Location, location, location!

Maybe someone should scout their locations a bit more closely?

Coming Soon!

Late October-ish. Good times! :-)

And yes, we are over-the-moon excited!

Disney Diaries

Yay! Our first visitors while we're in Cali! Here are my fav sis, her hubby, and kids getting off the plane at the John Wayne airport. It was the kids' first plane ride, and poor Mini-Doug had a terrible time with his ears, compounded by the fact they had a connection in SanFran. I was really happy to see them! We had lunch at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in downtown Long Beach. While we were eating, Uncle Doug called - he was really jealous he couldn't come on this trip, and that we were eating at Roscoe's without him.

Our first day at Disney was Friday, and we hit all the major rides except Nemo, which had a billion people in line all day long. Drew brought his cam-corder, and had it on during our trip through the Matterhorn. I'll post that later once we figure out the format. Turns out that little DougJr is a roller-coaster junkie! Scout, not so much... We left the park around 10 PM the first day, went on most of the cooler rides, but seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time in line...hmmmm...
Here is the fam lounging by the hotel pool. We spent most of Sunday at the pool, and at downtown Disney. Saturday we drove around LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and ate lunch on the Santa Monica pier. We ordered in Thai food for dinner at the condo, and the kids got to see Uncle V, who had to work most of the weekend :-(

Monday, back to Disney at the crack of dawn to get in line before they opened. We spent most of the day at California adventure, where the rides are wayyyyy more cooler. We finally clued in to how the 'fastpass' system works, and avoided standing in line as much as we did at Disney. We hit some pretty great rides before the park was too crowded and no lines! The first ride was Grizzly River Run where we managed to get soaked. It was a blast. California Screamin' is the fabulous roller coaster that we went on twice - but Scout hated it. We had fastpass tix for a third ride, but they closed it! Total bummer! Soarin' over California was also awesome, as a virtual ride over the natural beauty of the state, complete with smell, sound, and wind effects.

However, I think the best ride was the Tower of Terror, with free-fall drops faster than the speed of gravity. It was awesome, however, we did have one terrorized passenger with us...
Scout was hanging onto me for dear life, and not a happy camper. This is a picture of a picture taken by the ride and displayed outside afterwards. She was pretty upset for a while afterwards. Even DougJr said he was 'screaming like a girl', although he wanted to do it again!
This is more Scout's speed and her idea of a 'good ride'...both feet firmly on the ground.
DougJr with Goofy. We saw MM, Snow White, and Pluto, but the kids weren't keen on standing in line to greet them. I think they were fed up with lines!
DougJr in front of the Hollywood mural, one of the few when he's standing still...lol.
Scout in her mouse ears picking out lunch with dad. Behind us was a table of old dudes, who Drew found out were all veterans. As they were leaving, Drew got up and shook each of their hands and thanked them for serving our country. Drew is a dude!
Another great pic of Scout. She loves those ears!
One of the kids silly things they do right now is the 'rabbit ears' behind an unsuspecting person's back. Here, C is giving DougJr some of his own back, unbeknownst to him.
DougJr pretending to be asleep, and look! More ears! ha ha!
Hammin' it up for the camera like a normal six year old boy!
Here I am trying to get a pic of Scout playing cards, and there seems to be a monkey face ghost in the picture.

And in this one too! DougJr would jump in/out of the frame right when I snapped. First time funny, second time..ha ha ha...third time!!! GRRRRRR!!!!
Here is Scout showing off her WAR winnings. Those two are little card sharks! I can barely win at UNO. Who knew 6 years olds could strategize???
The girl is full of giggles!!!!!

It was a fabulous trip, and I miss them already! However, I'm really looking forward to another 8 year old niece, MadMary, visiting over spring break. I heard through the grapevine that she's a roller coaster junkie as well, so I think there are good times coming in the near future!

I think he loves me...

Dr. Love surprised me a day early with some beautiful roses tonight. He is so thoughtful, and I am one of the most luckiest woman in the world to be married to such a wonderful man.

But he LIKES it!

What can I say? He likes to play rough! If you listen closely, you can hear him purrrrrring.

A rare moment when Feugo and George are cuddling, and he's not tormenting her. True to their cat nature, they sleep about 18 hours a day, and get super active around V's bedtime. Now that we're in the smaller condo, a little bit of noise and rowdiness goes a long way!
Ok, one more of George just being, well, George. Such a ham! He's such a friendly, good natured, loving cat. I promise to practice more with the camera with lighting!

5 things..

Here is my '5 things' list that Stacy keeps nagging me for...

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Working at WaMu as a Customer Service Manager
2. Living in a great apartment in Edmonds on Bowdoin with Cyrus the Cat
3. Driving around in a red Geo Tracker convertible. Loved that car!
4. Hanging out with the Acheson clan for Tuesday craft nights, boggle, and PIT! I’ve lost contact with most of them now. Funny how that happens.
5. Wondering if my prince charming would ever come along

How I looked 5 years ago...a bit chunkier than today...lol

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago:

1. Working at WaMu as a Customer Service Manager
2. Bought a condo by myself.
3. Enjoying life as an Aunt to some fabulous nieces and nephews.
4. Waiting for the final installment of the Lord of Rings. (I’m a closet nerd).
5. Still waiting for my prince charming to come along…

How I look today...amazing what dropping 100 lbs can do for your life!

5 Things I did today:

1. Kissed my prince charming as he went off to work.
2. Read the news/blogs
3. Did dishes/tidied up
4. Studied
5. Moved some bookcases around

5 products I can't live without:

1. My Senseo coffee maker
2. My books
3. My coffee maker
4. My comfy bed
5. Comfy shoes (my crocs-celeste)

5 Things I would do if I won a billion dollars:

1. Set up immediate family financially for life (houses, retirement, tuition)
2. Start and administrate a non-prof organization fighting for the rights of all women, both born and unborn, based on conservative values
3. Invest capital in developing countries that see the value in free market capitalism. So far, the acquisition of wealth is the only proven cure for poverty.
4. Buy my own coffee plantation and be set for life
5. Finally get those tattoos removed

5 places I have lived:

1. Seattle
2. Stanwood, WA
3. Shoreline, WA
4. Lynden, WA
5. Long Beach, CA


5 jobs I have had:

1. Pizza maker
2. Fry Dropper
3. Student Body Assoc. Treasurer
4. Telephone Banker/Manager/Business Analyst/Vice President
5. Graduate student

5 things you may or may not know about me:

1. I have 8 bookcases in my house, and may need more soon
2. I’ve only had one speeding ticket my entire life (TW was there!)
3. I love to procrastinate and love the creative juices that flow under pressure
4. I don’t really have any tattoos
5. I love Peruvian food

George, el gato, el unico unico gato!

Today is all about George, the cat. George is a very special kitty, as he has been the most expensive so far as he has been to the vet the most!

He is very charming all the time, except for when he's not. He is very snuggly, and somehow manages to get me off my pillow in the middle of the night, where he takes over. He likes to jump from the dresser right onto Victor's tummy in the middle of the night, which causes lots of excitement.
He is very sweet and loves to play with the nieces and nephews. I love his mellow tempermant and how laid back he is, except when he's tormenting Feugo.

He torments Fuego, and will chase her out of wherever she is sleeping so he can rest there. It doesn't matter there are a dozen other comfortable kitty places in the house.

One of his favorite things is earplugs. I keep them in my nightstand, and every night he stalks me. He waits under the bed for me to open the drawer, and then tries to get his paws in the drawer to snag a plug. He goes into a wide-eyed frenzy when he sees one. I used to let him play with them, as he would pounce, bat them around, and carry them triumphantly through the house. Really cute, until I started seeing them in, ahem, the litter box. So, no more earplugs for George as they plug up his plumbing....
Here he his stretched out in front of the radiator. I think he's part gumby!

In one week...

One week from today, two fabulous kids, Scout and MiniDoug, will go on their first airplane ride and visit their Aunt Kate and Uncle V. Oh, their parents are coming too... We'll being going to Disneyland, and having all kinds of wonderful adventures. I can't wait, and I know the kids are even more excited than me!
Here is a picture from our final sleepover in the old house, right before Christmas. There isn't any snow in Long Beach, but there is plenty of sand!MadMary gets to visit in March all by herself during spring break. Uncle V. and I are very very excited.
Here are some good friends with their awesome 2 year old, Maddie. They are buried in some snow in Chicago now, and I'm sure they are loving it! :-)

Garden from the old house. We'll get a summer garden planted down here soon in our little patch of yard.


Dr. Love playing baseball for the first time. He's got game!
Grandma K, MFA (Most Favorite Aunt), MiniDoug, and Scout on the porch last Easter.
MiniDoug showing Dr. Love how it's done.

Welcome Lucas James

Here is my brand new nephew born this morning, Lucas James. Mom (Misty) is doing great, and he gets to come into the world blessed with two older sisters who I'm sure will love him to pieces. I can't wait to meet him next month!

Inside the Flying Cat household

After many weeks of pondering a blog name, I decided on Flying Cats in honor of the three brave (though disgruntled) cats that flew from Seattle to Long Beach for our relocation. They whined and cried like they were being tortured the entire time. I could hear them on the tarmac as I got off the plane as well. However, they are now comfortably settled into our new home in Long Beach.
Fuego (Calico) and Osa snuggling on their perch on the dresser.
George, my cuddly study buddy and all around mama's boy. Helps me procrastinate by sitting on my books.
Osa has a need to find 'hidey places'. Here she is in our luggage. She burrows in blankets, clean laundry (never dirty, for some reason), and the linen closet. Dr. Love thinks thats cute...
Osa and Dr. Love snuggling. He's a softy, but then, she's never going to ask to borrow the car.
Coming soon: Picts of the new house and neighborhood!

I've got a crush on Obama...

Not really, but I'm going to cast my 1st vote ever for a Democrat today in the primary.

Here's how this happened...
When I registered to vote at the same time I applied for my CA driver's license, it required I choose a party affiliation. Well, I think that's none of the states d@mn business, so I chose 'independent'. Well, not so smart me didn't realize that would lock me out of voting for any major party candidates for the primary, unless a party specifically allows independents to request a part ballot.

Guess what - my GOP is a closed ballot, so I am not able to render my vote for Mitt (who is my sloppy second to Thompson).

However, the state DEM party allows 'cross-voters' from the independent side on election day, so I'm getting ready to trudge to the polls to vote ABC (AnybodyButClinton). Those two cannot be allowed back in the White House.