FOR SALE BY OWNER

The rat race begins. I'm disregarding everything I've been told about the market being in really bad shape right now and put my house on the market.
I'll be lucky to beak even. My parents are the only ones agreeing with me that selling it is the only option. Not selling it makes me more nervous than I can even begin to explain right now.
Vicky once told me as I was leaving my first attempt at college that I shouldn't waste my time looking back. I doubt she was thinking at the time that her words would come back to me every time I made a big move in my life, but they do. And so it makes since that I would think about that day again as I packed up the last of my stuff from this house. This was the 13th move in 7 years for me and I wouldn't even consider it the most difficult move, maybe just the most involved.

one more puppy story

The Green Valley Gap was our favorite place to go hiking. There are tons of different trails to explore and I'm pretty sure we've been on all of them at least once. The 3 of us would go out almost every weekend and hike around for hours. Gib was pretty excited to find this puddle. He's my water dog. If there was water, Gibson was splashing in it. Max was the complete opposite. He didn't mind getting his paws wet, but he'd get panicky swimming in deep water. When we'd walk to the river Gibson loved to swim after anything I threw in, Max would wait on the shore for his brother and take whatever it was he'd retrieved away from him. Much howling and bickering would follow. Brothers.
The day I took them to Best Friends we went for one last hike and the boys impressed me as always! We were hiking around the bottom of a gully and as we made it towards the top I thought we'd gone as far as the dogs could go. The boulders were getting bigger and more like sheer rock wall. Gibson climbed straight up the rock wall {well over my head, maybe 7 feet?} with out a moments hesitation. I climbed up behind him then pretended to ignore Max's pleas for me to give him a boost. He took it on eventually and we kept on going like the pack of goats we are. I love those dogs! Will I ever stop missing them?!

Max and Gibson

My best buds. Max is on the left, Gibson is on the right. This picture was taken the second day I had them. They slept in the car when they were pups and as they grew up I wished they would have always napped in the car! When they got older {and MUCH, MUCH bigger, about 60 lbs each} Gibson liked to sit right next to me on the console and chew on my hair while Max roamed from window to window to hang his tongue out to flap in the wind.

I'm embarrassed to say say they were always that dirty. I don't think this picture shows the filth properly! I could never keep them clean. Ever. If you ever saw their excavation pit {once known as my backyard} you would understand why they were always filthy.

Rescued from the pound, my little furry friends were my pride and joy and I really didn't care that I almost always had some kind of dog paw print hidden on my person or that they ate everything from my earplugs {2 whole sets!} to an entire cushion of the couch, books, shoes, one green earring I still miss, and Gib's favorite snack: paper products. i.e. cotton balls, tissue, paper towels.

They were the best hiking partners ever. Together we roamed the canyons and trails all over southern utah. Max would stick near me because he was suspicious that I would hide from him. And I would. Every chance I got. And he never got better at finding me. And he calls himself a hound dog. Gibson would be off gallivanting, chasing anything that moved and investigating the terrain like the goat I half suspected him of being in his last life. He impressed Ben and crew over Christmas when we were out hiking. He spotted a rabbit and he was gone like a flash of lightening, all the while howling his crazy dog howl. I've tried to explain to him that it'd be easier for him to maybe catch something if he wasn't so loud. I don't think he cared much about catching anything. It was all about the chasing and howling for him.

It kills me that I'm writing about my dear pets in the past tense. When I moved back home I had to find them a new home. I'd heard about a 'no kill' sanctuary in Kanab and while it absolutely broke my heart to leave them there, I think I found the very best home for them. The staff are total animal fanatics and I could tell that Gib n Max are going to get lots of love and attention there. The people impressed me and won my dogs over with about a pound of snacks, each. My mom and I were there for hours before we were told the sanctuary couldn't take them. This wasn't really an option for me {another story} and it wasn't until we were about to leave that one of the trainers said they could stay. It happened fast and I'm glad for that. I was relieved and heartbroken and a complete mess. I hugged them goodbye and Gibson seemed a bit concerned about my emotional state and kept watching me which was unusual I thought since there was so much for him to get into and other dogs there to sniff. But he quickly forgot the scene I was making when the trainers took them out for a walk I could hear him announcing his arrival to his new friends. Wonder if Max ever gets tired of his boisterous brother howling in his ear?

Give credit where credit is due

I got on today to come up with some funny stories from the last couple of days (nothing yet, but I'm rambling already so something might come up) and found all these great comments from Heather and Vicky. Totally made my day. I laughed, I cried...ok, I didn't quite cry. But almost! But that is just my rather odd state of mind. Kinda being fickle about what emotion is at hand at any given moment. Yeah, I know, one padded room coming right up.
I've been out back (in the alley cat domain) spray painting rubber manzanita branches for Signes booth at the bridal fair this weekend. Same thing happened. The laughing until I cried thing. Only this time I was really out of breath from breaking the thing loose from it's stand all the while Signe's telling me to twist it more and put some muscle into it. Well I guess it might put up some fight since it was mounted in cement. But still, I think I might need to join a gym. Since when does a manzanita branch have the upper hand on me?
While on the subject on Signe, the fun neighbor I mentioned in the Fanastic 4 post, I should tell you that I've borrowed some of my photographs from her website. (I have a link up if you want to check out more of their images) If I haven't mentioned it before, she and her husband are The photographers. Signe's plan is to take over the world. They are succeeding from what I can see. They have some major style and loads of talent. Not to mention a killer reputation for being the absolute best. I pay attention to their cometition (what competition?) and they have room to spare at the top of the food chain in this super competitive town we live in. Can you tell I'm happy to be associated with such talent? I most definitely am!

but it's a honda

I couldn't believe that my trusty accord wouldn't start up last night when I was leaving Amy's house!! No way! It's a honda. Nick saved the day with a easy jump from his truck but I was a little unnerved. Reliable is my car's lot in life. It's what it does. I felt like taking it for a car wash or maybe a new car freshener. I've never bought it a scent, maybe it was feeling a little neglected? So I wasn't at all suprised this morning when it wouldn't start again. Lucky again that my parents aren't off on their safari yet (I don't really think they'll be off on a safari, but how cool is it that they are serving in AFRICA?! SO COOL!) I didn't think I would have any problems getting to Sears to get the battery replaced so imagine my horror as the power started flicking on and off even before I'd even got off the interstate! I turned off the radio (like that was going to conserve enough juice!) Then hit every green light between me and the mall. That's me for you to block out the fact that the sears auto shop is up the street from the mall. I think it was just pure girl instinct to head for the mall when in distress? So I made it back to the shop all the while the flicking of lights and power in my car making me talk to myself (and the car) like a total fruitcake! The techs laughed when they tried to start up the car after I turned it off (like they told me to). It was dead as dead can be.
I'm telling u, I drive a Honda because I like that I don't have to think about it much. I'm for sure taking it for a good bath and I might even buy it a freshener it it swears to never pull a stunt like that again. (Even if it IS my responsibility to buy it new batteries on occasion.)

now that's original

so the day I created my blog I was having a real brain freeze and couldn't think of anything better than sushicat for my blog name, then I lost myself while I was wondering around on blogger and decided to do a search to find myself again (I know, I'm a technical genius) and I found a bunch of sushicat stuff. Great. I'm not the only one out there. There was even a definition:
'SushiCat is a kind of cat, but not exactly the kind you're thinking of. It is the kind of cat that likes to eat sushi, with a bit mixture of optimistic and pessimistic. It is also a passionate, sympathetic and sentimental creature.'
oh goodness.
Then I read on and found some sad woman who'd just lost her pet sushi cat that very morning, she was crying velvet tears of all things.
I'm kinda regretting my oh so original name now. What? I like sushi, and I like cats ok? They are funny animals with a lot of spunk. I thought it was cool. I thought wrong. Officially, my new blog name is... well, it's still sushicat, cuz I don't think I can change it now.

Family Circus

Ben picked this photo for his family Christmas email because it is the most like real life for them. So right! They leave for Korea in about a week so they are busy packing up and all the fun stuff that comes with moving. With them headed to the Orient and my parents headed for Africa in a month I think I'm going to be taking some awesome vacations to get in some family time! Can't wait!!

The Fantastic Four

Cute little bunch of cats right? They are the latest litter of kitties from the alley cats that live behind the shop I run. Believe me, there are bunches of cats running around in the back alleyway, and they are all mean as mean old alley cats should be. But I feed them and try to make friends with them anyway!

My friend next door, Signe, heard crying kitties one afternoon. She left to run errands and I continued the search which lead me to the crawl space entrance at the back of the interior decor shop I run. I waited until Signe got back before I put on a protective layer of socks and extra layers and dropped down into the scary hole to find the kitties. You are asking yourself if this is necessary right? I did too! But I investigated outback and found a not too happy mommy cat hanging around the vent where she used to have access to the crawl space. Our landlord has declared war with the alley cats and decided to start trapping them and blocked all kitty access to the building. There was no way Signe was going in that hole and there was no way I was leaving the kitties to figure it out themselves.

Signe's husband Nick is a self proclaimed {and since proven} Kitty Whisperer. He saved the day when he came and took the four tiny things home and raised them like the best mamma cat out there. The two on the left found a permanent home with Nick and Signe and the other two were adopted.

I had the privilege of tending all four kitcats for a few days while the Adams were out of town. My mom and I both got out fair share of tiny scratches up and down our arms from bottle feeding them their special kitty protein drink. They kept us very busy! Who knew it could be so involved to raise kitties into cats.

First Blogging Ever

My cool Aunt Vicky called me last night and told me I should check out the family blogs and by the time I'm finished reading up on my three cousins I decided I NEED a blog. So here I am! From here I don't know what else I'll write about but I'm sure I'll come up with something!