Home Sweet Home

Burrrr..... Michigan is cold! I arrived in time to experience another winter storm warning with blowing snow. Nice. I can hear the wind picking up outside the window as I write. Hopefully the weather won't get in the way of my plans to spend much-needed time with some of the friends and family I have been missing!

The trip home was fairly uneventful - aside from a few annoyances that I should not be shocked by. I usually have some weird person and/or situation to deal with. If you know me, you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, my plane landed in Chicago yesterday around 2 pm. My parents picked me up from the airport. We made a stop in Michigan City and went out for dinner. Then we dropped by my niece's house once we got into Holland so I could meet my little grandniece. She is beautiful!

Here are the puppy pictures some people have been waiting for. This is not the dog we are adopting. This is the one we rescued off the street.


I have some more fun ones but I'm still having problems downloading pictures for some reason. It took over a half hour to download these! But isn't she cute? Belle was not amused by the puppy's insatiable appetite for milk and its persistence of trying to get some from the older dog. Poor Belle was looking at me in desperation - begging me with her eyes to rip the annoying little pooch off her underside. She knew enough not to nip at the puppy but she growled under her breath every time the puppy latched on.

Foster dog

A couple days ago, Michael found a puppy on the streets. No. We are not keeping this one! But it was very cute. Michael was walking in Arteaga and the little puppy was lying in the road. He picked it up and it hardly moved - she was very hungry and probably near death. Of course, we didn't have the heart to leave her there. So we became foster parents for a couple nights. We fed her, cleaned her, and I cuddled with her. And poor Belle inadvertantly became a foster mom - the puppy thought she might have some milk to offer - much to Belle's disgust. Anyway, we gave the puppy to Freddie - one of the guys who lives near us. It was a good test drive for our other dogs - they'll have to get used to having a puppy around once our other dog arrives next week. I tried to upload photos, but it isn't working tonight. Maybe later.

Last night our cat went outside and didn't come back. I figured he would be sitting at the door this morning, but he wasn't there. I started to get worried so I walked around our house and shouted his name - Vino! Then I recalled that means "wine" in Spanish. I figured I should just look with my eyes and stop shouting. I didn't want my neighbors to see the crazy white woman wondering around her house aimlessly screaming for wine. People talk. Finally I found Vino way up in a tree. I got his food and he obviously wanted to come down but was apparently too scared to make the decent. Of course. So I climbed a tree for the first time in a very long time. I tried to grab him but everytime I did he clung tighter to the branches with his claws - making me nearly loose my balance. I was finally able to pry each nail from the branches and slowly make the decent with a frightened, clawing kitty in tow. Not exactly the way I like to start my day - but I got my cat back anyway.

Tomorrow morning I head home for a visit. My flight leaves very early and of course I have yet to pack. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Give me a call if you would like to hang out!

Zacatecas

Last weekend we visited an old mining city called Zacatecas, located about 4 hours from where we live. Michael and I went with some Innotec friends: Brennen and his girlfriend Claudia, and Ron and Micah - two engineers I worked with at Innotec (JVP cell!).

Zacatecas is an old city - established in the 1500s - and it has a lot of beautiful buildings, very narrow and steep cobblestone streets, and old silver mines. One of the mines was converted into a dance club called La Mina. We went there on Saturday night. The train takes you down into the mine where they have impressive lighting, music, videos.... The servers all wear hardhats with headlamps.

On Sunday we walked around the city, went to a few stores, saw the cathedral, and took a ride on the suspended cable car.

New news

Where do I start? It seems like so much happens between my posts.

STILL no Internet! I am once again at Paul's house so I can update the blog. The Internet people came to our house on Monday and spent nearly three hours on our roof. Then they came down and told me they couldn't find a signal. Then they left. I was in tears. The Internet is my contact with the outside world. We're looking at other options. Please pray we will be able to figure this out. It may seem like a small thing, but to me it's pretty important.

The most exciting thing that has happened in the past week is the birth of my grandniece! My niece Darcey had a baby girl on Friday, February 6. Her name is Adria Lynn and she weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces. I CANNOT WAIT to see her! I'll be flying home next Tuesday and will be in town for a couple weeks. I'll try to bring some of the 80 degree, sunny weather with me.

Michael and I are adding another animal to our family. Last night we put a down payment on a puppy. I know. Can you believe it? Michael has been wanting a puppy for a long time and I finally gave in. I couldn't say no when the dumb thing fell asleep in my arms. We want to give her a Spanish name. I said we should name her Margarita. Michael said that was the name he was thinking about, too. Then we both - at the same time - said we could just call her Rita. So I'm sure that's what will stick. She has to stay with her mom for a couple more weeks. Then Michael will take her home to meet Belle, Sadie, and Vino the cat.

Speaking of Vino and the two dogs - they are still trying to get used to each other. Vino is getting more daring and will walk close to the dogs - but when the dogs get too close to him he lets out a terrible hissing noise and takes a swing with his paw. I think the dogs - especially Sadie - are more terrified of him than he is of them.

Vino looks down at the dogs in disgust from the top of our fridge.

A comfy hiding spot in my closet.

An even more comfy hiding spot under the blanket.

Where did that cat go?

Why can't we be friends?

Notice Sadie in the background? She was shaking uncontrollably at the thought of being so close to that cat.

In other news, Belle has developed a taste for cat poo. I saw her digging around the litter box one day and I figured she was just confused about why there would be a box of sand in the laundry room. So I told her no. A few hours later, there was a distinct unpleasureable odor wafting through the air. I walked around the house but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the dogs who were lying on the couch, but their hineys looked clean to me. Yes. I checked. Anyway, the next day as I was doing dishes, Belle came walking into the kitchen chewing on something. When I saw brown goo drip from her mouth and the horrible distinct smell of cat poo reached my nostrils, I nearly threw up. I actually did the cough thing that happens right before.... Anyway, I'll spare you the details. Let's just say I was - and continue to be - repulsed.

More to come...

San Antonio

We STILL don't have Internet hooked up at our house and it's driving me crazy! Hopefully people are still reading this blog. I came back to Paul's house today so I could create a couple posts to update you on what we've been up to the past week.

Last weekend Michael and I drove up to San Antonio, Texas. Chuck (Michael's dad) was there on business and we were able to share a hotel room with him, which was great. Thanks, Chuck! The city is beautiful. I loved the Riverwalk - there were a lot of unique restaurants right on the river. We also visited the Alamo and took a boat ride down the river. Here are a few pictures...

A 60 ounce margarita! Don't worry, Mom. I didn't drink the whole thing. We split it between the three of us. :)

Remember the Alamo!