The One with the Best Halloween Ever!


Saturday, October 31, 2009

Today was a good day. Probably the best Halloween I've ever had. Why you ask? Cuz I got a puppy :) We picked Joey up from the breeder's promptly at noon. (FYI - the breeder's name is Leslie Ann Engen and her kennel is called San Jo, just in case you want one :)
Everyone took turns holding him; he's simply irresistible.
We even stopped off at Ben Franklin where Allie was working her regular Saturday shift so she could say hello and goodbye.
He's going to be so red, I'm so glad.
Isn't this face precious? "My precious."
He was such an angel the entire six hour trip from Redmond, WA to South Pasadena, CA. He never barked or whimpered or cried. He either slept peacefully in his crate or sat there patiently while he was transported across the western coast of the United States. What a good little boy.
Bye bye Seattle!
Hello LA!
It seems he has already adjusted to life at the Evans'. He relieved himself immediately when we set him on the grass. He ran in and started eating Rachel's food which meant he was hungry so we promptly gave him his own puppy chow. He went to the bathroom again outside. Then he played with his new toys and followed us around.
Jadis is very curious about this new being in his presence. Rachel isn't too impressed, but she'll get better over time.
Now, out of all the comfy places he could be sleeping, he's crashed in the middle of the wooden floor.
Happy Halloween 2009! Hopefully next year I'll get to participate in the trick-or-treating aspect of the holiday. But this isn't too bad either :)

PS - I'll be drawing the winner of the 500th post giveaway tonight and will be posting the results first thing maƱana! Good luck!

The One with the Eve Before All Hallow's Eve


Friday, October 30, 2009

This morning I created a post for the CARDS blog while I waited for Allie to get back from school. Then we went to the Shiba breeder and I got to see Joey and watch how to give him a bath, trim his toenails, and basically keep him healthy. As we were inside filling out some paperwork I glanced outside and watched him sitting right next to his mom. He loves her so much. I feel bad taking him away from his mom and two sisters. I know it's the law of the jungle, but still. Such is the life of a dog I guess. I hope he likes me. It still feels like he's the breeder's dog ya know, not my dog. Maybe when I finally get him home to South Pas tomorrow and get him settled in he'll feel like ours. No pictures of him today, I was busy following the breeder around and taking mental notes. But don't you worry, I have an inkling there will be plenty to follow :)

After the breeder session we went to the Halloween party at Google. Fun fun fun.
The food was good, the cupcakes were delicious, and our costumes were slammin'.
I cut the top off a pumpkin, gutted it out and then I ditched it. I wonder if anybody carved it, after all, the hard part was done.
Allie got a fun caricature made.
Then we went over to the Rands' house for another Halloween shin-dig. I love their chandelier.
It was fun to see everyone dressed up, conversing, and having a good time.
My sister "couldn't wear the same costume to another ward party" so she dressed up as a hippie. I mean an Indian. I mean a Native American.
I feel like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory right after she chews the forbidden gum in this suit... Anybody who can make this look good, props to you!
By the way, I'm getting a puppy tomorrow. Heeee!

The One with All Over the Place


Thursday, October 29, 2009

So much has happened since yesterday! I hail from Redmond, WA at the present.

Yesterday after work I came home, finished packing, and we headed for the LAX airport at 6:45pm for my 8:45pm flight because I figured there wouldn't be any traffic and I'd have plenty of time to get through security and find my gate. "I figured there wouldn't be any traffic." Haha. That's the LAST time I "figure there won't be any traffic." There is ALWAYS traffic in LA. Note to self about that. But somehow we still got to the airport in plenty of time. I retrieved my boarding pass, didn't check any bags (cuz Alaskan charges to check bags, that's why I heart Southwest, but Southwest doesn't have direct flights from LAX to Seattle for some reason and I need the shortest flight possible for my sanity. So Southwest, get on that!), then I passed through security with flying colors and found my gate which wasn't hard, it was the very first one on the left. It was 8 o'clock at this point and I noticed my plane was already there and passengers were unloading. Sweet! Shortly thereafter we boarded the plane and got all settled by 8:15pm for the 8:45 scheduled departure time. One of the flight attendants announced that we should be able to take off shortly, just waiting on some paperwork, and to turn off all electronic devices at that point. 8:30 rolls around and again a flight attendant announced we should be able to take off shortly, just waiting on some paperwork. 8:45 rolls around and a flight attendant announces that the plane is having electrical issues (just what a plane-phobified person wants to hear!) and it'll be awhile before we get to take off. Bah. Out came the electrical devices. I don't really understand what was wrong with the plane, alls I know is they turned off all the lights at one point which was sorta freaky, and then they had to start the engines all weird, again, sorta freaky, but we eventually took off a little over an hour after the originally scheduled departure time. And I thought we were gonna get out of there early :) The flight was a dark and bumpy one - not my favorite. Luckily I had That's So Raven on my iPod to keep me distracted. 5.5 episodes later we landed safely in Seattle. My Malm and Dald were there, barely awake, to greet me at 1am.

This is a picture of the airplane wing and if you look into the light you can faintly see the rain (welcome to Washington!) hitting the plane at 400-some-odd miles per hour.

It's so great to be home. I woke up to grey skies and a curtain of mist pattering gently against my windows. Bliss. I'm not even being sarcastic!

I couldn't pass up the opportunity this morning to take a couple pictures of my cat Tip-Toe. I got her in 1994. Hey, I just realized her 15th birthday is tomorrow! Well whatdoyaknow!?! Tip-Toe has been around for a long time - as long as my 16 year old sister can even remember! And she still acts young and spry! Here's to 15 more years Tip-Toe!

I haven't been home for Halloween since 2002. Apparently over the years my mom has acquired a bounteous collection of Halloween paraphernalia because everywhere I turn I see something spooky. I love it! These are some pictures of her little haunted village. It lights up and makes scary noises and everything. I want one.
The cute front porch (with my sign to the UPS driver today to leave my expected puppy carrier package on the bench).

One thing I'm missing about living in Utah at this point in the year is a genuine fall with the changing colors of leaves. Fall is in full swing here so I spent a little time outside documenting Redmond in October.

It was chilly today. I wore five layers to keep warm. I was nice and toasty.

My meeting with the Shiba Inu breeder wasn't until 1:30pm so Malm, Allie, and I curled up on the couch and watched the first two of four hours of the made for TV movie Rose Red by Stephen King. It's a classic.

Finally the blessed hour arrived and we drove the short mile to the breeders. I still can't believe she lives so close to "my" house! We pulled up to driveway and were greeted by these massive dawgs.
There are Shiba's galore, as there should be at a breeder's place. This is a beautiful, full-grown, red colored Shiba. This is what our Joey will look like in a few months. I think he's just gorgeous.
FINALLY I got to meet our little Joey. He's so much cuter in real life than any pictures will do justice. I loved snuggling him and getting to know his personality.
His likeness to a cougar cub is uncanny! Are we getting a dog or a cat?
I've got another appointment tomorrow to see how to bathe him, sign all the paperwork, and fork over the cash. Getting a puppy is no joke! But I couldn't be more excited :)

Back at home Allie and I got ready to paint the town. Everything I'm wearing sans my pants and shoes is Allie's. Hey, why pack my own clothes when I can raid her awesome wardrobe?

We perused Redmond Towne Centre for a bit then met up with the 'rents at Outback Steakhouse in Kirkland. I got me some yummy fillet.

Looking forward to tomorrow which will consist of seeing Joey, attending a Halloween partay at Google, attending a Halloween partay at a family friend's house, and more!

Aaaand, don't forget to check out my 500th post giveaway a few posts down. Just over 48 hours until I pick the winner!

The One with I'm Ready To Go!


Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Backpack packed? Check.

Phone, camera, iPod, and laptop charged? Check.

House cleaned? Check.

Last minute puppy preparations taken care of? Check.

Emergency evacuation plan figured out in case of more tsunami-like weather? Check.The winds were howling last night and took out a few dead branches of our sole front yard palm tree. It looks a lot worse than it actually was. The tree probably needed a good pruning anyways.
Still, it's lookin' a li'l sparse now, haha.T-minus 11 hours and 15 minutes until I touch down in Seattle! I love going home!
Paige Taylor Evans © // Quinn Creatives DESIGN