My Vacation

This post will make no sense right now because it needs to be reformatted completely! I entered all the text and uploaded the pictures at home using Mozilla, but I can't make any changes at work using Internet Explorer. So I'll just let you try to figure it out until I have time at home to move things around.









As I wrote before, it looks like we won't be going anywhere this summer on vacation, but I did manage to have my own style of vacation.
While my brother and sister-in-law were on their trip, I volunteered to house sit and as mentioned before kitty-sit.
I started on Tuesday when I stopped by during lunch. I got some food from Burger King and then stopped in to see how Addy was doing. I ate my lunch and played with her a bit. It was kind of strange to be in their house without them being there, but I could tell it was going to be a fun time! After work my husband came with me to the house and played with Addy for hours, while I made dinner. They would chase each other around the house. It was really cute and funny and I don't know who got tired out first, my husband or the cat! That night I was looking for the can opener, only to figure out that my brother had taken it with them on their trip! After dinner and ice cream, my husband went home and I put on a DVD, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version). I played with Addy for awhile until my sister arrived. She spent most nights with me. We had a great time, catching up during the week and watching Disney movies we've been wanting to watch for a long time and of course eating lots of ice cream! My brother and his wife had left 3 almost full containers of ice cream and "demanded" that we have them all finished before they got back!
So the first night, I slept the best I had in a long time. It was so quiet on their street and in their house. It also felt very peaceful. Addy seemed to adjust to us being there and it was good. The rest of the days were pretty much the same. My husband would stay with me for awhile to have dinner and to play with the cat. Then he would go home and my sister would come over a little while later.

Some things I also loved about staying there was having some time to myself, not having any TV and being only 10 minutes away from work instead of 25.

On Friday, Addy the kitty came to work with me for the morning. My co-worker really wanted to see her. After exploring the entire office for a few hours, she took a nap in my chair, so I had to work standing up of course!

The one Saturday that we were there, my husband came over in the afternoon and we took a walk to the beach and then over to downtown and back again. We also explored this aqueduct structure that is above the mission. I had never been to that spot before and it was like seeing the city in a whole new light.

I had a couple of nights to myself and surprisingly felt very safe. One of those nights, I went for a walk to the beach.
When it was over, I did have a little hard time letting go and getting back to my life. I knew that there was still craziness around my home. I stayed until the travellers came home and helped them unload their car and hear a little bit about their trip. They were so glad to be back home and I don't blame them.

That night my parents were out of town, so I spent the night at their place to keep their animals company. I kind of got use to living out of my bag and not being at home. It kind of gives one self reliance and keeps you from identifying so much with your home.

The following week, my sister was house sitting for someone else in her town, and I was able to spend the night with her for one night. We had a little pool party earlier with my brother and his wife. It was interesting to go from one kind of home, that was small and neat and tidy to a completely other kind of home that was large, under construction and normally full of wild children. It kind of gave me a balanced perspective to come back to my home. I could see the positive and negative of my own situation a little better.

Thanks to everybody who let me escape at their homes while they were gone!

Something cute and cuddly

So the other day I was looking at the updates for blogs that I follow and ALL of them had photos of little cute and cuddly babies and kids. It was a tiny bit overwhelming for me and I got a little jealous and wished I had something like that in my life. Then I realized that I do have something to blog about that's along the same lines.

I've been house sitting and kitten sitting for my brother and sister-in-law for the last 10 days while they were away on vacation. Little Addy, their kitten is just a few months old. It was fun to have a little creature happy to see you when you come home and follow you around the house wanting you to play with her. Also to feed, clean up after and to keep you up at night! Sounds familiar, right?

My sister stayed at the house too and had a few kitty photo shoots, which I'm borrowing these pictures from.

Addy loves to play with this hat and on the first day I was watching her, she strategically moved it into her "bed" and slept IN it every day. Must have been like a comforting "baby blanket" to her. I love how her colors match the colors of the hat perfectly. The day my brother came back, she moved it off of her bed and onto the floor.

Somebody is watching you! Addy kept doing this while my sister and I were watching TV. It was so cute. At least she couldn't attack us from behind the lamp!

I had the best time at the little house with the little kitty and my little sister. It was so nice to take a break from my own life for awhile and get a better perspective on things. I have made some goals to help make my life more peaceful and make me less grumpy! It's also good to have everybody in my family back home again.

I am so excited!

It's been a great last few days and I think my mental health is improving from it! Part of it has to be anticipation of my little mini "vacation" that starts today! Funny I should say that, since I'm at work right now and will be at work the whole time! (Actually work is a vacation too since the boss is gone and things are very slow.) After it is over, I will explain what I mean.
I am looking forward to having something to care for everyday and to see things from a different perspective.

I don't have any pictures from this weekend, so I'll just write it up.

This summer holiday season has been a little different from times past. Everyone in my family did their own thing and we met up together here and there. On July 3rd, both my husband and I had the day off so we took a drive and a hike in the mountains above our area. Somehow we avoided all the bad holiday traffic on all our travels. That evening we met his family for dinner and had a good a time. We also stopped in a bugged my brother and sister-in-law and their kitten on the way home. I visited a good friend on Independence Day and enjoyed her company and the peace away from the crowds in my town. My husband went hiking and the rest of my family had a BBQ together. The next day on my way home from there I stopped at my folks place and just stayed for a several hours, letting the Sunday beach crowds disperse before I went back to my place. My parents went to Disneyland that day for my father's birthday.
Yesterday was my brother's birthday and we all met together in the evening for an impromptu birthday party at his house for him. It was a fun, relaxing gathering.
It's been so nice this weekend to not have big plans and expectations for everybody and to just go with the flow and enjoy ourselves. I think and hope that everybody had as good of a time as I did.
I read something yesterday that really hit home about families that is a truth everyone can benefit from. It said "The beauty of being a family, is that you can be yourself."