So the fuzzballs are as cuddly as ever. They will again appear in every context imaginable in this post. A week or two back I took some time to introduce them to the back yard.

I ended up going on a work trip for a day down to Sunnyvale, California. It was too darn sunny down there.

Foggy day at work. (Click for full effect)

Halloween was a blast!

So the day of the celebration arrives. I actually woke up feeling kinda crummy, but after I read a card from the folks I was all chipper.

The day started with a bike ride on the Burke-Gilman trail, which I’d last ridden on over a year prior.

While I’d been on my work trip, Mary texted saying she wanted to go over and play with the cats. I got her a garage door code so that all worked out. But it turns out that her real nefarious plan was to hide clues all throughout the house so she could lead me on a scavenger hunt.

Once we got back and cleaned up, Mary led me to the first clue and off we went. But the true depths of her scheming were only manifest towards the end, where she arranged to have me in the guest room finding the last clue, while some friends surreptitiously shuffled through the front door into the dining room. I went down the stairs, and, surprise! Mary’s gift was a copy of Captain Sonar, which I’d been itching for, and she’d arranged some friends to come over so we could play.

Then it was off for some dinner at a burger joint.

The burger place didn’t have much room for saved seats, and so I arranged for Part 2 to be the next day, Sunday evening, as a generic gaming get-together. Played a round of Conspiracy, first one in a good while, which was awesome.

At some point in the week we went over to Mary’s folks’ place to watch them carve up a giant pumpkin.

On Halloween Mary and I went to a friend’s party as Lumberjack and Lumberjane.

On Friday I went to work and saw the walk-out that was happening all over Google.

Sunday I went on a walk with Mary on a trail I’d last been on a year previously. Unfortunately I was wearing my glasses and didn’t quite get the full color effect, but the pictures turned out great.

The next evening was Spa Day. Met up with Mary to go shopping for some odds and ends. When I met her she was clutching a stuffed elephant and a stuffed fox, her two favorite animals. Ended up putting them back because they were a bit pricey and she didn’t need them. Well I knew what I had to do then, as soon as she was out of sight and headed to Costco.

She felt very funny walking around Costco with him, but I gave her official permission to be into stuffed animals so it was all good.

I beat her home from Costco with enough time to plant the other half.

Then it was dinner time and face mask time.

Got home and had some fun with the cats.

They have to say goodbye tomorrow, when their owner takes them back home. It’ll be a sad day.

Can’t wait to come on home!

I’ve got a good friend who’s out of town and whose two cats I’ve agreed to watch for a while. I’ve always wanted to have cat(s), but I’ve been trepidatious at the prospect of being responsible for keeping another organism alive. So this has been a good trial run. This post will be littered with cat shots; remember growing up how many shots I took of Lexi? It’s awakened again.

In preparation for conference we made snickerdoodle cookies. However I found myself without a baking sheet. The cupcake tin came in handy, and produced a very nice shape.

With company coming over for conference I bit the bullet and unrolled the carpet again.

The next evening was FHE at our bishop’s place, where we had a discussion on the messages delivered at Conference, with games afterwards.

More cat pics.

I got a haircut!

Just in time for Dad to come to town.

So I’ve elected to get Lasik later this month – next week in fact. Went in to get my eyes dilated and checked.

Last night was Elders Quorum game night at my place.

Went on a bike ride this morning with Mary, and the fall colors were fantastic. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to fully enjoy them, thanks to 18-year-old me. Just had to get those Transition glasses before heading out on your mission, didn’t you. Never even wore them in the field either. Now that I’m out of contacts in preparation for Lasik, I get to wear those glasses and enjoy looking like someone trying too hard to be cool. Ah well.

Ciao!

The Chill has officially arrived, and it’s getting increasingly difficult to enjoy the outdoors after work. Got in a good walk to the pier with Mary last week.

Thought of Dad when I drove past this guy:

Last week was Google’s 20th birthday, and our office celebrated with a 90’s-themed shindig.

On Friday Mary and I hit up the Juanita Farmer’s Market, on its last day before closing down for the year.

The following day was a sports day. I’d gotten tickets for us to see the BYU-UW game in the evening, but my friend offered us one of his two tickets to a Sounders soccer match at 1pm, so I picked up an additional ticket and we made a day of it.

At least we got one in before the game was done.

 

On Tuesday Mary and I went with a friend from the ward to a speaking event by one Kacey McCallister, who at a young age became a double amputee. He now does Spartan races and motivational speaking. We heard him speak at our WAYSAC conference earlier this year, and he was great both times.

This evening I went with Mary to this same friend’s place out in Carnation (prompting what I’m sure is a very tired joke at this point on the way out – “What in Carnation?!”) to play some games with her and her family. We went through quite a few – Coup, and Exploding Kittens, tying up the evening with Dominion.

Before leaving her house I loaded up my car with some cat supplies. She’s under the weather and living at her folks’ place, leaving her two cats alone at her apartment. I volunteered to let them person-sit me for a week or so till she’s back on her feet. Thinking of it like a trial-run, as I’ve always thought it’d be nice to have some feline company around here. So we’ll see how that goes.

So a bit of backstory. Some weeks ago I was sitting on my couch late at night, when I noticed some movement on the carpet. I looked across and saw the largest spider I’ve seen since coming back from Australia, creeping its way towards me. I bolted up and told Alexa to brighten all my house lights while I figured out a strategy. I had to go to the kitchen to get something to trap it, but I couldn’t let it out of my sight in case it sped off somewhere and I lost it; if that happened I’d just have to set up a sleeping bag in my car and set fire to my house.

So it’s a Mexican Standoff between me and the spider, for like a solid five minutes. Then he makes a move forward, I stomp my feet to get him to turn around, he skitters towards the dining room table, and crouches beneath a chair. I notice my Resistance game on an end table and grab the top lid of the box. As I creep forward to place it down on the spider, it starts scurrying towards the wall. I toss the box over and it comes down right on top of its target.

I didn’t feel like trying to dispose of it, so I let it sit there. A day turned into three, until eventually Mary came by and I had enough hands to make sure that even if it booked it after lifting off the box I could still catch it with the vacuum.

Unfortunately since the box was opaque I never did get a good shot of the critter, and regretted the hasty disposal.

That is, until today, when I came home to this lovely dude chilling right next to where I keep my shoes. How lovely.

Earlier this week I had a regular visit from pest control and they said it’s normal for spiders to be more active at this time of year since it’s their mating season. A few more weeks of increased spider activity and then things should recede to normal levels.

But until then. Ew ew ew.