Happy 11th Birthday Lexie

Today is Lexie's 11th birthday so I wanted to do a quick blog for her. She's done really well here but misses her running space. If she didn't act up so bad around other people, we could take her to the beach. Oh well, she'll get back to the country eventually.

Map of fires

I wasn't quite right about the locations of the fires. I found a map to show where we are compared to the fires.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21436901/?gt1=10450

If you look across from Catalina Island, you'll see Rancho Palos Verdes.

Thank you for smoking....?

I haven't seen that movie yet, but the title seemed appropriate here. We can smell the smoke from the Malibu fires but we should be safe. I can't believe all the fire problems Southern Cal has had since last night. I suppose it's like tornadoes in KY, you just never know when they'll hit and what they'll do. I feel really sorry for all those thousands of people having to evacuate their homes not knowing if there will be anything left when they are able to return. Some of the fires were arson, which is despicable. They seem to usually catch the evil people who set them and I really hope they do this time as well. I hope the firefighters can get all of it contained in the next week or so. The "governator" has promised all the help they need.

On another lovely note, Maddie's got a virus. I think she picked it up at a park playground, but who knows for sure? She's got a fever and is cranky, but nothing that warrants antibiotics, thank goodness. I hate giving those to her. We went to the doctor on Saturday morning to make sure she didn't have any ear infections, which she didn't. She should be on the mend, but will miss a Halloween party on Friday that my new SAHM (stay-at-home-moms) group is having. We plan on going to the Los Angeles zoo on the 27th with the group and GRAMMY will be here by then. My mom gets here Thursday afternoon. We can't wait! I haven't seen her since August, but it seems like it's been a LOT longer than a few months. Hopefully we won't get Maddie's virus. We've agreed to absolutely NO doctor or hospital visits this time... Mom is still fighting with the insurance company from her visit in April.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Kitty walks

Now that Maddie is walking pretty well, we take a jaunt to the mailboxes down the street in the afternoon. We also look for Mr. Orange Kitty, the fluffy one and the skinny one, near the mailboxes. The skinny version is so nice and patient with Maddie. The fluffy one is much more skittish and runs away pretty easily. Here is the skinny version Mr. Orange Kitty. He's so sweet and he helps me get some kitty lovin' while we're out here. He's got the longest tail I've ever seen on a cat, but I didn't capture that in these pictures. I'm hoping to get pics of the fluffy one too. I don't know if they're related, but they are almost the exact same color and size (besides the fur). Maddie loves to hear them meow when they walk up to us.

Here's a video of Maddie playing with Mr. Orange Kitty. I have to remind her to be very easy with him. He's had every right to smack her a couple of times and never has. She wants to grab his tail so badly! She does pretty well but I have to keep reminding her to be nice. He sure puts up with her well. At the end of it, she gets stuck on the slight incline of the driveway and I have to abruptly stop the camera so I can help her up. Sorry for the extreme close ups of the kitty, but I had to keep Maddie from pulling his tail or fur.

Dodger game

Jason office chose to go to a Dodgers baseball game for an outside activity for the families. I've never been to a pro game so it was pretty neat. Can't say I could stand to watch it on t.v. or anything but the atmosphere of it all was fun. The game went to 10 innings and LA finally won against the San Diego Giants. Our seats were in the outfield and we could see really well. Here are a few pics with my camera phone (forgot the digital camera). Not the greatest, but I wanted something to scrap one day...