Dusmuir Fall Gathering

The Wii! No wonder I was sore for days!

Roar!

Dunsmuir with Castle Crags in the background.

It was the fall gathering of the RPCV's and spouses in Dunsmuir a few weekends ago. It's the perfect spot because it's 1/2 way between Eugene, OR and San Francisco so it works out for all west coast parties involved. It was a weekend of cold weather, great food, the chex mix cook off, buckeyes, and newest addition, the WII!

When we met up this summer it was decided to have a chex mix cook off. All sorts of entries were submitted and Hot Toddie MC'd the judging. Blind taste tests with sips of tequila to cleanse our pallet were performed and the ultimate winner decided, that being Greta. She used an organic white cheddar powder with ranch dressing to bring it all together. Cheese! It was the thing that put it over the edge! So good! Miss B had been making test batches for weeks and gathering feedback from her co-workers as to what was good, not so good, etc. She ultimately went with a Moroccan style with all sorts of different spices to which Hot Toddie labeled "Sweet Jesus". It had bits of dried cranberry in it too. Personally I felt she was robbed! But I am a bit partial to the things my wife makes.

K-town brought the Wii with the sports addition and some Olympic games on it. My good lord that is addictive. I just wanted to keep playing and playing. Even the Wii reminds you to take ergonomic breaks so there are no CTD injuries. Funny! I really enjoyed the tennis. At one point though apparently we hadn't heeded the "dont' stand too close to one another" warning because my stellar tennis backhand walloped Miss B right in the funny bone and it wasn't funny at ALL. I certainly took her out and felt terrible about it to which the RPCV's wouldn't let me forget all weekend. They milked it, that is for sure! She did recover and eventually made it back into the rotation. I am tempted to get one but at the same time might just want to play when it's around so it doesn't lose the novelty. Awaking Sunday morning with an aching shoulder from a video game was rather depressing also. Am I really that outta shape? I guess so! The bowling was really fun too! I want to play more!

All in all, the weekend with the crew was great. It always is. They are just such a great group of people and we are really fortunate to be able to get together so easily and frequently. Feedback from many other RPCV's is that they simply don't do that. They hang out but don't make a point of it a couple of times per year. Guess we are just lucky that way.

Did have an unfortunate incident with my orange guy Sam this weekend. He had to spend some time in the hospital. Apparently if you don't switch up their diet, for male cats anyway, they are susceptible to urinary tract infections if they don't have a well balanced diet in terms of pH. The poor fella had crystals built up in his urethra and simply couldn't pee nor had the ability to tell anyone about it. So Miss B came home on Friday to find that he had barfed in multiple places and was in horrible pain. We took him to the emergency facility where they promptly diagnosed his condition and had to install a catheter. OUCH! I cannot imagine. He had to stay overnight and that just about killed me. I hate being without him. Plus he is a bit of a jittery guy and just doesn't appreciate things being shoved up his hooha. The vet said he wasn't a good patient. Well would you be for the love of god?!?! He is home now and recovering but it was rough. He gets wet food now which I am certain he loves! Glad he made it. Don't know what I will do without him!