Not so bad afterall

Despite the fact that it has been so smoky and hot here...we have found new things to keep us occupied. We have been properly motivated to get out of the house and get down to the beach more frequently than we are used to, and that has been a lot of fun. Mad River Beach has been our spot of choice for the past couple of weeks; the picture of the sand dollars is just what we found in one day. What a treasure! Andy and I are like little kids down there every time we find something...and we get to see the seals every time we visit. They like to hang out right at the mouth of the river (that is where their dinner hangs out: fish). We have also been swimming a lot in the Mad River...upstream about 4 miles (right next to our house). So exercise and entertainment are not so bad a trade off for smoke and heat. Oh how I love summer...

I'm an aunt (again)

I forgot to mention that I am a proud new aunt of a baby bull mastiff, Baxter. Blake (bro) got a new little puppy to keep his and Christina's (girlfriend) Rottweiler's busy...well that isn't really why he got the new pup, but I am sure that is what he is doing. What a friggin' cute dog, but what puppy isn't. I have really been feeling the urge to get a dog myself, especially after this. But, I know that we can't really get any more animals until we move. We have set a date for that (the move) by the way. October 1st is the date we will be in the Bay Area regardless of the job situation. I cannot just sit here and wait for the right job to come along. I have begun the steps necessary to work for myself...we will see how it goes.

We're dying over here

Auuugggghhh...just when we thought the smoke had cleared, it came back. The fires have spread and are closer to the coast now; smoke is everywhere. Everything has this really strange orange glow because the sun is filtered through all the smoke. And to add to the misery of breathing in all that ash...we are having record breaking temperatures. For example, the previous record temperature for this area is 86 degrees back in 1985. It is already 76 today and fore casted to be 103 by this afternoon. The air quality people are suggesting that we keep all doors and windows closed to avoid the smoky air, but no one here has air conditioners because it doesn't usually get so freakin' hot...so how are we supposed to stay inside of a cooking house. We are going to sit down by the river next to our house in hopes of finding some fresh air; there is usually a breeze that blows up river from the ocean.