August: a month of lost weekends.

Last summer, we were preparing to get married.  I thought that this summer would be calmer. 

I'm not sure if it is or not, but I do know that Randal and I have managed to fill our weekends completely with friends and fun and work and play.  So, I'll sum up.

Early July: Randal finds a kitten in the plants outside of his building.  He brings kitten inside.  He intelligently leaves for a week so that I have to watch the kitten and become attached to the kitten.  So, we keep the kitten.  He lives in the building and his name is Building Cat or Jigsaw or Jiggy Sawdust.  He likes 1) wet cat food, 2) climbing up your leg, 3) dogs.

Building Cat and Juneau.  So stinking cute.

Mid-July: Our friend Adam turns 30.  We help him celebrate by going on a sailboat in the Upper Klamath Lake.  Randal helps sail the boat.  The captain of the boat calls him Black Shirt.  The captain of the boat is fond of me because I give him brownies and pesto.  We are invited back to the boat whenever we want.  I learn, once again, that my brownie recipe is magic.

Kat-ama-Randal.

Late July: Cory and Leah leave Baby Emerson at home for the first time and visit Klamath Falls.  (As everyone should.)  We proceed to have the most Bacchanalian fun ever.  We 1) spelunk, 2) wine-taste, 3) play on the beach, 4) visit a hydroponic rum distillery, 5) cheese taste, 6) way more fun stuff that would take too long to list.  We define the trips with delicious meals and belly laughs.  They are welcome anytime.  We anticipate a 3M factory to move here in 2015.

Helmets are critical for spelunking.  I left a large chunk of my scalp on a rock in this cave.  Also Chaco sandals and skirts are not very appropriate outwear in a cave.

One should always have alpacas around when one is tasting wine.

Or a lazy river.

This is the state where we live, by the way. 

So...  this was the best.

Early August: I utilize my Spandex and go with Klamath friends to the Eola Wine Bike Ride.  It is 50 miles.  Berta and I win the race.  By win, I mean, we are the only two participants that taste wine at every vineyard and bike the entire 50 miles.  Also, we are last ones to finish the ride.  

Throughout August: Randal and I work hard.  There is activity occurring in our clinic and Randal continues to figure out his business.  Building Cat grows.

Mid-August: I meet my friend, Jessie, in Napa for the weekend.  Specifically, we meet in American Canyon, the epicenter of the recent earthquake.  We enjoy amazing meals and great conversation and sip wine in vineyards.  We talk a lot about gender relations.  Randal is thrilled with this conversation upon my return.  

Stomping grapes, of course.

The next weekend in mid-August: Randal and I join our friends in Bend for the Bend Brew Fest with beer-tasting tents and AMAZING food carts.  Randal dances and sings karaoke and I am impressed with his skill at both.  We have brunch the next day.  We miss towns with good brunches.

Late-August: This brings us to this weekend, which has been chocked full of urban homesteading.  Yesterday we butchered Roger the Rooster and ate him for dinner.  It was bittersweet.  Well, the flavor was delicious (DELICIOUS!), but the emotion was bittersweet.  To ease the blow, I bought 25 lbs of peaches and made peach butter and canned peaches.  I also made 15 half-pints of pesto.  We will eat like kings and queens this winter. 

Tomorrow I return to work.  It is work and so is inherently not as exciting.  But, we did:

1. Convince the City of Klamath Falls to buy the empty lot across from the Wellness Center for a park.
2. Have 228 employees at Sky Lakes sign up for our Biggest Loser contest.
3. Get rejected from 2 more grants.

So, there's that.  Also, I'm thinking of opening a bookstore and was recently voted in as a board member at our local theater, the Ross Ragland. 

And life prances along...  never dull, always exciting!