Kits, Weather and Words

Gee, being back home in my apartment seems strange. It's in the mid-80s right now, with the humidity at 30%. The patio door is open and Lovey and Neddy are having a blast chasing each other in and out. I've walked the Irish kids, and paid all my bills, so now I can sit back and relax before doing some more cleaning. - And I need to go to the library; yesterday I was reading the dictionary at Kathy and Jim's for something new and different. I got half-way through the "a" listings, and have to say that my favorite new word out of them was absquatulate. It means to pick up and move on, or relocate. The dictionary said it was pseudo-Latin and literally meant "to go and squat elsewhere." - In the 5 days we've been gone, there are cobwebs all over the patio, as well as tons of grass clippings, and Neddy's coat seems to be a magnet for all of it. Of course, he is a little boy, and little boys are usually into everything.
I know that the northeast coast is having a heat wave, while it looked like Florida was having some pretty good rain. Over the holiday weekend, we had afternoon and evening showers each day; and on the Fourth itself, we received an inch of rain. Luckily we were not the Colorado towns of Elizabeth or Limon: Elizabeth got almost 5 inches of rain in 8 hours, causing flooding; Limon had a three-hour-long hail storm. It started out with pea-sized hail and ended up with hail the size of tennis balls - destroying crops, windows, and several car dealerships. On Monday morning citizens were still sweeping hail off sidewalks with brooms... I'm glad the kits and I were in Boulder!
While at Kathy and Jim's, Lovey seemed to remember the lessons from Banichi - if one strolls, the dogs won't bother you. Neddy, however, being a kitten and full of energy, was constantly tailed by Boo. Suki just wanted to rest inside away from the thunder. On Saturday night, I kept Boo on her 10-foot leash so she couldn't chase Neddy at every step. She (Boo) refused to sit or lay down for longer than 30 seconds, so I had to resort to the leash, as putting her in her kennel stopped her only for the time she was incarcerated. All in all, it was a good visit - I was traveling four doors down several times a day to check on, care for, feed, and love Lizzie and Maggie May as well. And I walked the Rs on our usual days, plus I spent two hours with them on Friday night when their family was in Denver for Joel's opening night in Ragtime. Tomorrow is Grandma Anne Snow's birthday, and Friday night, I'll be travelling down to Denver to see Joel in Ragtime myself. ... It's so nice to have a week off at home with the kits!