a99kitten's Musings

Since I have been injured the huskies have not gotten their AM walks and their routines have been broken. Routines they have had literally all of their lives. Through rain, sleet, snow (well duh!) The only times they have not gotten their walks is when they were post-surgery. I used to have to hike them up hills for 2 hours to get them settled. But now walks on the beach are their favorite and 1.15 – 1 1/2 hours works.

But husband is lazy. He will cite busy, and it is true he has been on the phone/on the computer/in meetings working a lot but he could have made time to walk the dogs. He could do what I do since I also have a busy schedule – get up early. That’s when the huskies want to go out anyway – before it’s warm out. To start their day off right.

I guess lazy probably isn’t the exact right word. If he was getting up to to wake boarding or surf the perfect wave he probably would get up. But he has never garnered joy from walking the dogs. On the few times he has had to do it for me (I can actually count them on 1 hand…over 10 years) he complains and treats it as a chore. Weird. But this is why I stopped asking him to come with me. I really enjoy my walks with the dogs and don’t want your complaining on my walk. Now, are there days I am super tired? Or when I am sick? Or it’s pouring rain that I would rather it be a short walk? Of course. But once I am out there and going places with them – I love it. I’m happy. It clears my head. And when your head is as busy as mine- that’s a good thing!

So last night after 4 days of no walks, Angelus was whining. So husband finally said “OK, I think I need to walk these guys tomorrow AM before you leave for work.” YAY! I say. You have to understand, Angelus *always* wants to be outside. Unless it’s actually bedtime, he wants to go and sniff stuff. But now that Stormy is feeling all better and energized again, he wants to go too! Every morning he has been at the staircase after breakfast waiting for me to take him. And I say “I’m sorry bud.” :( So hopefully this morning they get to go. I’m going to go wake him up right now and remind him. Let’s see how that goes…

This is actually the worst part of my injury. Not getting outside and exercising with the huskies. I will probably go a bit stir crazy. I’ve noticed how I can be in a crankier mood without a good AM walk. It’s my routine too! But this morning, I was seeing what huskies are like with no exercise….pacing, ah-roooing, ruffing at me, running back and forth from window to window. I have been keeping the door open to they can just go in/out to the yard but the yard is quite boring after 4 days. Unless a skunk or raccoon comes along that is :)

So I think when people talk about their high-strung crazy huskies (or any dogs really) I definitely think they must not get enough exercise and have a daily routine. Because I’m starting to see it now and it’s bizarre. I want my guys back on their routine. And happy. Definitely need a man servant…

Angelus says it is too deep in the backyard – fix it. :)

But I do think I wore the huskies out. They are both sound asleep tonight. And not even looking at the front door.

6:00am – Wake up and see it’s raining outside. Sigh…lay in bed a few more minutes. I feel like Indiana Jones when he looks down into the Well of the Souls and sees all the snakes. “Rain…why did it have to be rain?” (for the the zillionth day in a row!) (and yes..I do actually say that to myself in that voice in my head as I remember the scene in the movie – kookie!)

6:15am – Get up, feed huskies, get dressed in rain gear, leash the boys up and go…

6:30am – Stops raining!!! Praise Bejebus! Super fun time on beach with the huskies and their friend Yogi! And I’m 100% convinced that I benefit from the walk just as much as they do. Yesterday the rain and wind was so bad, we didn’t make it 10 minutes before going back home. And I was grumpy all day!

8:15am – Home, shower, get ready for work. As I am about to leave, husband says only time to beat storms is leave by noon. Otherwise no go until Sunday. Sigh. Pack for Tahoe. Need to call boss on way to vet.

9:30am – Take Stormy to his ultrasound appointment. Stress the whole drive in and curse at the stoopid Prius and truck drivers.

10:00am – Storm’s appt. Stress in waiting room. ALL CLEAR!!! YAY!!!! Doc says how great he looks :) Why a guy. Nurses give him cookies. He is loved :)

11:00am – Post office and then home and pack up car.

11:30am – Drive…rain….rain…….80 still closed, go to 50…drive……hail….drive…overturned vehicle….drive….accident…..drive….(at least not as hellacious as last week)

4:50pm – Get to Incline Village – SUSHI! Take huskies out first and walk them a bit.

5:20pm – YUM! EAT! First meal of the day!!!! See guy walk in for dinner and comment “he looks like an 80s hair band guy” Oh..he is. Guy from Whitesnake. Hysterical!

8:00pm – Get home. Drive down snowcave of a street and driveway. Let huskies out of car and run around. Tromp through waist (yes, waist) deep snow into house to disarm and unlock. Good thing I’m not some dumb, high-maintenance girl. Feed huskies dinner. Give them a lot of extra chicken for being such good passengers :)

8:02 (or…maybe 8:03pm) Husky dinner inhaled. Take huskies back out (this time in snow gear).

Seeing huskies so happy to be in snow – a good use of a day off after all :) Excited to see what snow adventures we will have this weekend!

The weather forecast this morning said big storm tonight and Saturday but cleared out Sunday and basically clear for the rest of the week. Now it says snow tonight through Monday. Huskies say don’t mess their snow making super wonder twin powers :)

From our first walk yesterday after we FINALLY arrived.

And then after our walk this AM.

Angelus playing in the driveway.

This is our local weather guy, who has been far more accurate than the news weather guys…

“Resort Totals page updated as of 6 a.m. Resorts West of the lake reporting 18-36 inches with the highest amounts on resorts furthest West. Resorts East of the lake reporting 6-8 inches as there was good shadowing overnight due to the direction of the flow from the South.

This series of storms Wed-Sun is going to drop several more feet on top of the massive amounts we have already received in the past week. Looks like we could finally have a break after next weekend, but it may not last as we could see storms return the first week of April. Stay tuned……”

It seems to me that this spring is looking like a good one. I also believe wholeheartedly that the huskies have a deal with the weather gods :)

Took the huskies out this AM to pee before breakfast. They ran around in circles in the snow with big smiles! Stormy ran right inside for breakfast though. No keeping him from breakfast. I had to entice Angelus back in though! They inhaled breakfast and were ready to get out there! The driveway was about mid-calf on me. This was just from about 2am when the snow plow came and did our driveway and easement road. But this is belly high on Stormy.

When we got up our easement road to the street it was even deeper as the town snowplows hadn’t come yet. It was high enough for Angelus’ chest to have to push through the snow. Stormy toughed it out with his naked belly but we lasted about 25 minutes out and he wanted to turn back. The snow was coming down so fast that it was getting on our eyes and I think he was like “Mom, inside sounds good to me!” So we went back home and dropped Stormy off. Then Angelus and I went on our way….

We came across a couple with a little black doggie who had to leap through the snow. But he was having a good time. He and Angelus played for a bit and then Angelus got bored so off we went. The streets were unplowed so they are just like a giant snow field. No cars on the road and nice and quiet out. Perfect. Then we met another doggie – a standard poodle – who was as tall as Angelus but afraid of him. His Dad was like “you are the same size?!” Heh. Angelus got bored there too so off we went. We tried to find his friends the other huskies down the street but they weren’t out. Darn.

We played in the snow, Angelus dug in a lot of snowpiles and then we got back home. He is resting up for our next outing. I-80 is closed. Some of the resorts are even closed. Snowed in! Time for me to make some Star Wars pancakes!

That was the worst drive up to Tahoe EVER. I was dumb and left late. You wouldn’t think 7:30am is that late but it is. Especially when there is one snow storm clearing out and another coming in so this “break” in the weather was the time to go. Plus the highway was closed yesterday from 2pm to 1am. So people couldn’t go yesterday. Between the traffic, the snow, the idiots driving up in their non-4-wheel drive cars who need to put on chains the highway was a parking lot.

They should NOT allow vehicles up to the mountains during snowstorms that are not properly equipped. Vehicles that need chains create traffic jams for the chain on/off procedures, create traffic due to their having to go SLOW the entire way AND destroy the roads in the process. JACKASSES. I HATE YOU.

THEN, after you FINALLY get past chain control, which took 5 hours. Yes…FIVE hours of sitting in traffic due to m-fers who drive stupid cars and create stupid traffic jams and then the stupid CA Department of Transportation puts up chain points for no good reason (you would needed them for MAYBE 5 miles…MAYBE.) Anyway – after that, you get a free and open freeway of snowy highway with no lane markings (because of the snow.) So people just create their own lanes. And create their own non-lanes to pass trucks and other cars. Passing on right, left doesn’t matter. And then cars just stop in the middle of lanes to remove chains, or fix their chains, or whatever. Just stop…right there in the driving lane. Idiots. Hate you. So much. And as proof they are idiots, half of them (you could see them as they got out of their cars to deal with the chains) were wearing shorts, or jeans with flip-flops or sweatpants and flip-flops and t-shirts. And standing there shivering. Hello? It’s 25 degrees and snowing out. Plus it was 40+ degrees and raining wherever you started your journey from today so WTF? You have no sense. None. You are idiots. Please do not breed.

Anyway, got here at 3:30. Almost 8 hours later. I say almost because I stopped to get gas and a coffee on the way. But basically an 8 hour drive on what should be a 3 (4 with snow) hour drive. The amount of anger I have towards people who think driving up to the mountains in a snowstorm in cars without 4 or all wheel drive and for the Department of Transportation is unmeasurable today.

Luckily, I have 2 awesome huskies who patiently drove with me with no complaints. Who jumped out of the car when we got here and ran around in the snow, big smiles on their faces. Who let me inhale a glass of water and taco (hadn’t eaten anything today and was getting punchy) before taking them out on a walk with still no complaints. Who then took me on a jog through the snow down our street and back and then around in various driveways where the snow is currently belly high for them and then running all around our easement road, neighbors driveways and our driveway. Angelus and Storm were BOTH (yay Storm!) running around and chasing each other through the snow. Dummy me left my phone in the house in my rush to get them out so missed some GREAT video of them. Dangit!

So yes, I still HATE the above mentioned idgits. But thanks to 2 fluff-monsters my blood pressure has been restored to normal and the steam has stopped coming from my ears. The amount of snow here is crazy. It’s lightly falling now but another big storm is supposedly coming tonight and tomorrow. YAY! And then snow is forecast every day for the next week. Wheeeeee! But I shall be staying out of my car and off the highway and away from the real world of annoyances and will be here in the forest with 2 fluffy beasts. Better for my health :)

Took the huskies to the beach this morning and they had a GREAT time! It was super low-tide so there was a ton of open beach to run on. I let them off-leash when they saw their friend Marley (ginormous black lab.) Actually Marley saw them first and he took off running full speed down the beach to meet them – he’s pretty darn cute. I let them off so they could meet him half-way! They ran around and had fun. Then we met a border collie named Maverick. This dog was FAST! And the huskies were tearing around chasing him as he chased his frisbee. Then he would drop his frisbee and chase them back.

Storm even went into the water to cool off! He has not done that in a long time. I guess with so many missing fur spots, he doesn’t get as hot as Angelus anymore. But he was chasing Maverick and they both just ran into the water and then a small wave came up and they were both belly high in water and Storm had this HUGE smile on his face. So, so cute.

Angelus wanted to play with a little dog who wanted to say hi to Angelus but then got scared and ran away at the last second. Well…to Angelus this means “Chase me!” Oops. He chased the little dog into a small alcove by the bluff and was like RUFF! Tail-wagging and smiling. But the little dog Mom saw it more as a “he wants to eat her!” No…he doesn’t. Little dog people are so funny. I grabbed him so she could grab her dog (Francesca…of course) and even as she did Fracesca was leaning out of her arms to sniff Angelus. See – everyone is fine. Then Angelus got bored and came back to the chase game with Storm and Maverick.

We were down on the beach for 2 hours playing! Angelus started getting warm after about 1.5 hours. The sun was shining so even with ocean dips, he was getting hot. He was making it clear he was done and wanted to head back. But Storm kept wanting to play!! I finally had to say enough when I saw Stormy’s back legs shaking a little. I think with everything he has been through this past year, he muscle tone is still not at 100% and he gets tired. But after 2 hours of running and chasing – I’d be tired too!

While we were out there, everyone wanted to talk about the tsunami. Was quite the event here. Maverick’s dad told me that they had an evac area set up on top of 92 (at the highest point.) I did see a bunch of cars and the state police there when I drove to work but apparently the news showed it as basically a parking lot with tons and tons of cars parked there and along Highway 35 too?! Who knows if the news exaggerated (as they like to do for drama and effect) but when I drove by the area there were about 20 cars and the cops. So I’m sure between 7-9am, there were a lot more. I do know they evacuated the houses on the west side of Highway 1 as well as the beaches and harbor. I guess safe is better than sorry but seeing how the tsunami was when it hit Hawaii, I was pretty sure anyone not actually standing on the beach would be just fine. But on my way home from work around 8pm last night, there were STILL cars parked there with people just milling about. Really??

I tend to not worry about most things. I think I keep all of my stress and worry focused mostly on the huskies. So as I was walking around yesterday AM and the highway was closed, fire trucks and cop cars lining the highway with lights flashing, cars and trucks just parked on streets and people walking around, helicopters buzzing around…it was a bit eerie. I thought to myself “Am I not as concerned for our safety as I should be?” But I figured the huskies didn’t seem concerned. They wanted to go to the beach. And animals have much better senses about this type of stuff (notice how all of the animals in Indonesia ran AWAY from the coast as the tourists walked towards it..) so I was taking their lead.

Even this morning, while we were on the beach, there were tide surges. It was super low tide but then all of a sudden, like ALL OF A SUDDEN, the tide has come up right to the bluffs. I managed to jump on a rock both times to avoid wet feet! And the huskies like wet paws! But it was SO fast, that I can’t even imagine it at that same speed with much more powerful water/waves. And it goes out just as fast. Very cool effect to see in real life. But I am totally OK with that and yesterday’s wave and tide viewing being the extent of my tsunami experience.

It’s a gorgeous day here today. Sunshine and a light breeze. Angelus argues much too hot but even he is lying on his lawn right now with a smile on his face :) He loves, loves, loves the snow but Storm tends to get cheesed a bit when we are in Tahoe as he gets cold faster so gets shorter walks. I was all packed and ready to go to Tahoe last night but I was SO tired after 2 nights of very little sleep. So I bagged the idea right as I should have headed out and decided to stay here. Plus the weather said it might rain up there. Yuck! I think I made the right call. The huskies had a BLAST on the beach today and Stormy got lots of playing and running in which he probably wouldn’t have in Tahoe. I think Stormy likes the snow and loves the beach. Angelus loves the beach but loves the snow more. So I need to make sure both are happy :)

So last weekend we spent in the snow. This weekend we are chilin’ at the beach and next weekend we will head back up to the snow as a new storm is expected to drop another 2 feet!

Snowy mountains, tsunami warnings, sunny beach…just another week in California…

We got up to Tahoe last night but it was after 11pm and really dark out – no starry night or bright moon to light the way. Of course, the huskies wanted to go for a walk as soon as they got out of the car. Since they are stuck in the car for 3-4 hours on the drives up, I usually take them no matter what time we get in. Just a short walk down the street so they can sniff everything, pee on stuff, say HI to Tahoe :) But last night we could only go a short ways since it was really, really dark out.

And normally when we get here, I let Angelus out on the back deck so he can play in the snow but husband didn’t want me to do that since it was really heavy snow, and had rained a bit on Thursday which made it icy and it was going to be a pain for him to remove, and Angelus paw prints and husky-dug holes everywhere supposedly make this harder as they harden/get icy. I don’t necessarily believe it will make that much of a difference with the snow blower but he is responsible for snow removal so it’s up to him.

So needless to say, Angelus was annoyed. He was like “you bring me to the snow and then I can’t play in it???” He even tweeted about it! :) So this morning, bright and early, I had a wet nose in my face :) Took the buds out for their short walk after their breakfast and brought Storm back home when he wanted. Then it was Angelus time! We walked pretty far (about 1.5 hours), met Jake the GIANT lab and Cash the sweet pit/boxer mix. They liked Angelus a lot! Cash even started to follow us away from his house – doh! We also met 2 Russian guys on our walk and they loved Angleus. Every time we meet Eastern European people, they really fawn over the huskies :)

Anyway, on our loop back home we climbed the snow mountain (about 12’+ up) in our greenbelt area and I let Angelus off leash…

Now we are home and he’s a much happier husky :)

Please forgive my winterized, gopherized front yard. But Angelus loves it :) He’s been hoarding this bone since Super Bowl Sunday. What buddies.

It was howling wind and rain this morning. The huskies didn’t seem in too big of a rush to go out. I thought “Yay – no wet and cold walk for me!” But once they ate their breakfast, they charged for the door. Doh. Ok…out we go. I wore my bright pink J Crew rain boots this time since my sneakers took 2 days to dry after the last rain walk. I looked pretty sexy in my mismatched rain outfit…in that “there is no way you could look any unsexier” kinda way ;) BUT – I stayed warm (ish)!

Storm doesn’t typically like to go out in the rain so I figured it would be a short walk. Angelus? Well, he would make an excellent postman. Rain, sleet or snow – he doesn’t care! But the huskies (both of them!) wanted to go to the beach. Sigh…ok….we are already wet at this point so we might as well. It tapered off to a light rain and then rained off and on the whole way there. We got to the beach and the wind was blowing and even the harbor was pretty choppy. Low tide was just starting so there was some more beach to run on and a TON of seagulls hanging around.

I let the the huskies off leash and they took off – both of them! To chase the birds and each other! Stormy was running around and having a good time!! Yay! He got a bit cheesed up in Tahoe last weekend since he can’t stay out in the snow as long as his brother or go in deep snow due to his naked belly. He wants to go out a lot but then gets cold after like 20-30 minutes so I take him on a lot of short walks and not the deep snow running Angelus gets. So I was very happy to see him running around on the beach having a fun time!! I wished I could have videoed it but it was raining and my phone was safely stashed in a pocket :( Would have been a very cute video!!!

It started to rain harder so we decided to head back. No one (including Angelus) is a fan of the sideways rain. Although I will have to say, when you wear rain boots you can have a lot of fun jumping in big rain puddles :)

We aren’t going to Tahoe for this new snow storm today, which makes me pretty sad. Who knows if it’s the last big snow of the season? But husband is driving up from San Diego where he was picking up his newly-made surfboards for an upcoming surf trip to Portugal. He was going to swing by here and get us and we’d all drive up to Tahoe. But the storm is just hitting now and he doesn’t want to take the extra time and get stuck in the traffic and snow. But he doesn’t want me driving up in my car alone since I have high-performance tires and not snow tires (don’t get me started on that) which means I wouldn’t go till tomorrow AM sometime. And that just seems silly to then come back Sunday night or Monday AM. Especially since I want to be there during the snow! I don’t know why people don’t get how much I love being there as it is snowing – not only when it’s all over. *pout* But I think Storm might be OK with is since it’s also supposed to drop to about -2 and possibly even colder up at our house. He says brrr with missing fur!

Plus CalTrans says do not drive up there today – wait till Saturday. Bad weather. Heavy snow and wind. Alert. So you absolutely, positively know some ass clowns in their Prius’ and Hondas and other teeny tin cans will be heading up and causing traffic at chain control and likely spinning out into a snow bank. Good times.

So the huskies and I are desperately hoping we get to see a snow flurry here! It can happen. I think highly unlikely (I am truly AT sea level so it would be a rarity!) But I do believe the huskies are working with some powerful forces to get it here :) So we will stay awake late and up early to try and get the coldest parts of the night/morning to see if their magic worked….crossing fingers and paws!