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!