3rd stop - Corfu, Greece

Some of my random thoughts about Corfu:

Corfu is a lovely Greek island. Typically when Americans vacation in the Greek isles, they go to Santorini or Mykonos. On the other hand, Europeans often go to Corfu. And I can understand why - it is lovely, unspoiled. There are beautiful beaches, hills, lush vegetation, quaint small towns, plus history galore. There are picturesque views all over the island. I can easily understand vacationing there, or even living there.

We again had a fabulous local guide. Altho I was quite disconcerted when we first met up with Dimitris. I definitely did not expect a red-headed Greek!!! But Dimitris grew up on Corfu, and his love and pride in his island really shows.

Dimitris took us to some very cool overlooks. Because olives were/are the main industry, we spent quite a bit of time talking about them. We saw olive trees, the nets underneath the trees that catch the olives as they fall, olives that had already fallen, plus we went to the Olive Museum that has old olive press equipment that was used for making olive oil. It was actually quite funny. We pulled into a small town and parked. We started walking, and Dimitris walked into a local shop to get the museum key, and then he was our museum guide too, and was extremely knowledgable. In this little town is the SMALL school where Dimitris went, and where his son now goes. We peeked in the windows when we walked by and saw the kids all working hard. Across the street was another school where you could hear the kids laughing. I think what now strikes me most about this is that the windows of the schools were open. You just don't see business windows open in the U.S. It seems like folks in the U.S. do everything they can to block out nature and the outside while other people welcome it in.

A little sidenote here - it was odd to me in both Corfu and in Dubrovnik - amongst the many flowers that grow wild were many poppies. They are quite beautiful and definitely stand out. Since we don't have them in Wisconsin, it seems weird to me that a plant that is used to make an illegal substance just grows wild... ;-o


We went to a nice Byzantine church in a different small town. We went inside and looked around and took pictures. I just love the Byzantine architecture; it's very pleasing to my eye with nice lines and curves and attention to detail. The inside was beautiful as well. The altar was much more richly decorated than I had expected for the town. And of course, Dimitris gave great explanations on the church and religious items.

We saw a lady using a donkey cart to transport goods. And we discovered on our trip that it wasn't really that unusual. We saw carts and buggies quite a bit more than expected. On the surface the places we visited seemed quite modern, but then we'd see something like that and realize that not everyone and everything has been modernized yet. And perhaps these countries, or at least some of the locals from these countries, are still quite poor by U.S. standards.

Our last stop before going to Corfu City was another scenic overlook area - one of, if not the most, famous view on the island. There is a monastery that is only reachable by boat and/or by walking. It is quite picturesque, surrounded by crystal clear water and hilly islands.

Let's see - Corfu town. The older part of town has a great fort, other older buildings and statues, typical of European towns, pedestrian traffic only. There is also the typical shopping area: narrow winding pedestrian only streets, with a bunch of shops all selling pretty much the same things. Jewelry, locally made wine and alcohol, olive oil soap and tourist souvenirs were definitely most common.

Greg and I didn't do as much in the old town area as I would have liked. We were looking for a post office, and wandered thru a lot of the newer part of the city. In a way, that was interesting too. We saw the locals just going about their business like any other city. We saw their normal business, shops, restaurants, etc., rather than touristy stuff.

2nd stop - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Before we went on this trip, I had, of course, read lots of reviews on the ports, the ship, etc. Dubrovnik is a place that surprises a lot of people - they don't expect much and then find out it's beautiful and full of history.

The four of us decided to get a taxi to get an overview of sorts before we walked the Old Town. We lucked out, getting a taxi driver who spoke English very well. Robert took us to some nice scenic lookout areas, as well as a couple spots that have a little more history to them.

Personally I would enjoy going back to the area, not so much to see the city of Dubrovnik again, but more to see the surrounding area. The Dalmatian coastline and islands are supposed to be absolutely beautiful, and I can understand that from the little bit we could see.

What struck me most was the casual talk about the recent 1991-1995 Bosnian war. The first place Robert took us to was the marina - he showed us a nice little creek/waterfall, and pointed out where the Serb border was. Then after a few photo opps, he took us to an old fort at the top of a hill overlooking Dubrovnik. The old fort area was interesting for a couple reasons.

First, the fort was built by Napoleon. Wow - that was kind of neat. In my mind - Napoleon is "old" history, and I just never thought about seeing something built by/for him. Robert pointed out the stables and a few other structures that aren't as obvious as to their purpose. But the fort itself was still standing too.

More thought-provoking, the fort was basically the "last stand" for Dubrovnik during the Bosnian war. The townspeople used that fort to keep the Serbs out of Dubrovnik. Robert commented about hearing gunfire every day in town. He told us how everyone did what they could to keep their town safe. And I'm not talking about a couple of days or weeks, it was YEARS. We could see the damage done to the walls during the war. Right near the fort was a small building that was the top end of a gondola that brought people up from town - the building was pretty much demolished, and the gondola is gone. Robert pointed out some of the memorials to townspeople who had died during the fighting. It really made me think about how fortunate we are in the States. The thought of waking up every morning to gunfire, the possibility of a sniper or a stray bullet, of friends and family being shot.... OMG. In the city there is a museum, I guess it would be called, that has a "spec" poster on every person who lost their life fighting to keep Dubrovnik out of Serb hands - it really personalized the war to me, seeing the young faces of the men who fought and died there.

On a lighter note, yes, Dubrovnik is a beautiful town. The Old Town, of course, is most interesting to tourists, but even the newer areas are beautiful. The town is built on the sides of hills at the end of the Adriatic Sea. Old Town is on the only flat piece of land in the area, it is right on the sea. It is encircled with a wall - and WHAT A WALL! It must have been incredibly difficult to build that wall without all the modern technology we have now. It hangs right on out over the water, and it's really tall in some spots, with forts on all the corners. From a distance Old Town looks pretty big, but when you actually go into it and walk, it seems like it's only a few blocks each direction.

It is possible to walk on the wall the entire length around the Old Town. It's almost like a sidewalk on top of the wall, with sidewalls to protect people from falling off. The views from the wall are incredible - gotta love the tile roofs - so colorful!! And the water is just fab - clear and vibrantly colored. The picture to the left is from a tower of a corner fort on the wall.

It was very intriguing being on the wall overlooking the Old Town. We could see laundry flapping in the breeze, reminding us that it is still a living city - people really do live there, it isn't just a museum for tourists. Most of the homes had satellite dishes. Sometimes as we walked and looked, I felt like a peeping Tom, looking down into people's yards and gardens. Sometimes their windows were only a few feet away from the wall. It made me wonder how I would feel about living there - do you get used to being on display to tourists all the time?

Just like Venice, the streets in Dubrovnik are narrow. The town was obviously built when travel was done by foot, not even by horse. The buildings are beautiful, and there are neat courtyards and squares.

There are wonderful restaurants with outside dining. In fact, we had a light lunch at one - very good as a matter of fact. But the funny thing - after we paid, the waiter came up to us and told us we left too much tip. We told him we didn't, and he said yes. Back and forth, finally we convinced him and he left. As we were leaving, he ran up to us, again, saying we gave him too much tip. His manager insisted he talk to us. We said no, the amount was right. So we left. A while later we walked by that same restaurant again. And guess what? You got it! The waiter AGAIN came up to us and said we left him too much tip. argh! We think that his manager was watching that third time... but again, we said no, it was the correct amount. It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that the usual tip in Europe is 10%, not 15-20% as here in the States.

For a little history lesson - most of the town was leveled in an earthquake in 1667. Only two buildings, both palaces (in photo with arched entrance), survived with their Renaissance architecture. The rest of the city was rebuilt in a uniform baroque style. Because almost the entire city was rebuilt at the same time, it is all the same stone, same style, so it is pleasing to the eye. It was perfectly preserved, with the wall keeping out autos.

However, the town suffered a lot of damage during the Bosnian war - estimated at US $10 million at the time. Pretty much every building had some sort of damage. The streets and the wall suffered many direct hits. The town has been restored as authentically as possible, and it looks beautiful once more.

the trip of a lifetime - 1st stop VENICE

hmm... haven't been good with the blog updates recently... for shame, for shame. Guess I've been too busy living life to record it.

The biggest news recently - we took our fab vacation May 12 - 28. And yes, it really was a trip of a lifetime. The highlights included the pyramids in Egypt, the Acropolis/Parthenon in Greece, Istanbul, Dubrovnik (Croatia),and the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey, amongst many other wonderful sights and activities. Yes, we've been back a while now, but I've only just started going thru the hundreds of photos to determine which ones to print. argh... digital is definitely good AND bad!! ;D And Donnie (my bro), who along with his girlfriend travelled with us, took WAY WAY WAY more photos than I did! We each have 9, yes NINE CDs full of photos - the CDs include Don's and my pics. Pretty much every night we downloaded our photos to Donnie's laptop and burned them to CD, so that we could clear our camera memory chips for the next day!

So anyway, without further ado, here are some photos and random comments about Venice.

We flew into Venice for one night pre-cruise. We took public transportation from the airport to the hotel, first a normal land bus, then a waterbus. We wandered around Venice both on foot and by waterbus. We stayed at a hotel right near the Rialto Bridge, one of only three bridges that cross the Grand Canal, and also one of the most famous Venice landmarks. (yep, that's our hotel on the right - the pink buildings!)
We were originally supposed to stay at a hotel on the other side of the Rialto, but the rooms there are really small, and the hotel manager moved us to their sister hotel where we enjoyed nicer accommodations. The only problem was dragging our luggage up and over the Rialto - twice within a half hour!!

Venice is a neat city, the buildings are old and beautiful, altho some do show their age.

As you may have heard, Venice is "sinking" - a tiny little bit each year. In actuality tho, it's the understructure that is causing the problem. Venice was built before motorized boats - it is the continual beating of the boat wakes against the understructure that is creating more and more damage. Venice is working to fix the damage, and many buildings show evidence of this work.


The "streets" and waterways are like a labyrinth. It is very easy to get lost in Venice, at least in the evening when you can't get a sense of direction from the sun. Greg and I tried to get back to the hotel, and it seemed like most paths dead-ended at small canals as well as the Grand Canal.

Venetian latte is NUMMY! Thick yet not bitter at all. Starbucks needs to take a few lessons over in Italy!

There are pigeons all over, but particularly at St. Mark's Square. Many tourists feed them, and you could see the pigeons literally crawling on folks to get food. It gives me the creeps just thinking about it!

St. Mark's Square and the surrounding area is SUPER crowded. People everywhere, pushing, shoving.

The Doge's Palace is a very neat building, very cool to see, but the audio tour focused almost entirely on the artwork in the building. I guess that's appropriate in Italy, a country known for the arts, but it became really boring after the first few rooms. However, the walk thru the prison and over the Bridge of Sighs was neat. I guess I would recommend to folks to take the "Secret Itinerary" tour (book ahead of time as it sells out!) if they want to hear about more than just paintings and stuff.

Talking about paintings and stuff... it was neat seeing artists at various locations around Venice, just drawing/painting away!

Venice is known for its glasswork, ok, well, actually it's Murano glasswork. But anyway, it IS beautiful! And there are shops, kiosks, stalls and booths everywhere that sell the glasswork, as well as Venetian masks, t-shirts and other souvenir type stuff.

this was fun

I was checking out my friend Carrie's blog - she had a cool little thing called "What Kind of Donut Are You." So I had to take the quiz and find out. This was the answer, which was the same as Carrie's, interestingly enough! ;-o

You Are a Caramel Crunch Donut

You're a complex creature, and you're guilty of complicating things for fun. You've been known to sit around pondering the meaning of life... Or at times, pondering the meaning of your doughnut. To frost or not to frost? To fill or not to fill? These are your eternal questions.

What Donut Are You?

here are hints 3 & 4

hint #2

Life will be really different for a couple of years, then back to more "normal."

for the impatient folks in my life...

I guess I can post an occasional hint.

Today's hint:
The accounting/finance field just doesn't seem to fit me anymore.
Yes, I know I stated that in my last post, but it is important in the scheme of things. ;-)

poor neglected blog

Poor thing. I've been totally ignoring this little guy. There has just been SO much going on in my life.

Of course, the kitties. Gotta love 'em. But gotta spend time with 'em too. They're sweet, fun, adorable, and they just LOVE attention!!

I started dieting (AGAIN) a few weeks ago. The first two weeks were calorie counting. Then last week I started back on the South Beach diet, which has worked for me in the past. But it takes a lot more prep time for eating.

I just had some girls over a week and a half ago. They were here for scrapbooking! We met for dinner Friday night, came here, and scrapped until everyone either hit the road or hit their bed. Saturday again - we scrapped until the wee hours. I had a blast!! And I love seeing my scrappin' buddies!!!

Last week I made a change in my work life - I dropped to 30-32 hours a week. Why?! Well, first and foremost, I need to take control of my life. And that means time for me to get healthy in mind and body. I also really really detest what I do - it was good right out of college, but bit by bit over the years I have liked it less and less. Accounting/finance just doesn't work with me and my personality. So fewer hours doing that boring stuff makes Marcia a happier person.

Today I finally made it to an athletic club to start working out again. This has been on my to-do list for a while now. I like the club, and it wasn't very busy even tho I was there at prime time. They have a bunch of very neat classes - I think they'll provide incentive for me to continue to go. Also cool - a friend/co-worker goes to the same club, so she and I can try to work out together sometimes.

Next weekend is CKU Albums in Chicago. WOOHOO!!! This is the big scrapbook school that is WAY awesome! And I'll get to see some friends from my last CKU in Provo again - I can't wait!!! But I've had stuff to do to prepare, and so that's taken a bit of time.

In mid-April there's an annual scrapbook convention here in Milwaukee that is pretty awesome. So Friday night we girls will go out, and then Saturday I'll be taking classes and checking out the vendors.

Our upcoming cruise in May - very sadly neglected. Normally, by now, I would have every excursion planned and all private guides hired. Not this time. I have done very little on this one.

There are other major changes upcoming in Marcia's life. ;D Guess you'll just have to stay tuned to find out what!!!!

a random question challenge

Sometimes these twopeas challenges look like so much fun!! This one I'm answering quick, very little thinking involved, so the answers are definitely different than they would be if I carefully considered the various possibilities. ;-)

1. I almost peed myself when I won a trip to Europe.
2. Country music = comfort. My folks listened to country, so it reminds me of my youth.
3. The smell of leather reminds me of a new car.
4. When I was little my mom told me to get down from the door frame from which I was hanging.
5. The last time I screamed was because that's what you do on a rollercoaster!
6. The one person I aspire to be most like is my dad.
7. I love my kitties every day.
8. I scrapbook because I enjoy the artistic creativity.
9. People drive me crazy when they drive the speed limit or slower.
10. A special gift I remember receiving, that meant the world to me, was my organ. Whoa - I got it (a big organ, not just a little toy thing) when I was about 6 years old. And I played it SO MUCH.

turning 39

well... actually, that's kind of a nisnomer. If ya think about it, I've been in my 39th year here on this earth since 3/2/2005. Today is actually the beginning of my 40th year. Does it make a difference? Not really.

Today is just another day. Each day adds 24 hours to my lifespan here. Each day brings another 1440 minutes with which to do something, whether it be work, sleep, eat, be with family/friends, party, watch tv, play with the kitties, scrapbook, motorcycle... whatever. In the end, each day provides me with an additional 86,400 seconds to enjoy or not. The choice of how we spend that precious time is up to us (in most cases).

If you can't tell, I'm not one for making a big deal out of birthdays. Altho, as a coworker and friend mentioned today, a birthday in actuality may be a great day to call your mother to thank HER, since she's the one who carried you for over 9 months and then bore you. Yikes!

So anyway, even if birthdays aren't a big deal, I'll say it anyway:
Happy birthday to me!

And a thought for the day: are you making the best choices when it comes to how you spend your very precious time living here on earth?

argh - got tagged again! ;-)

Emily, my dear good friend tagged me with another blog challenge. So here goes:

WHAT SCRAPBOOK LINES/PRODUCTS/ETC DO YOU DISLIKE?
Most stickers - I seldom use stickers besides alphas.
I'm also not a big fan of traditional rubber stamps - I can never get the image right where I want it.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING YOU HAVE EVER HAD TO SCRAP?
I still need to do the toughest one - when my dad died. I have scrapped some pages about him, but not "the one."

WHAT TECHNIQUE DO YOU USE MORE THAN ANYTHING?
Is scraplifting considered a technique?? I really can't pick out any one technique that I use most!

WHAT'S THE SMALLEST SCRAP OF PAPER YOU SAVE?
Yikes - probably 1 x 12 or 3 x 3, but only if I have more than one piece.

EVER HAD ANY SCRAPBOOKING-RELATED INJURIES?
Paper cut?

FINISH THIS SENTENCE, "IF I WASN'T A SCRAPBOOKER, I WOULD SPEND MY MONEY ON:
I don't "take from Peter to pay Paul" - meaning that I don't use money on scrapping that I would use on something else. If I want something else, I buy it. :-) The question as I see it is what would I do with my time if I didn't scrap? Well... I actually don't spend a lot of time scrapping, and have no clue what I would be doing instead. So I guess I just can't answer this question.


GIVE US YOUR BEST STORAGE OR ORGANIZATIONAL IDEA:
Vertical paper storage - got the idea from someone on twopeas - take several (many!) stackable paper trays, tape them together, put them on a shelf so that the open side is in front, up and down. woohoo! Ain't it purty?!

YOU JUST WON A WEEK LONG SCRAPBOOKING CRUISE FOR 5. WHO'S GOING WITH YOU?
I'm making the assumption that all the cool celebs are already going, so I get to take my scrappin' buds:
Amy - she's scrapped with me the most - puts up with me! And we get along great; we room together and don't have any problems (as far as I know!).
Bobi - she's been my scrappin' bud the longest. It's too bad we don't live closer to one another, we only see each other a couple times a year. Miss ya, Bobi!
Emily - we have so much in common and get along SO great! I think the planets, suns, etc. were all aligned just right the day we joined forces in our Provo 2005 Scrappin' Biker Babe dorm. Sometimes things are just meant to be.
Gini - my sister. She keeps saying she wants to scrap. She has some supplies. But she hasn't started. She needs time away from her 4 kids (ok, 3 kids and DH) to get going.
And if the 5 doesn't include me, my fifth guest would probably be Annie. My brother's gf. Nice fun gal. She dishes it out as well as she takes it. And if she can put up with him, she can easily put up with me for a week! In fact - she has. The two of them took a week long cruise with DH and I in 2004, and we're going together for another 15 days this May.

Okay...now this is where I'm not going to follow directions. Per instructions, I'm supposed to tag 4 more ladies. But I don't know lots of folks who blog, so I'll just say that anyone who scraps (or stamps or any other hobby that this can be modified for) should feel free to try out this challenge!

another blog challenge

Another challenge from twopeas: list some fun facts about myself. This is a kewl challenge!!

1) I'm 38 yrs old, an aunt to 16 kids and a great-aunt to 19 kids. 4 of my nieces and nephews are older than me. (yes, I'm an oops.)
2) I do something "new" each year. Some things I've done:
skydiving
hot air ballooning
ridden highest ride in the U.S.
cave tubing
polar bear club (jumped in Lake Michigan on New Years Day)
parasailing
glider ride
held a sting ray
snorkeling
ziplining
3) I love to travel. I have a HUGE list of places I want to go!
4) DH and I opted not to have children. We enjoy our life and lifestyle as it is.
5) I love kitties/cats!!!
6) I'm a creative soul stuck in an analytical job/world.
7) I was a social work major until the middle of my junior year of college. I switched to accounting and still graduated on time.
8) I really want to move away from Wisconsin - way too cold for me!
9) My fave Halloween costume was Boy George - that was a long time ago!
10) I played trombone through middle school, high school and college. I'm short (aka vertically challenged), and had to turn slightly sideways to extend my slide to its furthest position. The most memorable performance - in college, 10 trombone players all standing on stage - me in the middle of 9 men, mostly tall and big.
11) I was a bit of a loner in grade school - high school; very unpopular because one of the popular girls decided she didn't like me. When I went to college where no one knew me, I was popular, a partier, a joker.
12) If I could get a good paying job third shift, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I am SUCH a night owl!!!
13) I used to dislike beer. Now I love it, especially dark beer - the kind you can chew. I had some dark beer in Prague, and mmmmm, it was good! And I became hooked.
14) My trip to Europe with Dad, Mom, one brother and one sister, along with a big tour group, was my most memorable vacation-to-date. We visited Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria. That area is "the homeland" to us, so it was very very neat to go there with family.
15) I've always been fascinated with Greece, as long as I can remember. I think that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I lived in ancient Greece as someone relatively well-to-do.
16) When I was young my Mom worked out of the house, so I was with Dad every day - he farmed, so I could be with him most of the time. I remember sitting on the tractor, visiting the little boy next door, going to the coffee shop daily. :-) I've been told that he read to me, but that he didn't like children's books, so he read out of the encyclopedia!

Well... I'm thinking that's all for now. This is a challenge I might revisit soon!!!

yet more

photos of my babies ;-)

Henry in the kitty condo. When we first let the kitties have run of the house, Henry was a bit scared of the big open spaces, and he really liked the kitty condo because it's more enclosed for him. Even tho he's used to and enjoys the house space now, he still likes "the box" as we call it - it's comforting to him.

Alex on the recliner chair. Good thing I put a blanket on it - that chair is his fave place to lay/sit/sleep. Cleaning kitty hair off furniture is no fun! It's also his fave place to cuddle with me. YAY!!!!! I got a lap kitty!!!!!

latest blog challenge

from twopeas, one of my fave boards...

10 Things You Love About Your City / Where You Live, which in my case would be Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
1) Summerfest
2) nice size, not too big, not too small
3) downtown has an eclectic mix of styles and ages of buildings
4) rush hour traffic isn't horrible, like LA or Phoenix
5) good selection of ethnic restaurants
6) on Lake Michigan, nice beaches, views, etc.
7) festivals every weekend all summer long
8) near Bristol Renaissance Faire
9) beer and brats, what more can I say?!
10) the world-reknown Calatrava building that houses the art museum

I've been tagged

thanks to Emily, my fellow Scrappin' Biker Babe. That's ok, tho, 'cause these are usually pretty fun!! Carrie - you're tagged! I don't know where you're gonna post, but lmk so I can peek!!!

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
1. accounting analyst / financial analyst
2. waitress at pizza joint
3. combine driver - for you city folk, that means that I drove a big honkin' tractor with an even huger piece of equipment behind that would pick up pea vines that were already cut and then it would separate the peas from the vines and the pods.
4. ok... can't remember the official title of this one, but this was probably the best - I worked on a crew of people who surveyed people in various parts of Wisconsin. No biggie?? - yeah right. We actually stopped people while they were driving on state highways to ask them questions like "where are you coming from" "where are you going to" etc. Wanna talk to someone who's really po'ed? just stop someone on their way to work!

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Lord of the Ring trilogy
2. Twister (not stellar, but brainless fun anyway- "we got cow" "we got two cows" hahahaha)
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. ???

Four places you have lived:
1. Lodi, WI
2. Waukesha, WI
3. Wind Lake, WI
4. Oak Creek, WI (yes, I've been boring, living only in Wisconsin!)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Project Runway
2. Stargate SG1
3. That 70s Show
4. CSI

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Europe (Greece, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Hungary)
2. Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo, Cozumel, Cancun)
3. Caribbean (many of the islands)
4. U.S. (most of our wonderful states!)

Four websites you visit daily:
1. various yahoo groups
2. twopeasinabucket
3. my own blog
4. cruisecritic (when we're planning a cruise)

Four of your favorite foods:
1. chocolate!!!!! especially dark
2. beer, again especially dark
3. pasta
4. a good latte or mocha

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. New Zealand
2. African safari
3. Mediterranean cruise (going in May!)
4. warm beach anywhere with foofoo drink in hand

the kids

are doing mostly better. YAY!!!! We think that all the "illnesses" are gone: the parasites, upper respiratory virus, tapeworm and fleas. And they're fun and sweet and sometimes a royal pain! But overall - having new kits is a VERY good thing!!!

a couple more pix of my sweet

not-so-little babies

I've been ignoring the world...

can ya blame me??!! ;-)

my babies

are so dang cute! I was with them most of yesterday and last night and again this afternoon. I try to wear them out playing, and then cuddle with them and let them fall asleep on me, under me, or wherever near me they want to be. They really like to sleep close to my face, which is ok, until they try to sleep on TOP of my nose. I gotta breathe, KWIM?? A little while ago Henry literally moved inch by inch until he was flopped all the way across my neck - he did try to lay over my face, but obviously I didn't let that happen. They're so cute and loving - it's like they have to touch my face while they fall asleep.

Right now they are in one room, which is recommended until kitties get used to their new home. And I do feel kind of bad about it. But those little monsters {said very affectionately!} go shooting out that door as soon as we open it. MAN are they quick!

The little guys have a parasite called Giardia, so we're supposed to give them pills. Well... the pills are nasty nasty nasty, and we have to break them into little pieces which makes it a zillion times worse. So I did some research last night to figure out how to get them to eat the darn little pill pieces. Gotta love the internet!! Anyway, it seems like our method is going to be to crush the pills and add tuna juice and meat. LOL - tuna smell and taste can cover up just about anything!!!

Henry's the one showing off his acrobatic abilities in this photo, but both of them enjoy running and jumping. They love the feather toys!

finally

we got our babies!! Without going into details, suffice it to say that we would never recommend to anyone to get their kitties from the shelter that we did. It's been over a week, and the only reason we were able to bring them home today was because we went in and I was rather persuasive. They claim that they do what is best for their cats, but I can't believe there is any reason why it would be better for our little babies to sit in a birdcage for nine days when they could have been in our house. But anyway... off the soapbox... THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!

They're sweet and lovable, but also very playful and precocious. I'm just waiting for one of them to get injured during their play fighting or when they run across the room and can't stop before hitting whatever's on the other side!

Alex is the lighter/brighter orange on the left side of both pics; he has some tabby stripes and some calico type swirls. Henry is the darker, definite tabby striped little guy on the right; his fur looks like he ran through some black soot. And they're both little bundles of purr. ;-)