Oh Christmas tree…

“We’ll take the tallest tree you have,” they said.

It was, um, too tall….

One hour, several non power tools, two tired boys, and one million pine needles in the the house later, she fit!

We trimmed that tree up real nice.

Every year we host a tree trimming party and everyone who attends brings an ornament for the tree. After five years the house has amassed an eclectic variety of beautiful, hilarious, and unique ornaments.

I love this photo so much despite the poor lighting. Christmas ladies!

I sort of love that the angel’s head is wedged into the ceiling. Happy Christmas from the tallest tree in all the land! (Or perhaps just on our street?)

She twirled.

Almost 40 years ago my mom’s friend invited her to a concert at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. Tickets were $20, seating was open, and he said that he thought the band would be really famous one day.

On Friday I paid $82 to watch Stevie Nicks twirl from the upper deck of the Verizon Center. It was AMAZING.

The whole band was back together for the first time since 1998 (Christine McVie unretired after 16 years and was so good). I wore a flower crown, I cried during “Landslide” and they played “Seven Wonders” (despite not being on the set list) and made my whole night.

Go see Fleetwood Mac while you can people!

Once upon a time in San Francisco

The Regan / Brooks family took a trip to the West coast in early August. Technically three of us took a trip there to visit baby brother (remember, he moved) in the land of Tesla’s, composting, and good wine. We spent time in the San Francisco, Monterey Bay and a bit north of the city near Point Reyes National Seashore.

First up, All The Photos! Links to places we stayed and food we ate at the bottom.

^^ Point Reyes National Seashore is beautiful!

^^ John Muir National Historic Site (these are sequoias, not redwoods… but still tall and amazing!).

^^ #hipsters

^^ Pebble Beach! I recommend the 17 mile drive.

The entire trip was fantastic! My only regret is that we didn’t eat at In ‘n Out. Bah! In the city we Stayed at the Good Hotel – it’s a budget and eco friendly hotel with A PHOTO BOOTH in the lobby. We had a flight of beer at Cellarmaker Brewing Company; I recommend the Imperial Coffee and Cigarettes stout!

In Sonoma we rented bikes from here and biked to several wineries. Our goal was five… we made it to four: Gundlach Bundschu, Ravens Wood, and two others that are escaping me…

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which was fabulous and is home to penguins!  I don’t have any photos for fear of dropping my camera in water but one of my favorite activities was paddle boarding in Monterey Bay. Tim kayaked alongside and we saw tons of seals! I was slightly concerned one was going to attempt to board my craft but they didn’t…..

We ate a lot of good food that I’m forgetting and near the seashore and bay we stayed in really great VRBO homes. San Francisco and the surrounding area was fabulous, sunny, and really eco-friendly. Haha. I’ll be back!

Over and out!

HE’S ESCAPED.

Arnold is out. As in, he’s in the house. He found his point of entry. Or rather, he not so much as found it since we last spoke as he just chewed his way out.

It turns out Arnold probably wasn’t the rat that someone spotted outside the house… it seems he may have been in the vents for a while now.

Excerpts from a text message conversation (none of the below was said by me).

“We are in a race against time and and he (Arnold) knows it.”

“I just think this should be easy. We build an off ramp from the vent to the box.”

“I don’t think you should do that. It sounds like inviting it to hang out in your kitchen.”

“It’s an off ramp to death. Rats gotta go.”

You’ll notice in the photo above that a box of some sort was left below the vent to catch the rat but the off ramp hadn’t yet been constructed when he Houdini-ed his way out.

Fast forward to last night. Upon arriving at Arnold’s house I sat down and promptly saw a gray blur out of the corner of my eye. The sighting was confirmed by someone in the room with me. Lets just say that the next half hour included several sightings as Arnold scurried around the living room in which he was now enclosed (blockades had been erected in doorways). There was some standing on tables, some glove wearing and pole wielding, some squealing, and a firm belief that we could capture him under a plastic tub.

Spoiler: we couldn’t capture him and he somehow eluded us again by scurrying beneath a radiator and apparating away Harry Potter style.

The hunt continues.

p.s. Turns out he may be more the size of gerbil than a kitten….

adventures with arnold

i have some friends* who have recently discovered a rat in their house. fortunately it hasn’t actually entered the living space yet as it can’t seem to find a point of entry (although a vent in the kitchen ceiling is looking promising). arnold, as he’s been affectionately named, has duped pest control by finding a way in around the steel wool shield… he’s also performed what we can only imagine to be acrobatic feats that are helping him steer clear of the rat traps waiting for him in the vent space.

there was some excitement when arnold’s kitten sized body and beady little eyes were spotted in the flesh in the backyard on sunday evening.

scene: a basement kitchen
characters: tam, jose and of course, arnold

jose: you saw him out there! are you sure?
tam: yes!
jose: what’d he do?!
tam: he just popped out and was like dhfajdhfkjahkjfd(unintelligble words)! and then he scampered away. like, screw election season, i’m just gonna hunt rats.

jose: we should get a cat in here for a few days.
tam: cats eat rats? they eat mice! a cat couldn’t get up in here where we need it to.
jose: but if a cat was sitting here and the rat ran out it would totally scare it
tam: arnold’s smarter than a cat. can katie just procure a cat for a few days?

to be continued….

*name have been changed to protect identity. rats have friends you know

Crooked

You guys. I readjust this desk to be level every week. And then somehow, whether caused by a faulty part or magic elves, it becomes crooked again. It’s very mysterious. Last time I even had a strong looking coworker do the tightening of the little do-hickey’s that supposedly keep things in place. No luck.

But then I realized that maybe it’s not the desk, it’s me (or at least the world telling me something). Have things felt a little crooked in your life too? No, just me. I blame it on too much traveling (for fun and work!) and maybe the changing of seasons and perhaps some grown up realizations…. I don’t know but I think it’s time to level this desk equilibrium and embrace this season of equal opportunity plaid wearing (Fall is not just for hipsters y’all!).

I think I’ll enjoy these last few days of iced coffees, drink (more) wine with my tribe of lady friends, and prepare for windows-open-while-sleeping-snuggling-season (extra points for plaid pajamas!). If this doesn’t level the world than maybe it’s just not worth being level…

Happy Friday!