Picture Extraveganza

This just makes me laugh...and it might be a teensy-bit of payback for a certain pic from Disneyland that Nikki posted.
We went for a hike a couple of weeks ago. I let them off-leash. They had tons of fun. I spent the afternoon picking ticks off of Nugget. Fun stuff!




This is funny because I practically had to put them in chokeholds to get them to stay with me long enough to take a picture. They both look ready to bolt.




Last weekend the Cuesta College bio faculty had their holiday party at a professor's house in Cambria. Her husband manages UCSB property up there and this is what they see every day! They live in this adorable adobe house. It was a great place to have a party! We went for a hike (and for once, I wasn't the only one with binoculars!) and then ate a large lunch afterwards.







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Book Club Read

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

I've been wanting to join a book club but haven't gotten around to it. If I were in a book club though, I would suggest this book as a must-read. I just finished listening to it on CD and found myself sitting in my car at work for 30 minutes just to finish it (one of the perks of a construction site, you can do that from time to time. Hell, if the guys can pass out in their cars and snore loudly, I can listen to the end of a great book!)

This book has all the elements of a great novel: grit, suspense, love, hope, history, fantasy, reality, and humor. The premise - an ex-porn star is severly burned and finds love and the will to live through meeting a crazy woman (who claims they were lovers in Medieval Germany) - is certainly original, and well done. It is very well researched and put together. I have to put a disclaimer, though - the book can be a tad graphic, especially the first chapter, which is down-right nauseating. There is also a rather fantastical scene that seems a little weird, but makes sense in context.

The book has also inspired me to name my next pet Bougatsa, the dog's name in the book (it's a Greek pastry filling). Mike doesn't know it yet, I wonder if he'll go for it?

Oh, a side-note, totally unrelated: on December 30th, I will have four large retrievers over-night (three of the fours are about 90 lbs). Pray for me and my furniture, please.

I'm feeling a little gender-equality pride today

I just had a little exchange with two of my neighbors.

Some background: Two of my neighbors like to rag on Mike. They like to play it off as "good old boys" humor but it really bothers me, because it's just plain rude. To tell you the truth, I find it totally offensive to me, too.

Example: Everytime I do yard work, they make comments about why isn't Mike helping me.

Example: I was rolling the trash and recycling bins to the curb a few weeks ago when Number One (I will from here on refer to them as Number One and Number Two, because I think the euphamisms are quite fitting) said to me "Jeez, do you have to do all the heavy lifting?" I just looked at him and said "yes and Mike is inside vacuuming right now (because he was)."

Today, Mike is working without pay for 8 hours to help a friend teach a field course. On top of his 50 hour work weeks, he almost always spends part of Saturday and/or Sunday preparing lesson plans and grading papers/exams. It's the way to work your way up the community college ladder. I decided it would be nice to mow the lawns for him. It would be nice for him not to have to do it tomorrow, and we can just have fun putting the Christmas tree and decorations up together. When I got to the front yard, of course Number One and Number Two are outside (they basically spend all weekend milling around the neighborhood). When I finish up the job, Number One calls over: "Hey, how much is Mike paying you to do that!" (as if I have an allowance!). In an attempt to get him to elaborate, I asked "what are you trying to say?" and then Number Two calls over: "Yeah, can you teach my wife to do that?" This is when I turned to Number Two and said "you know, as someone who has two daughters, I wouldn't expect you to subscribe to gender rules." At which point they both rolled their eyes and went inside.

Fuck 'em