Hellooooo xanga. I wish I had more to rant or rave about. I like blogging. I feel that I really ought to have something to say or show when I show up to type.

Alas, alak, Alaska, I come over here empty lettered.

I see some good peeps are making a come back. Nice to see you again. I see that the usual suspects are always awesome about checking in or commenting. I appreciate your loyalty!

I even tried to set up my dog pal, Lola, with a blog site to keep writing, but so far, we have only written up one dog blog. Sheesh.

She actually has something to bark about! Here is the link to her Barking Blog! She has her own facebook too. You can find her as Lola Pawlana. Friend her! She loves new friends. She makes them where ever we go. Something about her little face just stops people in their tracks. 

There have been some fun doings over here at Casa De Pepe of late.

Teenage Mysticism

A house show last week. Four bands played til about midnight. Super lineup of music. A decent house full of local kids, student population types. David and I had great fun prepping and making it happen. Great talent. Met some awesome and darling kid musicians. One kid had NEVER been to California! 

Lola loved all the kids but I wanted to make sure no one got accidentally nipped

It was late on a week night so…the cops showed up twice. A neighbor came to my door very pissed off. He was yelling at me. I was calm and polite. What do you do? He said I should be ashamed to be my age and do this TO HIM. 

I agree, it was loud. We moved it inside, the band started out quieter but got louder…youths, you cannot contain them. The police showed up again. 

It was worth it.

The Sheets at The Stag in Woodland

My friends, The Sheets, had a show in Woodland at the end of April. That was great fun. They were fantastic!

My Darlings

David and I try to get away to the coast when ever we can. We love Point Reyes. We are talking about heading to Big Sur for my birthday. I have not been there in eons! And he has never been there. Maybe another tour of Hearst Castle. That was great fun. My daughter and I did that the last time I was in Big Sur. We did a girl camping trip. This is over ten years ago. Sheesh!

My job is crazy busy. There have been new programs implemented to help those who are upside down (owe more then their home is worth) in their mortgages and had been unable to refi to these crazy low rates. It is called the HARP 2 program. If you have a Freddie or Fannie loan, you are eligible no matter how upside down you are. It is a wonderful program and we are very very very busy. This is a very good thing. I really enjoy what I do (I am a loan processor, I have been for years but when the economy took a dump, I was out of the business for like three years). I am working for the same boss I worked for when I first moved to Davis. He is a terrific loan officer. I keep talking about getting my RE license but don’t. So bad. I like processing though. I am not much of a sales person.

Stace looking gorgeous on a night out to dinner awhile back

Went to my friend Stacy’s baby shower. She scored lots of stuff. She looks amazing. She has just under two months left. My friend Celeste has become a grandmother. She, too, is amazed by the love that emerges when a grandchild makes her/his presence. Her son is a natural daddy. Joy.

June with her grandma, Mary

I hope to see my grand daughter soon, maybe next weekend. She is off on vacay with her other grandparents this weekend. My daughter is still not talking to me. I am pretty much over it at this point. I love her but, come on? I don’t see what point she is getting across. That she is unforgiving of what? My personality? Ok. Take a number.

Micheal with his gf’s pooch, Bear ( I LOVE his gf- she is darling! )

My son is doing well. I see him pretty often. He, his sis and their pal, Zac are recording some amazing music. All I can say is wow. Once I have something I will link it.

Michael (my son) is doing all kinds of recording and production. I love listening to him explain the process. It is a wonderful thing to see your kids passionate about something. 

My Pal, My Love

Everything is better than great with my boyfriend, David. He is a wonderful person. I love him more all the time. Wowie. Is all I have to say about that.

He is out and about for most of this week. His folks are visiting from Wyoming. They are at the coast today and tomorrow. I think they go home Sunday morn. David works Sunday, I probably won’t see much of him til next week. We are skipping the meet the parents thing. I don’t want to scar them for life. I am kind of their age. Give or take. I think this could freak a mom out. It would freak me out if my son showed up with a gf that I could have gone to high school with. It is something we can deal with down the road. We are still new in this thing. One never knows what can happen. So why upset the status quo this early on. Right? If you saw us together you would know how well we get along but to just meet me, well…insert photo of The Scream here.

Does this rug make my ass look fat?

Esme seems to be growing by the minute. I don’t think we can use the excuse, BIG BONED, with a clear conscious.

Life is good. Everything is fine.

I had a wonderful weekend. 

The Sheets at the Stag in Woodland

My friends, The Sheets, played an amazing show in Woodland, California. Way too short but a power house of a set. I need to get busy and get them booked again around here soon.

David had to work Saturday (which is usually our only day together all week) but we packed a bunch in that night. We shopped for some summer duds for him. He does not own any shorts. Well, now he does. And we are in the market for sandles. He bawked at first, but our first eighty degree day…well, he changed his mind pretty quickly. I guess you don’t really need summer clothes when you live in Alaska.

I scored on a fabulous sundress for fifteen bucks at the Banana Republic Outlet. 

Then we went to Woodland to have dinner with The Sheets before the show. Again, they played a fantastic set. Those guys and gal are just great.

Who is two years old???

So Sunday I got to hang out with my grand daughter, Juniper! She turned two on Friday. Her dad had her on Sunday, so I went to Placerville to visit. She has strep throat, so we visited at her daddy’s house for awhile. That little angel is a spit fire and so polite!

I brought Lola with me to visit too. Juniper was so careful and kind to my little dog. Lola was on good behaviour. She can be snippish sometimes, but I kept an eye on her (she was abused and beaten at a previous home, her little tail was even broken). Juniper loved her. Lola was a champ. Juniper ran around her home and yard and was full of smiles and non stop talking. She is just this gorgeous little ball of fun! It did my grandma’mas heart every kind of good.

Daniel is so sweet to let me visit. He is such a good daddy. These are tough times and he is just a wonderful daddy despite the rough time he is dealing with (he and my daughter split up).  The most important thing is The Bean. 

Simone with my little girl

I headed back home but thought I would try to track down my gf’s for some quality girl time. I managed to get Stac and Celeste in the same day. Stace and I went over to Celeste’s place. Simone was there. I made sandwhiches, Celeste poured cocktails. We had a heck of a good time! I miss my girls!

Stace and our cute waiter

My friend Stacy is heading into her third trimester of her pregnancy. We also met up for dinner with our respective mens. A wonderful noisy family Italian place called Buca Di Beppo. Stac and Scott had reserved seating in the kitchen. What a blast. The food was fantastic and huge portions. And the chefs sent additional plates our way at no charge! It was so good to see Stace. She is absolutely glowing and gorgeous. I love that girl. We are already making baby sitting plans for me! Yay! I am just a grandma’ma waiting to happen!

Lets see…what else…a little trip to Alameda to visit Laura and Ian. And of course a visit with her mom, Mary. Mary recently broke her hip and is in a care facility while she heals up. I brought Lola over for a visit. Everyone likes a little dog, right?

Lola gettting treats from Mary’s roomie, Nora

Oh, she was pampered and petted. She has been bugging me to go back soon!

That about covers it. Working lots. Mostly staying out of trouble. Madly in love.

I could not be happier.

So, on that note…

Do you see how fat she is?

David has her on a diet and she is not happy about it. She vomited (a big disgusting fur ball ech!) on his side of the bed. To make her point. Nice.

ps: I am planning on a house show at the end of May with my pal Brendon Massei (you have read about him here before – The Viking Moses) and his pal Joey DeMarco (Teenage Mysticism). This should be great fun! I already have interest from a local band to play too. 

I have the finest boyfriend in all the land.

I accidently just deleted my love letter post to my amazing bf. Damn it.

That is all.

This will be short and sweet.

I spent the day with my son for post birthay (he turned 25 on the 11th) celebrating and eating and shopping.

I met up with he and his girlfriend, a really lovely sparkling lass, for coffee. She had to to head to work.

He and I wandered around east Sacrmento a little bit then headed to Folsom for some breakfast at his favorite place and birthday stop, Mimi’s Cafe. Then to the outlets for some birthday shopping. This way we get him what he really wants and we get to hang out and catch up.

My son is the sweetest young man. I am very proud of him. He played me a bunch of new stuff that he has been producing and recording with his sister and pal Zac. Very epic, clean and catchy. 

We talked about our relationship stuff. He likes David, I like his gal, Britnney. We talked about what is working or not working. I like his point of view, he is kind and listens to mine.

I bought presents for him, David and Brittney. It is fun to have a surprise at the end of the day, don’t you think?

We shopped for a bit of food so he could make her dinner tonight too. I love that young man. He is a terrific human.

It really was a great day. We hung out at his place for awhile and talked about this and that. It is a gorgeous day out. I brought Lola along and she was a perfect lady.

That is it. Just wanted to share some love.

xxoo

Cassi

I am long over due for a blog. 

I have tons of photos, alas, xanga is no longer as photo friendly as it once was. 

Adventures have been afoot on a regular basis.

My room mate, David, has turned into my boy friend. 

That sounds a bit convienent and cozy but he is the finest boy friend in all the land.

I believe I blogged about our times together as roomies here before. The romance was an unexpected and delightful turn. I adore him.

We take mini road trips as often as work permits. He is from Alaska (and Wyoming), so California is a huge new play ground for him and an excuse to be tour guide for me. We have been to the snow (Truckee and Tahoe) twice, over to the coast twice. We are planning many other trips. He likes to get out and about as much as I do.

Our little Wonder Dog, Lola, goes with us where ever we go. She is a travel monster!

Our newest adventure is redecorating our place. Making it ours. Do you have any clue how long it has been since I have been in an Ours and a We?

Seriously!

It takes some special guy to make that safe and ok. He is that guy.

He is way younger than I. We definitely scar people for life when we do any kind of PDA (public displays of affection). The most ridiculous things come out of people’s faces when they meet us. Usually from men my age. To make matters worse he looks very young besides being very young. He is thirty three to my fifty. And he looks twenty. This would be an issue if I did not love him so much. What do you do?

The last boyfriend I had was fifteen years older then I and we never got the kind of remarks that David and I get. I am getting more ok with it daily, but it is still kind of funny.

So, this weekend we have been moving furniture and re-decorating. We love to cook together. He bought me a fuschia hand mixer for Valentines day. How sexy is that? This guy takes my breath away. It has been a thousand years since a man has done this for me. And I feel safe enough to type about this. He is a decent and darling guy.

Ok, off of boyfriend planet for a moment…

Old friends have been coming out of the woodwork recently. Is it the planets? I have also been feeling the letting go and safety (safety – a huge topic in my heart at the moment) of fresh starts. My daughter (I am hearing from the other g’ma and baby daddy on how tough she can be) and my mom’s Trust situation (awful, my brother is taking me to court) is a letting go deal (you cannot beat a dead horse, as awful as that sounds), and a couple of long time friends that had disappointed me in a hurtful way are in the forgiven seat.

The year is early yet. We will see where all of this takes me.

I am happy. I hope you are happy too.

Is it the planets? Is it because I did SO MUCH last year? Is it because I am over 50?

I am feeling slowed down. I am not getting nearly as much done as I usually do. It seems to be this past couple of weeks I have hit some invisible inertia mud. I am slogging through stuff at an abnormally slow pace.

It is annoying. Fortunately, what is important always gets done and the rest just waits for me to tend to it. I hope this phase passes soon. Bleh!

My attention is scattered to new things going on. My precious pet pooch, Lola. For example. We take her everywhere. She likes a bunch of attention, but she is so worthy of it!

My mortgage work is very busy. This is very good.

My girlfriends are busy with their life and stuff. But we still manage to get together every so often. I love my girl time.

My son is busy with his life, but we still catch up every couple of weeks for dinner or something.

My daughter is still ignoring me. I love her.

 My mom’s house is in contract. Hopefully that ordeal will be over in less then two months providing nothing awful comes up in the inspections. I am exhausted just thinking about this but it is a very very good thing. There is no money coming out of this. Just removing that awful albatross from around my neck.

Right now I am blogging when I should be doing some organizing here at home. Xanga is being particularly annoying as I try to save and edit this post. Keeping me from my chores that much longer. Sigh…

I have a new room mate (two months or so now) that has become a pal and maybe more. We do all kinds of cool things together. Trips to the snow, to the city, to the coast. He is not from California, so everything is an adventure. AND I LOVE ADVENTURE!

I believe that 2012 is going to be and is becoming a great year.That this is a Leap Year, giving us an ENTIRE day to enjoy and participate in this year of the Water Dragon, seems even more auspicious.

I bought a used but very cool desk. That is one of the things I want to organize today. My room mate set it all up for me, but the area needs to be uncluttered. And some more organizing in my bedroom. In order to address my to do list I really should move away from my computer…but can I do it?

Only if xanga lets me finish editing so I can post this darn deal…See this vicious cycle? Blame then denial leading to procrastination (that should be a country – Procrast Nation!), chores incomplete and a lazy weekend.

There are worse things, I suppose…

I have become a solid fan of boring.

The expected and counted on .

The status quo and respected boundary.

Was always a girl who likes presents and surprises. Nowadays, quiet and bills in the mail suffice.

Besides, I have my newest addition, Lola, to pay my attention to.

It is as though she has always lived here. She fits in perfectly.

Here are a couple of BEFORE photos of Lola

She was abused and then ran away TO the home of my hairdresser, Nooria’s place. They moved and Lola followed them and stuck. Nooria has two other dogs. This past year I have cleaned for her (in trade for hair stuff) I have gotten to know all three of her dogs. They live outside and are friendly and spastic. When I mentioned I was looking for a canine companion pet she said that her little adopted gal was up for grabs.

She filled me in on Lola’s past treatment, beatings and a broken tail by her previous owners. Clearly she was ignored in general at her new home, but safe. As you can see, she is very hairy and matted. My plan was to get her situated at my place and groom her myself.

Well, that was an absolute no go. She was snippy and anxious. I could not go near her paws or face. The worst parts. She had dreaded matted clumps at all her doggy ankles. I called in the big guns. The wonderful lady who does mobile grooming for my cat.

My ungrateful feline friend

This grooming gal is the all time best. Hands down. I warned her of Lola’s issues and anxieties. I told her that she may need a muzzle and all about the matting. She was very concerned about taking care of her as soon as possible.

I have to mention how well Lola has mixed in at my place. Shy and nervous but ready to be loved. She is just a really good girl. Potty trained, interested and only a little aggressive towards Esme. Esme, of course, ignores her.

She, for some reason, hates the bird. Sits below the cage growling and snipping for half an hour straight. Follows me around, sits at my feet. Loves to take walks. She is amazing and darling.

 So here she is after TWO AND A HALF hours of grooming

The poor dear was muzzled and a nervous wreck. Honestly, this was the best way to get her groomed and cleaned. She has raw sores on two of her ankles from the choking matts that wrapped her little doggy feets. Ahhhh…we have been using peroxide and triple antibiotic salve. They are improving despite her licking and licking.

So, of course, with all that fur gone missing, my Miss Thing had wardrobe requirements.

Check out her little purple sweater I got at the thrift store for $2 bucks!

And that little  tiger stripey  number is a haute couture custom (Four Legged Fleece)  garb (click on this for her link please) of the canine world. I bought her two. Not to mention a more lighter weight t shirt for when we have spring time weather and baseball games.

Other mischief has been afoot. A trip to SF for the symphony.

Palace of Fine Arts at night beneath a full moon

 Yowl! Right? The show was at Davie’s Hall. I had not been there for some twenty eight or so years! After the show we cruised for the last couple of minutes of opening hours at The Asian Art Museum then took to the streets looking for dinner.

It was GREAT to be on the road (after being without wheels for just over a month!!!) and trucking around San Francisco.

After dinner, in no rush to get home, I took my friend to see some sights by night. My faves include the Palace of Fine Arts, an outdoor sanctuary under a full moon. Amazing right? Then a little cruise up Fisher Man’s wharf, past the ball park then back on the freeway to home.

Perfecto!

So, friends are made, art is bought, pets are loved. Good is embraced.

This is for #titusbigglesworth

Dairy Queen still life.

Ah k. Life is still good.

How about you?

ps: people can complain about single but SERIOUSLY – how great is it to rove around your own place in you pajamas singing (insert WHATEVER SONG HERE) at the top of your lungs with a beer like a rock star?

Not that I EVER do that…

1-15-2012 Update: Yesterdays mail brought a box of home made fudge courtesy of #mamahen! Thank you Kate, it is the finest fudge in all the land! (ps: today is my daughter’s 26th birthday. Several friends and I were out last night karaoke-ing, at midnight I called her and we sang happy birthday! Of course, she did not pick up the phone and she is still not talking to me. That’s ok though)

Alas, I seem to be working in a fudge free enviroment.

Making the best of any situation I will rummage a bit and discover what is on hand…be right back…

Hmmmm…Ghirardelli semi chocolae chips…Eureka!

Merry After Christmas AND Happy Last Humpday of 2011.

These have been the days my friends.

I hope that your holidays have been merry and bright.

It feels as though this year many people I know have struggled with the blues more than usual. These have been tough times for many. I hope you all found something soft and good during your Christmas time.

Mine was lovely. A collection of my misfit friends (and my son!) joined me for some bbq-ing, booze and sitting around the fire pit. It was sweet and filled with laughs. And the usual wonderful eats and libations.

It was one of the sunniest and dryest Christmas times I have ever experienced. Chilly enough but sunny and nearly cloudless. I have no complaints since I spent my month with out wheels. Whoa, what an inconvience. My friends were wonderful with the occasional ride. And my walks during these brisk weeks have been refreshing and good for me.

I mentioned new additions to my household…a new room mate. So far, he seems like a nice guy. All my pals liked him. Also, I will be introducing a little dog to my mix. She comes to me from the lady who does my hair. She is a four year old terrier, like a Westie or Bichon. I am not sure which.

She looks like this but needs a hair cut. I will post pics once I get her home and trim her up.

I have to see how she is towards Esme. She seems very sweet but has not been around cats. Just two other dogs. I have seen her through the year and she has been friendly and does not seem agressive. We will see how it all goes.

Her name is Lola. How perfect is that? I see rhinestones and leopart print in her future…

My car is back. With a replaced engine AND radiator. The front bumper is cracked but all seems well. It is so good to have wheels again.

Ok, dullest blog ever. This is just a KETCHUP!

I will leave you with this:

This is my new do. And my hair dresser, Nooria. She is the best. If I did not look so tired, I would show you my brow work. She really does a great job.

Ok…my blog…bleh.

But I rub you.

Happy Almost New Year!
What are you doing?

xxoo

Cassi 

My friend Ben Wu designed this just for me! (he is the angel at the top of my tree!)

Merry Christmas my xanga friends. And for those of you on my mailing list, you will get to see this up close and personal in your mail box sometime soon.

xxoo

Holly Jolly Very Merry-

Cassi