I have the coolest kittens...ever!

OMG! I love my cats so much. Ciro started playing this game with us shortly after we moved into the new place almost 2 weeks ago. "Fetch" has become an obsession for him. It is so flippin' cute. Whenever he wants to start a game he brings his little stuffed mouse up to you and drops it at your feet or on your lap and starts his usual chattering (he is a very vocal kitty, and talks ALL the time). He'll play for as long as you let him or until he gets hurt (today he ran head-on into a chair leg and had to shake it off for a bit before he could continue, poor thing). I love it! I'm not much of a dog person, but I do enjoy a good game of fetch. My cat kicks ass! I have tons of his videos posted on my Facebook. He's getting rather famous, so I figured I'd share him with y'all, too. Maybe some of you can have an "awwwww" moment in the middle of your work day or something!

Oh, and nevermind the state of disorder that our house is currently, in. It's embarrassing, but we did just move and we are in school full time + all of our extracurricular B.S....so we're slowly putting the place together. I can't wait to have it done. I'm so sick of boxes!

- Kel

Ahhhhhhhhhh

So, a while back I posted something about how the house wasn't working out and blah, blah, blah. It wasn't the house that was the problem, it was the person with whom we went into the deal with. He got a new boyfriend with a very serious criminal record...fuck it...who is a registered sex offender. He moved all of his shit in one day while we were at school. Nice, huh?

No way in hell were Josh and I going to live with this guy. On top of the very obvious BIG problem, he had all kinds of other baggage, was a total creep and has a poorly behaved dog that likes to drag trash all over my just-cleaned home. Oh, and dude is bat-shit crazy. You never knew when he was going to come at you out of the blue. Needless to say we told Jason he could keep the house, good luck affording the mortgage and bills and we got the hell out as fast as we could!

So! For right now, we are living in a spacious two-bedroom apartment and couldn't be happier (happier for now). We plan on buying a home in the next 12-18 months, but for now, the savings we're able to build by renting this cheap-o place will help lower the mortgage payment later! It's also pretty nice to just be able to come home from school and not have to mow the lawn, fix a leaky pipe or go under the house to figure out why something isn't turning on...lol. Cool thing is that we have permission to paint, so I don't have to feel like I'm in a mental ward for the next year (although sometimes I feel like maybe I should be).

We live about 50 feet from Starbucks and 12 blocks from Dutch Brothers, for any time we just forgot or don't have time to pull our own shots in the morning...lol.

Pictured: Mt. Boxus, tallest stack in #22, 6ft. 9in.

Coffee Joy

Fresh out of our new coffee roaster. Best frickin' espresso I've had in years!

Excuses, excuses...a total downer

Oh man...I just can't catch a break this Fall/Winter. The swine flu, the appendectomy and all the complications afterward... I've been in the hospital 16 times since October, twice in the ICU. I'm only 30 years old, but feel much older!! My immune system is shot, my liver enzymes are haywire (all the meds have screwed me up)... I'm trying not to sound like a whiner. But, once again, I've been lost in the land of hospitals and Dr's, specialists and clinics...trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me. I've been randomly spiking fevers (104 degrees F+) since mid-November, accompanied by intense abdominal pain, muscle and joint pain, nausea, delerium and headaches. So far it's all out of the realm of understanding or identifying, medically. My arms look like a junkie with really bad aim was let loose on them. I can't stand to wear short sleeves right now! I'm not rich enough to continue trying to find out what's wrong, but I also can't function a normal, everyday life. Our savings is drained, my checking accounts are nearly bottomed out...the stress of that isn't helping, I'm sure.

Has anyone ever heard of someone having this kind of symptomology, a friend, a relative? Are any of you readers in the medical field and would you be willing to point me in he right direction? I feel totally lost, and I'm teetering dangerously on the cusp of depression. At this point, not knowing what's wrong is much worse than having some kind of diagnosis. I don't like the idea of being stabbed in the back...I want to look my attacker in the eyes and unleash my rage on it!!

So, that's why I haven't been posting. It's depressing and I'm not a pity case. It sucks, big-time, all the same, not having anyone to talk to about it aside from my partner who is living through it with me.

Guh.

To lighten the mood: Christmas is rapidly approaching and I'm dying to start roasting our own coffee with the home roaster that I bought Josh, and start making my own cappuccino's (bone dry, with a touch of real butter caramel in the bottom) with the 20 bar pump espresso machine that Josh got for me. We have been very strong, and not given in to the temptation of opening those particular presents early. These are the only gifts that we know exactly what each of us bought...it just made sense because of how synergistic they happened to be to each other. I have a feeling some of it came from the NFL Pro-shop, which makes me feel very optimistic that perhaps somebody found that hat I've been trying to get my hands on for a few years now...

We aren't going to be able to make it up to Eastern Washington to visit our families this year (I shouldn't travel yet, too risky), but we have our own delightfully campy fiber-optic tree surrounded by pretty wrapped gifts, and we have our kitties to share the day with, maybe even steam them some Catsip (If you have kitties, go to your local supermarket and pick some up, I guarantee your little ones will LOVE it!) into a frothy treat. Kitticcino?

Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays everyone!

- Kelsey

Kitten Butt

Ciro is over 11 pounds now...and only 7 months old. Adorable squishy cuddly goodness.

Schön Deutsch Party

Last night Josh and I went to a German dinner that was put on by our German language class at a grange out in the "country". Sort of a weird area, because there is open farmland, people riding horses down the street...but it's surrounded by city and suburb on all sides. It's just an odd!!

Anyway, we were there a few hours early and learned how to make Spaetzle for vierzig (40) mensch!! Tedious but interesting. It was nice to be out doing something that didn't involve needles being stuck in me and hours of waiting in a über flattering gown.

It was interesting watching our professor down the beer, too. Fun times!!

Visitors

My oldest sister and my niece had a layover in Portland on their way to L.A., today so Josh and I took them downtown and we played around a bit. We went to one of our very favorite street vendors (some of Portland's most charming attractions are the fabulous, high-quality street merchants and International Food Parking Lots...hehe) and had THE BEST VEGETARIAN TORTA'S IN THE U.S. In case any of you ever happen to be in the Portland area, stop by La Jarochita at SW 5th Ave and Oak in beautiful downtown Portland. There's my plug. LOL.

Anyway. They were both delighted with the...we'll call it brunch, because it was 10:30 or so in the morning. Afterwards we hopped the train and went to Old Town Pizza (also very awesome) and took advantage of their beautiful espresso bar. We kicked it there for about an hour, sipping our lattes and mochas and chatting, and enjoying being in a warm, dry place. I love the Fall and Winter in Portland...the non-stop rain and generally mild days, but today was just cold and extremely wet.

After that we strolled thru Chinatown and stopped by one of our favorite mom and pop import stores where I found a beautiful Mah Jongg set that I HAD to have. It was a steal at $50. I love it. The tiles are the perfect size and weight (HEAVY!) and I love the artwork on them. We will be inviting some friends over for dinner and Mah Jongg tomorrow night, for sure!!

So it was a nice mini-visit! Hopefully I'm feeling good enough on their way back to visit again. It did take a lot out of me today to be up and moving so much. We'll see.

The pictures are from Old Town Pizza. One of me with my sister and niece, and the other of Josh with them. The building is gorgeous inside. It's a great example of frontier city architecture. Love it!