The Snowman, aka Noah, aka Cadent's Winds of Persuasion

I just found out that the dog I had with Tammy passed away this last year :( Made me very sad. He was a great dog. Really, he was the one I wanted to take with me...but I guess he was more Tammy's. So that just leaves Asker and Dread still alive. Asker is still doing well, living at Tammy's parents. And Dread is doing fine too. A little tubby, but he's fine!

Noah was buried at Chris' place. That's fitting. He was born there, and is now laid to rest there. My snowman. I've missed him since I left in...oh my god, 10 years ago!!! Wow.

He was the cutest puppy. Smart, sweet. An all around great dog.




He worked hard for and received his obedience championship. He also learned to pull a cart, which you can see in the background here. I'm not sure how much farther he went after I left. This is him and Pepper taking a snooze.



Here's Noah "protecting" Dread the night Tammy brought Dread home. The poor kitten was only a couple weeks old. He'd been orphaned and the farmer whose land he was found on was going to throw him in the pond and drown him. We already had two dogs, two cats and a rabbit, but Tammy knew that I would rather have another cat than know he'd been killed! If you look closely though, Noah is actually licking his lips...



And 'cause I was thinking of Asker, here she is with Boston eating. To keep the cat food away from the dogs, they were fed on top of their cat house. Guess Boston was big even then. Look at those cute tushies!

Hiking South Sisters

Ok, here are a few pictures of the South Sisters hike I did yesterday with Melanie and Laura. It really was a great day. I still can't believe I actually made it to the top! Since I can only put a few pictures here, if you want to see more I made a gallery on my Flickr site title South Sisters 2006


It took me longer to get to the top than it did Melanie and Laura, but I made it. For me, that's all that matters at this point. My asthma was definitely an issue, but I just took my time and went slow and steady. I probaly should have turned around, since I had no water, but I really really really wanted to get to the top. I didn't want to quit!




Originally my goal was just to get to the tree line. Once I got there I just kept pushing a little farther. Even at this point, as I started up the cinder cone, I still wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it to the top. It looks a looooong way away!



But I did it!


Blogger is taking too long to upload the rest, so to see more of the pictures check out my Flickr gallery.

A guilty Princess

Friday night I stayed over at Heidi and Derek's to spend a little quality time with the dogs. I went into the bedroom, flipped on the light, and this is what I saw...

I don't think they're allowed to sleep on the bed, but maybe they are. Either way, Princess looks awefully guilty about the situation I caught her in. I think in this picture though, she's sticking her tongue out at me! :) I went to put the camera down on the coffee table, heard a thunk and then Princess' head pokes around the door. Funny gril.

All the way to the summit!

I hurt so much! I can barely make it from the couch to the kitchen for more water. Today I hiked South Sisters with two friends. And I made it all the way to the summit! Now, that might not sound too amazing, but it is for me! Besides, it is a tough hike. Tomorrow I went hiking with Jennifer...and it was bad! We tried Mt Bachelor, but my legs cramped very badly, and my asthma was worse than it's been for a loooong time! So we went back down, crossed the street and tried Tumalo Mt. I made it up that...but it's only 1.75 miles one way! It is about 2,000 feet elevation gain, but still! Sheesh. I literally was only able to take about 10 steps then had to stop!

So that night I was freakin out! How can I go to Peru when I can't even hike Tumalo Mt?!?!?!? And I knew I was supposed to hike South Sisters with Melanie and Laura S. on Sunday. With how bad Saturday's hikes had gone, I was really worried. I figured there was NO way I was going to make it up South Sisters. The South Sisters trail that we did was about 12 miles round trip with 4,900 feet elevation gain. Yikes! April did make me feel better about Machu Piccu, because as she pointed out, we won't have days of almost 5,000 feet elevation gain! Most days are about 2,000 or 3,000. Granted, it's at about 13,000 feet...but still, we won't have that intensity of climbing and descending.

This morning I warned Mel and Laura that I might not be able to make it. I took a book with me in case I had to turn back and wait for them at Moraine lake, or down at the Green Lakes trailhead. I think I would have done a lot better today if I hadn't hiked yesterday...or if I'd had water after about 2 miles! Hiking about 10 miles with that kind of elevation gain without water ... is NOT a good idea. I must have put my pack down sitting on the nozzle on my hydration pack and it all drained out. I had one water bottle with electrolytes, and that's it!

But I summited!!!! :) :) :) I'm so proud of myself. Mel and Laura went on ahead and I was much slower, but I made it! I just kept setting goals...the treeline, that next hump... until I was at the top! Hooray! The hike down was, for me, almost as difficult as up. My poor little knees and hips are so sore! And my feet...! Ugh. I'll have pics tomorrow when I can download them.

Off to drink another liter of water...and crawl upstairs to bed! :) 11 days to go...

14 days and counting...

So here are Brittany and Princess Faller. They're the ones I've been dog-sitting. They're good dogs, and I like being around them, since I miss having one. Brittany has insists that Heidi and Derek let her sleep on the bed...but I think she's pulling a fast one on me.



I'm obsessing on packing now. This was packing attempt #2. I need to get my sleeping pad soon, so I know if it'll fit or not! I want to get a petite one, 'cause I don't need anything longer, and it'll fit better into my pack. And they're lighter too. REI is supposedly having a good sale tomorrow, so hopefully the one I want is on sale. If not, Campmor has it for $54 instead of it's usual $67. And I need rain pants, and a good hat, and...the list goes on. Actually, there are really only 4 more things I need.

This weekend I'm hiking South Sister on Sunday, and then hiking it (her?) again the following Sunday. South Sister is 10,300 feet or so...I just need to add another 6,000 feet to that to equal where I'm going! Gulp. I hope to hike Mt Bachelor this Saturday too. Next Sat I'm working, but hopefully I'll hike Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...! :) I'm gonna be in GREAT shape when I get back!

My biggest concern now is to figure out how to get to Portland. I really don't want to leave my car in Portland for 3 weeks. I could leave it at a hotel, or I have a friend who could keep it too. But 3 weeks is a long time. I can take the Breeze...but here's the problem with that. I leave on the morning of Sept 8th at 8:00 am. Which means I need to be at the airport at about 5:00 am. Obviously I need to go up there on the 7th. The Breeze leaves Bend at 7 in the morning, so I'd be spending the whole day in Portland with my luggage and without a car. Doable...but not preferable. On the way back, I get in at 9:20 pm, and the Breeze leaves at 6:00 pm. So again, I have to stay overnight and spend the entire day in Portland...after having been away from home for 3 weeks. Sigh. I'm taking Valium for the flights, so it's not like I should drive right away when I fly in anyway. Besides that, it's about 17 hours flight time...I don't want to sit in a car for 3 more hours, especially if I have to do the driving! So... if anyone needs to go to Portland anyway on the 7th, or happens to be coming back from there on the 30th... :) I think the Breeze is how I'll go though. I'm really excited! Scared, but excited.

Small update on Loki. Took her in again today to have her cast changed and to have her tummy looked at. The foot looks really good. She's going to keep the leg, and should be just fine! As for the stomach "thing"...the vet still doesn't know what it is, but it concerns her. Most of it is thick dead skin now, and it doesn't look like it's going to heal on it's own. It's too deep. I'll take Loki back next Wednesday, and most likely she'll have to have it excised. Removed. Cut away. Ick. But things could be so much worse!

The continuing saga of Loki

Loki came home from her surgery just fine. She was quite active and stumping around on her much smaller cast. Dread however is still very unsure about her. All she wants is to snuggle with him, but he hisses at her and runs away. The look she gives me when he does that is just so sad!

So anyway, all was well until Saturday morning when I noticed this...icky spot on her tummy. It was red and icky and had a raised white circle with a red dot in the middle. Looked odd and I figured I'd take her in on Monday just to have them check it out. At first I thought it might be where they put an IV for her surgery, but no, that was on her neck. By Sunday it had grown larger and looked much worse. Then I noticed another spot developing lower on her stomach. Her belly was also a bit distended and hard. I thought about taking her to the emergency clinic, but to be honest I really can't afford that right now. So I decided to wait until Monday and take her to her regular vet, Dr LaPaugh. If you don't have a vet, La Paw Animal Hospital is excellent! Three years in a row they've won The Source's "Best of Bend" Best Vet!



I took her in Monday. By then the two spots looked really bad. Dr LaPaugh isn't sure what it is. It's possible that it is somehow related to her foot injury and is just now coming out. A stronger possibility is that it's a spider bite that has gone necrotic! Ewww! Since Loki's been inside this whole time, that means there's a nasty spider running around my house! To me it looks more bacterial or parasitic, but she's on such strong antibiotics that it seems impossible that she'd be able to pick up anything. Poor pathetic little girl. When she came home from surgery she just had a small shaved patch on her neck, and her cast. Now she also has a shaved belly exposing her... really icky spots.

She's on more meds that need to be given three times a day and also needs to have the affected area washed and soaked three times per day. So that means first thing in the morning, then drive home from Sunriver at lunch to do the mid-day meds and soaking, then drive back to Sunriver to work, and then do it again when I come home. And, to make things more complicated, I'm also dog-sitting for Heidi and Derek while they're in Switzerland. They're good dogs, and I've enjoyed spending time with them. I miss having a dog. It's not bad, it just makes things more logistically... interesting. I couldn't get it to load, but Heidi if you're reading this from Switzerland here's a link so you can see they're doing just fine! They'll be happy when you're home though. I'm no substitute! http://www.flickr.com/photos/chandravan/222301746/ :)



Since I have less than three weeks to Peru, I decided it was time to test-pack. It all fits, with room to spare. Of course, I immediately thought "Oh great, I can pack more stuff!" But no, I resisted the impulse. I also remembered that I don't have my sleeping pad yet...so I need to leave room for that too. 16 days and counting...

Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to get to PDX and back. My flight back has been changed, so that instead of arriving at 12:30 pm I'm arriving at 9:20 pm! Yuck.

No peg-leg Loki!

Loki's home, and she doesn't have a peg leg!! She's doing really well...but of course she's only been home a couple hours. They managed to pin two of the toes and the other two are touching enough that the vets think they'll heal well. There doesn't seem to be any serious vascular damage, so she's going to be able to keep the leg. I'm trying to keep her confined and not jumping around too much, but she doesn't really seem to agree with that.

The really good news...well, ok, her keeping her leg is great news, but she should be out of the splint in about 10 days. And perhaps even off all meds! Which would mean that she and Dread could stay here and just be checked in on every day. She does, however, need to be inside for 8-10 weeks. Whooboy, she's not going to like that! So, I guess what I'll do is just keep them both in all Sept (Dread is going to be one unhappy kitty!), and then when I get back Dread can go in and out. I'm just so glad for her that she can keep the leg, and that the vet is so optimistic about her prognosis.

It is kinda hectic for me right now though. I'm dog-sitting Heidi and Derek's two dogs while they're in Switzerland biking, and Loki needing a lot of attention, and I need to be out there hiking..and I need one day of nothing to "test" my reaction to valium! :) I'm not the best flyer anymore. The idea of 17 hours of flight time to Peru is causing me a great deal of stress. So my doc gave me valium to help out with my anxiety. But I've never taken valium, so I have no idea how I'm going to react to it.

Hooray, Loki's home and without a peg leg!!! :)

Hiking at Timpanogas Lake area

While everyone else went biking last weekend when we were camping in Oakridge, Sheila, April and I went hiking. We drove about 45 miles northeast of Oakridge to the Timpanogas Trail Area. There are three decent sized lakes and several small ones, with a multitude of different trails. By the time we got there the back of my car was COVERED in dust! After about 30 miles on paved roads, you go another 15 miles approx on gravel roads to get to Timpanogas Lake. Fun drive, though it definitely strained the new engine in my car. The dust was literally falling off the car like water in a rainstorm.

Once we started off on the trail we realized quickly that the bugs were crazy bad! I put on my BUZZ OFF bandana, and I gotta tell ya...it works!!!

We hiked to Indigo Lake. On Indigo Lake is a hike/bike-in campground. It's very isolated and primitive, but it was amazingly beautiful. Indigo Lake is fairly shallow at this end and was nice and warm. In the back you can see Sawtooth Mountain. It was truly as beautiful as April's face suggests! :) There are several campsites scattered around the lake, but this is the one closest to the trail and the outhouse.

April and I looking up at Sawtooth Mountain. We were going to hike around the lake, then have lunch and go for a little swim. We should have gone swimming right when we got there! By the time we hiked around the lake, a noisy family arrived. The only people we saw all day. Oh well, we had lunch and then continued on.

You can see Sawtooth Mountain in the back. The base is just a big scree slope that you have to walk over to continue around the lake. You can see close-up pictures on my Flickr Gallery (link to the right), along with all the other pictures of the hike and our camping trip. Here's Sheila posing on the edge of the lake. It was fabulous up there! The elevation is about,920 feet. Sheesh. I thought, for some silly reason, that Machu Piccu was only 8,000-10,000 feet. Nope. It's more like 16,000 feet!

You can hike up Sawtooth Mountain, but to do so you first have to hike up Cowhorn Mountain off to the...left? and then up that left slope of Sawtooth. I'd love to camp at Indigo Lake some time and do that hike. It'd be an amazing time. Fun!

Camping with the Bellas

Loki goes in for her surgery tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed for her!

Three weeks tomorrow I'll be heading to Portland to fly out to Peru! Eep. Now that I know we have pack animals to carry our heavy packs, I'm feeling much better about everything. However, the elevation...that's another story! I just got the itinerary, and we're hiking and camping at elevations of 11,000-16,000 feet! Gulp. At least I have a small advantage over everyone coming from Vancouver. I live at about 3,600 feet, they live at sea level. Still, that's damn high! I'm excited...but freaked out as well. Trip of a lifetime. I should be hiking every day after work, but I'm just so tired the last two weeks. Oh well, I need to hike both days the next several weekends. South Sister on the 26th.

So, last weekend I went camping with some of the Bellas in Oakridge. If you want to see more pictures than I can include here, click on the link to the right to my Flickr gallery. They might be on the second or third page. After we arrived on Friday we built a fire...in an actual wooden stove sitting out in the middle of the field. And then we made smores. Or at least some people did. April makes pretty amazing smores! That's Michele, Brad and Dana sitting in the back. Brad and Dana had the most amazing chairs. They were like...Lazy Boy camp chairs!

This is the breakfast scene. The food was pretty fantastic. Celia and Ben made us pancakes with nectarines in the batter. We also had sausages, cereal and tons of fruit. Along with all the condiments we also had fresh blackberries that Jim, Michele and I had picked Friday after arriving. They were pretty fabulous. Ooh, that reminds me...April, what did you do with all those we picked Sunday before we left? Hmm?

Me in the morning having my jet fuel coffee, it was strong but good. Just what I needed to get the day started. Followed it up with cantelope, pancakes, sausage, blackberries...mmm.

Sheila's not as much of a morning person as I am. I'm one of those really annoying people who wakes up...awake! I love the mornings. I like to take it easy, I don't have to get up and go. But once I'm up...I'm awake. Usually with the mind going too. I've had to learn to control that though. Evidently it's really annoying.

Nadine was there with the token dog, Duke. He was really great. Reminded me of another lab I did love...but MUCH better behaved! :P He was a sweetie. I'm not really into labs...they're too common. I like things that are more...unusual. Not the same as everyone else. Although most of the dog breeds I am drawn to are becoming more popular. That keeps happening to me. That's why I have so many piercings! You get one that's unique, and in a couple years everyone has one. So you have to get another one...and the cycle continues...! :)

Poor Baby

So here are some pictures of poor little Loki. She's being really good, and is only licking at her splint, not trying to rip it off. She's getting aruond better than I thought. And Loki's really enjoying bashing Dread on the head with her splint. Maybe that's why he's avoiding her, not because she smells bad! :)

Looking so pathetic...

Lying in her little bed

Getting a little scratch

Getting a drink of water

She'll be having surgery, hopefully on Thursday. Amd it's not going to be as expensive as I'd though. $1,500 which is still enuogh, but I was anticipating $3,000 or more. So at least some good news. I'm not sure what I've done this last year to piss karma off...but I think it was something. Have I paid yet?

Broken toes...

Not mine, thank god. So close to going to Peru I'm paranoid about being injured. Although, in some ways though, I wish it was my toes that were broken! I had a fabulous weekend of camping and hiking. Blackberries galore! Some of the Bellas and Bella Fellas camped this weekend in Oakridge. They went for an INSANE ride (see Heidi's blog for the scoop), and I'm almost glad I needed to hike instead of bike! :P Instead, Sheila, April and I went hiking up at Timpanogas Lake area, about 45 miles north-east of Oakridge. We found an amazing hike or bike-in campsite on Indigo Lake. I really think the Bellas should go there.

Anyway, I got home and Dread and Loki greeted me at the door as usual. Yes, the raccoons had been in again, but nowhere near as bad as last time. Then I noticed poor little Loki's left foot. It was swollen to about four times the size it should have been. I took her to the emergency animal hospital, and her foot was crushed. All four toes are broken, and with all four broken there is nothing in the foot to stabilize it. So, right now it's splinted and she's sedated, but she's going to need surgery.

Tomorrow I'll be taking her in first thing in the morning, hopefully. Not only does she need surgery, but it's also very likely that she could still loose the foot. In these cases the blood supply can be cut off to the foot, necessitating amputation. Which would really suck! Poor little Loki. She's not too happy. She's got this huge splint that she's dragging around, and of course, it hurts!

I have pictures of the camping trip (and of Loki with the splint), but those will have to wait until Tuesday when I can get down to Sunriver. Keep your fingers crossed for Loki.

Happy Birthday Chandra

Yesterday was my birthday, and thanks to so many of my friends, it turned out to be a day where I felt celebrated. Which is what birthdays are all about. Not everyone understands, but birthdays have always been important to me...a day when those who love and care about you celebrate that you're alive.

So thank you Jennifer and Michele for making it a surprise, and thank you to everyone else for coming and raising a glass to me: April, Sheila, Heidi, Derek, Megan, Laura, Shannon, Melanie, Susan, Liisa and Shelley. Thank you all. And thanks to all who sent their wishes but couldn't come. Here's that lovely picture:

If anyone else took pics, send them my way. Off to pack for our camping weekend! Here's to hpefully a fabulous 33rd year. It has to be better than 32! :) Again, thank you all for starting off this year so well.

The reason why

I just had an encounter with a patron that reminds me why I do what I do, why I love being a librarian. A woman, about my age approached me and asked about a kids book. She didn't know the title or author. So I asked what it was about. "It's about a little house that's in the country..." and by then I already knew which book she meant, but let her finish... "but through development it became part of the city...?" I said, "That's The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton." Took her over to the shelf, showed her the book and she almost cried she was so happy.

The book meant so much to her as a child, and she had not been able to find it for years. She was amazed that I knew exactly which book she meant...but I have to admit, that was a really easy one. Here's the cover...you all recognize it, don't you. I think everyone in their 30's and even 40's was read that book.


You know this one, don't you? She also wrote Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel and Katy and the Big Snow. They were wonderful. And that's why I love being a librarian. She told me I was her hero and she's now sitting over by the fireplace reading the book, looking so happy.
:)

Toxic animals!

Oh yea, I forgot all the excitement we had today. We just received notice that one of the incentives we have been giving away as part of our summer reading program contains too much lead and is being recalled! And I just heard Z21 giving the teaser on it...and of course it makes us sound SO negligent. SIGH. I hope everyone understands...but more than that, I hope we get them all back. So, take a look and if you know any kids who have participated in our summer reading program please let them know!

It sure was a lot of excitement for a Monday morning. I hope the actual interview on Z21 sounds better than their teaser!

Cousins & Llamas

My cousin Kevin and his girlfriend Sarah are here climbing at Smith Rock. They've been there for about a week, and tonight we had dinner. It was great to see him again. I haven't gotten to see him or his sister too much, since they lived in Alberta. They're both now teachers just outside Cochrane Alberta, where they both grew up.


So about a week ago I wrote a post about pooping llamas. Today they were at the Sunriver library! And guess what? No pooping! :) Actually they were incredibly cute. They've got these really long lashes and the cutest little noses! The kids just loved them.


And the best part is...summer reading is almost over! HOORAAAAYYYY!!!! I always love SRP, but man, it's tiring.

Two on two ultimate

Two on two ultimate frisbee is hard! Tonight, only four of us showed up for ultimate, myself, David, Cheryl and Jaime...and Cheryl made us play! It's a hell of a lot more running than when we have five per team. Sheesh. Finally Sheila and Chris showed up, so at the end we had three on three. One boy on each team. :) It was fun, but now I'm tired.


Went hiking this morning with Laura "lipstick" Skinkle. Did the Tumalo Falls loop. Only four 1/2 weeks to go! Next weekend I'm going to hike up at Mt hood, the weekend after I'm going to do Tumalo Mt...and probably something else too. And then the weekend of Aug 26 I'll do the South Sister. That's as far as I've gotten in my planning. Here's Laura at one of the river crossings.




Anyway, today Laura and I saw something really cool! As we started out, we noticed movement on these bushes and low branches. We looked closer...and there were a ton of butterflies (or moths) just coming out of their cocoons! It was really cool. The picture is really...blurry! I used the setting for close-ups, but I guess I was too close! :( Can you see them though? There were a ton of them, all over!



Four days 'till my birthday! :P 33....yipee! That was sarcasm. I usually love my birthday, and love to have it celebrated. But this year...yeah, just not feeling it. Sigh. Well, I've got four days to change that...33, hooray!!!

I threw my road bike into my car at the last minute before heading up to Vancouver last weekend. I so glad I did! My brother and sister-in-law ride, as do some of my cousins. After the funeral and before our dinner at the Salmon House five of us went for a ride with my sister-in-law running with Kai in a stoller. From right to left it is Julia, my aunt Elke's daughter (she was born and raised in Germany but now lives in Canada), my cousin Louise, my uncle Uwe's daughter who married a New Zealand dairy farmer, my brother Randal, his wife Jen and son Kai in the stoller, myself and Julia's boyfriend Jason.

This is Louise and I heading up. Jen ran so that Louise could ride. Louise came over from New Zealand, so of course she didn't have a bike.

And I just love this picture of my brother and Kai. He's a great father. And Kai is the cutest baby ever! :) What's so funny is how like Randal he looks!He sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating..or zoning out. Kai, not Randal!

Here is most of my extended family that was at the funeral. Yea, I'm not going to name them all. You wanna know who a particular person is, ask me! :)


This is what was up at the alter. Oma was cremated...those are her ashes in the container in the middle. Obviously, that's a picture of Oma from several years ago, and one of her favourite prints that her daughter Elke, my aunt gave to her. My grandmother was really a great woman. She lived through so much, and did so with such grace, strength and love. I realized at the funeral when I listened to people talk about my grandmother...that they were talking about my mom too. She may annoy the crap outta me (that is a parents job, right?), but she has such an amazing heart, and truly loves people. I need to tell her that more. Maybe I can do that in Peru. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her.

Oma lived through both world wars, and during World War II she sheltered her family of three kids, while pregnant with my uncle Dirk. She showed such courage in the face of such amazing horrors, and it never tainted her. She is truly someone to emulate. I hope I can be more like you, Oma. Wish I had realized that more when you were alive.

Here are the cousins with various husbands, children and significant others outside the Salmon House where we had dinner the night of the funeral. Mmmm!

This is the view from the Salmon House. Isn't it amazing? The bridge that the cruise ship is about to pass under is the Lions Gate Bridge. It connects North Vancouver to Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver (those tall buildings).

The house I grew up in, and the house my parent's still live in is to the right in the back. UBC is just out of sight to the right. God Vancouver is a beautiful city! And I'm completely unbiased! :) Hmm, the picture this referred to disappeared and I can't get it to reload! Oh well.

Signs that things may not be right...

When I returned home on Monday, this sight should have been my first indication that all was not right inside my house...see the cat toy lying outside the window? Hmm...


I came through the door and saw this: my bike knocked over, shoes scattered, and I don't know if you can see it, but the entire floor is COVERED with silver tinsel-type strings! I cleaned up a bit before taking this picture, but two of the blankets from the top of the couch were also on the ground. The silver stuff came from the cat toy that you can see on the floor to the right...silver tinsel balls on a red wand.



Coming through the door more, I looked toward the kitchen and saw the cat food container, that usually sits in the bathroom, lying in the middle of the room.


Walking over to the kitchen to see what else I could see...I see the food and water dishes, all empty...and FILTHY!!!! Then I knew just who had done it! If Loki and Dread had just had a kitty party, the bowls would just have been empty...but for them to be that dirty...know who had a party at Chandra's?


The bathroom may have been the funniest part! The toilet was FILLED with toilet paper shreds. You can see some on the floor there that didn't get into the toilet, and you can see how the toilet paper roll has obviously been played with. That roll was almost full when I left! Have you guessed yet? :) Well, here's a hint. After washing their dirty little paws in the toilet...they left little handprints all over the toilet, wall and washing machine.

Yup, raccoon party at Chandra's!!! :) I wonder how many were there? I can only imagine what my place is going to look like after me being gone for all of Sept! I have to leave the window open so the cats can get in and out. Well, I guess I don't HAVE to...but they hate having to stay inside when it's nice out. If you know anyone who needs somewhere to stay for a month... let me know! :) Of course, they have to love cats..