Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Today’s blog post is not the typical Sophie-Argos-Purl-Quincy-Barnie antics. Well, OK. Here’s one.

Today I am spotlighting my sister’s work. She is a graphic designer who, for the last two and a half decades, has worked in publishing, designing books. As much as I love books, I have to admit I was first in line for an e-reader. Much to the chagrin of my sister.

But seriously… no more shipping charges, no more overflowing bookshelves, and so light and easy to carry several books on a trip. It is hard to resist the lush color and photography that pop out of the book apps on the iPad, too.

And penguins! Who can resist penguins?

For the e-book, Our Amazing World: Penguins, Kris collaborated with Dr. Wayne Lynch, a former emergency room doctor, science writer, wildlife photographer and author of many books, including a penguin book written in 1997.

Here is the latest penguin book, first of a series titled “Our Amazing World” that will feature animal and travel topics.

I didn’t know what to expect – I figured 10 to 12 pages of gorgeous photos and captions, but was quite surprised to find 65 stunning pages, with photos of all types of penguins, from around the world. Even penguins in forests and deserts(!).

Each page has a caption and then a more in-depth description ‘below’ (swipe the page downward) the photo. There is a lot of penguin information here.

This book is great for the penguin-lover and penguin-newbie. This book is also great for kids, students, photographers, and budding photographers, like me. Something to aspire to, even if I never travel to these beautiful, faraway locations.

Share the Penguins!

Great gift idea (and no shipping charges)
This 65-page full color ebook is available on iTunes for just $2.99. Great gift for yourself, friends and family!

Are you a blogger?
There are a limited number of review (promo code) copies available. Please contact Kris to discuss obtaining a review copy.

Disclosure: I purchased this app for this review. (No promo code for me.) Kris is my sister, but I am not financially affiliated with her, this book, or Matchbook Digital LLC.

As I wrote in the previous post, our best buddy Teva is undergoing treatment for lymphoma. I am hitting the road with Teva the Wunderdog and Heather tomorrow to revisit the WSU oncology team for more cancer-fighting fun.

We have snacks. We have fresh water. Lots of chat time. And dog cookies – must have dog cookies.

My pet clan is staying home, but we’ll be back soon.

As much as I want to pack you, Quincy, not gonna happen.

Tomorrow, March 17, is Paws For Japan – a worldwide community of pet bloggers teaming up with my friends at World Vets to help raise awareness and funds for the animals affected by the multiple disasters in Japan. I blogged about this event on About.com and the support has been fantastic.

This video captures what we are working for in a nutshell:

World Vets was first on the scene, arriving on March 16 (Japan relief status update page) and working closely with local veterinary and animal welfare groups.

To help World Vets,  I have created buttons that are
free to use on your site for Paws for Japan fund raising efforts.

Donations are tax deductible – World Vets is a  501 c 3 nonprofit.

To save: right click on the image(s) you want and link them to the World Vets status page:
http://worldvets.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203
for full information about the relief efforts and donations.

Alternatively: If you prefer to use ChipIn (PayPal accepted here), visit the official World Vets ChipIn page.

Questions? Feel free to contact me.

This may be a record for the longest between-updates span of time. Hmmm. A dubious honor. But! I have been busy.

I just got back from the most amazing NYC-Westminster trip ever. That in itself took time, plus the pre-trip prep and the post-trip rest.

Now I am back, refreshed and ready to go.

The pets had the family to take care of them, and they did a very admirable job. That said… the pets also looked out for each other. A definite benefit of having multiple pets.

Here is a look at friends Barnie and Quincy

Barnie grooms Quincy, who rarely takes the time for personal grooming.

While Quincy doesn't seem to care about personal grooming, he loves being groomed.

Quincy gets a little indignant at the cessation of grooming.

The next day, everything is back in order.

Quincy communicates his needs.

Friendship is give and take.

Friends… and Family

I have written about my friend Cindy, aka “Peach” before on this blog. Our big event is the Race for a Cure. We moved out to the east coast a bazillion years ago after vet school, she went to Massachusetts and I went to New Jersey. This was our first trip back.

We stayed with my sister. One full week. I hoped everything would go smoothly and the stress of travel (and very little sleep) would not wear us all out. You know… make things lopsided.

But no! It was seriously the Best. Trip. Ever. Laughs and good times.

Things fell into place. We met many people, attended several events, and reunited with old friends.

We even had front row seats to the Big Dog Show. Score!

Nice to sit down after being on our feet for hours.

Oops another long gap between posts. Sometimes that happens. I blog 5x a week at About.com, also blog weekly at K9Cuisine, so sometimes I just… run out of words. heh Thank goodness for photos, though. I have lots of those here.

This fall has been extra busy with 3 huge events, one after the other.

1. First up was the 20th year vet school reunion that I helped plan. I had never been to a reunion – vet school, high school or otherwise – ever. I was nervous, but ended up having a blast. I did a behind-the-scenes vet school tour, which had many of my classmates wondering just why I was taking so. many. photos.
2. Next up was Blogpaws West. I helped organize the first ever Vet Track with my friend Heather. Even though everything was planned and “set” months ago, it was nervewracking… hoping everything went off as planned. I will be writing more on this later, but happy to report no glitches. Whew. People seemed to like it too; a nice bonus.
3. Coming up, it’s Race for the Cure with my friend Cindy. I leave again this Friday for the September 19 Portland, Oregon race. To join 40,000+ other people in this important cause.

For now, a less serious Blogpaws recap. The pets and family missed me while I was in Denver and I missed them. It was great to come home to open arms, play bows, and purrs. Here are some photos of the pets enjoying the always amazing and beyond bountiful Blogpaws swag!

Here is Argos and the Kyjen alligator toy.

Argos and his new Kyjen toy

Thanks to Dorian of YourDailyCute, I brought home a second Alligator toy.

Barnie sets aside his envy.

whoo hooooooooo! I love toys!

I love-love-love you, alligator.

Nap time for Argos.

Then Argos discovered the Hartz DuraPlay squeaky football, not a toy that I pictured him enjoying, really. It is a great toy, but… he isn’t a Retriever, and to date he hasn’t shown any interest in chasing balls or fetching. But we found out that he looooves this toy, too. My daughter had put all of the toys in a cardboard box (not sure why) and I found Argos standing over by this box for the longest time. I wondered what was up, then I realized he was scoping things out.

Nothing to see here. Move along...

He kept at it until the box fell on the floor and he got what he was after. New toy!

Why do these things need tags, anyway?

I was in town to see Sting with a couple of my sisters (a must-see concert IMO!)  and work on planning the big 20th year vet school reunion(!) with my pal Peach. This merged into a quick getaway with my parents – just the parental units and me – to the coast. It was a bit spur-of-the-moment at a crazy time of year, when I normally wouldn’t take a trip, but we had a wonderful time.

We even had a day of nice weather.

Then I came home. I somehow walked out of the airport leaving a bag on the baggage carousel. la-la-la didn’t even think about it until several hours later. Yes, feeling a bit distracted lately. :-/ Thank goodness, my bag was waiting for me in the baggage claim. My dear husband drove out to the airport to retrieve it. How nice. (I think he was eager for a little break too, since it was dinnertime. I cooked instead of going to the airport.)

I came home to an eager family and pets, all of them glad that life is now “normal” again, and me realizing oooh how far behind I am on work. Quality time with the parental units meant less work time, but it was totally worth it. Now, however, I am feeling a bit buried.

Reality hits.

Awaiting my return was a package from a long-time dear friend who is genius, pure genius, at packaging and gift-wrapping. And finding cool stuff. Her talent takes my breath away, seriously. (Also filled with a bit of envy… you would know why if you have ever received a package from me, taped wildly together and including a few cat hairs for good measure.) Look:

Everything handmade, wrapped to perfection.

Yummy goodies, musical goodies, books, fun stuff and a big juicy letter! WOW. Perfect goodness on a cold rainy day. Barnie went crazy playing in the packaging. He is so easy to please.

Friends, Family, Pets - what life is all about

A drive around my neighborhood.

Abandoned Farmstead

In the small stand of trees to the right is the abandoned house, and the white rectangle is the old barn; trying to hold it together against the elements.

Abandoned farmsteads are common around here, most settled during the “160-acre free land to homesteaders” in the west. Sometimes only the foundations remain or a windmill, but many do have a visible house and barn. The stories that they must have…

Typical spring day here – crazy big white clouds, blue sky, and green-green-green as far as the eye can see. My favorite time of year. Mid to late June is when the wheat and barley start getting streaks of gold, then the greeness is all over. Golden waves of grain is pretty and all, but I love the green.