Tuesday, July 31

Tonight I am in Atlanta - this morning it was Charlotte. I'm really tired today so won't say much except that I'm really looking forward to being back at home at the end of the week! Will update later with the rest of the report - and photos from Vancouver.

Rawlings ended their endorsement deal with Michael Vick today. I was really glad that Nike decided to end their deal with him, too; I am generally a Nike fan because of their focus on women's running, but I really couldn't see myself spending money on their products if they didn't take make a strong statement about Michael Vick.

Tomorrow I'm in Atlanta, then maybe NJ on Thursday and Binghamton, NY on Friday.

Thursday, July 26

Today I am in Vancouver. I won this trip over a year ago but I wasn't able to go until now. There are a bunch of other work people here whom I will do my best to avoid. My bestest friend Wayne arrives tomorrow and will be here for the weekend - I haven't seen him in a while and he's likely to be moving to London before year's end so I'm really looking forward to having this time here with him.

My flight was late getting out of Chicago (tremendous surprise to all....) and the Vancouver airport was VERY busy with tourists making connections to cruise ships. On the brighter side, the weather is picture perfect - about 72 and sunny. I booked a "day at the spa" for this afternoon, so I spent 4 hours getting massaged, pedicured, manicured, and having my pores assessed and critiqued. The aesthetician actually said that I had very clear pores - maybe there IS something to that ridiculously overpriced skim regimen I've been using!

While I was pedicuring I watched "Larry King Live," where the topic was dogfighting. The episode was very well done (and Larry's on vacation....coincidence?). They had several guests (including the HSUS' John Goodwin, who gave a great interview thanks, I'm sure, in total to my sister's brilliant managing of the HSUS spokespeople) but the star of the show was an American Pit Bull named John Henry who was there as the sidekick to celebrity dog trainer Tamar Geller. I swear this dog was paid to look cute and lovable - he kept putting his head down on the desk until someone got him a pillow. If the HSUS and ASPCA ever wanted a poster child for an anti-dogfighting campaign, he's your man. Dog. Whatever. He was awesome.

Speaking of animals (you KNEW a blog entry couldn't go by without discussion of my little kittens!!), here is the entry from Dewey and Jasmine's blog today. Yes, my cats blog.

"These two were such great kitties today! Dewey was right at the door to say hello, and Jasmine came closely behind him. They were full of purrs and seemed very excited to see company. I made sure to give them their special foods, although they didn't go for them right away. I also spent some time brushing Dewey and tried to convince Jasmine to chase her little mouse, but she was more interested in being petted. These guys were so great, I look forward to my visit tomorrow. Cheers!"

If you'd like to follow "The Sometimes Madcap But Mostly Madnap Adventures of Dewey and Jasmine," go to http://www.chicagocatnannies.com/ and click on "How's My Kitty?" There are (supposed to be) postings every day I'm out of town. Today there's also an entry for a cat named Chairman Meow.

More from Vancouver tomorrow!

And no photo-posting spree would be complete without....

...more Dewey and Jasmine! The kitties are fast asleep at the moment, but here are some shots I took recently.



Jasmine looks very exotic in this one.....


This is how you'll find Dewey most mornings.

Puerto Rico photos from April 2007

PR mountains

This is the view from my hotel room.

Family pheowteows

Here are some pictures taken when I was home for Mother's Day.

Monday, July 23

Today I'm at home in Chicago. After traveling just about every week for the last 2 years, it's been really nice to have a "normal" schedule where I'm at home at least part of the week. That could all change soon, however, because we're supposed to hear about the next steps on a project I've been working in Atlanta - if the client decides to move forward then I could be spending a lot more time down there. I had to get a new cat sitter because Laura, my previous cat nanny, learned she's having twins so she and her husband are moving to the suburbs. The new cat sitter seems to be fine, and includes in her services a "How's My Kitty?" blog. I figure if the cats have a blog, I should have a blog. Apparently there isn't much anymore that separates us from the animals....

I watched the new Bill Maher special on HBO last night. It must have been filmed over the weekend because it referenced Bush's colonoscopy. The line was something about doctors checking to see if Bush had his head up his ass. Much to everyone's surprise, they didn't find it.

Oh, joy -someone's car alarm is going off. Why do people bother with car alarms anymore? Does anyone pay even attention when they go off, except to think "who's the jagoff who accidentally set off his car alarm??"

And on that note, back to work!

More photos of guess who.....

Here, Jasmine tries to convince Dewey to let her join him in the centerpiece. He wasn't interested in accomodating her.









Dewey likes the new buffet - the reddish tones suit his grey coat quite well. Dewey is always dressed appropriately, which I guess happens when you only ever have one, spectacular outfit to wear. It just occurred to me that having this blog may turn me into The Crazy Cat Lady.





Today both kittens came to sit on my lap. This rarely happens, because Jasmine usually won't participate. She prefers to get pets on her own terms. Fortunately today for Dewey and me, she decided we were worthy of a cuddle.

Britain's Prince Charles gives wife sheep for birthday: report

Charles has given Camilla 2 rare sheep for her 60th birthday. When Rachel and I were kids we had two goldfish named Charles and Diana. The end of that story is that Diana ate Charles, which serves him right for giving his new wife some sheep.

My mother's response to my blog

Tomorrow, George Bush is having a colonoscopy and Dick Cheney is in charge. So, tomorrow has officially been declared Asshole Saturday. I'm sure you'll think of some way to celebrate.

Love, Mom

Betsy comment: Pretty much says it all about why I am the way I am.

Friday, July 20

I've decided to create a blog to keep in touch with family and friends during my travels. I think this will be pretty no-frills, but who knows? Might wind up being fancy. I also have fantasies of somehow being witty and engaging enough in this that I'll be discovered as The Next Literary Genius and be whisked away to turn my clever posts into a book.

Today I am at home in Chicago with my kitty cats. Cat-haters beware: there will be a LOT of cat discussion in my posts, especially those that I write from home. Not only are the cats a big focus of my time at home, but they do something note- and/or photo-worthy about every 5 seconds (see above).

It's cooled off a bit here in Chicago, and I'm starting to mentally gear myself up for a longish run this afternoon. I'm running the Chicago Half Marathon on September 9 and haven't kept up with my distance runs. Bad Betsy. The race website is http://www.chicagohalfmarathon.com/, for anyone who wants to sign up and run it with me. (Randy, this means YOU!)

I was in DC last weekend for an all-too-brief stint. Got to see all of the parents, and took my 7-year old niece, Kate, shopping for her birthday. She did really great, but got a little indecisive in the toy section - not because she didn't know what she wanted, but because she apparently already owns every toy that Target sells. We got two sets of jammies (one, a nightgown with cute little cats on it), an outfit, the "Ella Enchanted" DVD, a Bratz girl and another critter for The Littlest Pet Shop. I'll be back in DC the weekend of August 12, the date upon which a certain Pancik patriarch will be celebrating a certain milestone-ish birthday.

While I was at home, I also got to see my old SVHS friend Renee Rabben in "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper," a rock opera that is based on, well, Jack the Ripper. It was pretty campy but very entertaining. Renee still has such a superb voice, and has been seen in a number of local musicals recently. It's cool that I have friends who haven't abandoned their true loves! (As opposed to yours truly, but we'll just consider it an extended hiatus.)

I'm at home in Chicago next week until Thursday, and am then off to Vancouver for a long weekend with my dear friend, Wayne, to take advantage of a leadership award that I won a year ago. Basically, the award involves a free trip to Vancouver and a nice chunk of change to blow on spa treatments, decadent dinners, and many, many cocktails (unless the nice chunk of change is actually in Canadian dollars, in which case we're screwed).

By the way, this Michael Vick thing is really on my mind today. A special shout out to my sister and all of her Humane Society of the United States colleagues who have worked and continue to work extremely hard on this case - as I told Rachel yesterday, her little sister is proud. If you'd like to read the HSUS' reporting on the investigation, go to http://www.hsus.org/.

One of the things I'm hoping to use this blog for is to share pictures. For my inaugural post, I've attached a photo taken today of Dewey enjoying the dining table centerpiece.