Rainy Day Ninja

When I got home from running errands this afternoon, I knew Kumo was watching Ivy, but I didn't know where they were. It was raining outside (had been for most of the afternoon), so they had to be playing indoors somewhere.

It was very quiet.

I should have known.

It was TOO quiet.

Doing things around the house, I didn't see any sign of Kumo and Ivy, but I had this weird feeling like I was being watched. Even just walking into a room.


I tried to take my mind off of it, and settle on reading some blogs and doing some work on the internet, but even just sitting there typing, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.

It was a little feeling at first.

And then it got stronger.


I turned around, but didn't see anything.


Until I noticed Ivy's new toy bunny, Mr. G, laying on the floor. Dressed like a ninja.


I thought I had it all figured out, and that I'd play along. I went back to typing, holding tight to my hostage. Not realizing the danger I'd put myself in by taking one of their number captive.


After a while, I wandered down to the kitchen, to get myself a snack.


Taking my hostage along with me, to get some baby carrots.



When I closed the refrigerator door, I heard "Now, Ivy!!"



And the next thing I knew....


... they were walking away with Ivy's toy, and I was laying hog tied on the floor.

For being a kid, Ivy ties really good knots.

Wendy found me about 15 minutes later, and untied me (snickering the entire time, I might add). I went up to the library to tell the girls exactly what I thought of their ninja game, but Ivy gave me a great big hug and told me I was the best playfriend EVER, and suddenly I didn't have the heart to yell at them.

Rotten ninja girls, with their super powerful girl ninja defense -

They're too cute to stay mad at. Darn it!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Ninja Fight at Six Flags!!

Okay, so there was only a little ninja fight. But still.

The place where Wendy's dad works rented out all of Six Flags - Elitch Gardens today for their employees and their families. Unfortunately, he couldn't go, but he gave tickets to Wendy's mom, and she brought Wendy and Kumo and I!


Six Flags is really a very pretty park. We were immediately impressed by all the water, fountains, and plants everywhere.


And Kumo was immediately impressed by the chocolate shop.


Kumo started listing off all the rides she wanted to go on, and unfortunately for her, the rest of us were much too chicken to ride most of them with her.

First, she wanted to ride the Mind Eraser.

Um... no.

Then she wanted to ride the Batwing.

Um... still no.

Wendy explained that, while she'd love to, she couldn't ride most of the rides because they make her barf, and that's no fun. Karen explained that she didn't want to ride anything that went really, really high because it's really, really scary.

I explained that I was just a really, really big chicken.

Somehow we ended up in kiddie land, where I was attacked by Wile E. Coyote! And rescued by my daring, ninja sister!!!

After my rescue, we rode the kiddie balloon ride!


But that didn't seem to satisfy Kumo.....

Karen suggested a spinny ride, not in kiddie land, called the Round Up. Wendy pleaded "barf". I pleaded "chicken". And Karen and Kumo rode together while we watched.

This apparently whetted the appetites of these two for more spinny rides. Over the rest of the day they rode a bunch of stuff, including...

...the teacups.



And some kind of spinning ride that I can't remember the name of, but scared me just to watch.



Between rides, we had some onion rings.


Well, Kumo had some onion rings.

I eventually convinced them to wander into the arcade, where we discovered their version of Skeeball - Ice Ball. Much more my speed, and definitely not spinning.


Kumo, in spite of landing a beautiful gutter ball...

... got almost as many tickets as I did!


She traded hers in for a cute princess wandy thing and a ninja sword.

I had to get a ninja sword too, just to protect myself from Princess Ninja Kumo.


She even took on Karen!



After whomping all of us with her cool new ninja sword, Kumo was pretty worn out. That's a lot of activity for someone who's gotten used to sleeping all day. I think the heat was taking it's toll on her too. We rode the carousel on our way out. It's one of my favorite rides, and finally one I could ride with Karen!


Kumo rode too, but seemed a little subdued, riding on her horsie, with her princess wand.


We settled into the car, and went home.



Kumo is now crashed out downstairs, after saying quick "Thanks" to Mandi for coming over to watch the puppies and Voltaire for us. Poor crashed out thing.

We both had a GREAT time and owe a huge thanks to Wendy's Dad for the tickets, and to Wendy's Mom for letting us go with her and riding all the stuff with Kumo. You're the best!! And many, many thanks to our dog sitter, Mandi, who, just by her presence, allows us to leave the house.

It's been a great day, even though I probably should've been studying for my physiology test tomorrow. It was worth it, though. Sunburn and all!

Rainy Saturday & Kumo's Gone to the Dogs

So here I am at the writers group. One of the other members has a stuffie who is blogging. I haven't gotten to meet him yet, since apparently he was out partying last night and so isn't here this morning. But I'm looking forward to making his acquaintance.

Mostly I'm working on my curriculum for the creative writing class I'm teaching late next month. It's through one of the community colleges, and I'm looking forward to it. But I really should figure out what I'm going to teach.

Even though it was a rainy morning, Kumo was up and playing with the puppies when I left.


Anyway, back to curriculum creation.

Bunny Bear Rescue

I got home from school a little late. Some of us went out for coffee after class. Kumo had left me a note to let me know she'd taken Ivy (the little bear she's watching after school now) to the park to play and they'd be back soon. I figured they would, because there was a storm rolling in from the West, and it looked like rain.

Anyway, while I was petting puppies (and counting them all to make sure Musashi hadn't eaten any of his siblings), the phone suddenly rang. It was Kumo. From the playground. Ivy had climbed up on the jungle gym and got scared and wouldn't come down, and Kumo didn't know what to do. I told her "Climb up after her and help her down" and Kumo explained to me that she's afraid of jungle gyms. I asked, "Um, Kumo, aren't ninja known for their amazing climbing ability?" and she said "Yeah! They climb trees and walls. Not JUNGLE GYMS." She sounded very panicked, and rather un-Kumo like. There was a roll of thunder just then, and I knew what I had to do.

I got to the playground just as the rain started, and took in the situation. Ivy and Kumo BOTH looked terrified, and the wind was picking up.



So up I went.


I got Ivy to reach out her paw to me.


And from there was able to get her to put her paws on the bar, and lower herself down...


...to Kumo, who was waiting to catch her at the bottom of the jungle gym.



And then down I came too.


Ivy's doing fine now. We all got rained on a little, and it was a bit chilly, but I got her all snuggled up in the library with a blankie and my toy doggie, Mr. Snugglesworth.


Though she was a little shaken, she bounced back from it as only kids can. She explained to me that she's not afraid of the "climbing up heights", it's the "climbing down heights" that scare her.

Now she and Kumo are coloring, and waiting for Ivy's mom to come pick her up.



Neither the worse for wear, though I think it'll be a while before either Kumo or Ivy go anywhere near that jungle gym again.

Massage Midterm Day

Yesterday was my midterm in massage class. I was a little nervous about it, but not too worried. Because it was entirely paws on, there wasn't really any way to "cram" before the test. You either know the strokes or you don't.

I thought maybe I could get my mind off it, and quit fretting about it, if I studied my physiology for a bit up in the library. My classmate, and friend, Jenny came over to help me with a particularly challenging part of the homework.


And in return for her help, I swiped her glasses. (smile) But it was fair, because she tried mine on too.


I got my physiology homework done right before lunch, which was perfect timing.
My dancin buddy Dan and I chowed down on chicken enchiladas, and some green chilli made by my super nifty classmate, Barb. It was DELICIOUS!



Now full of nummy Mexican food, I was one of the first ones to go in the afternoon. I got my midterm out of the way, got an "A", and realized I had been fretting for nothing. Everyone tells me I give a good massage, I should believe them.

After being all stressed out by a midterm, nothing beats getting a relaxing massage. My classmate, Susan, worked on me for a while. She's got great hands, and a very healing touch. It was wonderful and just what I needed.



Now that I was all relaxed, and feeling much better, I was able to help out a classmate in need.
Barb (of the yummy Mexican lunch) had had her midterm in the morning, so for most of the afternoon she'd offered to be a practice body for the rest of the class. By the time she'd been laying on the table for about two, two and a half hours, she was a mess. Mostly, it seemed people had practiced their massage on just one side of her. And because everyone needed to practice something different, it wasn't a full, flowing massage. Just work on random muscles in no particular order. While she didn't mind and was happy to be helpful, it left her dizzy and horribly unbalanced. So I worked on her for a little bit, just trying to even her out, working on both sides to help her ground and regain her balance. Poor thing.


When I was done, she said that she felt better. And when she walked, I could see that she no longer drifted to the right. So I think it helped a little. I hope so. It was so sweet of her to let everyone practice on her.

One of my other classmates, Bekah, was really worried about her midterm. I tried to comfort her, assuring her that she was going to do great. When it was her turn to go in, I know she was really nervous, but she got an "A"! She gave me a big bunny snuggle afterwards, for helping to comfort her.



My classmates are all super nice, and they're all very understanding about having a bunny in their class. I really appreciate that. I think they're all going to be great massage therapists! Maybe one of them will go on and specialize in stuffed animal massage. You never know!!!

Gardener Gage

I was a little late getting home yesterday, since I stopped by Wendy's mom's house to get some four 'o' clock seeds to plant in my garden.



I got home and Kumo said "Oh, you just missed Ivy!" I should've known, before I asked who Ivy was, that I probably didn't really want to know.

Somehow, Kumo has gotten herself a job babysitting one of the little bears in the neighborhood, after school. (*boggle*) I cannot EVEN imagine what this little bear's mother must be thinking. I won't see Ivy today or tomorrow either, because she'll be gone by the time I'm home from school, but I'm sure I'll meet her Thursday.

Assuming Kumo hasn't lost the babysitting job for teaching Ivy to throw ninja stars or use a katana or anything.

So thinking that I needed a place to plant my four 'o' clocks, I thought maybe I'd wander out and weed for a bit before I have to go to class.

But it turns out that's a much bigger project than I have time to tackle right now.


Even though I decided not to weed, while I was taking in the garden I managed to snap a photo of a hummingbird...


... and a monarch butterfly, dining on the flowers of my butterfly bushes.


After that, I turned my attention to the indoor plants, thinking that would be easier. Wandering the sunroom, I noticed a horrible smell, and started to wonder if something had crawled into one of the pots and died when I realized nope, it was just the stapelia flower.


And there'll be another one soon, because this little plant as a baby flower growing on it.



Looking around I realized everyone could use some water.


So I watered all of the houseplants (this is nearly as big a project as weeding outside is. Some of these plants are HUGE!) and now I'm off to class.

Maybe I'll tackle the weeding on Thursday. Or maybe I'll just find somewhere else to plant my flowers.