violetismycolor

travel advice...

Yes,I am making travel plans for April.  I think I will be staying at a  B&B (the Marc d'Or) in Dijon for 4 nights, followed by the Hotel Lauberhorn in Grindelwald, Switzerland for 2 night.  Then, a night at the Palais de l'Isle in Annecy.  Our final night will probably be in Paris and I am still looking for a hotel.  So, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to give them...

I am flying out on American Airlines and renting a car through Auto Europe.  I have this alternate life as a travel planner for my family's vacations.  I have actually become pretty good at it.  It takes tons of time, though.  But I am always up for suggestions....anyone?

where oh where has she gone?

Who, me?

Oh.

Getting the puppy spayed and then babysitting her when she got back.

Having lunch with the lovely Stephanie of CreatureBug.

Having breakfast with the lovely Margaret of Stargazer.

Visiting with my sis and bro-in-law, in town from Idaho.

Making reservations for planes, cars, hotels, etc. for our trip to France (to visit Bonnie) in April.

Etc.

Etc.

Etc.

thirteen moons...

I am racing the clock to finish the book Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier (who wrote Cold Mountain).  It is due back to the library tomorrow.  Okay, okay...so I've HAD three weeks to finish it, but I was reading something else for my book group and I have a puppy to look after, so give me a break.

Back to the book.  In it, we are following young Will, who at age 12 was bound to a merchant to work at an isolated trading post in Cherokee Indian country, circa 1830.  He falls in love with part-Indian Claire Featherstone, who he can't marry for a variety of reasons, including the fact that (in his state) whites are not permitted to marry anyone with even a drop of Indian blood.

The book is a fascinating look at the history of the time.  We meet such real folks as Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, and John C. Calhoun. Our young boy becomes a businessman and frontier lawyer, adopted son of an Indian leader named Bear, a lobbyist for his Indian family when the Removals start, and a lonely man forever searching for his Claire.  Some of my favorite lines from the book is:  “When all else is lost and gone forever, there is yearning. One of the few welcome lessons age teaches is that only desire trumps time."  Seems to be a theme with Frazier's writing...

ear trouble...

The breeder glued our puppy's ears down, so that they would grow to stand at attention.  One of the ears has become unglued, while the other is still folded over and glued to itself.  So, yes, indeed-y, my puppy looks unbalanced and just a little crazy.  Can't wait for the other ear to free itself.

I feel like the mother of a toddler, locked in my house with my baby and unable to attend to anything of importance, except my baby.  I did manage to get some yardwork done and I made the curtains for the new playroom window.  I even put up the hanging hardware, but seem to have misplaced the curtain rings...achhh...

Happily, I get to go OUT to dinner tonight, with my hubby and a friend, at Higgins (which has awesome food!).  Ah, a little adult time...

Miss Piddle-pants...

We had a bad day of house-breaking yesterday, the puppy and I.  On the plus side, I am getting great use out of my birthday present, my carpet shampoo-er...and my carpets are really, really clean.  I have been referring to our puppy as Miss Piddle-pants.  I don't want her to get too used to it, though. 

i.d. theft...

My blogger friend at Kingfisher Cove has had her identity stolen and is in the midst of trying to get out from underneath the crap that has ensued.  Having this happen to me is one of my fears.  We have had a locked mailbox for a couple of years and that helps.  I would urge everyone to get one.  I always post things with personal info or checks at the post office, never from my own box. 

Isn't it sad that we have to worry about this sort of thing.  It is a real problem in Portland and I know the  problem is spreading and infecting the whole country.  Hopefully, you are all protecting yourselves...just read the Kingfisher Cove post and you will want to...