Spring Update

Watch your step

The cats have been bringing home lots of dead things lately. I am one of those people who jump five feet in the air when they see a mouse, so I am glad to see the cats catch them. This past week has been a bit of a rodent extermination around here. We have had a large vole and several other large rodents. I have noticed the mice around hear are rather large, however, the last few have been exceptionally large with a fluffy tail. I wanted to know what kind of mouse had a fluffy tail. Yesterday Ruby the cat came to the yard and set down her latest kill. I went over to look at what was not a mouse, but a baby squirrel! After a few days and several more of them, I realized they weren't squirrels, but baby groundhogs. She must have a knack for catching them, because she has her taste set on baby groundhogs. We are glad to see them go - they dig up the yard and have even broken our sprinkler system.

We now must watch where we are walking in the yard, and be careful when letting the cats in the house. Upon coming home late from our last trip, we stepped up to the dark house and unlocked the door. As I stepped in, I felt a lovely squish under my foot. "UUgghhhh!" I said, "I think the cats left a mouse on the step for us." "Yep," Wayne said. "I stepped on it too."

Penelope

Penelope is enjoying spring. She seems to like going outside and watching mom and dad do yard work. I had been putting her on a blanket on the grass, but now I am petrified she will find a dead rodent to play with. She loves animals - including the neighbor's dog, who often gets loose and comes over to visit. Once we had just gotten home, and I was getting Penelope unbuckled. The golden retriever came from nowhere, was into the car and practically on top of the carseat within seconds. She continues to be enthralled with the cats, and I am amazed she hasn't gotten scratched yet. She is rather violent with them, pulling and squeezing if she gets ahold of them. The cats must sense what I would do with them if they were naughty!

Running

My career as a professional runner has been on hiatus, but was revived again when Wayne drug me out for a run last week. The weather has been perfect lately, and it feels good to get out in the evenings with the stroller. And, I am actually 'running.' I used to define 'running' as putting on cute work-out clothes, attempting to run half of a block, and walking for the remainder of the way. I remember being 'in shape' and 'running' a 5K, of which I ran about 2K and walked about 3K. However, somewhere between getting pregnant and taking care of a seven-month-old, I found something inside that either wasn't there before, or I didn't know I had. Maybe it was morning-sickness. Maybe it was childbirth. Maybe it is the fact that for 20 minutes I don't have to hold, feed or change a baby. Whatever it is, last night I ran a mile and a half without stopping. This may not seem like much, but it is a lifetime achievement for me, and I am not exactly 'in shape.'

Lilacs

We have lovely lilac bushes in front of our house. They normally look magnificent every spring, almost ready to bloom, when we get a hard frost, and the buds all droop and die. This year we have not had much for cold cold weather, so we have gorgeous lilacs!

Lawn Mowing

Wayne is still enjoying his old-fashioned mower. However, our backyard was only mowed once let year, so is overgrown again with weeds and sagebrush-a job too big for the manual mower. Our waiting to buy a mower paid off, last weekend Wayne found an excellent mower in the classifieds for 80 bucks. Just watch out for dead carcasses!

 Above: Penelope uses her feet instead of her knees to crawl or pull up sometimes.
Below: Pestering the cats.

 Lilacs!