they're BAAAck...

in case you were wondering about the recent absence of nutria from this blog, they eventually grew up and migrated out from under our deck back to amazon creek. thank god! and we had a lovely, nutria-free late summer in which otis could run (on his run-rope--not able to let him run freely without a fence just yet) around the yard un-harmed, grace was not afraid to go outside, and i could hang out on the back deck enjoying the twilight and a beer without first having to scrape up rodent shit.

the first red flag came when the house started to smell like cat piss. since neither one of us is secretly operating a meth lab, we blamed it on gracie's old age. she's getting a bit geriatric these days. oh well, i guess maybe it's time for a litter box.

but then the compost pile i've been cultivating all summer started to look like someone had been in it. hmm...

and then this morning i walked outside to find half of my beautiful container garden (i've been growing rosemary, dill, parsley, chives, basil, oregano, and sage) KNOCKED OVER AND BROKEN, and a familiar little pile of oily, oval-shaped droppings on the deck stairs.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

marley (& otis) & me

i just got done reading marley & me (john grogan). ever since i got otis, dog people have been asking me if i'd read it yet, so i finally did. it's about this yellow lab, marley (who reminds me a lot of otis: jumps on people, freaks out and scratches up walls when left alone in the garage, dragged an entire cafe table out from under the people eating on it and halfway down the street), and his human family. it starts with marley as a fuzzy little puppy and ends up where you had better have a box of kleenex with you. it's well-written, and if you're a dog person i'd definitely recommend it (it would probably be pretty boring if you're not).

but the thing about it was, it was just so damn norman-rockwell-y! it simultaneously comforted me and grated on my nerves that, despite the true-to-life gory detail with which grogan described marley's "adventures," he never seemed to get truly furious at this dog! marley did some stuff that was way worse than otis would even think of (got kicked out of obedicence school, chewed up his metal crate until his teeth fell out and he was bleeding, then ran around the house smearing his doggie blood everywhere and destroying furniture), and yet it was written about in this 50's sitcom, "look at that! silly old marley..." kind of way that made me feel guilty about the times i've shouted at otis--not out of discipline but out of pure, blood-boiling frustration--until he cowered in the corner tucking his tail (please don't send Dog Protective Services to come take my puppy away!).

john grogan did write the book after marley's death, however, so i'm sure a good deal of nostalgia and "don't speak ill of the dead" played into his style. and he did talk about the time his wife was ready to take marley to the pound, so he doubled his efforts and got up at ass-o-clock every morning for a last-ditch marley-training-effort until marley was at least as "trained" as he was going to get. maybe he's just an incredibly patient, devoted man. or maybe having marley grew and strengthened those traits in him. i know otis has done that for us. i have said, on more than one occasion, "i'm taking him to the pound!" (though i never mean it). and matt has told me a few times "there is no peace around here! just OTIS!" but we talk each other down from our otis-hating ledges, and we ramp up (however temporarily) the efforts to make him a good dog. and i think having him around for the last year has cultivated our patience tremendously. and that patience has helped us deal more effectively with our jobs, with all the stupid shitty things that happen in life (like weekly flat tires on my commuter bike...), and with each other.

homesick

i've been having a pretty rough time this week. all the rushing around moving and getting married is done and i'm settling in, and it is suddenly really hitting me that i don't live in portland anymore. most of my friends and family (the ones who don't live really far away) are 2 hours north up I-5. and it's really FLAT here. i heard the other day that buildings are not allowed to be taller than 8 stories. i miss the skyline. i miss city lights reflecting off of the river. i miss how the shade of the buildings keeps downtown cool in the hot summer. i miss all the bridges with cars rushing over them in different directions. i miss the endless dining possibilities and all the different bars. i know i'm going to miss the hell out of the christmas tree in pioneer courthouse square this winter.

what i really miss is my friends. i know you guys are still my friends, so i don't feel a total loss, but it is really hard not to be able to just call someone and say "let's go get a beer at widmer after work," or "let's go on a bike ride," or "come hang out with me on my back patio." now it has to be an entire day--if not overnight--planned trip complete with dog-care arrangements if i want to hang out.

i do not regret moving here. i very much support matt and this ninkasi thing (plus there's a good possibility it could make us rich!). and there are so many things i love about this town, like the bike paths, the vegetable gardens in everyone's front yards, the very cool down-to-earth people i'm meeting, and the general way of life. it's just another life transition, and sometimes those are tough.

i know a lot of you guys have, at some point in your lives, packed up and moved away to a new city for whatever reason. anyone have any advice for me?

6 am, pukey dog

i woke up half an hour ago to the sound of otis vomiting right next to my head. then he went around the bed to matt's side and vomited there. matt was already up cleaning the dog puke when i came to full consciousness (it takes me a while). he said, as otis started puking a third time, "why don't you take your dog outside. you wanted to get up at 6:30 anyway." ugh.

we're in the phase in our lives right now where we need to make a very important decision fairly quickly: are we going to have children? i go back and forth on that issue several times a day. this morning i was definitely thinking "no way." not if it means no one ever gets anymore sleep and we're always grouchy with one another. but then when i took otis outside i noticed it had just rained, and that it smelled like almost-fall (one of my favorite smells), and that if i take otis on a long walk east i get to see the sunrise, and i thought "ok, morning is good." and then otis put his little fuzzy head on my lap as i turned on my computer and said with his puppy-eyes "mama, i don't feel good," and it felt good to snuggle him. so who knows?

i'm going to go take pukey mcpukerson outside and watch the sunrise. :)