Birthdays and MarioKart

It's been convenient that the pets' birthdays are lumped together in May. A week ago on May 20 we got celebrate Anana, but this one was more special. She was turning 13 and ever since last year, AJ and I said we were going to host a real party for her bark mitzvah since it was such a special age, but as we all know, coronavirus swooped in a shat over all our dreams. But we still gave her a bark mitzvah and she still had a great day with treats and walks and her usual steak birthday dinner! (Unclear if it was kosher but at least it wasn't pork).

Our little girl is all grown up!

Other ways I've been entertaining myself during quarantine has been a regular workout routine, which includes a half hour of morning yoga, taking Anana for a walk at lunch, and then a good 30-45 minutes on the treadmill in the evenings. But, it's important for everyone to exercise, so I tried to get Khaleesi in on it.

And then Kathleen showed me this Instagram filter for my Disney wedding. I must have done it dozens of times with results like Cruella DeVil with one of the dwarves, but this was my favorite, and the closest I got to any sense of normalcy!

 Then, this past weekend, I discovered the joys of online gaming. I can now play MarioKart with people from around the world and boy did it take it up a notch. It's way harder, and it's way more personal, but it makes the shit talk a lot more fun (not that anyone can hear me). But again - it's really hard! I was counting myself lucky to come in 5th or 6th place, and once I was on cloud nine when I finished in 3rd. But then, one very lucky game that even AJ witnessed, I actually managed to come in first place, and one of the joys of that was having my avatar wear the crown while we waited for the next game to start.

I haven't come in first place since then yet, so I'm still very excited about that win.

Last night AJ an I ventured to Turtle Rock with Anana. It's a small hiking hill behind an elementary school, and it was actually so delightful because of all the open field and grass, there were soooo many bunnies out, and even little baby bunnies, and ducks and birds, and I even saw a cute little rat scuttled out from the bushes and then rush back in. So that's the most exciting thing that's happened to me in awhile.

And that's about all from over here. Even though it's a short week, it still feels like it should be Thursday or Friday already. Hmph.

Happy Birthday Bug

Yesterday was my little Bug's 7th (49th?) birthday. She got lots of kitty treats throughout the day and seemed pretty happy and content as though she knew it was her special day. I probably should be celebrating her adoption day (August 4th) but whatever. I've been celebrating her on May 11th since I got her.

Super model documentary hour!

This morning we had a fun mini-crisis. I was getting ready and Khaleesi came in to drink from the toilet, which she never does, so that means her current water fountain is empty or gross. I found it gross, so I took it out to scrub it clean and refill with fresh water. I took it back to where it lives in our office against a wall beneath a window, and I push the curtain aside to lay it down and catch a glimpse of a very bright, very live reptile and, naturally and maturely, flip a shit.

I scared Anana off, AJ gets out of bed, and minutes later we're armed with brooms trying to figure out how to get the lizard out. We weren't being very successful and it kept getting under our couch, so we brought in the reinforcements... Khaleesi.

I gave her to AJ and got out of the room (my job was in the hallway, just outside the room to make sure it didn't go into our bedroom but instead broom-hockey it out towards the front door.

After a few minutes, AJ starts yelling and Khaleesi comes running out. I thought she was just leaving because she was uninterested in it, but then I saw it wriggling in her mouth and I screamed, and she dropped it and ran off, so AJ and I finished brooming it out the front door. Crisis averted.

I just want to say that, while I'm just as eager as everyone else for this quarantine to be done and this virus to be behind us, I feel very, very, very lucky to be in this home that we're in and to be with AJ. I'm hearing a lot of people being so frustrated and annoyed and going nuts being with their family 24/7, but AJ and I have really not had any issues and life has continued as normal and we've been continuing to live together really well. Of course, it's worth noting it's us two + two pets in a house where AJ can work alone in one room and me in another, and he also has his video games out in the garage LOL. Honestly, I know not everyone has this and I just feel very, very lucky that we do and I do NOT take it for granted!

The Bioluminescence

Yesterday, AJ and I went out at night to check out the bioluminescence from the red tide passing down California right now. It's been one of the most exciting things to happen to us in quite some time. Well, second most exciting, and it was the first time for both of us.

We made sure to do it responsibly. Armed with facial masks, we picked up Del Taco from a drive thru and then, aided by Google maps, found a cul-de-sac in Laguna Beach that got very close to the shore and could walk to the wall and view the ocean (after eating in the car, lulz).

Apparently the best of it is much further south right now, so we didn't get those full blown glowing waves, but we got to see a lot of wave crests and thin glowing waves offshore, and it was really beautiful! Didn't get the best of it on video, but at least you can see a quick sliver of the glow at the very beginning...

It was so beautiful to see, and such a nice outing to have! It will be nice when this is all behind us and we can make it a point to view it at the height of it going on and get the full phenomenon view.

Otherwise, happy anniversary to Shannon & Luke!

This Is How We Entertain Ourselves

AJ and I have been playing a lot of Cock and Bull lately. I was on a real hot streak and AJ was too pissy to let me take a picture of my winning boards, so these were the closest that I got lololol. By the way, I'm ALWAYS black in Cock and Bull!

This is our kiddie pool out the window that I bought when it started getting so damn hot and the community pool is still closed. I took this picture because I saw Khaleesi on the ledge and she was in hunting mode but I couldn't see what the hell she was looking at... but on further investigation, I saw a cute little bird chirping and walking along the top wall. I guess the mystery of why I don't get any birds in my bird feeder (the hanging pink heart you can just make out between the two red circles) has been solved!

On one of our lunchtime walks with Nannerz, I saw a bluebird. It's always so nice to see birds that aren't sparrows, pigeons or crows. And I love to quote Marian from Robin Hood Men in Tights: Oh Brumhilda look! A heppay little bluebird!

And look at the second picture I caught of it in flight. I mean it's no National Geographic cover but I still thought it was a little neat.

And I FaceTime'd with Priya and we enjoyed sending pictures, while I was in the middle of yoga so it was ~*So CuTe*~

On Sunday night, AJ and I watched The Departed. I had never seen it, even though it had long been on my list. (By the way, are you guys aware it was a remake of a movie from Hong Kong called Internal Affairs?) It was really good (obviiii) I mean how could it not be with a star studded cast around every corner? Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin? My one complaint was that Brad Pitt wasn't in it LOL. I could've seen him being a pretty good Mr. French. We started talking in Boston accents that night and passing around memes, which mind you are about 14 years old now...!

I remember when I first saw this meme, the caption was
"Me and my boyfriend waiting for the other to say 'I Love You'
first" LOL

I really really really hate this pandemic, but with all the spoilt children stomping their feet and just being bored and things opening back up, maybe this second wave will be bigger and happen sooner and my life can go back to normal sooner than it would have otherwise.

Happy Taco Tuesday Cinco de Mayo?

Smell y'all later!