Reconnecting

After years of keeping track of each other through Facebook, I final got a few of the girls that used to work with me at Blue Cross together for a lunch.  I've been at Fidelity 22 years so it has been that long since I've seen them.  Can you imagine???

Lori and I were pretty close.  She was my assistant.  I was pretty sure they would make her a manager after I left but alas they did not.  She eventually got laid off when the department dissolved a few years after I left.

Billie was best friends with Lori and I really enjoyed working with her.  She was funny and a really hard worker.  She stayed for years and years until she was part of a RIF a few years ago.  Almost 25 years there!

Debbie was a great employee and always worked hard.  She is more quiet so I never got to know her well but she holds a special place in my memory.  She is still at Blue Cross!!

We picked a Sunday to get together and agreed to go to Porcupine Grill.  We chatted and caught up on everything that has happened in the last 22 years.  I serious lost track of the people that I used to work with like family.  It was really fun to see them again.  We agreed we should do it again very soon.  Maybe quarterly?  Hopefully we can get others to join too.  I find it a great thing about Facebook.  I would have never found these guys otherwise.

Debbie, Me, Billie, Lori (who really didn't want a photo taken!!  Thus the sunglasses)

Kitten Failure

No sooner did I drop off my shy litter to go out for adoption, they contacted me to pick up a new litter to foster.   They had 40 kittens waiting for foster homes.   I only have a short period of time before I head out of town for a long weekend.  I went in to pick them up the very next morning.  I took a litter of 4 kittens.  When I got there, people told me how lucky I was to get this litter as they were "perfect kittens".

I have Salty (upper right), Citric Acid (lower right), Vinegar (lower left), and Sugar (upper left).  Two of the kittens are white, one is tortie, and one is tabby.  Two of the kittens have really broken tails.  All 4 kittens are the biggest sweethearts.  Meet my new fosters.

These guys are so different than the last batch.  They are friendly and active.  They beg to be pet.  They are lovers.  Citric Acid is a long hair kitty and has a tough time staying "clean".  I'm really lucky because he likes having a bath!  And we've been doing baths to keep him clean.  The others are pretty tidy.

I knew I was in trouble the minute I saw the white cats.  And I have fallen in love with all of them but decided within a few days that Salty must be mine.  She is all white with a very faint smudge of black on her head.  She is a very sweet kitty.  So I am foster failing her and going to keep her.

I called John and told him how cute these kitties are and he should come see them.  Sugar bonded with him almost immediately and he decided he wanted her too.  It will be hard to not keep the other 2 because they are so damn cute and sweet.

In the week I've had them, they've already grown so much and their personalities are coming out so much.  They love to play and snuggle together.  They all have the cutest personalities.

Citric Acid (we call him Dave).  Such a beautiful boy.
He is so confident and fun.  And his kinked tail is darling in the air!

Vinegar (we call her Vinnie).  She is a little timid but loves to  play and wants
to snuggle lots.  Her white feet and tummy are perfect.  She is a little
bit cross-eyed which is so cute!

Salty (we call her Chicken Little) - This is my baby.  Huge snuggle
bunny, loves snuggles, and has the most beautiful eyes.

Sugar (we call her Little Brown) - This is Johns baby.  She is a runt and so cute.
 Her tail is broken short and she wags it so cute.  She plays a little and
 snuggles alot!  She loves to talk!

Dave and Vinnie have made weight to get fixed next week so we are going to break up the litter.  They go back in Monday and will be out for adoption by Wednesday.  I would be shocked if they lasted even a week.  I'll keep fostering Little Brown and Chicken Little for another week while they get to weight to get spayed.  Then John and I will go adopt them.  We plan to have lots of play dates and letting them grow up together.

You can imagine Sissy and Baby aren't thrilled but they did better than I thought when they met Chicken Little.  They have both been on the bed with the kittens and did alright.  Well until Chicken Little wanted to nurse on Sissy.  She was having none of that!  I think/hope they figure it out and get along.

That was delicious

This spring, I decided to join a few Meet Up groups.  Meet Up is a great concept where it brings people together to share different interested.  There are lots of different groups and tons of active people who are in those groups.  One of the groups I joined is a Foodie group.  I figured I like to go out to eat and how nice to not have to go alone.  They've been getting together for over 2 years.  One of the organizers prides himself that they have not repeated a restaurant yet!

They are very organized and keep the dinner size small to around 15 people.  So it is tough to catch a spot at the table but if you are organized and on the dot to register, you can often make it in.  This group has some singles in it but also several couples.  The age range is vast.  I would guess less than 50% drink.  So far, I've been able to join 3 meals.

Harbor Steak and Seafood - This is literally down the street from me.  This was my first experience.  The group was fun.  I sat by a couple and a 3 single women.  They were interesting and certainly enjoy food....which is nice to share good food with people.  They encouraged people to order appetizers to share with the table.  We had a ton of food and got to sample many appetizers including squash blossoms, flat breads, clam chowder, and salad.  I ordered a steak which was excellent.  Various people also ordered desserts to share although I skipped because I am not tempted by dessert and frankly, I was full.

The Cliff House - This is a great restaurant out in Draper.  I can't believe I've not known about this place.  There were some new faces and one guy was fun as he is a wine connisour.  I tried seafood ceiveche nachos (oh my god they were good) and calamari.  I ordered a burger because they were voted best burger in the state (Hmmmm....not sure about that).   We ate on the patio that had sweeping views of  the South Valley.  One of the most memorable parts of this evening was that 4 of us stayed later and talked about the expectations of dating and how tough it is.  Who pays for the date?  What does that mean to each person?  I also learned that one woman's outfit was $4000 and wears $700 panties (So of course, the guy pays for her company).  I also learned the organizer only dates "dancers".  Good to know.

Bucket of Crawfish - This is a very casual place.  We were warned to come in casual clothes that you don't mind getting dirty.  We all gathered and ordered.  I got a bag of shrimp with potatoes.  I asked if they had any salad or veggies and the answer was a head shaking NO.  The closest thing to a veggie was corn on  the cob.  We were all given bibs which I was warned to wear it for sure (and I am glad I did) and the tables were covered with plastic.  When our bags of food came out, they put empty buckets on the table and rolls of paper towels.  My shrimp came with the heads on them.  They were swimming in juice and spices (I ordered garlic butter with medium cajun spice).  I literally had juice running down my arms.

These have all been great experiences albeit different.  I look forward to joining more.  One thing that makes me laugh is how serious they take the food.  Someone will be like "the citric undertone was a suprise but mixed well with the texture of the scallop".  They ask me what I thought and I can come up with "It's yummy/delicious/good".  I need to work on my foodie vocabulary.  They must enjoy me there as it is getting easier to get in even if I am on the waitlist originally.  I told the organizer that even last minute openings are often okay with me.

I'm really enjoying trying new places and enjoying new tastes.  We all share and everyone is very friendly.  I'm going with the group to one of my favorite restaurants, Valter's on Tuesday.  I can't wait!

Kittens!!!

Shortly after  I turned in my two little fluff ball fosters, they asked me to take a new batch of 3 kittens.  These guys were already spayed and neutered but hadn't been socialized and were terrified of people so they couldn't go out for adoption quite yet. These guys are the "Beer Kittens"and were some of the most timid and scared kittens I've ever fostered. I was warned to  keep them in a small space and hold them and pet them as much as I possibly could so they would get socialized.

Duvel and the back of Grolsh

Holding scared kittens is tough on your heart.  They would tremble and cower and just hope I would disappear.  These guys were so scared, they figured out how to get behind the toilet which has a space of less than 2".  I started to block off their kennel and took away hiding spots.  I did leave a soda box for them but cut big holes so they couldn't hide very well.

Duvel and Kwak

Socializing these kittens was no easy task.  I spent countless hours in the bathroom talking (so they get used to voices) and holding and petting.  I tried to go in there 3-4 times a day to just sit and pet and hold them. Each session was about an hour or longer.  But slowly and surely I made progress.  Duvel is a beautiful kitten but was the most scared. After almost 2 weeks, she purred and enjoyed her pets. Grolsh was the most tame and only took a few days to be one of the most loving cats I know.  She loved to snuggle and came to me for loves.  Kwak was doing pretty good socializing but then I noticed a pussy sore on his....groin.  It was the weekend so no vet was at Best Friends.  So I had to take his  temperature and put warm compresses on it.  He didn't enjoy this at all and got scared of me again.  I can't blame him.  By Monday, I was able to take him to see the vet. Crisis adverted because his sore was looking much better.  I took Duvel with me because she was sneezing.  The vet decided they all needed antibiotics.  That they probably picked something up while getting fixed.  Not a bad idea to treat them and I had to keep them another week until they were done with meds.  Which gave me more time to work with them.

I'm proud to say, they did really well.  Duvel now comes for loves and doesn't hide anymore. Kwak is scared at first but then comes around and loves to be pet like a panther on his side.  All 3 purr when touched which is great for adoptions.  Although these guys had a rough start, they sure came around and I fell in love with all 3.  But I gathered my strength and turned them all back in.  There are literally 40 kittens waiting to have a chance to be fostered.  I helped these guys with the skills to find their forever home and that is good.

Duvel and Kwak on my lap.

Grolsh likes to be closer.  She wants the star spot by my neck

Playing with the string toy.  They all enjoyed it.
These guys will be great mousers if given the chance.

Kwak and Duvel lounging.  Look how big they got already!
Love Duvel's pink shaved belly!  Very kissable.

Grolsh loves louunging on the toilet.  It is cool and she can survey
her surroundings.  I fell in love with her and could have adopted her in a heartbeat!
I love the little ring of light color on  her side.  And she is super soft.

I've started being called the "Cat Lady".  It really had a negative feel to it but seriously I guess I am a cat lady.  The more I work with them, the more concerned I become with overall cat welfare. I  love what Best Friends is doing and I am so glad I can be a part of the process to save as many lives as possible.  This group rounded out my 20th foster since I started fostering.  I get the feeling I will go way past that this summer.  Please please spay or neuter your pets, your neighbors pets, and any pet you find that is running around.  A momma cat will result in 200 kittens during a year.

Aloha!

Over the 4th of July weekend, my friends, the Peterson's had their epic Luau in their back yard.  This is always a fun party to go to.  They have been busy up their house and yard and it was absolutely beautiful.  They also have a slurpee machine that they fill with margaritas (as anyone would right??).  They decorate the whole yard with luau theme'd items and even had a fountain in the hot tub.  Of course they have a bar and a beer bong thingy and shotskis.  If you are like me, you haven't heard of a shotski before.  Well they take a snow ski and glue 3 shot glasses down the top.  As  you would guess, 3 people line up to take a shot together.  This time, they made a pineapple/alcohol concoction to drink.

What made this year different for me is John came with me.  He had met many of the people in Moab.   I told him he had to wear a hawaiian shirt to come.  He showed up and looked so cute.  He had on a hawaiian shirt, beige pants which he rolled up, and sandals.  That man was styling!  I on the other hand did not follow my requirement and had zero hawaiian attire but I wore a blue sundress and just hoped to get lei'd once there (Hawaiian lei'd...you dirty minded people.  Haha).

John and I both agreed we weren't up  for a late night.  John brought a bottle of tequila to donate to the cause.  I brought some beer and some fruit skewers for the pot luck part.  We decided to have some dinner before we got there.  I took John to "Tin Roof Grill" in Sandy.  It is so delicious and one of my favorites out south.   When we got to the party, we greeted everyone and found a table in the shade that had Gayle and her girlfriends there. Of course, we grabbed a margarita before sitting down.

John has such a way of visiting with people and talking to anyone.  It makes it really fun to have him there.  It wasn't long before Kimberlee and Aki arrived and they came to sit with us.  Kimberlee and I can gab for hours.  John has already bonded with Kimberlee over tequila in Moab.  Let's just say, we picked up where we left off and continued from there.  Before we knew it, it was 12:15 and we decided we better go (so much for leaving early).  Don't worry Mom.  I quit drinking at 9:00 so I could drive us home.

In typical Peterson fashion, we had a great time.  Good food, great drinks, and excellent company. And I did get lei'd so by the end of the evening, I fit right in!

Momma Gayle and Kim (the hostess)

Me, John, Kimberlee (you can see the bar in the background)

It's all fun and games until the whipped cream comes out.

Getting all limey!

The Shotski