one time with my friend Doc. I'm completely disgusted that anyone can keep one as a pet. It's gross to me that they drag their weiners around and leave urine trails that can be seen by a black light. I do not like rats AT ALL!!

But OK, we saw one and it was dead at the cabin. I got the heeby-jeebies and my night-in-shining-armor cleaned it up. It was relatively clean, with eyes gone (ugh!!) He didn't mention to me at the time, thankfully, that there were maggots on it. Then, as we were looking around D-man said, "Hey, are those rat turds?" and we started looking, and OMG!! the floor was COVERED in rat turds. UGH!!!!! We noticed that mixed with the turds were sunflower seeds, and upon further exploration, we discovered the food source: a 50# bag of bird seed was in the utility room, had been eaten into and was cast all over the floor of the room.

By this time I am pretty much wringing my hands, rocking back and forth with glazed eyes and moaning unintelligibly. You know that type of look that the person has had a nervous breakdown? That was me. I got my act together enough to clean up all the turds and sunflower seeds with a shovel and bucket while D-man did the vacuuming. It cleaned up pretty nice and all appeared safe and rat-free.

Back to my hatred of rats: I knew that chances were very high that this was not one "lone" rat especially with 50# of bird seed and no humans since March. It was late on Friday night, it was raining, we were staying at Windy Haven free of charge. D-man offered to get us a hotel room if I couldn't stay there. What I decided to do was this: there was no way I could stay in a place that was infested with rats, but I could stay somewhere a squirrel had broken in. Like that one time I stayed at a cabin in Maryland that had a dead squirrel in it. OK, the place was crawling with flies from the maggots, but it was a squirrel. Squirrels are cute. They are also rodents, just like rats. I can talk about squirrels, but cannot talk about rats. So D-man and I agreed that "a squirrel" got into the cabin and died.

We got a good night's sleep and on Saturday morning we thought we maybe heard a squirrel in the cabin, but nothing came of it until Saturday night when we definitely heard AT LEAST 2 squirrels doing their squirrelly business. AND D-man saw a squirrel run under the barcalounger. I forgot to mention that the squirrels didn't seem to get to the back of the cabin where the bathroom and master bedroom were located. So I felt safe there until the squirrels weren't scared of us anymore. We plugged a towel under the door to deter any squirrel exploration into our room, I put my earplugs in and got another good night sleep.

In the morning I got up to make coffee and guess what? ANOTHER dead squirrel on the floor in the kitchen. I screamed, "A SQUIRREL!!! Another dead squirrel!!" Crazy, but this one was even more "chawn upon" than the last one and Devin said it was crawling with maggots. (I feel like I'm gonna throw up right now!) But he scooped it up and it seemed kinda like the place smelled better. I feel sorry for Tamara and Carmen who are going next weekend to exterminate the place and clean it...I'm sure there will be AT LEAST one or two more squirrels to clean up even though we removed all the bird seed.

Devin and I had a terrific weekend get away together, despite the squirrels. I drank tons of alcohol to numb myself (not really ;-)

It just goes to show you that when you're in the middle of something it doesn't seem nearly as bad as the telling is!!!

The Clothes Line

We pulled out the clothes line that was left behind when we bought the house, and I just hung my first load on it!! What a satisfying feeling: to be using the energy of my body and the sun to get a job done!! The weather is overcast but intensely warm and bright, which is perfect clothes-drying weather in my opinion. This is definitely one of the highs in life.

Life Motors Along...

Let me catch you up to the story of Pennylicious: Joined Weight Watchers at the end of January and have lost 17# so far! I feel good and I look good too! Or so Momin8tor says! And D-man too! I've managed to shed weight without consistent exercise, so I'm working on increasing the exercise. I found a terrific 4.5 mile walk out in the country near where we live that includes a lap around the little cemetery. With a view of the Three Sisters, it's a magical and inspiring walk. My adorible son turned EIGHT this year, so that's been really exciting. I'm enjoying being his mom. These young boy years are very wonderful. I feel close to him still. Life with my sweetie is very nice. We have our issues, that is true; however,we have a solid base of love and trust that holds us up when things feel rocky. It's the first time I've had that, and it really makes a difference! I am more willing to look at my part in what doesn't work for us. Also, it's important for me that resentment doesn't build up. I'm working on getting my tone and attitude to be kinder because D-man is very sensitive...he is a water sign after all!! D-man is working on his stuff too, girls, don't worry! I have found a really good job! It meets 9/10 of my "top ten requirements for a kickass job!" And believe you me, I was very picky when I made up this list. The honeymoon is over and that takes a little adjustment but I know my employers value me and want me around. That feels good! So life is good, all around! I'm looking forward to summer: the lake, visiting CA, riding the motorcycle, etc.

Embrace My Inner Domestic Goddess

It has been 5 weeks since I was laid off from my job and the novelty is wearing away. Yes, it was great to have lunch yesterday in a peanut bar with my good friends Momin8tor and SayHelloToMyLittleBlog! And I'm looking forward to 99 cent Tuesday at Value Village. However, I also have lots to do at home: unpack boxes (yes, I still have way too many boxes to unpack!,) do the floors, mountains of laundry. I realize that so much of who I am is defined by my job, which is really a mistake since 1) I don't have a job right now and 2) I seem to change jobs every two years or so. I have an identity, and I don't want to change it every two years!! I need a serious attitude adjustment! I'm going to work on that this week by FORCING myself to exercise everyday, getting all the boxes away and making this place look even better and making really nice meals. I think also a project. I'm going to make a rug out of towels ala Martha Stewart. Pictures will follow. I think that having a list of ideas and projects and fun things to do interspersed with actively seeking THE BEST job for me will go a long way to adjusting my attitude. Any other ideas out there? Make a comment. Thanks for listening!

I'm Ho-o-o-me!

It's been a really long time since I have felt "at home." In fact, ever since I left San Francisco way back in 1995, I have felt a little like a fish out of water. I just never really fit into the whole Eugene thing: too urban, not hippy or green enough, not militant enough, or something.

I made one of my goals for last year to "feel at home," and I find at the beginning of 2007 that my goal has been achieved, at last!

Here's what is contributing to me "feeling at home:" I moved into a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house a little south of Eugene. I can paint as I wish, I can garden, I can stay here a long time!! I am actually PROUD to invite friends over to my place that has plenty of room. My son can have friends over for play dates. Also, my beloved boyfriend/partner/best friend D-man and his 17 year-old son will be moving in February! I'll have both a house and a family!

It feels really good to finally settle down. Now I just need a kickass career from which I can retire. Anyone hiring??