Watching

Some times we watch birds on the feeders outside.

Some times the birds on the feeders watch us....

Some times cats watch birds on the feeders...

Other times we watch cats on the fountain.

(Some cats just prefer a more elaborate water source than a sloppy water dish on the floor).

This drink went on and on and on...

Some times Jill goes more than window shopping, and comes home with new clothes to model for whomever is near by.

Tate did not find new clothes nearly as interesting as birds on feeders, or neighborhood cats drinking on our fountain.

He did however like the bag that the clothes came in.
It was just the perfect place for taking a nap, and getting some shut eye after a long full day of staring at stuff.
Or as we like to say:

Staring is caring.

Our cats seem to care so much about so many things!

OSU! OSU! OSU!

OK...so I am waaayyyy behind on posting. 
We (Bernie and I) went to the Oregon State University vs University of Utah game a couple of weekends ago.
We  had gone to the "here" game two years ago; that time we just purchased tickets locally and were greatly chagrined to find ourselves seated in a sea of red clad UofU fans.

This time...we smarted up and bought our tickets through OSU, and bought tickets to the OSU alumni "Tailgate" party as well.

Such a smart move it proved to be.

OSU orange and black was everywhere!

I didn't know a soul there besides Bernie (he being a Beaver by marriage...) but it still felt like a grand reunion, just like old times that actually never had happened before.
A lot of the attendees actually had flown in from Oregon to attend the game!
(The catered barbecue meal was awesome!)

My school fighting song playing Benny Beaver was hauled along with us to the event as usual.

A Benny Beaver game  hat...how cool is that?

I had spotted the orange wool pea coat in the window of Old Navy a couple of weeks earlier.  Just like that: it was MINE!
Ditto the orange hand bag from Macy's.
I mentioned my purchase to friend/fellow blogger Sara; she immediately set her knitting needles ablaze knitting me a scarf to complete the outfit.
The scarf arrive just in time for game day!

(I think the peacoat has an "Ann Marie-That Girl" vibe. 
I mentioned that observation to a 30something family member; she drew a blank on the cultural icon. 
It did my heart good to see good old Ann Marie's style mentioned in a recent issue of the trend setting 30 something focused Glamour magazine later. 
Guess I am not too out of date with my style references after all).

We so regret that while our long distance romance occurred while I attended school in Oregon, during that time he was living in San Diego.
We didn't have a chance to enjoy the typical college romance kind of dates like attending football games together.
Secretly...I think he is even a  better date now than he would of been way back when.

The Olympic flame structure from the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics is still installed in front of the stadium where we entered to attend the game.

A quick check of the weather forecast had me totally prepared to endure a very nippy game night.
I was hauling a canvas tote filled with items to get me through the evening in a modicum of warmth.
I also had a stadium cushion that was microwaved before we left for the event; it did keep my fanny nice and warm.
The wool OSU baseball hat was added early on in the evening.
(Please be sure to note and admire my Benny Beaver earrings!)

When my ears felt cold, I added a head band over the hat.
Later I pulled out my knee length down jacket.
And a grey blanket.
A fellow alumni kept looking at me as I went through all my wardrobe additions, asking me how many outfits had I brought along.
What could I say?
I just hate to be cold if I can avoid it.

The game itself?
Pretty awful.
It is a "rebuilding" year for my beloved Beavers and they are getting whooped all over their division, badly.
I don't care.
They were awful when I was at OSU as a student.
Actually, this game felt like old times!

Easy Listening Hebrew Music

If you ever checked my blogger profile you will see that I enjoy listening to Messianic music. 

Most people have no idea what "Messianic music" means...or where one might go to listen to such music.

Messianic music is  music written primarily by Jewish people who have come to know Jesus as their Messiah.

They often compose lyrics in Hebrew (many times using blocks of scriptures) and then often the lyrics switch to English and then back to Hebrew. 

I first listened to Messianic music while I was in college; the Messianic music group Lamb had just released their first LP and I just couldn't stop listening to it. 

I laugh now to realize that the parts of the songs that I didn't understand were sung in Hebrew, and I sang along with them because it just sounded great to me.

Little did I know I was actually learning huge passages of the Old Testament in the original Hebrew. 

Anyhoo...

I thought I would just pass along the fact that lately I have been enjoying listening to Messianic music on my computer by going to Google and then typing in: 

wstw.fm

There are lots of choices as to how to listen to it on line, but even techno challenged me managed to get it up.

Good stuff.

Thought I would just share, in case you might be interested.

(Not every song played has Hebrew in it; and non-Jewish composers are featured as well, but I find the Hebrew enbedded songs are still my favorites).

Hart, hopeful

Scanning the stacks

I try to run my eyes over sections of the library book collections whenever I am walking around during a break.
When I spotted this shelf of books, I knew I had finally found an answer to all the questions that I have had about our neighbor to the north.

"Understanding Canada"!!!

Best of all...apparently a reader could gain a full understanding of the country by reading a mere 621 pages.

Wouldn't this book be just the thing to get a handle on all things Canada?

Apparently the monograph has had its readers.
(Make that reader, singular).
Isn't that sad?
Of course I was glad to know that there was nothing new to learn about Canada after 1984.
I like a country where nothing much changes over time.

I opened one of the other books on the shelf, a thinner book, and turned to the chapter on Canadian daily life.

(Major apologies for the sideways way of this cell phone shot photo).

It probably is important to grasp the concept that the most popular pastime in the evening for Canadians is watching television.

Hmmm...I need to see a break down of population segments within the survey to figure out if that is a true statement across the board.

Knowing how food oriented my few Canadian acquaintance are, I turned to the chapter on food; curious to know if it is an obsession shared across the vast country, or if food is a fetish focus of only a few.

Apparently posing a question about a national food will likely generate "a long thoughtful pause" from a typical Canadian.

Shoot...I know the answer to that question: 

Wieners.

Every Canadian blogger writes about wiener roasts.

I still don't understand that fascination and the book about Understanding Canada didn't even have the word "wiener" in the index.

Paska, drinking beer with breakfast, why they use "eh?" at the end of a sentence and are so often able to take six weeks of vacation a year: Those were the key "Understanding Canada" questions that I felt were left totally unaddressed within the 621 pages of the book and all the other smaller books as well.

Secretive bunch up north, aren't they?
Makes me wonder what else about themselves that they are not willing to discuss.

The times, they are a'changing....

My Utah based grandcats Meowsie and Cheeto are not looking like grandbaby cats anymore.
No...they are all grown up now and are starting to look more like two elderly uncles.
(Or perhaps the old geezers on Sesame Street, you know the two I am talking about?)

When asked if I would like to come along on a crib shopping trip, I said yes of course.
Crib shopping turned into stroller/car seat shopping instead.
Jeff and Rachel had recently visited a city based friend with a new baby and had gotten to experience the challenges of navigating a stroller up stairs and down curbs and such.
Jeff noted that that experience had teed him up to watch stroller wielding parents in airports.
He noted which stroller models served as back breaking time intensive devices, and which seemed to provide parents effortless modes of baby transportation.
Based on those observations, he had already decided he wanted a three wheeled device with large blow up tires.
In fact, he had already decided that a steering a stroller should be similar to another familiar driving experience.
When he found this model, it was a "Eureka!" moment.
As Jeff put it: "This one is more like my golf cart".
(Jeff golfs a lot as part of his career; he is definitely not a weekend duffer on the golf course. The boy knows the finer points of golf cart selection for optimal golfing enjoyment).

He also noted that the more traditional baby buggies made him feel like he was back in preschool playing with toy dolls. 

I totally understood that. 

I felt the same way thirty three years ago when I was test driving strollers and buggies and such. It was such a sensory flash back to myself as a five year old that I could barely wrap my brain around the fact that I was now all grown up and yet still engaged in the same activity.

While the modern strollers lack a certain degree of charm, they do offer enhanced mobility, easy folding and even provide a jack for an ipod.
The pop out car seat/baby carrier had a unique triangle handle hold.  Oh it was SO much more comfortable to tote than the design I was stuck struggling with all those years ago.
(Just to try to see how it would really feel, three purses were tossed into the seat. The carrier still felt "right" arm wise.  That cinched the deal).

At home, the entire piece of equipment slid out of the box, and two wheels were popped on in a jiffy.
If you look closely you will see that the "jiffy-ness" was being tested with the couple's current wee one.

Poor Cheeto.
Oh, poor POOR Cheeto and Meowsie.
Life as you have known it is SO all about to change.
And this change is only the first of many to come.

Maybe you will be able to catch what my new job is by looking at the picture below...
I am supervising the program which is designed to serve the rural and under served communities; places with populations too small to be able to fund a building to house a l*brary.

My third day on the job was my first time out in the field with one of our teams.

One of the stops for this county's routes.

Inside the bo*km*bile

The kids visiting with the moms were so cute.  I blurred the faces to protect their privacy.

We serve rural and under served communities.
So far there is no official finding on serving cats though.
Outside there was this kitten....

And this one too. 
Both were quite happy to be picked up and purred contentedly.
It had snowed the night before and was COLD outside despite the sunshine and blue skies.

Maybe rural cats need to be served too?

Maybe we need to have a new motto...something about cats starting here...

Was it the books or the heater that the cat was most interested in?

Had to be the books...it takes time and thought to figure out just the right book to borrow.
This cat took his time.

 I will be supervising several teams in several counties.

Our lunch stop: The Navajo tacos were delicious!

Do you think attending a rural school with a school bell still atop the building would be nice?
I do...

The drive back to HQ.

First two days on the new job were mostly spent getting orientations to our facility and programs.
I was quite happy to get out of the office and go into the field to meet one of our bo*km*bile teams on day 3.  Couldn't have asked for a prettier day either!

(Please avoid typing out the full word of any of the starred words in your comments.
I am trying to stay unfindable via key word searching for now; comments get searched too. Thanks!)