Monday, June 8, 2009

It's June?

May disappeared - I don't know where it went. There was Mother's Day, of course. I picked out a new MP3 player (instead of waiting for Jon-Erik to sell me his used cast-off when he buys a new one!). The library has subscribed to a new program allowing people to download audiobooks, so I felt it was my duty to try it too! I figure it will come in handy when I travel to meetings for MPLA, and well as providing the incentive to spend more time on the treadmill.

Also for Mother's Day Jon-Erik gave me Animal Crossing:City Folk for the Wii, accompanied by the WiiSpeak - a microphone that works in conjunction with some Wii games. We'd thought it might work with some other online Wii titles we like (Tetris Party and Dr. Mario) but sadly there are only a few specific games it goes along with. This works just fine for us - we can visit each other's towns in Animal Crossing. It's hilarious to see Jon-Erik show up in my town: one day his "character" was wearing a diving helmet; yesterday he changed to a wrestling mask. It's quite the entertaining experience.

Jon-Erik had a birthday too - the first one where we weren't actually with him! Hard to believe it took 26 years for that to happen.

Tom and I went to Las Vegas early this month (who goes there in June? That explains why we got a good deal). Yes, things are air conditioned, but 95 degrees is still hot, even in a dry heat! We had fun, although the hotel charged $15 each day for internet access (so I just pretended to disappear for the week!) and didn't have very generous slot machines.

Sadly, we decided to euthanize our cats last month too. They were 15 and 11; one was rapidly declining, the other seemed to be developing problems (limping, digestive issues). I had discussed this with our vet several months ago, and she was very understanding and supportive. She explained it isn't illegal in Montana to shoot a pet (sometimes there are horror stories in the paper about people doing this badly), and offered to supply the sedative we'd need. The local ranch supply business also suggested a sedative, and Tom was able to handle the rest (although actually finding his pistol was the biggest challenge!). They are resting peacefully in a nice spot near the creek in our backyard. They had a fun life with us, and we still miss them (but honestly, the cat hair and litter box are not missed!).

One of these days we will actually get summer weather - June has been cold and rainy. Good for knitting, though - I'm working on knitted helmet liners for troops in Afghanistan as part of a project a local Marine mom started. And reading...