A lot of updating...

Holy hell! Was my last post really on September 30th? WOW. Well, my only excuse is that I've been madly cooking and blogging over at Scraping the Skillet. I do have a lot of things to update y'all on, though. Really, there should have been a bunch of posts between September and now...here's a brief recap of what's been going on:

NINI AND ADAM GOT MARRIED! Yes, my little sister is married! I have a bunch of photos posted on Flickr, but here's one to get you started...

I was back in Chicago for a glorious 10 days around her wedding. It was great to spend time with family and friends - we don't get to see them enough! Highlights? Bocce ball in Merrimack Park. Glorious fall leaves. TO DIE FOR Italian food (by an Irish chef, no less). Oh yeah, and the wedding. That was pretty awesome too ;)

2. I took a new job. Actually, I did this before the wedding by a few months. It just didn't seem top of the list. It's not an exciting or challenging job, but it is flexible and the people are nice. Now you know why I've been flakier than usual about returning e-mails, etc. Job + Food Blog = crazy busy.

3. Dylan and I have made a new resolution to go hiking more often. I mean, we live 5 minutes from a National Park but we haven't hit the trail in over a year? Crazy. The first hike was The Bellota trail up on Mt. Lemmon. Gorgeous scenery and a relatively easy hike. Amazing views after just a short hike to the ridge. Here we are:


This weekend we hiked up and around Sabino Canyon. It was also beautiful and we got to see lots of cool stuff, like a desert box turtle and a desert kitty cave. Check Flickr for pictures soon (D took the camera with him to Miami).

4. Speaking of Miami, the Canyon Ranch Miami project that D has been working on since we moved here is opening! He's there now for the soft soft opening. I was starting to wonder if this would ever happen!

5. Caleb has been battling some peeing issues. He's gotten all blocked up twice and had to spend the night at the Vet (he relapsed after the first drain). To help him manage better in the future we have officially put him on the Weekly World News Juice Diet. Mrow.

That's all the news that's fit to print.

I'll leave you with this thought:

Ever vacuumed yourself?

Neither had I, until today.

fur.jpg, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Shoe for scale, W's size 9.
This is what the FURminator can do to 2 cats in an hour. This thing effing rocks!

Needless to say, Rory and I are not friends right now...and Caleb is my new best friend.

Helpfulness...

Helpfulness..., originally uploaded by sunpath.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: Caleb! Please, how about you lay on this chair - or the kitchen counter - instead.

Caleb: (jumps off counter where I have placed him as , apparently, the paper I set up for him there (bills!) is not adequate for his needs)

Me: sigh. As long as you leave the piece I am working on alone.

Caleb: (makes a nice nest before determining that his chosen paper is missing a key component. A sort of je ne sais quoi... Oh yes, my undivided attention, that's it)

Me: No - Caleb! Why do you have to lay on the one piece of paper I need to work with?!?

And so on ...

I e-mailed this picture to Dylan...for a midday laugh. His response?

"Of course! That is what he lives for :)"

And, of course, he is right. Paper? All over the table? Caleb must have died and gone to heaven.

Nap time

Nap time, originally uploaded by sunpath.

Yes, that is Caleb curled up asleep in the shower! Silly!

More posting soon...I have pictures and tales from our recent California road trip to share...just gotta finish those to do items for the food bank first...

Caleb learning to read...

Cuddly Bunnies

(In the second picture Caleb started kneeding on Rory's stomach. Rory's tail, which is out of view, started flipping around violently. Apparently it doesn't feel any better on his stomach than it does on the back of my neck at 3 am. I guess we know Caleb loves us though...)

jail break!

cue the Peter Gunn Theme...

38 cats

Though Caleb and Rory are managing the transition well I know that they can't wait until they get to leave the caged environment of the Sabino Canyon Pet Resort (it is a kennel, despite the euphimism).
I visit them every day and have an ad on the local Craigslist to try and find someone to take them into their home for slightly more than a month, but it's hard finding someone that wants to follow through on their initial response to my posting. Today, on reccomendation from one of the receptionists at Sabino Canyon, I spoke with their groomer who, I was told, rescues cats and might be able to take our buggers.
We started talking and she seemed nice enough, telling me about all the kinds of cats (and Rotweillers) she rescues. Then she got to the part about how she currently has 38 cats. I suddenly felt like I was in a parallel universe. Who in their right mind would have 38 cats in their home - and be willing to accept 2 more?!?
Naturally, I told her that we'd keep looking. I can't imagine that our guys would get any attention living with so many other cats.