A few pictures from this weekend’s Feria celebration:

Click for a higher-resolution picture at Flickr.

Anja is well known for coming to the front door bearing gifts of critters galore. Frogs, lizards, bugs, beetles, dragonflies…she has no fear of animals and quite the ability to catch them. So much, in fact, that she has a following in the neighborhood - mostly older boys who have gone so far as to offer her money to crawl through tunnels to catch them frogs. And for Anja, that’s juts a bonus to get the money, since she’d be crawling through tunnels to catch frogs just for fun.

So today, B and I were watching a movie and I heard a commotion coming to the door, and then a knock followed by, “Mamma! I caught a baby bunny!” We hurried to the door to make sure everything was OK with the bunny, and it appeared to be just fine, plump and healthy. Anja’s on her way to release it now, but not before I (of course) got a picture.

I just couldn’t resist posting this picture…Yota is so cute!

I think Ala Spit is starting to warm up to him.  It still looks like she’s trying to kill him but I noticed she lunges at him without her claws so I think she’s actually trying to play with him. It’s just that when you have a 15 pound cat against a 3 pound kitten, it looks more like a lion on the chase for a baby hyena.  And I’m still not entirely convinced Spitty Kitty isn’t going to eat him if she catches him.

With the exception of today’s wind and rain, the weather lately has been turning toward summer.  Last weekend we took a bike ride with the kids to a park across the base with one of Anja’s classmates, and then drove to the opposite side of the base to a softball tournament.  The weather was perfect, beautiful blue skies, warm temperatures - shorts weather!

I don’t often wear shorts, but I bought some Bermudas when I was in the States and thought it would be a great day to break them out.   And then I was reminded why I don’t wear shorts when B loudly proclaimed during the softball game that he woke up that morning and almost started CPR because I was so pale he thought I was dead.

I’m going back to the States - again - and I’m flying out now (I love scheduled posts!). This time it’s for a 3 day conference.  2+ days of traveling for 3 days of a conference.

I’m really tired of traveling and I would rather not go away from home again. I’m excited about this conference but I’m just not sure if the pro of the conference outweighs the con of leaving…again.

But then I realized something, something that makes going a little more worthwhile - exciting, even. I was visiting a messageboard I read pretty much every day and they’re always so curteous to post spoilers of TV shows inside the post instead of in the title of the post.  I avoid watching the entertainment segments of the news and visiting many websites while I wait the extra day for the show to be broadcast here.  Well, 15 minutes before American Idol came on this week, someone - I will refrain from using the word “jackass” - posted the results on the front page of the messageboard and ruined the show for me.

However, this week?  I will be IN the U.S., and I will be able to watch the finale LIVE, because I’m a dork like that.  And you probably are too, so don’t be all hating and stuff.

I can’t post who I want to win because I really don’t care - I like both of them so much that I am just excited to watch the finale LIVE, IN the U.S.  Almost makes traveling again worth the hassle.