Spa Day!

   Today everybody got a bath... first Aki and Taylor, and then Zoey, who emerged with an even more brilliant and fluffy white coat. I put them outside to dry in the warm sun. They, of course, wanted to come right back in. Sorry, gang!

 Then it was Kismet's turn.

   Don't let the forlorn face fool you. Once she got over the initial shock of the sound of the sprayer, she did very, very well. And looked adorable and hilarious. She didn't like the bath, but she liked being toweled off and she forgave me for the whole ordeal about 0.8 seconds after she was done. The damp kitty followed me all over the house afterward, purring and seeking more attention.

   As you can see, she wasn't traumatized. She is extra-soft and fluffy with a brighter, peach coat, and she smells like lavender. I thought Atom was a ham, but she might be the snuggliest kitty I've ever seen.

    Lest you think she's all good, though, she does like to torture Aki. The dogs are not allowed on my bed. Kitty is. Kitty knows this, and is exploiting it to taunt the dogs.

    While Aki stares at her with her, "Are you freaking kidding me?!" expression...

Happy Mother's Day!

    I was returning from SF today and though I left a message for Mom, I haven't been able to catch her to wish her a happy day "in person." But I did get a text from David with a cute photo of the girls. It makes me so happy to know that he & the pups are happy!!!

   My own pups had spa day today (bath, nail trim, brushing) and enjoyed hanging out in the yard all afternoon while I mowed, though it was nearly 90 degrees. Ugh. A huge change from SF, which was in the 50s all day yesterday, and cold this morning. Too much of a change for me; I nearly passed out from hypothermia when I deplaned in KC. Between the mowing, taking care of the animals, doing two loads of laundry, and, oh yeah, getting up at 4 am to go to the airport... it has been a long (but good) day!

Taylor hates being brushed... can't you tell?!

Dog hair explosion!

   I'm fortunate that Dave was able to fix my gazebo for me (after the snow caved it in), as it was nice to be able to put the laundry outside to dry.

   I was also fortunate that I had a bunch of really good pizza toppings in the fridge & freezer, so I was able to cook at home without venturing to the grocery store: sausage, turkey pepperoni, red peppers, yellow heirloom tomatoes, Kalamata olives, onion, mozzarella and goat cheese crumbles.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Hotel what with the what now?!

   When I decided that I would tack on a couple of extra days to enjoy all that SF has to offer following my business meetings, I knew I wanted to stay in the city, but I didn't know where. After scanning Google maps and TripAdvisor I landed on the website of this absolutely spectacular hotel, Hotel Union Square, which was built in 1913 and said to be a favorite haunt of Dashiell Hammett (author of The Maltese Falcon). The hotel went through a major renovation in recent years and was restored to its original beauty. I couldn't stop looking at their site. I HAD to stay here. It was more than I wanted to spend, but how could I pass this up?

   I arrived at the hotel, checked in, skipped up the steps to the third floor (despite my heavy bags, laden with product samples)... I was so excited! I slid my key in the door, and stepped in to...

Cue the sad trombone!

   Okay, granted. It wasn't "bad." But it also wasn't the luxurious 1920s-era designer dream that they sold me on their website. I got suckered by the loveliness they presented into paying way too much for a REGULAR hotel room. And that, my friends, is the value of hiring expert designers and photographers for your project.
   When I checked my room against the site again it actually had all of the same furniture—just none of the lighting and color that set it off. They didn't lie exactly... okay, maybe a little. Hmm.
   Other than that, and the fact that I have stayed in rooms this same size in Tokyo (which also cost less), my stay was pleasant. The one other exception: they had thoughtfully installed motion-detector switches in the bathroom, as this was a "green" hotel. Love it. I recycle, I compost—I support the planet. These were the same switches we have at work, so I'm very accustomed to them. The problem was that mine didn't work.
   So when I rushed back from hiking and returning the car, already late to my dinner reservation and not wanting to be late for Diddy, I needed to shower—FAST. I hopped in, and 30 seconds later, the light went out. I opened the shower door and clicked the switch again so it would stay on. It didn't. 30 seconds later it went out again. I got out of the shower & clicked it again, this time sure that I had got it. I hadn't. It went out again. I'm totally not exaggerating about the 30 seconds. The bathroom was very, VERY dark without that light, so I basically had to shower as if I were in a cave and blind as a bat. And when I got out, the floor was soaked from my frequent exits & re-entries.I slipped on the wet tile and bruised my arm on the wall. Grrrrrr...
   I will say that the front desk staff did get an electrician in quickly to change the switch, but not until after my dark & unpleasant shower the next morning. But I don't understand how this was never mentioned to them before.
   The location of the hotel was fantastic, just blocks from my concert, and with easy access to public transportation. If they have a super-duper sale I would definitely stay there again. But not at the current price tag. Live and learn!

Shiba Baths x 4 = 1 Tired Jen

   Nothing says fun on a Saturday night like staying home and giving four filthy 6-month-old puppies much-needed baths! They all got panicky in the tub and kept trying to leap out, but in the end I prevailed. It is pretty remarkable how fluffy and bright their coats were afterwards. These are some SUPER ADORABLE PUPPIES. Don't you agree?

Scooter & Skeeter

Clockwise from top left: Scooter, Koko, Piggy & Skeeter

Skeeter & Piggy

From top: Scooter, Skeeter, Koko and Piggy

The rest of the day...

  After the morning's fun, I shipped Masayo's birthday package (遅く送りまして、私は悪い友達です！), came home, bathed the dogs, played with them outside, mowed the lawn, edged the lawn and finally dug out the large pokeweed growing in the back corner. It was great to get all that done before the rain started, but now I'm beat! Off to do some more drawing for One Bite & laundry & run the dishwasher...

I can tell you're jealous.  ^_^

The after-bath:

Spa day Sunday!

   After the run, the spa activities began. The pets were up first (and none were happy about it, though the dogs are very tolerant). Despite the cats' protests, they are so sleek & silky now that it was totally worth it. They felt so good snuggled up on my lap while I read the paper!

Atom found it to be very tiring:

Love how wolf-y Tay looks with no collar:

And then I thoroughly washed my car inside & out:

   And finished up with a hot shower using Ten Thousand Waves products, which someone was nice enough to have given me as a souvenir. The yuzu smells SO GOOD & it takes me right back to that amazing trip.

baths x 4 = 4x as crazy!

I took the day off work today (ironically, to get some work done—and I ended up spending a large chunk of the day doing work for WORK instead of work for myself). Anyway, this morning I got the crazy idea to give ALL FOUR animals a bath. I brushed the cats first (admittedly, they were LONG overdue!) Check out this pile of hair!!!

Then it was downstairs to the bathtub. There was much yowling & wailing. And the cats didn't like it either.

I love how you can see Atom's little fangs here:

Gypsy kept trying to crawl out of the tub,

and pretty much soaked the floor.

Then it was the dogs' turn.

They were quieter, but not necessarily happier. Until after...

Taylor is so glad to be done! video 1 / video 2

Time to go outside and play! And dry off! Fortunately it's in the 60s today. Here's Aki waiting for me to throw the tennis ball. She points like that when she smells the possum under the deck, too.

The sun is nice & bright (as you can see—the whole fence looks washed-out). The dogs LOVE to be outside on days like this!

FETCH! FETCH! FETCH! FETCH! FETCH!!!

What's that? I look handsome after my bath?

Based on this experience, I've figured out the etymology of my pets' names: "Gypsy" is Greek for "one who hates water." "Atom" is Sanskrit for "I will destroy you if you brush me." "Aki" is Japanese for "I can scarcely tolerate the humiliation you're putting me through." And "Taylor" is German for "slinks away when he smells shampoo."

P.S.— Guess who got the wettest!

bathtime for shibas!

The tub in the basement & new tile back splash are pretty much the best thing ever.