We've got fleas.

Ugh.

Only half jokingly, remind me not to get any more animals.

In case you thought that maybe there was some quirky story to go along with my title. . . No, just we've got fleas courtesy of our newest household member.

At least, i'm guessing that is the reason I have 10+ bites on my upper thighs today. Bill found a flea on Mal and had some bites on his ankles the day (day after?) we brought Mal home. He had had flea medicine that day and we went and got him a flea collar. But, honestly, I thought that would be it.

I was wrong. They are still existing in...my bed? or my clothing bottoms? I dunno but uh I already had to wash a whole drawer (drawers are part of bed frame) of previously clean clothes after Mal peed in there. Now I'm thinking I need to wash up everything on/under our bed and set off a bug bomb? Anyone?

I didn't bother with before and after pictures

Three weeks ago I chopped off my hair! Decided to do it because of summer, and boredom...and to try and cut down on the many times my hair got yanked on every day. This next two pictures I just thought were good for illustrating the difference, though neither shows what I look like from the front. I love it!

More pictures from Forks

I got to take a picture with Alice. Oi! So remember... I'd been driving all day and flying the day before that when this picture was taken. But hey, you are supposed to look frumpy next to a vampire right? She was at the only shop I actually stopped at in Forks. Complete with Amber colored "contacts." This place had Twilight scrapbook stuff, bracelets, and little onesies that said "Wolf Pup, La Push" on them (and more. The entire downstairs was geared toward Twilight). The woman that owned the shop gave me a map and showed me where all the "sites" were.

This little house was the Swan residence.

This little motel was set up as the Cullen house. *Ahem* Not so much. But it is a big white house. Cute and pretty.

Here is the note on the door as to why the Cullens are not "at home" (Like my little model?)

I'll throw in this picture of Forks high school, just for good measure. It's the greenest high school I've ever seen. We also went by Charlies work and Forks hospital. So fun!

I should SO be doing something productive: Like unpacking and laundry

Meet the newest member of our household!

This is Mal

(whose actual name is Malcolm, and yes, he is named after a Joss Whedon/Firefly character some of you may know...)

Mal became his name because it was either that or "Wash" (another allusion to Firefly) and Mal sounds suspiciously like "Meow" which Miriam can say.

He meows a lot, and tries to climb on my shoulder, and sleep in my bed, and wakes me up at night (which I do NOT appreciate). He was totally freaked out of Miriam at first (well freaked out of moving to a new house and then: "What the heck is that large thing that is screetching at me???!!!!). Today, though, he actually came up on my bed when she was there and hugged her with his head. She gave him kisses on his nose. It was so very cute I can hardly stand it. Later of course she was screetching again and chasing Mal around the house. This time though he might have been playing with her. At least... a little bit.

Gardening, Take Two

Assuming I can find my camera cord: I just wanted to show you the jungle that grew on my back porch while I was gone:

Remember my little budding plants?

So...I'm growing stuff. I should have let Carrie know that she could harvest anything she wanted (maybe I'm taking a leap here that she would have WANTED anything). Since I was gone for a whole month my zucchini plants are run over with dead leaves, a lot of green beans have gone to waste, several of my radishes are so large they produced flowers and pods galore(guess I'll be saving some seeds for next year), and I missed a Gladiolus that actually decided to bloom (two died)!

As you can see, my tomato plant is 6 feet tall and happily producing. I also have green pepper, and more green beans! So I suppose I can count my first attempt at container gardening a success. Probably more-so when I am actually here for it!

Give me a break!

Wow! I had so much to write about after the first two weeks of June. We were just finishing up our whirlwind trip to Washington. Visit to Neah Bay, visit to Tri-Cities, I still owe you Forks pictures, story about being pulled over in my Grandmas car...
It's all coming. However, I ended up extending my trip because: WE GOT BURGLARIZED AGAIN. Just in case there was some doubt about us being watched before, there is no question now. Since Bill had a trip coming up, I decided to stay in good ol' Washington for a little while longer.
House update: Although we have never heard anything back from the bank/other agent with regard to our offer, two days ago the MLS listing on the house we made an offer on changed. They have re-listed 21,000 dollars higher than before. So, yeah, not making any moves there. Our offer is the same. I can't help but hope the property goes into foreclosure and the bank loses more money on it.
When I get home we will be picking up the house search again. So you'll likely be getting more posts about it this summer.
Next time, I'll tell you something slightly more interesting, like about my grandmas car. :)

Die Hard Twilight Fans

You thought I was joking about giving autographs in Forks.

Most of you are probably familiar with Makah Indians as far as, they were mentioned in "New Moon." Or, if you live in Washington (State), you remember hearing about the whaling controversy.

I have ties to the Makah indians in that I have an aunt and cousins that ARE Makah Indian, and live on the Makah rez. One of my cousins is graduating from high school this year, so on my trip, my uncle graciously went out of his way to take me for the weekend.
Imagine my chagrin when I found out that Hood Canal bridge and Hwy 112 were closed. But uh..hmm.. we have to take 101 through Aberdeen and up through...Forks. 2 extra hours of driving..but...trip to Forks. Turns out we did NOT have to go up through Aberdeen (sweet! lost an hour of driving), but our turnoff was only 10 miles away from Forks so...

We went.

Honest to goodness, I felt a bit dorky. Grown woman with child running around the "sites" of Forks taking pictures. But I am glad my uncle pushed and was as into it as I was (he'd actually read the books). He said "When are you going to get to Forks again? Never." And he was probably right.

And it was nice in Forks that day. Like, I was sweating.

*more pictures will be added to this later, I'm just having technical difficulties right now