Well, I'm back up in Northern california now.  The weather is the same,
although more windy than Southern California.

It was really nice to see the doggies again.  They were jumping and
licking me and then they suddenly stopped and sniffed.

My shoes, my suitcase and my backpack, all had this FOREIGN smell to
it.

Well now conversely, all my stuff is now covered in dog hair.  *sigh*

Also the house is a mess.  About 7 years ago, my parents remodeled the
house.  I would come home from college to skeletal remains of a house,
and I had to push my way past boxes and clothes racks just to get from
my bed to my bedroom door.  That was an interesting Xmas.  Well now, 7
years later, Mom is at it again.  We're remodeling bathrooms, kitchens
and our bedrooms now.

It was with a heavy heart that I took down all my decorations off the
wall of the room I had grown up in.  As I'm putting things in boxes, I
could almost see myself as a kid playing in my room.  The dresser that
had my fish tank is now bare and empty.  The pink letters that hung on
the wall spelling out my name are put away.  The rough part was taking
down all the glow-in-the-dark stars I had stuck on the ceiling.  I
remember being 13 and working real hard to put the constellations up
there.  Now they're gone.

*sigh*  Of course I'm only here about 2-3 times a year at most.  Ah
well, I guess it is time for a change.  The cupboards and shelves will
remain the same.  And at least there will be new wallpaper.  Of course
by this point, anything is better than bright rainbow lines that
resemble a chain link fence.  :P  (You think that's bad, my sister's
wallpaper is pink lines with flowers and she says it's like prison
bars) Growing up the theme for my room was pink butterflies and
rainbows, which got really old when I hit 16.

Right now, my room isn't being worked on.  Most of my shelves have been
untouched but the room is kinda bare.  ah well, at least I still have
my bed.  The kitchen and our bathrooms are the main focus.  The
bathroom, where I have fond memories like spilling nail polish remover
all over the floor; taking my goldfish and throwing it into the tub
while my sister was taking a bath(hehehehe); my sink where my dad once
put novacaine on my toothbrush and my mouth got numb while I was
brushing my teeth;  it's so bare and empty now.   The kitchen is walled
off with plastic so we're cooking off a hotplate or nuking it in the
microwave in the multipurpose room.  Also I'm sharing a bathroom with
my parents and sister.

This morning, I woke up to thumping on the roof.  Was it Santa's
reindeer???  I remember hearing that as a child.  Could it be??

No, it was the contracter working on the roof.  Mom said it was time
for that to be fixed too.  *sigh*

Then I felt something jump on the bed.  Was it Mischief?  Wait a sec,
Mischief doesn't lick faces.  It was Leia, our white American
Eskimo/Jack Russell cross.  Jaina and Leia are looking at me pitifully,
begging for me to walk them.

Well, at least I wasn't woken up at 6 in the morning by cats begging me
to feed them.

I'll be calling my roommate later.  Today she's going to drop Mischief
and Imp off at the clinic where I work for boarding.  I'm curious to
see how she's going to catch both of them and stick them into carriers.
hehehehehehehehehe
Happy Holidays, and purrs to anyone who needs it.

Kristi