Nyotaimori

this weekend i went to marina’s wedding to be the maid of honor. me! the maid of honor! i honored my position by putting sparkly gems in my hair and humoring the groom’s father when he suggested i follow an old russian custom at weddings of collecting money in my skirts by auctioning off dances with the bride. HI-larious.

but seriously folks, my toast (and i’m still having terror-flashbacks) was corny and it’s time for me to be a little more corny.

marina got married! she got married! erica, after the ceremony, was all, “our little girl! all grown up!” and it’s true. and weird. man, marina you were just this tiny little seventeen year old when we met. and now you’re married.

as weddings go, this one was fantastic. it was billed as a big party and a big, super fun party is what it ended up being. marina looked absolutely gorgeous. frequently i’d be standing around talking to someone and we would lull into silence while both just staring at her and then have to take a deep breath (when we remembered we needed oxygen to live) and kind of eyeball one another till one or the other said, “she’s just so PRETTY.” this happened to me with each of our girlfriends there and with her mom. also some of the boys.

highlights:

the non-minister charles calling mark “mike” during the ceremony

marina’s dancing fool of a cousin

funfetti cake

open bar

dancing with jason with reckless abandon (i almost died)

hanging out with friends in fancy clothes in san diego

home-made lumpia

OPEN BAR

mark and marina’s happiness (aw!)

my one regret: the crappiness of the disposable camera i had with me. i can’t wait till the professional photographs.

congratulations again marina and mark! the rest of my pictures are here.

“take me to your cave, knight-sword-cave-man!”

pictures from marina’s bachelorette weekend (taken by me, marina, and kristen) are here.

Save the date post here. And the following is stolen almost verbatim from Gene’s website for a previous trip. Yes, I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel.

* When : July 22, 2007 around Noon until around 5 or 6PM. The trip down the river takes 4 or 5 hours assuming we take some time to swim and eat lunch and stuff.

* Where : Burke’s Canoes, Forrestville, CA

* Where exactly : Where Mirabel Rd runs into River Rd in Forrestville.

* How much : Each canoe and paddles and life jackets is $58 Each canoe has 2 seats so 2 people can paddle. The typical set up is for 2 people to share a canoe and each of them paddle being $29 each (cash only, no credit). If 3 people want to join up to cut costs or because one person is lazy, you can have 2 people paddle and one person sit in the middle of the canoe and hang out.

* How long does it take to get to Forrestville : About an hour and 30 minutes.

* Where are we going to leave from : We can caravan in multiple cars and we’ll meet at the Safeway parking lot at Church and Market in SF. This way we’ll be able to park and assemble. If you don’t live in SF, you may want to go directly there and meet us at the site.

* What time are we going to leave from Safeway : We’ll head out at 10AM, try to get to Safeway at 9:30 to 9:45 cause we aint waitin’. Make sure to eat breakfast before you come over or bring/buy some food to eat on the drive up, canoeing takes a lot of energy. If you’re planning on shopping at SafeWay, DON’T arrive at 9:30. Arrive before so you’ve got time to shop for food and then head out with everybody.

* How do I contact Gene or Michele if I have questions : Gene’s cell phone is 415 722 9846 or Michele’s cell phone is 925-759-4182

* What should I bring : (Listed in Order of Importance)

So Vital that failing to bring these items, means you shouldn’t go at all.

o $29 in cash

o River shoes (Tivas, or some kind of sandle shoe that you can get wet, and still wear and that you can climb on rocky river bottom with. Old shoes work.)

o Sunscreen

Important

o Lunch to go in the cooler

o Drinks (it’s gonna be hot and you will get very thirsty. Bottled water is a good idea) [No glass]

o Change of clothes to leave in the car so you don’t have to ride home wet.

A good idea.

o A hat.

o clothes that you don’t mind getting wet in

o sunglasses

o a pack to put your water bottles in and BUNGEE CHORDS to attach it to that canoe, so you don’t lose it when the canoe tips over.

* Gene will bring a cooler and bungee chords to put in my canoe to keep the lunch. If someone else wants to bring a cooler and bungee chords, then we can fit more stuff. Optional however.

* I will bring some underwater cameras. Feel free to bring your own or a regular camera. Put the regular camera in something waterproof though or you will regret it.

* Where can you find more information on this : Check out the place that we’re going, Burke’s Canoe Trips

Please comment with your RSVP, your carpooling needs or availability, and your canoe partner’s name and I will update the website periodically to reflect our attendance statistics.

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Current Attendees:

Michele and Marina

Kristen and Christine

Erica and Jolie

Sean and Gene

Jason

Jacob and Lisa

Current Carpools:

From Santa Rosa:

Michele, Marina, Kristen, Christine, Jolie, and Erica

From Berkeley/Oakland:

Car 1 (4 seats): Jacob, Lisa, Jason and Gene

From Pleasant Hill:

Car 1 (4 seats): Adam,

my mom took some pictures while we were in oregon last month and i finally managed to scan some of them. so here they are. they’re really all of the baby. 🙂

that’s the swing seat we gave bella as a baby present.

i also have pictures of our recent trip to the yuba river, but i have yet to scan them. soon, i swear. hopefully before our trip to the russian river this weekend.

of the 21 cats i had last week, 7 of them are now dead. the second batch of fosters i got turned out to have parvo (sort of leukemia for kittens) and they all died. one died while we had them and then i took them all back to ARF. it was awful and i started crying in their exam room and had to be given kleenex. my first batch of kittens are still in quarantine at ARF to make sure they didn’t get parvo too. they’ve got another week to go. i don’t like to think of any of them dying so i’m trying hard to convince myself they’ll be fine.

theoretically all my own cats are fine since they’ve been vaccinated but i’m still keeping an eye on them for another week. parvo has a 14 day incubation period.

the mom of all the kitten who died is still alive but also still in quarantine.

in order to eradicate parvo bacteria my mom and i had to clean our entire house with bleach. bleach. and i kept forgetting to put on gloves. admittedly our house is now very, very clean. and admittedly also i managed to bleach spots in my carpet and my sheets. my mom was convinced the white powdery residue was never going to come off the hardwood floors but after several layers of oil polish, i can’t see it anymore. i can still smell it though.

of the kittens that died, i can still see ivan (the terrible’s) little face.

he was always so excited when i came in the guest bedroom to see them. he would run to the edge of the bed (it’s been bleached) and sit there waiting for me to pick him up. he had enormous eyes and an absurdly messy fluff of fur. they were all so cute, friendly, and affectionate. i’m so sad that they didn’t get a chance to grow up in homes of their own and be loved more.

current number of cats i’m living with: 21

you heard me right.

current # of kittens: 13

percentage: 61%

current # of cats sleeping on my couch: 5

current # of cats sleeping on me: 1

current amount of cat poop in house: immeasurable

old kittens:

christopher

daniel

george

brandon

erin and fiona

new kittens:

snow white and the seven dwarves

don’t be deceived. these kittens aren’t MINE. i’m just fostering them for ARF until they can be adopted. really, i only live with 6 cats. normally. that’s probably still not something to brag about. or even admit to. at parties. to strangers…

I spent a few days on the beach in Oregon last month. A little fun in the sun, some sand in the pants. You know how it is. But this vacation was not only a relaxing good time, it was also my first exposure to my newest cousin: Isabella. Daughter of John (my mom’s sister’s son) and Katherine, Isabella is now 2 months old, sports a wicked mohawk, and has a reversible stuffed animal which can be either a frog OR a pig (Frog-Pig!). I am highly desirous of this fuzzy toy.*

An exciting part of the Oregon trip was its Girl’s Only appeal. We rented a house on the beach in which it transpired that only girls shared. My mom, Aunt Mary, Katherine, Bella, and I fortified our position, posted the “No Boys Allowed” door sign, and cackled gleefully while eating heaping handfuls of caramel corn. (Seriously, best caramel corn EVER. If only I could remember the brand name).

The boys glumly camped in the woods. The wilds in which I spent maybe 10 minutes, MAYBE, without touching ANYTHING and STILL managed to contract poison oak. My entire upper left arm–enflamed. Curse you, wilds. TO HELL. I’m going to the Yuba this Sunday and have always managed to get the P-Oak there. Will this experience be any different? Heaven forbid. Where will I sprout oozing pustules next? Now taking bets.

I only managed to take pictures at the beach our first morning there walking along the sandy shores. So here is my miserly offering of three measly photos. I like this one:

*Stuffed animal side note: my mother is cleaning out the garage, during which endeavor, she took down an enormous garbage bag full of stuffed animals (mine) and made me go through them with an eye to purging. Purging?! Mine! I saved four from the donation and trash piles. Four. Whimper. …Mine.