October: The month that tried to push me over the edge.

And just like that, I've missed a month. I am sincerely not a fan of trying to blog one month at a time- too much happens to try to shove it all into one post, but here we are. 

I'd like to write briefly about giving life the middle finger. 

Now, I usually don't like to blog with an angry undertone, I feel it's better for writing in a journal and personal venting space but this past month has been arguably one of the most stressful in recent years. Yes, I'm including wedding month in that, you know- that major life event I had to move to a new location less than 9 hours before it started. 

On my way home from visiting my 7 favorite chimpanzees on Monday October 12th, I had been on I-90 for a whopping 5 minutes before my car made a loud clunk noise and began shaking almost uncontrollably. I lost most acceleration and could go a maximum speed of 40 MPH, on a road where most people are doing 75 mph- lets just say I didn't make a lot of new friends on the ride home that day. 

It would still drive- so I toddled on home. I took it to a Midas about mile from my house- for fear it wouldn't get any farther than that and dropped it off in the hopes that it would be back to me the next day. This was on Thursday October 15th. 

Midas calls on Monday to inform me that they have no idea what is wrong. They checked all the things they could think to check- I needed to take it to the Jeep dealership because it was a problem specific to a Jeep. So, after 4 days I still was in no hope of getting my car back. I took it to the Jeep dealership (luckily only another mile down the street) where after a day they said I needed a new computer-the current computer was no longer communicating with anything in the car. So, they ordered a new one but it's on back order. Could be 2-4 weeks. And with my luck, it was 4 weeks. The part was just delivered today, November 10th and I will *hopefully* have the car back tomorrow. At this point, the $1000+ bill is whatever- I'm just overjoyed to be able to get it back. 

During all this, Lars and I played musical cars with his car, his motorcycle, many uber trips and begging people to give us rides places. My husband is undoubtedly the sweetest and most understanding human I've ever known. I hate mooching. I despise being reliant on other people to lend me things and I felt and still feel horrible for borrowing Lars' car so often. Of course, classic Lars, was more than happy to help and doesn't mind being chauffeured around while I use the car. The straw that broke the camels back was yesterday when Lars planned to ride his motorcycle to work. He needed to be there early so he got up with plenty of time, got all his gear on, only to discover that his bike wouldn't start. After trying to troubleshoot, he called an uber- a last minute attempt to be on time. After 20 minutes of waiting his driver calls to tell him to cancel the trip and request a new one- he's been pulled over. And I'm at work thinking "Whoops. I have Lars' car. This wouldn't have been such a day if he just had the car!" So, wishful thinking that tomorrow I get my sweet Melvin back and our life is a little less hectic. 

In the end of October, Raleigh went into the vet to get looked at- he had a rash that had been only getting worse throughout October and was turning into scabs. The vet set him up with an antibiotic and a steroid for the rash- nothing too major. The real kicker was his teeth. He has 2-3 teeth that are in bad shape, and possibly need to be removed. Just a teeth cleaning- $800+. A teeth cleaning + 2 removals-$1200+. Great. And because I always want my animals to be in the best health possible, I scheduled it. Today he'll be going under and hopefully will come back with most of his teeth. 

Jasper is next. I came home from work to find his left eye swollen shut, watery and bright red when he could open it. It's 1pm on a Saturday, so I have to take him to the emergency vet ($$$) but the fun part is that Lars is in Olympia at rehearsal with our only car. So, Jas and I wait not so patiently for Lars to get home. Around 4:30 I take him to the vet and we wait in the emergency waiting room. We wait. We get bumped for a dog that needed attention right away. We wait. I search desperately for snacks. Nothing. We wait. We get bumped again for another emergency situation. We finally get into a room and a doctor sees Jas and immediately says pink eye. He's also got a corneal ulcer on his eye. He also might have a respiratory infection. We get the drops for his eye and leave. I arrive home at 8:30pm. The emergency vet is 15 minutes from our house. I spend $$$ on Jasper, and we get a cone. 

Until Jasper, I have never seen another animal so incapable of living in a cone. He thrashed around relentlessly trying to get it off. Ran into everything he could possibly run into. He has no idea how to eat with it, drink with it, and could only sleep if I pushed a blanket or pillow underneath his head, like the photo above. 

Follow up with our regular vet led to a diagnoses of kitty herpes. Yeah, that's real. Not on their sexual organs or anything, but Jasper has a viral infection that is a lot like herpes- meaning he will have outbreaks of being sick his entire life. His version of being sick is getting eye infections, ear infections and constant sneezing. The vet assured me it's typical in some cats, but I can expect outbreaks every few months. aka $$$. Which I don't mind, because I love that little shithead so much. 

Princess Butters' health remains unknown, because I didn't have enough money to take her in for a check up- the boys and all their problems took priority. *eyeroll* Boys, amirite. 

So, in short: Life is sucking all the money I have and I'm fighting like a little salmon swimming upstream, just trying to hold it all together. So, life, I'd like to offer you my middle finger. 

As thankful as I am for everything good in my life, I see someone is trying to test me here. And all I have to say is GOOD TRY BUT NOT TODAY. Sometimes, you have to just give life the middle finger. Haven't we already talked about my resiliency and strength? Good. Someone upstairs is vastly underestimating my ability to make sure my family has everything they need. 

In the background of all that noise: We are still in the process of suing our caterer, I got a second job working nights, I'll hopefully be headed to Thailand for a few weeks next year, my pink hair has finally faded into the color I wanted and we are preparing for the holiday madness. 

We did our annual holiday photo shoot with Mara and as usual she got some of my favorite pictures of us. I can't wait to get our Christmas cards and updates out! 

More updates on chimping in a few days- now that I have a car to go see them. :) 

B

An Excited Jamie & Pasado's Safe Haven

Most days when I get to the chimp house for the afternoon (as in I wasn't there first thing in the morning at 9am, I get there at 1230) Jamie is ready for a walk. Mostly because she knows that I will drop almost anything to go for a stroll with her, and after the morning when everyone is cleaning and can't go for a walk yet, she is beyond ready to get outside. 

I arrived at the chimp house on Monday around 11am, as I was picking up produce for the chimps in Seattle, and I came inside to say a quick hello to everyone. It's one of my favorite times in the chimp house; saying hello/good morning to the chimps because over the years you see reactions change. When I was first starting level 3 training, Jamie hardly cared that I was in her area. None of the other chimps even looked in my direction. Now, Jody offers me her swelling, Missy asks for a knuckle rub, Neg even gives me a head nod. It's those small things that I cherish more than anything. 

The only one inside on Monday was Neg, all bundled in her usual window spot. I went outside to check out the green house and there was a "dogpile" (for lack of a better term) of chimps. All hanging out and grooming each other. "Hey dude!" I say to Burrito as he comes stomping my direction. 

"Hi Ja-" I try to squeeze out a good morning to the boss and before I can even get her whole name out of my mouth she swings from the window ledge she was sitting in over to the platform and runs-pilo haired- to the door that allows the chimps access to Young's Hill and runs out, stomping and softly "whooo-oooo" ing a me. I know she wants to go for a walk, but I am initially confused. Walking with Jamie often comes with a series of shoe changes as I try to figure out which boots she wants me to wear. On this particular Monday, Jamie was so excited to go on a walk she didn't even need me to wear a special pair of boots- the ones I had on were fine. 

It's a pretty heartwarming moment, when the boss is so excited to see you and go for a walk that she just runs with full speed out to the outdoor enclosure, and stomps at you to hurry up! All in all we went for 3 strolls around the hill, one time with Bub. 

After all that walking, Jamie took a little rest on the platform in the greenhouse. 

Sunday I had the privilege to visit Pasado's Safe Haven. A 85 acre sanctuary in Monroe, WA home to cows, pigs, goats, cats and various other animals native to the PNW. We got to make vegan pancakes and decorate them for the pigs who reside there. 

Here are what the pancakes looked like as we were decorating them.

Here is Wilbur enjoying his plate:

Lars made a friend in Charlie Pig. 

We met a pig named Splash; who got her name by breaking free of a home not fit for her and swimming across a river to a neighbors house to freedom. She is quite a character- she likes to take rocks in her mouth and sort them. Spitting out the ones that are too sharp or not flat enough and saving the ones she likes in her sleeping area. She doesn't eat them, her mouth is just a rock tumbler, and it's pretty amazing. 

It was definitely a culture shock compared to caring for chimpanzees. The enclosures and safety protocols are quite different, and being in the actual living space with the animal was a little weird! I constantly felt like I was breaking a rule, but hey: we got to pet some pretty cute pigs! It was such a good experience, I would recommend a tour to anyone who is interested. It's always nice to see people doing good things for animals, and how hard people work to make lives more comfortable. 

Saturday I am excited to report that I am starting my CSNW tattoo collage; where each chimp at CSNW will be represented and carried with me forever. I can't wait for Eddy to work his magic again, and to show pictures. Who's the first chimp? Jamie you think? You would think that- but alas, it's not true! You shall see! 

-b

On Crying in the Chimp House:

It is a secret to literally no one that my love for chimps trumps my love for anything else. From my tattoos to my shirts to my body language when I'm talking about being around the chimps, it's clear that primates and in particular the CSNW chimpanzees are some of my favorite beings on this planet. 

It's this passion that makes it hard to be objective at times. Jane Goodall was often criticized, and probably still is, for her work in Gombe because she gave all of the chimps she met names and not numbers like most scientists do when they are researching animals. I'm not even going to deny my struggle in being an objective data collector and seeing animals as friends. I take solace in the fact that Jane shuts nearly everyone down, and also that I am not in the field gathering data. At the chimp house I'm merely a small piece of the puzzle there to make the chimps as happy as I can. My involvement with the hierarchy is minimal, as in I am always the lowest on the hierarchy and when a fight happens in the chimp house I am on no ones side. When fights break out in the Jorgensen House, I can tell Jasper to "be nice!" or "Don't hit your brother!" and he will scamper off. In the chimp house, I have no say in telling anyone to be nice to anyone. I'm a guest in their space, and they need to work out their problems as they see fit. It's a very important part of being a caregiver. Everyone is equal, even if in a fight everyone is mad a Burrito. 

JB captured and dissected a fight between the chimps: (one of my favorite blogs!)  http://www.chimpsanctuarynw.org/blog/2014/09/conflict-and-reconciliation/

Thursday, a fight broke out in the chimp house. This is a typical thing. Regular, but not a frequent event. Living with the same 7 individuals is hard, and sometimes you have a disagreement. Sometimes someone gets hurt, and we have to monitor that; but the chimps always work it out. In a few minutes or in a few days-the disagreement is always solved. However, it doesn't make it any less easy to witness when it happens right in front of you. 

Thursday was a pretty high arousal day. Everyone was a little on edge, and usually that means walking on pins and needles with Jamie. As a preventative action and to make Jamie as happy as I could, I went on a walk with her whenever she asked. Which was a total of 3 perimeter walks in an hour. Pretty good time, for us. In a pre-dinner moment of positive reinforcement training (PRT) a fight broke out. It all happened so fast, and even though it was right in front of my face I still don't know how it started. Before I knew it everyone was yelling at each other, swinging their arms, hitting each other and running all over the chimp house. All of the humans just stood by and watched, to try to get an idea of who was yelling at who, if anyone was hurt, etc. 

I realized in a brief moment I had one hand over my mouth and one hand over my heart, fighting back a visceral reaction of trying not to cry. It's the first time during a fight I felt the need to do so.  Watching your dearest friends fight in such a manner is one of the most difficult parts of spending time at CSNW. Yes, empirically I understand that chimps fight. They solve their disagreements in the way they know how, and although it would be less hard for all of them if they had the opportunity to live in a social group in the wild where they belong, they still manage to fight and make up in a matter of moments. And I genuinely had an ache in my gut watching it happen. Now I know how mom's feel when their kid is in a fight with their best friend. All you want to say is "Hug it out and lets get over it!" But there is always a chunk of disagreements we don't understand. Humans butting into issues and places we don't belong is one of the biggest issues with animal welfare today, in my opinion. (I'm still of the belief that humans aren't actually the most intelligent beings on the planet, but whatever.)

Soon it was quiet. Everyone had come down from their moment of yelling and running and we surveyed as best we could. Some cuts on a foot, nothing overwhelmingly bad. When the fight resolves, we continue on. The chimps begin grooming each other as a small step in making sure everyone is okay from the scuffle. 

Mostly I am filled with so much love and respect for the chimps. When Jamie lets me brush her hair, when Missy asks for a knuckle rub, when Annie grooms my feet, etc. But there are moments like when fights break out, and my tiny black heart just wants everyone to hug it out and be okay. Some hugs do happen, but on their own time. Ain't no one about to tell miss Negra she has to do anything. :) 

Until next time-
b

The Jamie Selfie:

I interrupt your normal daily schedule so you may gaze upon the beauty of my boss, Jamie Chimpanzee. 

This obviously isn't a true Jamie selfie, as she isn't holding my phone. I turned on the front facing camera for her to look at herself and snapped a photo while she was checking herself out. I asked "Jamie is that you?" and she nodded yes. I said "Dang girl, you are beautiful!" and she nodded again. Of course I am. I'm Jamie Chimpanzee! 

Monday at the chimp house, Jamie was in a pretty good mood. Which is a exhale of relief to most, because when Jamie's in a bad mood it's kind of hard to do basic things like serve a meal or clean the enclosures. Like when we are feeling stubborn or unwilling to do things, it's on her time and if she doesn't want to leave an area so the humans can enter, then that's just how it is. No forcing anyone, we just wait. Jamie was in a good mood, the morning was cold but when the sun came out it warmed everything up quite nicely. Jamie and I took 3 walks around the hill, taking our time as she foraged for left over breakfast she might have missed. It was a very nice day. 

I step into the chimp area to grab a laundry basket and Foxy comes running full speed towards me, which she literally never does, and climbs to the top of the caging to throw her troll down to me through a opening. I laugh and say "Fox are you running to me?!?!" Foxie and I are friends, yes, but she's not really "overjoyed" to play a game of troll toss with me. Not yet anyway. So, as she hurdled towards me, I couldn't help but be so excited, because these are rare interactions! She threw me her doll, we danced and spun around a few times and then Missy came to the caging and asked for some grooming. I gave Foxie back her doll and groomed Missy briefly before she reached her hand out to the window on the opposite wall. Gesturing to her one true love, Tomatoes. 

Missy is not so secretly infatuated with tomatoes,specifically the tomatoes that grow in the garden right outside of the chimp house; and similar to my love for pickles... WE JUST HAVE TO HAVE THEM. Missy didn't want any grooming at all, she wanted me to know that there were ripe tomatoes out there and I needed to go pick them right away. So I grabbed a bowl and obliged my tomato loving friend and stumbled upon a huge heap of tomatoes. I was approved to give everyone a couple, and Missy could not possibly be more excited. When Missy is aware that tomatoes are on the menu or soon to be in her belly, she food grunts and head nods so fervently that I'm always shocked her head doesn't just pop right off her body. Normally, when serving food, the chimps will stay where they are and I will rotate between them with food. Missy loves tomatoes so much that she will literally follow me from chimp to chimp, squeezing in between people, just to make sure she can get as many as physically possible. Probably why chimp ID is so important; if you didn't know all the individuals, you could wind up giving Missy 7x the regular amount of tomatoes! (Which, obviously, she would love.) 

Below is a picture Lars took of me serving dinner to the chimps. Left-Right: Burrito, Foxie. 

 Serving Foxie some celery.

On Monday Staff Caregiver aka my mom aka Elizabeth and I almost died. And by that I mean, we didn't even come close, but there was a moment of sheer terror. As I already said, Jamie was in a walking mood. She had already taken me on 3 walks around the hill and just before I was getting ready to leave she wanted to go on another one with Elizabeth, and I was needed to attend that one as well. Just like all the other walks that day, it was painfully slow. Jamie would disappear into the bushes to forage for more food, and when we would lose sight of her we would stop our walk. Continuing on without her is not appreciated by the boss, as she likes to lead. (Example: the 1 or 2 times I've "lost" Jamie on the hill was when she disappeared into the bushes and I just stopped walking and waited where I was for her. She would show up as a small black dot on the other side of the hill, realize I was still back on the other side, run towards me while threat barking as if to say "OMG COME ON." Another time, she was way ahead of me on the hill and she would stomp and threat bark until I caught up to her. Never have I left her in the dust.) No complaining on the pace here, it was a wonderfully warm day and I didn't mind sitting in the sun at all. But it was a little lengthy. After waiting probably 10 minutes Elizabeth and I continue on, assuming she is making her way to the other side. We get to the other side, and no sign of her. We cant see her anywhere on the hill, so we assume she is inside already. Got bored of us and left us behind (classic Jamie move). We get to the bottom of the hill, preparing to go inside and I turn around to say some thing to Elizabeth and I say "oh my gosh, look." Elizabeth turns around and who do we see barreling towards us from the top of the hill: JAMIE FRICKEN CHIMPANZEE. Hair standing on end, running full speed toward us. "Is this the last thing we see before we die?" We jokingly say as we yell to Jamie "OH MY GOSH WE ARE SO SORRY LADY! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE INSIDE!" She runs full speed all the way down the hill and directly inside, where we must go see her and take our *figurative* punishment. 

Shockingly, once inside, she's not sharpening a stick to spear us with. She wants to groom some boots, so we oblige and again shower her with apologies. Good thing the Queen is *sometimes* merciful, am I RIGHT? 

Jamie is tough. Stubborn. Sometimes a little cranky. But I take a lot of life tips from her, and her problem solving abilities. She's a tough cookie, but good lord is she the most confident being I've ever known? Yes. Always. 

-b

Secret Friends aren't so secret anymore!

It's impossible to have a "favorite" chimp at CSNW. Everyone has their own personality and parts of me get along with each chimp in a different way. For instance, Jamie loves walking and going on as many walks as she can squeeze out of me throughout the day. With Jody, I'm lucky if she gives me a morning greeting- the rest of the day she couldn't be bothered. 

Despite the no favorites rule, I can't help but be extra sensitive/aware of my relationship with Annie. Not to sound all hippie/spiritual/the universe is watching me-ish but there is something about Annie that I just connect with on a inner emotional level. I love all the chimps with all my being but I feel like Annie and I have this unspoken agreement, involving our secret friendship. I know, weird. I also feel this way about my sweet princess Butters. I love all my furry kids, but Butters and I have an understanding. Example: during the day when the dog is out and her new cat brother is casing her/ demanding all my attention she pretty much keeps to herself. She loves climbing to the upper most corner of the closet and spending most of the day asleep. In the evening and early mornings when I'm the only one awake, she will paw at the bathroom door until I let her in, demand some petting and then just sit with me in there. She just enjoys being near me, not touching me all the time like Jasper must be doing. 
I feel like Annie and I have a similar story, when others aren't around or demanding I take a walk, we get to have a few moments together. No, it's not always interacting with each other on a physical level. Most of the time it's just being near each other, which is often my favorite time. 

As many of you know, Jamie loves shoes and feet. She often likes to groom my feet/shoes after we walk. Yesterday after a two in row trip around the hill, we went into the greenhouse to inspect my boots and eventually feet. In a happy and unexpected turn of events, Annie sat down next to Jamie, and as soon as she saw my foot, was all too happy to grab a tool and do some grooming herself. (as you can see in this video)

This is awesome and unexpected because a) Annie is wanting to groom me in front of another chimp, which HARDLY EVER HAPPENS. b) Jamie is being *SUPER* cool about it. Sometimes, Jamie gets frustrated when you are interacting with her and you try to interact with someone else. Examples include threat barking, and the good ol' fashioned poop throw. So, when I offered Annie my foot to groom, I asked Jamie first if it was okay. We took turns, which is a very important fact to note. 

Despite my keeping it *relatively* cool, I was jumping up and down when I got home. "LARS GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TODAY" screaming as soon as I walked in the door. It's moments like that I feel like Lars is in love with me and also scared of me. 

and of course, here is the boss lady getting the sock lint from between my toes. We do not negotiate with dirt. 

So, a pretty exciting day! So happy that Annie and I are creating more of a bond, and Jamie is okay with it. 

In the Jorgensen home: another huge goodwill haul in prep for Tanzania living. I love getting rid of shit we don't need! It's such a liberating feeling. I recommend everyone do it. AND WE ARE STILL GOING! Still finding things/talking myself into getting rid of things, oh man. It's a never ending cycle I tell you. The idea that the bigger home you have the more shit you fill it with is actually, frighteningly true. 

Getting rid of things and earmarking certain items for storage and must go with us is very scary. I'm 100% excited and in love with the idea of living in east Africa, and I'm also 100% sad to leave some of the wonderful people I've met here. The human need for change but our hesitation to it would be a great thesis, if anyone is bored and wants to look into that. I'll take those findings, PUHLEASE. 

Going to the fair this week, Lars and I have a shift at the chimp house on saturday, and our kids are continuing the tradition of keeping us up until 2am scratching themselves, chasing each other and being loud in general. 

Loving every second though. <3

B

Annie turns 41! (and is okay with my song and dance)

Annie, my secret friend turned 41 on Thursday September 10th, and I was lucky enough to spend some of her big day with her and the rest of the Cle Elum 7. Pictured above is a video of me singing Annie a birthday song, and Annie being moderately pleased. I had some fringe suede boots on that she really liked, and I think she liked them more than my dance. 

here is a photo of me ready to get married with a painting of Annie I did. 

I can't say that Annie and I have had a good relationship since I've known her, to be honest it's been almost the opposite. Annie was slow to warm up to me, and after 3 years we finally have an unspoken enjoyment of each other. She loves human bare feet, and after learning that we try to bond by looking at my feet together when boss Jamie is in the other room. Annie now asks for grooming sessions from time to time, greets me with a hand tickle in the morning and will nod here and there if I am dancing. For all of these moments, I am so thankful. 

Upon arriving to the chimp house on Thursday, I went to see where the birthday girl was. This photo is exactly where I found her; enjoying some solitude on her special day. I thought for a second "oh man, why isn't she with Missy? Or running around?" That only lasted for a moment before I remembered that it's Annie's day, and she's doing exactly what she wants to be doing. She now has the freedom and choice to run around and chase Missy or sit in peace and quiet and look out at the hill. I love that I found her here, enjoying some time on her own. Years ago, Annie was practically attached to Missy's hip. Where Missy would go, she would follow. Seeing Annie on her own, without anxiety about being on her own was a wonderful thing. 

Fall is here, and I think the chimps are really enjoying the change in weather. Summer was a little too hot for these 7 who are used to typical PNW temps, and now everyone is enjoying some more cool winds. 

Here is the boss Jamie, head nodding at my sweet boots. Upon saying good night, she kept asking for them. Alas, sweet boss, these boots are made for walking with you, not on your feet! 

Lots of events and projects in the works with moving, work and otherwise, so stay tuned. <3

B

The Wedding Aftermath: Getting back to Chimping.

Just shy of a month after #jorgensenwedding2015 and things are almost back to normal. Throughout the entire wedding process I always said "It's just a day. It's just 8 hours of your life, No reason to get so worked up and wrapped up in something that is shorter than how long I sleep. Yes, it's exciting- but it's just another day." My way of trying to not get too excited, because I knew the days after would be so sad. And guess what THEY WERE.

Sad because for a brief moment in time, I had all my favorite people in one place. I know if we all lived in that house forever we would probably hate it, but for that week it was just about the best thing in the world. I wish we could all get together once a year and just hang out, but most people probably wish that too. 

"So, how does being married feel?" Literally exactly the same. I think most people forget that Lars and I are coming up on our 10 year anniversary of dating in March, and although being married is exciting- we've been living together for 4 years and dating for 10. Finally being married feels good- I love calling him my husband, knowing that we finally signed a piece of paper legally binding us forever... but as far as day to day operations go, it's pretty much still the same. We still do rock/paper/scissors over who has to scoop the cat boxes. We still play "If you drive I'll buy dinner" and other such games. I'm still picking up his dirty socks he leaves under is chair. But, I wouldn't change a thing. And if getting married is truly what makes you over the moon happy- then you should probably take a closer look at your priorities. (just saying)

So, the house is still a mess. I'm slowly but surely working on thank you cards, and possibly suing my caterer. But HEY. WE DID IT.

The hardest part about wedding week (and month) was that I didn't get to see the Cle Elum 7 as much as I normally do. Upon returning to the chimp house after a long while I like to just sit where most of the chimps are hanging out. Until Jamie sees me and demands a walk or a grooming session- I like to just re-acquaint myself with the personalities and surroundings.  Check on previous injuries, familiarize myself with new ones, get a good look at everyone's hair/face/body, check out any new enrichment/structure, etc. Lately Missy has been coming up to me right away to ask for grooming, which is awesome and heartwarming all in one as Missy is one of the chimps who takes a while to warm up to humans. 

If you've been following this blog long you know that I talk to/about the chimps as though we are the same. I think it's important to note that that is my typical behavior with all non-human animals. In my house, the dog and cats are just as important and their needs are just as important and ours. When the cats are sitting in the chair, I sit on the floor. (A little extreme, but I also enjoy sitting on the floor.) Raleigh gets a variety of fresh fruit and veggies (and sometimes cheese) in his breakfast/dinner. (Would you like to eat the same thing every day for every meal for your whole life? No. No you wouldn't.) When I'm eating in front of the animals I offer them a bite of what I'm eating. (Mostly because I think it's rude to eat in front of anyone without offering some.) Ducks, birds, bugs, etc all get spoken to as though they were people. Some people might think that's a little drastic or unnecessary, but I truly believe that all members of the animal kingdom understand each other. We all share this one planet, and it's just as much mine as it is theirs. 

Lars and I are currently in the process of fall cleaning, which is a lot like spring cleaning except we do it before the cold comes. Mostly, we are getting rid of excess clothes we wont need in Africa and getting down to the essentials. Lars and I, whether we both like to admit it or not, are attached to our clothes, more so than other objects in the house. We are both stubborn about getting rid of things, even if they have holes or are ripped, or what have you. So, it's proving to be a little difficult. Now that we made it through the wedding, whenever we are cleaning or shopping the question is always "Will you need/use that in Tanzania?" and if the answer is no or maybe, we hold off or throw it out. Sizing down is actually really fun, but mostly scary. Once you have the pile of things you don't need or don't use, you just look at it like "holy shit, I'm a total packrat." I LOVE IT. Lars is learning to love it. Ha. 

This Thursday is Annie's 41st birthday, and I'll have more updates then. 

July marked 3 years volunteering at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and it is and continues to be my favorite place in Washington. I wouldn't trade my days there for anything. The next project is to get Lars to graduate to caregiver before we move to Tanzania! 

B