Missed You!

Hello darlings!

I feel like I'm curling up on a cushion in a sunny bay window with a cup of tea and a friend (more likely, a glass of wine!). I missed you!

I know the first question on your mind is "How is Grandma?" She is doing well, consistently staying out of trouble (mostly) and the emergency room (fingers crossed). Mike and I and possibly one of the dogs are going up this Sunday for a visit and work day to get a few things done that need to be done before the winter weather really sets in.

Pixie had her "tanks pulled" as Mike puts it, on Tuesday a week ago. I felt sort of bad getting her spayed, just because it was elective surgery, but it had to be done. She was fine with the surgery, but had a pretty hard time afterwards, a bad reaction to the anesthesia that made the vet keep her overnight. He's a great vet: he spent all evening with her at the office, up until 10 p.m. when he determined she could finally keep some food down. Sometimes she is a royal pain in the ass (like tonight, fidgeting around, stealing Tugboat's toys and chewing up the coasters when we're not looking), but I was so worried about her that day that I cried for hours, no lie. She was supposed to have nothing more strenuous than leash walks for two weeks, but she's so restless tonight that I don't think either one of us can handle not running for that much longer. I'm not a running freak, but when my days are busy, my gym time shrinks, so sometimes that hour with the dogs is the only workout I get. And I have to remind myself that there are only a few months (3 to 9) of her doggie teenagerhood left. If I can just survive this, I'll have one really nice dog and one totally neurotic one.

A couple of notes: Sarah Palin. WTF?! I thought I was overreacting to her, and then I saw the interview with Katie Couric. She is a joke! I don't really care anymore what she stands for-- she's a total idiot. The only thing I can think is that after the cute factor wears off, the Republicans hope that McCain will indeed die during his term and they'll have another clueless puppet president in the back pocket of the oil interests.

Saw the debate. Thought Obama was much more together and definitely more presidential than that woodchuck McCain. I really tried to listen with an open mind, but it was difficult. Here are some of the phrases I'd like to plaster to my car, were I the bumper-sticker type:

SARAH PALIN IS A JOKE

I JUST WANT A PRESIDENT WHO ISN'T EMBARRASSING

CAN YOU AFFORD FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS?

and

THERE IS FAR TOO MUCH AT STAKE TO VOTE REPUBLICAN

Oh yeah, and based on the fact that a large number of people said that they voted for Bush because he seemed like the kind of guy they'd like to have a beer with:

THIS TIME, BUY McCAIN A BEER AND ELECT A REAL PRESIDENT.

Ok, that's enough of that. In the past, I've been always been blase about politics. I hate to say it, but has always been more like celebrity news to me. It never affected my daily life. Something to talk about, as remote and untouchable as goings-on at the space station. I got excited about Clinton and he disappointed me, so I'm reluctant to stand up and cheer for anyone. HOWEVER, I would like to be proud of my country again, and I would like to have respect for the person elected president. I don't know if Obama can change the way the world now perceives us, but it is important to hear that he understands the concept. Marching Band McCain and his wooden rendition of God Save the Regime doesn't work for me.

In other news...the girls and I had a fun day at the preview of the new Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park two weeks ago. The Academy officially opened this weekend, and 250,000 people attended. When we were there, I had the feeling that it would eventually grow into its space, but hearing that number (500 admitted every half an hour from a line in which people waited two-and-a-half hours) I'll bet the space was filled out as it was.








We checked out the scene then had a picnic on the green, did some hill-rolling under the Francis Scott Key statue after lunch, and then checked out some more. There are a lot of really cool things to see. I enjoyed watching the skates and rays in the lagoon. I'll probably go back by myself during the week sometime to sit in front of the coral reef and watch the fish. The alligators (crocodiles?) gave us a surprise thrill from the downstairs vantage point. The centerpiece rainforest was still being...forested... when we were there. In fact, I wondered if they'd get it all finished in time, given the number of things being unpacked, assembled, painted and built while we were visiting.

The penguins were cool, if a little surreal. They are situated at the end of the restored "African Hall" which is a display of incredibly skillful and realistic taxidermy of African animals. Sealed completely into their habitat, they appeared as in a giant fish tank. They were friendly and definitely interacted with those of us on the other side of the thick glass, but it was a little confusing to the smaller children. More than one asked why the taxidermied animals weren't alive, and if they were real. Well yes... and no... Maggie repeated our explanation that they were real on the outside, but not on the inside anymore. It's hard to remember that you're not exactly in a zoo. For a first day, it was pretty darn cool. I wasn't sure how much Maggie liked it, until she said, "I wish every day could be like today!"

After flailing around King of Thai on Clement Street, we made our way sleepily home. Ahhh.

Still more to catch up on. Talk to you soon.