March 31st, 2009 by admin

My dogs are like lovely topiary subjects to me. I just love to cut their hair. Right now the look I like is a close cut on the body with long brushed out hair on the legs.

Russell, my morkie, looks good in a puppy-teddy-bear cut on the face and head. Halle, my yorkie gets a fox-like cut with bangs.

Willie the Min Pin was smug as usual because she was free from the barber’s chair.

So, yes, I spent quality time grooming my little girls today.

That was the best part of my day.

March 30th, 2009 by admin

He has to take it easy, but he said he felt so good today that he was able to work on the keynote speech he is going to give at a conference this month.

I was pleased to hear energy and cheer in his voice on the phone tonight. He’s back!

I told him even though he felt good today, he needs to make sure he doesn’t over do it and that he still needs to take it easy. Doctor’s orders; his actual doctor’s orders.

Tired, again. I think I’m going to be tired for most of April. April and August are transition months for a lot of people who work in the resort industry. We switch from ski season to whitewater season. Others do ski-golf, ski-tennis, ski-sailing, ski-scuba. Since we live in a ski town, it’s typically a combination of skiing and something else.

Crazy as it sounds, there is a group of diehard skiers and snowboarders who actually do ski-ski, They just have to go work in South America, Austrailia, or any other place that has winter during our summer.

I know some people who have lived 14+ years of non-stop winters. I don’t think I could do it for more than a year without having to do a primal scream.

Time to read until I fall asleep…

March 30th, 2009 by admin

The dogs and I are doing fine. Life is peaceful but busy. Only a week and half left in the Beaver Creek ski season.

We are going to take the Morkie (Russell) and the Yorkie (Halle) on Ron’s department’s annual five-day rafting trip. Russell is a seasoned whitewater veteran. She’s been on three times more river trips than me. She loves water.

This will be Halle’s first trip. Unfortunately Willie, our Min Pin, is only allowed on day trips. She’s too much of an escape artist and runner to take on any trip where she may be lost forever.

I love her too much to take that risk. Both terriers will have their own PFD’s (personal flotation devices), aka “life vests” as well as raincoats and rash guards. I’m definitely taking my camera!

April is busy – very busy.  We have two trips scheduled, one household to move, cleaning, painting, packing and working to make up for taking time off.

I was surprised (again) that two days had passed since my last post, because it only felt like yesterday that I last posted here.

March 28th, 2009 by admin

Would you like to have a feature on your dog or dogs on this blog? Did your dog do something funny, heroic, extraordinary that you would like to share with other dog lovers?

I’m accepting Guest Doggies now!

If you have a dog with Liver Disease, please include history, conditions, symptoms, and how your dog is doing now.

For all other dogs, please explain how your dog has enhanced your life and his or her special qualities.

Leave me a comment to this post and I will email you personally to retrieve  photos and text from you.

-Ming

March 27th, 2009 by admin

Seems like a lot of people including myself have been irritable in the last couple of days for all kinds of reasons (taxes, hormones, insurance issues, cash flow, mortgages, debt, illness, other irritable people, etc.).

If you can’t forgive yourself, you’re in trouble because there is little chance you’ll be able to forgive others. If you can’t forgive others, avoid them until you can. A bad mood and a bad day will pass – they usually do.

Although a bad situation is what it is, one’s perception of it can either increase or lessen the pain one experiences in difficult circumstances.

Give yourself a time-out or a mental break from your worries so that you can recharge yourself. That’s what I’m going to do.

March 26th, 2009 by admin

This year has gone by stunningly quickly so far. How is it that March is almost gone? I was even surprised that I missed putting up a post yesterday.

It was an “epic powder day” at Beaver Creek today, but we didn’t ski because we had guests and one of them had a broken toe, so we went to the local hot springs instead. It was a nice day with good friends.

After our friends left, my Yorkie Halle played in the snow and came back looking like a little dog-snowman because she had  snow caked onto her fur everywhere including her little face. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture because it was dark outside and she shook most of it off.

March 24th, 2009 by admin

His initial recovery was rough, with a lot of constant pain in both shoulders and the collarbone area, very weak legs and shortness of breath. He was not able to walk or drive at first and is only able to undertake physical activity at the cardiac rehab center. His first rehab session was just last Thursday for a total of five minutes at very low intensity.

His most recent echocardiogram shows that his heart has repaired itself up to 90%, but he is still not able to walk, drive, lift things or climb stairs without difficulty. So, although the heart muscles are functioning, they are not up to capacity yet.

An echocardiogram is more detailed than x-ray imaging, but is still anything that would be considered “high resolution”. It is essentially an ultrasound (using sound waves) to create a video of the heart.

He still does not have enough oxygen being pumped out of his heart. As a result, his circulation is poor and all his extremities are cold (hands, feet, etc.), his legs are weak and he has trouble sitting in an upright position. True bed rest is always difficult for active people. For my dad who will always be a scholar, even in retirement, the inability to work at his desk has been a real blow.

However, we all know that he is one of the lucky ones because he was operated on within two hours of the attack. After three hours, permanent damage occurs. After eight hours, survival and/or recovery is uncommon.

We are full of joy and gratitude that he is with us and in good spirits.

March 24th, 2009 by admin

I guess six months living at sea level without much exercise exacted its toll on me today. I whined about shortness of breath and achy legs and feet after the first run. Then I went inside and told my husband I wanted to go home.

Thank goodness he didn’t let me off the hook. He didn’t say a word. He just gave me a warmer pair of ski pants and agreed to ski my favorite run at Beaver Creek over and over (Ripsaw).

I ended up having a great time and skied all morning, laying down lots of fresh tracks in the powder. It’s always cool to be able to get on the lift and see the turns you just made.

I’ve decided I’m going to get back into shape so that next season will be both painless and fun. This is the first year I didn’t race in the town series either, but spending that time with my parents was worth it.

March 24th, 2009 by admin

We got nine inches on the mountain last night. This will be my first time out all season since I’ve been out of state since September. Even though I’ve been on skis since toddler-hood, I always feel a little nervous the first day out.

When I ski alone I mosey up to the mountain in a leisurely way, but I’m skiing with Ron so we will be on the first chair up because  there’s fresh powder. I am not a morning bird, so I feel a little groggy right now.

March 22nd, 2009 by admin

From the movie Mr. Magorium’s Emporium in which the character Mulhoney is played by Natalie Portman, and Mr. Magorium is played by Dustin Hoffman.

The scene is one in which the pair has just set all the clocks in a clock shop to go off at the same time. There are 37 seconds before the set clocks chime.

Mahoney: “Now we wait”.

Mr. Magorium: “No. We breathe. We pulse. We regenerate. Our hearts beat. Our minds create. Our souls ingest. 37 seconds, well used, is a lifetime”.

March 20th, 2009 by admin

UPDATE : Julia – thanks for your concern. I edited the post below for better clarity. After reading your comment I read the post and realized it was vague in several ways.

The first person I refer to is the one who has been harassing me recently.

The second person was a man who escaped from a mental institution back when I was in college and living in a dorm on campus. He saw me in the city and apparently followed me back to campus where he tried unsuccessfully to gain access to me on a number of occasions. I never met him. The campus police and students that had to deal with him told me about him after the fact.

I can’t imagine being a public figure or a celebrity and dealing with harassment or stalking on a frequent basis.

***

I thought I would never have to put another post up about this issue.

Now that I’ve changed my phone number, the person harassing me has resorted to contacting others for whom she has contact information.

I’m sorry that anyone else has to field these communications. I honestly don’t know what else to do. I’ve even voluntarily taken myself off the group, deleted three months of posts on my blog

Even the stalker who escaped from a mental institution in Massachusetts (years ago), whom I never personally met but who followed me to school one day, went away after campus police threw him off campus twice. Unfortunately others at the front desk of my dorm had deal with him while I was probably in class.

March 20th, 2009 by admin

It’s a common cold, but my head feels like a brick and I keep dozing off. Will post tomorrow.

March 19th, 2009 by admin

I am finally enjoying peace from the recent turmoil

***

This week I reunited with a dear friend from 16 years ago. She and her family are on a ski vacation in Snomass and Aspen. After a full day of skiing, she graciously made a 45 minute drive to meet me at the Glenwood Hot Springs for some quality girlfriend time.

A busload of kids on spring break showed up at the hot springs as we chatted in the lobby so we decided to go to the Yampah Vapor Caves instead. It was awesome, like being in a steam room that is a natural old cave with steam that comes from the geothermal springs below. I especially liked the towels infused with Eucalyptus that seemed to energize us and give the air a spa-like aroma.

It was St. Patty’s Day the day we met, a notoriously bad day for DUI’s in ski resort towns. We were between Vail and Aspen at the hot springs, and even though there were police cars and checkpoints everywhere, there was still a fatal accident that caused my friend to take a poorly lit, poorly marked detour through unknown country to finally arrive back in her hotel in Snowmass hours later.

Neither of us slept much that night. I slept during the next day, but she somehow managed to get a full day of skiing in before dropping. How’s that for stamina.

Life is made up of hills and valleys and I take them both as part of the life experience. All and all, I’m still an optimist.

March 18th, 2009 by admin

Today I was awakened by my phone ringing over and over again. I hardly ever get calls marked “Private”. Actually I can’t think of receiving more than an isolated “Private” call once in a blue moon. Now I seem to get them regularly.

One of the messages she left essentially inexpicably states that I lied about my dad having a heart attack and going to the hospital.

Wow. There was only a small army of family, friends, colleagues, cardiologists, nurses, surgeons, insurance agents, a delegation from China that had to cancel their trip, and other medical professionals as well as administrative paperwork at the hospital and insurance company that show otherwise. Additionally I posted photos of my dad in his hospital bed on my blog as well as sent full-body photos of him with Halle on his lap to concerned well-wishers via email.

Today marks one month and six days of harassment, libel and slander.

March 18th, 2009 by admin

I’m incredulous that I’m still having to deal with harassment issues, but things could be worse, much much worse.

I feel loved and cared for. And I have befriended so many great people on DLD that I consider it a phenomenon. I feel grateful.

I have asked Olga to disable my current account with DLD so that no other disasters can happen while I straighten out security measures to deal with unwanted email and communications.

I was ready, willing and already took action to voluntarily remove myself from the group because:

1) I didn’t want to be harassed anymore by the perpetrator whom I will not publicly mention by name again, and who still seems to have a line into the DLD support group.

2) She apparently needs DLD a lot more than me, and I was happy to oblige if she would finally leave me alone.

3) The last thing I wanted to do was provoke someone who had already been directing hostility and negative energy towards me.

I would like to rejoin later when my security measures are in place and the melodrama has subsided. So to my friends at DLD: it’s not “good-bye”, just “see you later”!

March 16th, 2009 by admin

My husband is half Irish so he came home early yesterday to cook corned beef and cabbage. He’s going to bring enough for his core team at work as well as leave a portion home for me. Yum.

I went to a high school in Massachusetts for a year that was so Irish in student body that in order to graduate you had to learn how to dance the Irish jig and pass, so even though I’m 100% Chinese, I am an honorary Irish on some level.

Thankfully the basic Irish jig is not that hard and it doesn’t require partner dancing so I didn’t have to worry about stepping on a partner’s toes or trying to lead when I’m supposed to follow.

March 16th, 2009 by admin

I will be sending out my new contact information and answering email in a couple days. Thank you for your continued support and friendship. Without it, my current ordeal would be much less bearable.

Tomorrow and Tuesday I’ll be meeting up with a dear old friend visiting from Sorth Carolina , whom I haven’t seen in about 17 years!

If you do not receive replies to posts on the DLD site from me, it is because I have already removed myself from the email list at DLD. I think it’s the best course of action for now. I will miss hearing about you all and your dogs, and I will miss being part of such a nurturing community of people. I hope you will stay in touch through my blog or by emailing me personally.

I have deleted most of the posts referring to the person who has been harassing me. Eventually all references will be expunged.

Also, please bear with me as I fix the formatting that got messed up from moving to this new web address.

March 15th, 2009 by admin

I looked all over for a log dog beds before I realized I had a source for them practically in my back yard. My girlfriend Lizzie, a huge dog lover and rescuer of strays is a talented designer and woodworker.

This is the first sample of the dog bed I asked her to make. She sent me the pix and I must say the bed looks even more beautiful than I imagined. I would like to sell them for her since I am the one attached to the computer.

The dimensions of the frame was made to fit a standard pillow. I recommend a gusseted one. The beautiful thing about this bed is that you can use a regular sham of your choice on a standard pillow. Or I can custom make one in high quality fleece or a custom fabric.

It’s a bed that will last for generations. The Aspen is hand gathered from Colorado’s forests and each bed is hand crafted by my friend Elizabeth Battaglia, who designes furniture and jewelry.

Standard pillow case sized bed

Winsworth & Nemo on the "standard" bed

The sizes of frames will include:

#1)  Small Breed bed takes a Standard pillow: 20″ x 26″ ($275 for frame, $25 custom cover)

#2) Small-Medium Breed bed takes a European Square pillow: 26″ x 26″ (email for quote)

#3) Small Breed 2-Dog Bed takes a Queen Pillow: 20″ x 30″ (email for quote)

#4) Small Breed 3-Dog Bed based on King Pillow: 20″ x 36″ (email for quote)

Email me if you are interested in purchasing a dog bed or getting a quote for the non-standard sizes. I’ve looked all over the web and I think these custom log beds are the most beautifully finished ones out there.

-Ming

ming@clucky.com

March 14th, 2009 by admin

A friend sent me this video to cheer me up. It did the job. Who knew baby pigs were so cute, would be so attached to humans and could swim! Thanks for sending the link Dawn!

Without clicking on it, scroll over the link below. Then click “Play” in the pop-up window that appears.

Kingsford Goes to the Beach – video powered by Metacafe

If you simply click on the link, it will take you to Metacafe’s web page with the same video on it.

I had a friend who had two pot bellied pigs, but I only met them after they were large adult pigs and they were not as friendly as this little guy.

March 13th, 2009 by admin

It was a beautiful sunny day in the Vail Valley. My husband had the day off and I was feeling good. Then two things happened that pulled the rug out from under me, albeit temporarily.

1) My new nurse practitioner insisted I try a medication that I felt was inappropriate for me. She kept pressuring me even though I objected. Finally I agreed to try it and it triggered a sensory episode that included paranoia and anxiety. I called her to tell her about the adverse reaction and she was defensive instead of helping me deal with the reaction. Then she hung up on me. Whoa.

I’m fine now but had to wait for the effects to wear off and will be canceling all future appointments with her.

2) The second thing I can’t really write about. Just imagine how it feels to be stalked by an unstable person.

Today is another sunny day. Halle is curled up on my shoulder. I still feel some of the effects of the medication, but they are greatly diminished.

I have an affinity to stones and have a small collection I have put together over the years. When I feel unbalanced or have emotional upset  in my life, they are one of the things that can help ground me and strengthen my constitution. I can’t explain why, but they work for me. I don’t always use them, but there are times that I just know they are what I need.

Last night I went through my boxes of stones,  knowing that the right one would be obvious. When I came to the Sodalite, I felt immediately it was the one and took it out without looking further. Even as I held it I felt a calming energy.

I took it to bed with me and slid the smooth polished and faceted disc under my neck. I was surprised at how quickly a feeling of peace came over me. I felt thankful and drifted off to sleep.

My attitude is not to question or suspect the things in life which bring peace and comfort. I just accept them into my life and feel grateful.

Mystery in life is not a bad thing.

March 11th, 2009 by admin

T, If you are reading this blog, Happy Birthday, again.

Anyone who sees this post, take a good look at the photo below because my sister might make me pull it off the site. She’s camera shy and very private, though if you know her, you know she’s neither shy nor private about her opinions. LOL.

So I guess I won’t say how old she is. Even though she thinks I’m a “crazy dog lady”,  I know she has a rapport with dogs. This photo should be proof enough. It was from a couple years ago. I couldn’t find a recent photo to use. The Min Pin’s are especially attached to her.

Willie thinks my sister is a big brown Min Pin

In case you were wondering,  she woke up from a nap to find Willie still asleep, hugging her neck and smiling.

March 10th, 2009 by admin

Pictures say it all sometimes.

Just wanted to share two sets of photos today:

1) I know a lot of dogs do this, but here is a photo of Bumper, my parents’ black Min Pin, on my sister’s lap in Ann Arbor, and right below it, a photo of Willie, my chocolate Min Pin on my husband’s lap yesterday in Colorado.


Bumper the Black & Rust Min Pin in Michigan



Willie the chocolate Min Pin in Colorado

2) My latest grooming creation as performed on Halle. I used Bumble & Bumble’s “Sumotech”  hair wax to get the bangs to stand up. Voila!



My grooming hobby personified

I’m going to indulge myself in putting up another photo of my handiwork. I truly enjoy cutting my dogs’ hair, but it is a time hog because I do it for leisure and have absolutely no sense of urgency ;-)



Halle stays perfectly still for grooming

That’s a gooood giiirrrrlll.

March 9th, 2009 by admin

Sofia, a Havanese on the Dog Liver Disease site accidentally got out during a trip out of town and was hit by a car. Thankfully and miraculously she is alive and seems not to have sustained any major physical trauma thus far.

When I read that she had been hit, I felt my heart skip a beat. I think anyone who has witnessed or lost a dog to a car accident, or even almost lost a dog to an incident with a vehicle will not forget that sickening feeling for the rest of his or her life. I know I won’t.

I’ve been meaning to put a post up as a salute Alice, the Border Collie whom I met last summer and whose owner I befriended and became bonded with forever in one of the best as well as most certainly the worst day for me last year.

As a result of my involvement with Alice’s passing last summer, I have become completely paranoid about dogs and cars, especially since Willie our Min Pin is an escape artist and runner, Russell the Morkie loves to run out and stand in the road whenever she gets a chance, and Halle is so tiny, she blends in with the dirt road at our summer place.

When I hear my husband coming up the driveway, I would run out with limbs akimbo scooping up small loose dogs like a maniac. Even crazy-smart dogs can’t fully wrap their heads around how deadly vehicles are, especially the ones they are familiar with. Why would a vehicle they wander under for shade suddenly be cause for alarm?

I’ve been putting off the tribute to Alice because every time I think about last summer I have feelings of despondency and nausea. How I cried. How Jeff cried. He didn’t leave the house for days and I was in shock for what seemed to be like an eternity. I couldn’t stop reliving the moment involuntarily. I was terrorized and haunted by my memories.

The feelings of terror and guilt are awful, but even most rural environments are not free of motor vehicles and the most vigilant pet owner cannot always anticipate or prevent an accident from happening.

I’m almost ready to write about Alice, but for now I just want to pray for Sofia and for her human parents to emerge as unscathed as possible.

Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

March 7th, 2009 by admin

1) More soul searching

2) More thought or desire for having meaning in one’s life and actions

3) More frugality, reducing, reusing and recycling

4) Enjoying the “free” intangibles more: sunsets, friends, nature, walks, relationships

5) More creativity

6) More self-reliance and DIY (Doing it Yourself)

7) More gratitude for what one has

8) More empathy and compassion for fellow struggling humans

9) De-emphasis on material things

10) Discovering who your real friends are

11) De-emphasis on “financial net-worth” of a person

12) De-emphasis on status, prestige and luxury

13) More interest in energy conservation and renewable energy

14) More saving when possible

15) More paying down debt when possible

16) More use of debit cards and cash instead of cash when possible

17) More humility, less arrogance, fewer attitudes of “entitlement”

18) More depth of meaning and less superficiality

Things are pretty bad, but I’ve always found the worst times are the best times for personal growth. Our entire country probably collectively needed a real spanking anyway.

I believe that Americans will emerge more evolved from all that is going on. In some ways I do hope that things get worse in order to provide deep and wide impetus for moving our collective consciousness to the next level. Adversity is an amazing wake-up call, especially if it is systemic and pervasive.

Please feel free to share your “silver linings” in the comments!

March 7th, 2009 by admin

We’re not imagining it. I’m not going to interject my opinion until the end of this list because the following items speak for themselves:

1) As of three weeks ago, unemployment in Detroit proper was at 22%. The marker for “depression” is 25% Michigan was at 12%. People in Vail are crying because they’re up to 4.3%.

2) Banks have been retroactively reducing home equity lines of credit based on newly devalued home prices. In Michigan, Chase Bank has devalued property seemingly across the board by about 30%. Your line of credit may go from $200,000 to $140,000 overnight. You may find you are suddenly maxxing out on your credit without notice.

3) Credit cards are hiking up interest rates just because. Citi raised my interest rate from 8.9% t0 19.99%. When I called to ask if it was something I did, they said, “No – you have an outstanding payment history. We’re doing this across the board”. Many cards are also reducing credit limits out of the blue as well. I understand they want to reduce their liability, but it’s creating more problems.

4) The economy has finally affected the Vail Valley with 1000+ foreclosures on the books, but rents continue to rise by 10-25% because the area is still short thousands of units of affordable housing. My girlfriend is a bank manager and has confirmed that they are turning down the majority of the loan applications due to the much more stringent requirements.

5) Insurance companies like Aetna, AutoOwners, etc., are “holding” money: taking much longer to pay out for claims or dragging the process out until customers are willing to settle.

6) Family pets, mostly dogs, are being found abandoned in homes in which people have foreclosed on or been evicted from.

7) Retirement funds from decades of individual and group plan savings have dwindled to half or less of their sizes.

8) Everywhere I go I see businesses that have shut down or struggling.

There’s more of course.

I am actually the family optimist, but I strongly feel things will get substantively worse before they get better. Why? Because each new day brings news of more layoffs, businesses filing for bankruptcy, ponzi schemes and mismanaged corporations.

People without jobs can’t find work. People without homes can’t buy new ones. Banks aren’t lending. New jobs have not materialized yet and the repercussions of all the lay-offs, business closings and corruption are still fanning out across our country at all socio-economic levels.

The lucky ones are the people who can lay low and ride it out. But “it” may still take at least 3-5 years.

Here are two little things that caused a lift of the eyebrow:

-Barnes & Nobles is now enforcing a new return policy: only 14 days and only with a receipt. No store credit, returns or exchanges after 14 days period.

-Costco in the Vail Valley has removed their selection of upscale cheese. We’re talking about the Vail Valley.

Here’s an item of irony. My husband says that Vail Resorts has been visibly affected in the following ways:

-The company is restricting overtime for employees.

-Clients who used to spend $5000+ a day at the resort are now spending $1000/day.

March 7th, 2009 by admin

I’ve tried writing this post about five times. I’m just going to say we live in strange times. These are the times that build character, right?

March 6th, 2009 by admin

Since I’ve been home I’ve taken time out to hang out with Ron and our three dogs. Tomorrow it’s back to work for both of us and that’s a good thing.

In the past two days I’ve had a chance to indulge myself in one of my favorite activities: grooming!

I take a long time cutting dog hair, sometimes hours spread out over days to perfect the cuts, trims, sculpting, cleaning, and pawdicures.

I told Ron I was becoming a pro as I inspected my handiwork and was obviously pleased with myself. He smiled and said I probably wouldn’t make any money on it because I took so long. So I said I was an amateur groomer. He said I was more like a “hobbiest”. We both laughed. It’s so much fun for me I don’t even care if I only ever have “hobbiest” status.

March 5th, 2009 by admin

Here’s a self-portrait of me and Halle that I took a few minutes ago.

Home in the Vail Valley

Ron is making dinner and I am going through five months of mail that wasn’t important enough to forward to Michigan.

I’m glad I switched a lot of my communications to email because now instead of a big box of mail, all I have to go through is a pile a couple inches thick.

I made it back and I think everything is going to be ok.

March 4th, 2009 by admin

It took a lot longer than planned, but I’m finally home.

I want to thank my friends at DLD for their support – I didn’t feel alone for a minute. I also want to thank my sister for talking with me on the road when I was tired, googling clean and cheap motels as I prepared to stop, and generally making the trip by phone with me. She was the one sister that was out of state when my parents were hospitalized, but made immediate plans to take time off work to fly back to Ann Arbor. Her stay was planned to overlap with my departure, which made the transition for both me and my parents much less traumatic.

Marie – thank you for keeping track of me. One can’t have enough mom-like people in one’s life!

March 3rd, 2009 by admin

Halle and I have been on the road for something like thirteen hours today. We stopped several times for gas, meals and bathroom breaks. She’s a great little traveler now.

When I first adopted her, she would throw up every time she went for a ride. Then after a while she stopped getting sick but would crawl under the car seats until the car stopped. Now she travels like a champ in her own car seat “above ground”.

I think I was more worn out by Nebraska than she was. Actually, we’re still in Nebraska, but close to the Eastern border. Nebraska seems to go on forever, but this was one trip through it without construction, giant tumbleweeds, windstorms, rainstorms, tornadoes or lack of lodging with vacancies. Nebraska was kind to us today and I am grateful.

March 2nd, 2009 by admin

After a late start, more stops and starts, missing a major exit and having to pull over to catch a nap, we’ve made it to the border of Iowa.

Leaving was hard. I tried to say my goodbyes to my parents inside the house, then run outside into my car and drive away before they could come out to the driveway. I wasn’t fast enough. They came out and stood by the passenger side of the car. Their eyes looked as big as  saucers. I waved and yelled, “Goodbye”, mustering the best smile I could, then pulled out of the drive, not looking back.

Now Halle and I are in a motel. She’s sleeping and I’m tired. Tomorrow will be a very long driving day

March 1st, 2009 by admin

Will update when I can. Supposed to be in Colorado by Tuesday.