Creature uncomforts

We found some critters inside an air intake vent and on our patio. They are truly fascinating and well preserved, we are not sure what to do with them. The mouse skeleton is in our garage and the hummingbird is in our freezer (have you ever seen one up close, they're tiny. And beautiful).

What to do with them?

Let there be (better) light

We purchased our house with the intention of doing a kitchen remodel (DIY of course). Most everything in this small U-shaped kitchen appeared to be original to the house from 1973. It also has a low ceiling due to the soffit, which houses 2 dated, yellowing acrylic panels over 3 fluorescent lights.

We loathed that sterile lighting, so we inverted the soffit, and installed recessed lights with dimmers. While we were at it, we added 3 more lights in the outer soffit area to go over the bar counter that we are planning. We ran into some snafus but we documented the process here.

Puptastica

Right after we moved into our house in October, we adopted a 7 month old red border collie puppy from the local shelter. She's now taller than Karma as the big little sister. We're sure Karma hates that. But Karma will never give up her alpha dog status. I guess that makes Rylie beta dog?

We couldn't think of a name for the new pooch. A suggestion from the vet was Destiny to go with Karma but that was just way too much cheese for us. Her name was revealed to me in a dream, Rylie. She has a whole variety of nicknames: Rylie Roo, Ryle E. Coyote, Little Red Ryliehood, Baba O' Rylie, Lil' Rylie Rabble Rouser, and Rooster.

This name stirred up disagreement from some members of the flyball team. Why you ask? Because they claimed it sounded like a male name. I don't agree, and I don't mind how many times I am asked what her gender is. Do similar names spark the same sentiment such as Kylie (Minogue), or Miley (Cyrus)? To me, any name that ends in 'y' or 'lee' or 'lie' are like the equivalent of a name or word ending in 'a' in Spanish (i.e. chica). A little research suggests my dog has a girl's name.

I want to hear what the rest of the world thinks. Are you with me or am I on crazy pills?