Saturday, July 15, 2006

Les Animaux

I live in a small suburb on the eastside of Seattle named Redmond. Despite being a center of technology as home to Microsoft and Nintendo of America, Redmond is a small city and still has a small town feel to it. Our house is a couple miles out of town, out in farmland, so we sometimes see wildlife around us. This morning, as I was walking down our long driveway to the mailbox, I frightened two male deer that were hanging out on our lot. And that is why, despite the rain and the gray, this is such an awesome place to live. I love it and I hate it at the same time. Darn it, why can’t I make up my mind?!?


While I was in France, Jody decided she wanted a dog. We already have one dog, an old shih tzu named Charlie Brown with eye, ear, and skin problems. He’s getting really old these days. Apparently, the oven/stove frightens him. Anyway, Jody decided she wanted a new dog, so she and my mom adopted a Rhodesian Ridgeback (sounds like a dragon from Harry Potter). Since I got home, I’ve been trying to get used to this dog. It feels odd to me that the dog has been adopted into the home, and has routines and habits, and its stuff is all over the house, without me. I realize that sentence is really poorly worded, but can you understand what I’m trying to say? It would be like if you went off to college, and during the school year, your parents adopted an eleven-year-old girl from China, you know? And the girl’s stuff was in your bathroom, her shampoo where your shampoo used to be. It would be weird. Trust me.


We went to a dog park today, and this guy was asking about our dog’s breed, because she’s a ridgeback, but she’s actually a mix. And I guess he could tell. But anyway, Jody was all, “Yeah, she has Norwegian Ridgeback in her.” Hahaha! Norwegian Ridgeback! Haha! (I’m not the only one laughing, am I?)


So I know I should write about my trip, but I find the task daunting. I don’t really know what to say about it. I have about a million photos that I’m trying to sort through. The trip was really cool, but a bit of a whirlwind. The first week or so was fine because we stayed a few days in the same places, but the middle bit was insane because we were spending each night in a different town. Since we were traveling by train, this didn’t leave us much time for sightseeing. If you’re ever planning to travel around France, and you want to see smaller towns, don’t go by train! Rent a car!


Anyhoo, lessons learned and all that. We had fun. And it was nice to spend quality time with my sis, even though there were a couple times where I felt like strangling her. I hope this trip has taught me patience. At any rate, it’s really good to be home.


So, I’ll write more about the trip when it’s a little less daunting. I mean, how do you summarize three weeks of travel? It ain’t easy. I’ll work on it, though. Meanwhile, I also have tons of catching up to do on my favorite blogs. I think I’ll work on that now. Laters!

3 comments:

  1. My husband is looking at a new job prospect in a different state, two up to be exact, and exactly 500 miles away. I am what you'd call a city girl, and have always enjoyed having everything relatively close by. Even though I haven't visited the small town (in MT) yet, I am completely daunted and overwhelmed by the entire situation. We're driving up there on the 22nd and staying til the 24th. So, we'll see. I'm contemplating closing my blog and making it invitation only. I'm tired of knowing people at Bryan's current place of employment are reading it frequently. I feel like I am on a gag order and can't talk about it. Technically, I am. Anyway, you mentioning where you live sparked this weird comment.

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  2. I so know how you feel about writing about trips. Mine over and back lately haven't been close to 3 weeks long but it seems like when I get home, I just can't muster the strength to blog all about them.

    If you email me, I will catch you up to speed on the Hannah thing. I didn't share about it in my blog for a long time because I had to digest it myself for A LONG TIME. Send my a comment with your old MSN site and an email attached to it and I will email you back from there. (Don't really want to leave my email here for the whole world to read....) Anywho, in a word, OY. Very OY. Still reeling, not yet all there with it. Not totally in the plan. Not what I wanted. But obviously God is in control and I need to let him be.

    It is nice to have you close here in Washington again! Feels homey. :) We have to go to Renton (UGH) on our next trip here to try and find the Direct Buy outlet and do some stuff for Hannah's duplex that she is building in Spokane. That should be an adventure. So I will be a little closer to you. But I would rather be in REDMOND. Spoiled little thing you. Wave at Bill for me will you? lol

    We are back on the good old I90 today to Spokane for a couple of weeks until it is time for Hannah's next doctor visit. She has a pretty high risk pregnancy so I am coming over for the first few visits because she basically has no knowledge of her own medical history.....This is a very long comment.

    I will talk to you later, in a long email.

    ~Ronna

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  3. Hi Karen,
    Well, Rhodesian Ridgebacks are great dogs, great hunters...I am familiar with the breed, but never got close to one though...too menacing!

    Girl, I live off a state route and not exactly farm country, even though it is new england, but we have deer, squirrel, possum, turkey vulture, mountain lion and I see these animals on a frequent basis! What's up with that? I mean I come from bloody Africa, with lions and stuff, but I'm living in more of a jungle here than I ever got close to back home!
    When I tell my family back home of this, they keep saying "but where are the huge buildings and huge cars we keep seeing on TV?"
    And then I have to explain that sure, their are many huge buildings and cars here, but there are also huge animals roaming around inbetween. A concept they dont get.

    Strange world, huh?

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