Christmas in Camas

I flew up to Portland for Christmas this year to spend the holiday with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. I stayed with Mom, who lives in a really cute house in Camas, Washington. Camas is home to a huge Georgia Pacific paper factory, or as it appeared to me, a tree crematorium. Paul and Anne live across the river in Portland, and they came over to open presents Christmas morning. Lots of presents. I think I like giving presents better than receiving them, especially when I get to give presents to the fetus that is nestled in Anne's tummy right now. I gave the fetus a black one-piece outfit that says "ABCD: for those about to read we salute you". Awesome. It snowed a little on Christmas day, but was otherwise gray, dark, rainy and cold. Huh - who would have thought that winter in the Pacific Northwest could be so dreary? I enjoyed sitting on the couch by the fireplace during most of my visit, staying warm and dry. Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Christmas Eve - yup, that's a pink tree, and "A Christmas Story" on the TV behind it.

A very bad picture of me, but clearly Mom's cat (Leo) and I bonded during my visit.

Below, Bailey savors the remains of his stuffed turkey, destroyed and eviscerated within 15 minutes of presentation.

Everything's turning up...PREGNANT!!!

My god, everyone is getting pregnant these days. I feel like some old freak, single, not wanting kids. That's ok though - I'm perfectly fine being "Crazy Aunt Marci". Here's a list so far:

Cousin Beth and OB
Brother Paul and Anne
Friends Kristi and Adam

Yay, pregnant people! Anyone else I need to add to the list? Huh? Huh???

Festival of Lights

Can you believe I haven't been to the Wild Animal Park in over a year? It's true. But that all changed when Janet (from work) invited me and a few other girls to go see the park at dark, a.k.a. the Festival of Lights. Apparently, the wildfires of October destroyed a trailer that contained most of the lights, but they were able to cobble together a fairly decent display. It was really cool to see the lions and tigers I regularly visited while I was guiding for Roar and Snore in 2005; I got to see Delta's three Sumatran tiger cubs, Izu at Lion Camp - all grown up, and Mbari in the big lion exhibit. I can't believe how huge those lions have gotten!

Speaking of Teddy...

Teddy Bear actually got in his new dog bed for about 30 seconds the other day. Miraculously, I had my camera in hand, so I snapped a few photos. Then he left the bed and Zoe took it over again. She loves it! Meanwhile, Jesse continues to enjoy his "donut", which is about half the size of him. Somehow, he manages to squeeze himself into it and sleep. Weirdo. Anyway, last week Teddy went in to the vet to get his snaggle-tooth removed; it was hanging out of his mouth crooked and turning brown - yuck! I waited a while to see if it would fall out, and I even tried giving it a tug or two, but I got grossed out and decided to let the vet handle it. Plus, I'm sure that it didn't feel so good for Teddy. They removed the tooth, and two more fell out when they were cleaning his teeth - poor geriatric puppy! The vet said that a lot of his larger molars had been shattered somehow, maybe by chewing bones or other hard things when he was younger. Yuck! But now, his teeth are all taken care of and I can't even smell his breath. Amazing!

Gettin' Crafty

Last Saturday was my third week in another series of sewing classes. I was originally going to sew up a little bag to match the skirt I sewed during the first two weeks, but on the spur of the moment I decided to whip up some Yule stockings for the kitties and doggy. I had some coordinating fat quarters that I used for the cats' stockings, and leftover fabric from my skirt for Teddy's bone stocking. The skirt turned out very well - my first zipper! - but I need someone to take a picture of me wearing it before I can show you what it looks like. Anyway, here are the stockings - too bad I won't be here to watch the critters enjoy them! Oh well - at least they'll get some treats while I'm visiting up in Portland/Camas.

The Exciting Adventures of Chemo Kitty

So, for all of you who are wondering how my Zoe is doing, here's the latest. After starting her on chemo about a month ago, my vet and I decided to take her off the treatment after a week; she was throwing up every day, her appetite had really decreased, and she'd gotten really dehydrated. For the next couple of weeks we worked on settling her stomach down, getting her appetite up, and making sure she stayed hydrated. Before I knew it, my old Zoe was back - she's put on a little weight (I think the prednisone is really helping with that), and is drinking plenty of water. I discovered that if I pretend that I'm getting myself a glass of water, she can't help but drink from "my" glass. She also likes to eat her dry food from these little desert dishes that I have - kind of like those on the "Fancy Feast" commercials. Anyway, my vet wanted to try the chemo again, but at a reduced dose and frequency. We had to get the chemo specially formulated because it's such a low dose, but after one week of treatment, Zoe seems to be doing ok. She has thrown up a few times, but not like before, and she's still eating, drinking, and running around looking cute. We're taking it week by week, and this week was good - hopefully, they will continue to get better!

On another note, Teddy Bear has a really bad snaggle-tooth that must come out. And apparently, I have $500 that must be spent on that. He goes in for that this Friday, so wish him luck! Poor bear - I think he'll feel better, though, and his breath will definitely smell better!

Another Apartment Nightmare - NOT a Halloween Story!

I wish this was a Halloween tale; alas, this is just the horrific story of my life on Morning View Drive. Last week we were informed that all of the pipes in each building are going to be replaced. So, we were to secure our valuables, have our pets contained, and move everything out of the bathroom and under the kitchen cabinets so that the plumbers could access the necessary areas. Luckily, Mark was here this past week - I got a call on Monday from the landlady that they wanted to enter my apartment and start work that day. So, Mark moved all my stuff into the living room. When I got home, I saw that this was going to be a lot more disruptive than originally anticipated - check it out:

My dining area; workers were supposed to be done by 4:30 each day, but were there until about 6:00. They moved all their crap out of the way, but all my furniture had to be shoved into the living room for about a week.

My bathroom - everything was moved into the living room. They took down the only mirror I have in the apartment!

My living room. Where's the couch??? How do I get to the litter boxes??? What the hell is going on here???

Anyway, I think the plumbing is done now. I think this week they will be patching the holes that were cut in the bathroom, dining room, and kitchen, then painting the whole thing. At some point they'll be coming in to clean the carpets, replace faucets and sinks, and the ceiling fan. At least, that's what I've been told. I told the landlady - gee, all these renovations are great, but I'm living here. What a pain! And, my rent will be going up. Surprise, surprise.

Halloween Pictures at Last!

It was a strange Halloween. I think the fires had a lot to do with it - I didn't decorate my house like I did last year, and I only got four groups of kids at my door. The good thing was that I didn't have any groups of little thugs this year, the bad thing was that I had a whole lot of candy left over. Anyway, a few people still got dressed up at work, me included. I was a tiger...grrr! And, I still put decorations up in my office. It's weird doing Halloween in SoCal - the weather was so warm, and it just doesn't feel like autumn, and that things are dying or going to sleep for winter. At any rate, here are some pictures - enjoy!

My office was very spooky. Besides the Halloween decorations, there are lots of project files and piles of papers that have yet to be addressed. Boo!

Cara, me, and Heidi (above).

My downstairs neighbor went a little nuts. When I came home from work, a gigantic pumpkin was leering at me, and all those skeletons? Yup, motion-activated cackling is what I was listening to all night long.

The Roof - The Roof - The Roof is on Fire...

Actually, it's not on fire yet. I stayed home from work today - still not over my cold - but it turns out that my office closed anyway due to the fires, so it's a good thing that I didn't go in. It's pretty chaotic out there from what I understand - lots of nearby areas are being evacuated, and my downstairs neighbor has already packed up and left. My doctor cancelled my appointment that I had tomorrow morning because her house burned down, and Zoe's checkup was rescheduled for Wednesday. Anyway, here are some pictures I took this morning, around 7:30 am, then again at 10:30 am. I didn't alter the color in these photos in any way - crazy, huh???

Want to waste some time?

Zoe Update

Well, today I gave Zoe her first does of chemotherapy. It turns out that, based on the biopsies taken from her stomach and small intenstines, she has small-cell lymphoma, which is a low-grade (as opposed to high-grade) lymphoma. Zoe's oncologist is really nice - he's located at the California Veterinary Specialst Oncology Center located really close to where I work. I started her on prednisone pills a couple of days ago, and then picked up her Leukeran from Costco today. Fortunately, these medications will only cost me about $60 a month; unfortunately, they are both pills which Zoe must swallow - the prednisone every day, and the Leukeran three times a week. I'm going to think seriously about investing in a full-body suit of armor.

Actually though, the last few days, Zoe's appetite has been very good and I think she's put on a little weight in the last week (I've been spoiling her with some veeeeery good cat food - I think Jesse has been packing on the pounds as well). Dr. Proulx said that if a cat had to choose a cancer to have, most smart cats would choose small-cell lymphoma. The rate of cell-growth is very slow, and most cats, given treatment, just continue to live with the disease. Zoe is average age for getting this disease, and apparently, if treatment goes well, she still should have several good years left in her. About 90% of cats taking this chemo treatment do very well - no vomiting or diarrhea or anything. But, I'll need to keep a close eye on her the next couple of months. Zoe has a follow-up visit with Dr. Proulx in two weeks, at which time she'll have a blood count done and a check up to make sure she's doing ok.

So, it's a relief to know what is going on with Zoe, but I'm not too excited about the diagnosis. But, as each of Zoe's three doctors have said, it could have been a lot worse. All the vets have been very nice and caring - my regular vet even called me after she found out what the diagnosis was, just to see how we were doing. Anyway, wish us luck -

Yeah, I've been busy (and tired)

I know, it has been a long time since I've updated my blog. But really, it was pretty much just pictures from Jes' wedding and my trip to San Francisco that I wanted to post. Work has been very busy the last couple of months now that David is back as my supervisor, and when I get home I pretty much just want to chill. But there's still a couple things going on - the first thing would be my cat, Zoe. She's 13, and people tell me that's old for a cat, but I disagree that it's old for Zoe. But, over the past year I've been noticing that she's been losing some weight - getting very bony and skinny. So last weekend I brought her to the vet - she lost 2 lbs over the past year (which is a lot, considering how tiny she is), so they took some blood to run a full panel, and also took some urine for a urinalysis. Zoe was not happy about it, and enjoyed even less the vet force-feeding her a deworming pill (it took 2 vets about 10 minutes of fighting to get a 6.9 lb cat to eat one pill). The urinalysis showed some blood in her urine, so I have to give her antibiotics twice a day for about two weeks (ask me how much Zoe likes that). The blood could just be an infection, but it could also indicate other problems with the kidneys or bladder. But, her blood panel turned out good, except for her thyroid, which looked borderline high. So, they sent for another test - negative for hyperthyroid. So, last weekend cost me about $350. I went back yesterday with Zoe - they took x-rays and didn't see anything wrong, except that she has no body fat, which makes her organs difficult to see. But no kidney or bladder stones, or major tumors were evident. The vet suggested another specialized blood test to check for pancreatic function and malabsorption - I'll get the results back on that this week. It was still too soon to see if she still has blood in her urine because she's only been on the antibiotics for a week. The bottom line is that I've spent almost $600 and I still don't know what's wrong with my kitty. She's acting normal and everything - she may just be getting old. I don't know, but she's my buddy and I'm not quite ready to accept that she's at the age where stuff starts to go wrong.

Speaking of going wrong, oh, Teddy Bear. He really is getting old. A couple of times in the past month, as we've been out walking, he's pulled himself so hard on his leash that he starts choking, falls over, and then has a hard time using his back legs. I don't know if it's a seizure or what, but he's still his normal annoying self, so it's hard to say. Today I noticed that one of his yucky back teeth is loose - I hope it falls out so that I don't have to take *him* to the vet again! Last time we went it was also very expensive.

And speaking of expensive, let's talk about my car. Last Friday I was on my way to work and I decided to stop and grab a sandwich for later. I was gone two minutes, came back to my car, and it wouldn't start! I called AAA, who came out to tow me to my mechanic, and the car started right up. What's up with that??? So, I drove it to my mechanic - turns out some dumb sensor in the starter was broken. That set me back about $150, but I guess it could've been worse.

Man, at the rate things are going, I'll never have enough cash for a vacation!

Good things though - I finished the wrap top that I started sewing a few months ago, and made good progress on a skirt. So far, it's awesome. I'll probably finish it next year some time. Also, I'm getting back into my digital scrapbooking - I'm a little overwhelmed with Photoshop Elements, but I purchased an instructional CD that focuses on scrapbooking with Elements. It should be very helpful.

That's it for now - I hope that's enough. I'll be in touch!

Fishy in San Francisco

At the beginning of September, the Fish and Wildlife Service paid me to attend the American Fisheries Society annual meeting in San Francisco. Of course, I was born there and all, and have been to the City many times since then, but I decided it would be a fun trip. So, I whipped up a poster to present some of my graduate work during a poster session and set off. It was a nice week away from the job, but I soon discovered that going away for a week is not necessarily a vacation - you still have to meet your deadlines, so you basically have to bust your ass trying to get stuff done before you leave, and then when you get back you have to bust your ass trying to get to all the stuff you missed while you were gone. It's not like I actually got to skip any work - it was just crammed in other places! Anyway, the trip to SFO was good - I saw lots of people from Colorado State, and we had a good time eating out and going to socials. Oh yeah - I also went to a few of the scientific talks - they were pretty good, I guess, but not a whole lot of new information, I thought. Want to see some pictures??? Here they are:

I stayed at the Parc 55, right downtown. This was the view from my room on the 21st floor at night.

Monday night was the poster session / social - right in the middle of it, these drums and symbols started banging and a couple of Chinese dragons came around to harass the meeting attendees. It was good fun.

A few of my CSU friends - Jill, Matt, Ayeisha, and me.

Jeremy (right) had a screening of his documentary film, River Webs. It was awesome! Afterwards, a few of us went out to sushi (that's me on the left, then Owen and Miki, Dr. Fausch from CSU, and Jeremy).

Thursday night was the best social ever - they closed the Hyde Street Pier (near Ghiradelli Square) just for the AFS'ers and gave us access to the National Park's boats. I declared myself captain of the Balclutha.

We all enjoyed the many buffets throughout the pier (serving fresh tuna, all sorts of salads, soups, fresh vegetables and fruit, and chocolate fondue), as well as the completely open bars that were set up and didn't stop serving. That's me above, Andrew, Jill, Matt, and Ayeisha.

The last day I was in the City I walked down to Japantown. I hadn't been there since I was a little kid, and it had really changed. There was hardly anybody around, and all the shops were totally pricey and upscale - no bargain bins of stilt sandals and tabi sock anywhere! But at least I got a picture of this completely bizarre business sign. Good times!

Jes and John's Wedding

Mark and I were invited to attend Jes' wedding to John, which happened July 13 at Breaker's Beach on the Coronado Naval Base. It was such a pretty spot! The beach is only open to military personnel and their families, and they rented out a really nice little deck hall for the wedding and reception. I know Jes from working at the Wild Animal Park, but she recently moved to South Carolina, so I'll miss her. I also got to see a few old friends from the Wild Animal Park that I hadn't seen in a while - yay Emily who just had a baby girl a few days after the wedding! I miss you guys!!! Waaahhh!!!

Koski Reunion at Lake Tahoe

A couple of weeks ago I took a few days off from work and flew to Lake Tahoe to meet up with most of the Koski clan. It was the first time I got to use my new camera (woo hoo!) and I'm sad to report that it appears that I, too, have been inflicted with a genetic disposition to take vast quantities of photos. This sickness has been further enabled by the fact that my new camera has a 2 GB storage card - you can only imagine how easy it was to snap off a few hundred pictures. At any rate, click here or on the picture below to see the top 50 photographs from this mini-holiday; just remember, there are plenty more where these came from, and if you don't see a photo you were expecting to see, there may be good reason (i.e., future blackmail material, so stay on my good side, please). Enjoy!

D'oh! I've been Simpsonized!

Look at me - I've been Simpsonized! If you go to http://www.simpsonizeme.com/, you can upload a picture of yourself and undergo a yellowing process that will transform you into the newest Springfield citizen. Once the initial yellowing is complete, you can tweek things like your eyes, hairstyle, clothes, colors, and backgrounds. Here is the photo I uploaded and my final Simpsonized result:

After two days of reading...

I just finished. Wow.

Cuteness

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 5.0 so that I could start digitally scrapbooking. I'm kind of behind in my scrapbooking and part of the problem is that I'm so perfectionistic and making pages using paper and adhesives and cutting stuff out and all that takes so long to do - I haven't started any pages recently because it's just too much of an undertaking. So I decided to go digital and have my pages professionally printed - it's actually quite cost effective, and is fast and easy to do. Plus, since I've been using my digital camera exclusively, I don't have to print photos out and cut them up - one more step I can skip.

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to write about. I purchased Elements and have been trying to learn how to use it. And the best pictures to start practicing on, I've found, have been pet pictures! So here are pictures of Zoe, Jesse, and Teddy - I've lightened and warmed them up, increased the contrast, and used a glow filter. Cute, huh?

Whirlwind trip to Portland and Back

Well, it finally happened. Mom sold her house in Escondido and moved up to Portland. What an endeavor! Packing up her home took several weeks and it was very strange seeing the house completely empty. We started out on Friday and drove for about ten hours, stopping overnight just north of Sacramento. From there we drove about eleven hours all the way up to Portland. The second day was much prettier - we drove past Mount Shasta, and the landscape became rolling and green. I'm actually kind of jealous - I want to move up there now! Michael (the parrot) was very good the entire trip - she sat next to me the entire time and happily clucked throughout the drive. I think she rather enjoyed sitting in the car! Mom drove the white Durango (pictured below) with Leo and Bailey, and overall, the trip went very well. I flew back home on Sunday and called in sick on Monday to rest. It will be very weird being here without my mom, but things change, and I think she'll be very happy in Portland. Here are some pictures of our adventure:

My trip to ... West Virginia?!?

Yes, back in May I traveled to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, for a week of government training at NCTC, the National Conservation Training Center. We flew into Baltimore and drove out into the country - Shepherdstown is right across the Potomac River from the historic Antietam battlefield, if that gives you any idea of where I was. The weather was warm and everything was so GREEN, compared to the dry landscape of SoCal. There were deer and cardinals and bluebirds and so many other critters - it made me miss living on the east coast, and reminded me very much of where I grew up in Northern Virginia. NCTC is a fairly isolated campus just for the Fish and Wildlife Service - I took a course titled "Habitat Conservation Planning" which probably sounds more interesting than it actually was. But really, the course was pretty good and I learned a lot that will be helpful to me in my work. Anyway, here are some of the pretty pretty pictures that I took before my camera batteries died and held all my pictures hostage for the past month: