Kari's Facebook Posts
2022

Ziggy is stressed that my hubby is still sick, so she found something to take her frustration out on....swipe to see... don't worry, she doesn't eat the bags, just shreds them

Blinds! Mike still isn't feeling well, so I have learned how to hang blinds. Living room and his office are done 🤗

Zoo at night

Hippo down! Looked like 10 inches or so of snow

Snowy morning

Snow!

Goofy cat in the shower

Spool cat🤗💞💞

Updated Dec 28, 2022 6:04:26 pm

Merry Christmas! Many thanks to Jessica and my brother for coming over to celebrate with us! Hubby is in his chair in the background, still too sick to go out.

Thanks to my hubby and our nieces, I am all set for puzzle season!

Tree is complete! 🤗🎄

Guard all the new puffs

New Bissell electric mop gets an A-. Perfect for a quick clean. Got all the grime up easily in the first pass, dries quickly. High pitched noise is a little maddening. Poor edge and corner performance will mean I still need to do the manual mop from time to time. Overall, quite happy with it! 🙂

Merry Christmas to Ziggy! Here she is arriving for stocking time, discovering there are tasty things inside, some toys....and seemingly back from the dead, her favorite puff! I found an exact duplicate of the first toy I had ever gotten her....the one she loved so much that it ended up in tatters. Guard the puff. Love the puff. Love the puff so much. 😸💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Last night, I stopped briefly by the Christmas Eve party to collect some Swedish meatballs for Mike and then head back home. Everyone says hi!

Tree decorations part 2 of 2 in progress 🤗 our annual ornaments and so many gifts, so many stories.... 💖💖💖🎄

Schlep Schlep - fancy chicken health check...he survived storage and is in the tree staging area

For everyone else, some of you may remember I am in Christmas decoration parole and have to do annual check-ins to prove the chicken didn't have "an accident". Many years ago, the family used to do an ornament exchange for Christmas Eve. I drew a box from Rob, containing a fancy chicken. I was um... nonplussed. But no one would trade with me, so it became mine. After we got home, I put it on our tree, and somewhere in the timeline, the fancy chicken suffered an accident through which it became decapitated. An honest accident. That's my story and has always been my story. Rob said the good news was that the store still has more. So, the replacement arrived with an annual health check requirement, including that he be placed in a visible part of the tree so the health check could be verified. 😁🐣🐔🎄

Christmas dinner achieved! Very glad our favorite BBQ place could accommodate a last minute order. Mike is not feeling well enough to go out, but thankfully, my brother and cousin are able to stop by tomorrow to help with celebrating. 🤗🎄

Our annual ornaments this year are from the trip to Australia

Tree decorations, part 1 of 2. Many thanks to my brother for watching over my beloved glass ornament collection while we were in the apartment. I am sure it's a lot of pressure 🤗 Lovely view from the dining room tonight.

Cleared the snow from the eyes of the Christmas Seal

Spent a few hours delivering packages for kids today... Met Mark and Bella's cat, Hershey. Such a sweetie!

Lovely evening

🤗

So cute

Lights are on the tree!

"Please explain the presence of this cow " 😾

Nurse Ziggy has been looking after Mike while he's sick

There's someone missing from the front yard....because he is in the garage. I found the motor arm for the elephant's trunk askew and no longer operating the trunk. Has it happened before? Yes. Do I think the timing is related to the elephant wanting to be inside during our upcoming -9F cold snap? Absolutely. The timing is pretty suspicious. 😉

Mike joked that I gave up and "decorated" the island, but it really was just a quick light repair before I put these in the tree. This is our favorite string of lights that we've been babying since 1995. Gotta keep them alive. ...

Gwen L. Jessen - here is the fully constructed version 😁

Mike got all the grades submitted for his class - done for the semester!

Looks like my tree went on a diet. I think it got too thin. 😉😁

All things Ziggy

The benefit of getting the floors cleaned is getting some decorations out! Indoor zoo, wreath from Hannah, ceramic tree and nativity set from my grandma...stockings hung near the warrior dragon, Hastings (he will ensure there's no peeking 🙀) ....and of course, the dinosaur.

Post-party cleanup is almost done. 🤗 This has been a not quite comedy of errors ... Running out of products, a mop that broke, and so forth. 🙄 Following Nancy's recommendation, we researched electric mops. The Bissell version that is both a mop and a vacuum should arrive Wednesday. Fingers crossed it is everything I am hoping it is!

Yesterday, we briefly stopped by to see the cookie bakers at Gwenn and Terry's, as well as my brother's house (many thanks to him for adopting a bunch of party leftovers!). Mike still isn't feeling well, so we couldn't stay long.

Back deck lights at night

I haven't been sure what to do with the back deck decorating-wise due to the high winds this month, but I did zip tie 2 strings of lights to the railing. They passed inspection.

Graduation day! Yesterday, Mike's student, Yewon, and her hubby-to-be, Sami, both earned their PhDs at the Colorado School of Mines. Mike helped with Yewon's hooding ceremony. 🤗 And then everyone, including her parents and aunt from South Korea, came to her house for the party. Mike is now student-less, but empty nest syndrome won't hit quite yet. Yewon is staying at Mines for her 2 year postdoc research position.

Tim William and Rebecca Marie - Ziggy says thank you for the house warming present

Yesterday's sunset

Exciting news! I have been selected to do a workshop for the PMI Mile Hi Symposium in April! (Local chapter of the Project Management Institute) I was busy looking at Christmas presents when the news popped up in my email feed. 🤗

Night view of the front yard zoo

My little helper...she supervised construction trucks this morning and helped me with the zoo this afternoon.

Zoo tour! Front yard decorations are done.

The zoo is ready to head out to the front yard later today. Well, part of the zoo. I gave away a number of zoo animals this spring before we downsized the yard, and there are more who will be inside with us.

Found the extension cords among the basement boxes and added a little bit of holiday cheer to the front yard. Zoo still coming.

Suellen Scott ... Happier pictures. Ziggy snuggles with Mike every day. For hours. She had stopped sitting with him while we were in the apartment for some reason, but is making up for lost time. The other picture is Ziggy in her nest....When we moved into the house, I created this spot in my Mike's closet to make sure Ziggy had a spot that felt safe and comfortable. She loves it and naps here every day.....the temporary nest may end up being permanent. Time will tell.

All things Ziggy

Washer and dryer! 🤗

Fenced! Two sides of our yard came with fence because it is up against the open space trail. Today, we finished the job by having two gates and the west fence installed. The east fence will be fixed by the HOA when they are done installing the walkway.

Sleepiness abounds in the living room after yesterday's party (photo by Mike before Ziggy tucked him in)

Mike dubbed it "Fork Island" ....our wedding silverware, my grandma Eleanor's silverware, and Eleanor's mom's silverware all clean after yesterday's party. 💞

Happy birthday to Mike's dad! Fantastic party, lovely to see everyone!

Many thanks to Maddie and Rannae for the decorating help!

:(

https://www.yahoo.com/news/officials-fear-complete-doomsday-scenario-202316932.html

Updated Dec 02, 2022 1:05:23 pm

Climbing to new heights! Mike thinks Ziggy was trying to find a better place to chirp at me from, since bedtime treats were late.

What do 2 people do with 2 giant refrigerators? Make one of them a drink fridge! We are hosting a birthday party and a graduation party this month....no coolers needed!

More art! I picked up some of our fragile things my brother was storing for us on Monday. Just a few more things left!

Shower cat, exploring cat, and sleepy cat 😺

A little dusting of snow

There's a Taos in the house! 🤗

I told Ziggy we would all get dinner after the floor dries. She is in her dinner spot ..."floor is dry enough" ; "it's really not. Now your belly is wet" 😾

Freshly mopped! The only things left to do to complete move in are to get the boxes out of the laundry room (washer and dryer delivery on Wednesday) and reorganize the garage to make room for my car. Mike has a few other things on his to do list, like getting the TV mounted on the wall. The rest we will putter with but overall not worry too much about until after Christmas. 🤗

Many thanks to Gwenn and Terry for helping clear out the last storage space (my hubby is sick....still 😞) Ziggy approves of the last wave of stuff getting settled into the basement

Misha Hardy Going home ....

Slowly, all the stuff comes home. My brother and dad helped clear out our stuff from one of the rooms in his house. (Yes, more to go to the basement, but was thankful for such beautiful weather to move our art )

Lots of progress today on the storage space...Friday night fun is bringing all this stuff downstairs. 😉

Happy Thanksgiving! Many thanks to Mike's parents for hosting a wonderful dinner! And thanks to Jessica for the great picture of my parents. 🤗 I didn't get many pictures this year.....

Ziggy has been enjoying Thanksgiving

Besides unpacking, today's project has been getting started on storage space #2. That one had all the loose and fragile stuff that needs to be transported by car. Once I get that stuff out of the way, we will get another U-Haul truck to finish it up.

Sunset before the snow....Mike set up Ziggy's bed today and she rediscovered her orange chair. 😺

Goodbye to the apartment.... Was good to us for our six months in house limbo. We finished cleaning it out and turned in the keys today.

Shhhh

Settling in....

Lunchtime adventuring while waiting for the movers to arrive at the new house

The move this morning is in progress. Ziggy is at the new house. Mike is at the apartment and I am at the storage space. (Apartment pictures by Mike. I am manning the door at the storage space, so I can only see the truck slowly filling up.) Thank goodness for movers! 🤗

Pre-move activities wrapped up yesterday. I spent several hours at the house while the hard floor was installed in Mike's office. That gave me time to unpack some stuff I had already moved as well as to put up the privacy film in the first floor bathrooms and by the front door. The floor company will come back to do the carpet transition.

Kitchen helper 🤗

Sad cat in an empty closet. She'll feel better when she moves on Tuesday! 😿💖💖💖

Pre-move phase 3 is complete. The closets and cabinets are mostly empty, and Mike hung the blinds in our new bedroom. Ziggy did a very cute double take when she first saw the empty closets...sorry, did not get that on video.

Pre-move phase 2 is complete! We collected the stuff from my parents' garage, some of the stuff from my brother's house, and some of the stuff from Mike's parents' house. We are now ready for the movers on Tuesday. Still a lot to do at the apartment to get the stuff the movers aren't taking out....like clothes and kitchen stuff. A successful day! Grateful for the help and the good weather. 🤗

Saturday Pre-Move phase 1 is in progress. We picked up some stuff from the storage space that needed to get out of the way of the movers on Tuesday. Now, we are packing some stuff from the apartment they can't move (or at least not without extra insurance).....like the TV! Many thanks to my dad for helping! 🤗

A cat and her cork coaster (picture from my hubby)

Good morning from Morrison! I was here for almost 5 hours yesterday waiting for the garage door repair, and am here this morning for internet installation. Very important! 😁 Things are coming together. I have some essentials set up for work-from-new-home.

3 trips down.... Prep for the movers next week is on schedule. And yes, of course there is a schedule. 😁

10:55 am update - just got the all clear from Lennar Title. Done!!!

Close but not closed yet. All the paperwork is signed but the title company is waiting for a copy of the certificate of occupancy 🙄

Evening treat game! When we first adopted Ziggy, she spent 48 hours hissing at my hubby. When she was at the shelter, staff would have her chase treats. So, we decided to try the treat game with my hubby and Ziggy, using her veterinarian-approved 10 treats per night. It worked! Here they are doing the treat game with one week left in the apartment...

Happy birthday to my brother! 🎂🎉

Snow!

Happy Ziggle

Awww, my emotional buddy Muggins 🤗💔

Updated Nov 11, 2022 10:04:14 am

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Gotcha day to Ziggy! Pictures and video from 2019

Poor Ziggle.... I brought her to the vet today. She's been in the restroom a lot over the past few weeks. Her blood glucose was normal, but she had glucose in her urine sample. She has lost 1.4 lb since last month. Everything else checks out fine. So, she has new prescription food and we will see if it helps. First picture is Ziggy on her calm kitty pills ahead of her appointment. I am not sure if she thought we were going to the new house. She was super excited when I stopped in the parking lot. Standing up in her carrier and ready to go. I felt terrible 😿....was like "sorry sweetie, just a vet appointment"

Friday update: Appliances are installed! Just need to hood to pass inspection. 🤗

Well, interesting day ... No closing tomorrow. The oven hood didn't pass inspection and the appliances weren't in yet, so they were not able to get a Certificate of Occupancy from the county. They are trying to get the closing rescheduled for Wednesday.

Lovely morning for a few errands

From yesterday - Ziggy chirped at me to come see...it was time for some serious poses.

Wonderful to see the clan from Alaska tonight! Rob's dad reminded me we are overdue for a visit. 😁

🤗

Updated Nov 07, 2022 8:38:00 pm

My supervisor found a sunbeam 💤💤💤💤

Packing with the best helper

Excellent day with the grant committee for the Colorado OEDIT (Office of Economic Development and International Trade). I have been volunteering with them for almost 7 years.....so much needed support for Colorado small businesses. We had another great set of grants applications today and it was wonderful to see all of my aerospace subcommittee buddies. 🙂

Laundry buddy

Snow!

Only one more walkthrough to do before the closing is complete. 🙀🙀🙀 We had our walkthrough at the house today. Everything is ready except appliances and some touchups.

While Mike was in Kansas, I was in Poutsville, USA. Ziggy was very angry that I had sent him off. All evening. All morning. We've come a long way from the cat who spent 48 hours hissing at Mike after they first met. I am sure Suellen Scott remembers my concerns on all the hissing.

Rescue mission complete! Mike's parents' truck broke down in Mankato, Kansas. You might say, "gee, should be able to get a Ford truck fixed there"....but not during harvest season! So, he drove out yesterday with a rented pickup, and the 3 of them plus the camper returned to Colorado today. Fate of the truck is TBD... Will know more in a few weeks after harvest season ends.

🤗

Updated Nov 02, 2022 8:54:20 pm

It's "Quiet-ween" here. Our apartment and the stairs to it are in the back of the building in a dead end nook of the complex. So, unlike the days of 60 or more trick or treaters at our old house, I am expecting zero today. I was a little glum about Quiet-ween...Ziggy thinks it sounds wonderful. 😺💤💤💤💤

Have a happy Halloween!

🤗💖💖💖 a million years ago... can't believe she's already driving.

Updated Oct 31, 2022 9:15:21 am

Many thanks to Diana and Nathan for hosting a fun murder mystery party! Excellent food 🤗 the mummy jalapeno poppers were amazing. Love the completed back yard. Lots of ideas for the new house....

Happy National Cat Day!

Went to the new house today to get a quote on a deck. Jokingly told Mike the green tape team is way ahead of the blue tape team. He noted that all the green tape stuff needs to be done before they do paint touchups. 😉 Muddy, so muddy. The back yard will be much more easily traversed once there is a deck.

Cooling down after toasting

The best part of snow days...

We went to dinner at Los Marcello's in Golden, then up to the lab to change a sample. Mike moved out of his office, so the chicken and skull live in the lab now. We will probably collect his stuff after we move into the new house.

New house, part 2...final checklists in work

Sewer scope completed at the new house today - everything looked good! Lennar was busy busy busy with the final details. I made sure their tape and lists included the stuff we found on Sunday.

Garage photo shoot .... By many meows, it was demanded that I show up. Ziggy says, "felt cute. You have to take my picture".

Lovely afternoon for a walk (if you like fall temperatures wind as much as I do)

Thanks to Auntie Linda for a lovely happy hour! Sweet little Blue. I remember when she was a kitten in Kentucky. (was 2004)

Mike in the shower at the new house ;) .

Emotional support cat...go Broncos

New house update.. this was the last weekly visit. We will be there with Lennar on the 3rd for the walkthrough prior to the closing and then we will do the final walkthrough on the 11th prior to taking possession. And there is a resident that Mike said needs to be evicted. 🕷️ I have dozens more pictures of the stuff on our list, but will spare you those.

Last part of the Portland trip: We left the Japanese Garden and met Mike's friend, Adam, at a winery to do a tasting. Really pleasant spot, and since it was Monday afternoon, we were the only customers. After the winery, we watched the Broncos game and had dinner at a local bar and grill. Those Broncos....so hard to love sometimes. 🙄 And you already got the story of our flight. Fantastic short trip!

Portland Japanese Garden, Part 2

Portland, Day 4, afternoon: After the rose garden, we went to the Japanese Garden. Beautiful day, beautiful sunlight in the garden.

All things Ziggy

Portland, Day 4, Monday: We went to the Portland Rose Garden for as long as my sinuses and lungs would allow. (I am allergic to roses - triggers massive headaches and breathing issues) We thought Grandma Kitty would have really liked the peach one. Such a beautiful garden. 🤗💖💖💖

Portland, Day 3, Sunday: We took a road trip to Olympia Washington and had a lovely visit with my cousin, Marieke, and her husband, David...who we finally got to meet! They've only been married a few years 🙀 Time flies. Very glad we got to meet him before his deployment.

She greeted us with hugs and "yay! I'm not dead!" ....an aggressive cancer during the pandemic was tough, but she's fine now and looking forward to getting back to normal. She just got clearance to lift things again last week. 🤗🙏💞💞

We also got to hang out with 3 of their cats, Bowie, Freckle, and Fiddle. Walter maintained his distance. (I did see Walter briefly as we were leaving). Many thanks to both of them for a lovely dinner by the water. 🙂

There was so much wildfire smoke in Washington! I hadn't realized they were having so much trouble with wildfires.

Portland, Day 2 continued: Saturday afternoon, we visited Mike's friend from grad school, Adam, and his family. We had planned to go visit when their second baby was born, but that was Summer of 2020... So, we had a good visit with "baby" Kaya and her older sister, Zoe 🤗. Zoe looks so much like our oldest niece at the same age that her sister was half expecting the picture I texted to be a throwback photo with a story about Maddie. Beautiful spot with tall evergreen trees. We did have a laugh at the hill near their house labeled "snow zone" with a warning about possibly needing chains. Adam said the HOA sign is a bit of an embarrassment for a Colorado native. 😁

😁 😃. (For the non-sports people, the Chicago Bears are a football team and the Chicago Cubs are a baseball team)

Updated Oct 20, 2022 8:13:33 am

Portland, Day 1: Friday night, we got in late. We had enough time for a glass of scotch in the bar of the beautiful Benson hotel. It was built in 1912. Lovely architecture. 😊

Portland, Saturday morning - We had lunch at "Heroes American Grill", and then on to the Portland Art museum. We enjoyed the art museum- lots of interesting collections, but what a weird building. It must be a few buildings stitched together, because the floors don't connect. So, lots of up and down stairs to go through each section. I was absolutely in love with the lotus flower lamp. 🤗 I also liked the peonies painting and the Rock of Ages display. The "Bonfire" painting was interesting - even having been to Kyoto twice, I didn't know about the custom.

Home! On today's edition of "Escape from Portland", everything was going smoothly until United cancelled our flight literally as we were checking in. In progress at the kiosk. While they had flights with layovers that would have gotten us in late tonight or tomorrow afternoon during the time slot for Mike's class (he has 62 students for Material Transport this semester), there were no nostop flights. So, much to his chagrin (I could feel the "dear, you are making a scene" look), I bolted over to Southwest. They had one nonstop flight this afternoon that was supposed to leave at 2:05 pm. But it was already 1:43 pm. The plane was late and the guy at the counter was like "At some point, I have to stop selling tickets for this flight ." Insert worried sad face....I assume, because he was like "Oh, ok, 2 more." Tickets were purchased at 1:47 pm. We were called to board at 2:19 pm. Great flight, smooth flight. We even snagged emergency row seats for Mike's long legs. AND... OUR BAGS EVEN MADE IT!!!! Happy to be home. I am well meowed at. Tales and pictures from our weekend in Portland to come.

Aww, the sweet brother cats 🤗

Updated Oct 16, 2022 11:12:08 am

All things Ziggy

Went to the new house today to meet with a contractor (and new neighbor!) regarding getting a deck built. Our old house officially sold on Tuesday (October 11th). The walkthrough of the new in is officially scheduled for November 3rd and the closing on November 11th. 11-11. More elevens for the major milestones in our life. Gotta keep a good trend going. 🤗 Anyhow, carpet is installed and things are really coming together. I am going to ask about the trees planted outside the living room window.

Lovely dinner at Abejas in Golden 🤗 Mike noticed I decided to commemorate the occasion by wearing the same color scheme as I did 29 years ago....brown jacket, purple shirt, silver jewelry, black pants, black shoes. It was memorable as the first of many many occasions where we accidentally wore matching outfits. Mike purposefully did not match tonight. 😁

Happy 29 year date-versary to my hubby! We don't have a lot of pictures from that time period (except the one Sally took, that I usually share), so to change things up, here are some pictures from 1995.

Thanks to Rannae, Maddie, and Val for joining us at the new house today! Counters and garage doors are in! Everything is painted. Getting close!

Aww, 13 years already. Chloe all tucked in

Updated Oct 09, 2022 10:19:24 am

Totally Tired Thursday