Memorial Day Weekend

So this Memorial Day weekend, we were excited that Mom and Jack were coming for their first visit to the island. We didn't quite have all the amenities they require, like a bed, in our one-room apartment, but they were able to stay in at River Inn in Harbor Town.

I think their accommodations topped ours!

This is our apartment complex. Note the gate and the balconies. We're right there on the corner on the second floor.

With some extra time on my hands, I've taken to curling my hair. I think world peace is next on my list.

Anyway, we had a good time, including a delicious dinner at Currents and a tour of our new city. Chris took us to the hospital and showed us around his new stomping grounds.

 If this video doesn't load-I'm still learning people--copy and paste this into your browser: http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/saintj/alsac/video/hr/64-alsac.wvx

Porter has arrived!

Porter has joined us in Memphis, and now I am complete. Although I find Porter--a street cat that Chris picked up from the alley behind a bar in Little Rock--to be the world's best stray, male cat, I have to keep the peace in the family, he has some personality traits worth mentioning. 

First off, he is a street fighter. The first three months of his life in a gutter forever changed him, and he can fight with the best of them. I love this. 

Second, he has the capacity to go a little crazy when provoked. And, chairs, sofas and imaginary moving dots on the floor all come by his attacks rightly. 

When we took Porter in, I really wanted to try and not declaw him. I have no qualms about people who declaw cats. I have always lived with declawed cats, but there was something about Porter's street-fighter mentality that really convinced me to try and not declaw him. 

I have tried many techniques to persuade him to scratch other things rather than the furniture, some of which he likes but nothing as much as the furniture--sorry Mom and Jack!

Upon our move, Chris bought his long-awaited Man Chair--a leather creation that I knew Porter would tear to shreds in moments. 

In an effort to not declaw him, my last effort was to buy Soft Claws. They appeared to be the biggest scam on the market, but for $20, I figured I owed it to Porter and myself to at least try them. 

They are the press-on nails of the cat world. They are individual claw-shaped tubes, which you put a little super glue inside them and place over each claw. Anyone who lives with a cat finds the idea of super gluing plastic claws over their cats original claws insane, as it is.

Yes, they come in colors, but I maintained Porter's manliness by choosing clear. 

With Mom's help, thanks Mom!, we were able to fit Porter with ten new front nails before his departure from Little Rock. He was definitely not into the idea of press-on nails, but after the two-hour car ride, dinner and a night of sleep at the foot of our bed, he has forgotten he's wearing them. 

We're only two days into the experiment, but I am a fan! He's not clawing or tearing up anything since te ends are blunt, and he is running around, fighting and jumping off of counters as though nothing is different. 

This is not an info-mmercial, but so far, sign me up for Sunday morning local tv. These Soft Claws are awesome; however, I'm not looking forward to replacing them once they begin to fall off, but maybe one or two at a time will be manageable. 

Sunset City

Here are some pictures from a sunset walk yesterday across the street in the park. Grace is a pretty good subject. 

Porter has also joined us in Memphis, and he'll get his own post later today. :)

What a face

A New Day, A New City

Today I had many things on my agenda: call the utility company, get my name on the lease since I will be living here full time, cook Chris' favorite meal for dinner (meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beams) and get Grace more dog food.

We feed Grace and Porter a very high quality animal food without the nasty hoof, hair and low-protein ingredients of the normal grocery store food. I went on Wellness' web site--the brand of animal food--and it listed several dealers in Memphis. I MapQuested the closest, which was only two miles away.

Someone was moving a washer and dryer on the stairs outside this morning, and Grace was having a difficult time not barking. I decided to pack her up in my car, with a towel on my seat, and head out for the short drive.

We drove the few miles and found ourselves looking at an empty lot. No pet store. I remembered there was another pet store listed on the web site on S. Cooper. I turned to my Garmin, Chris' Christmas presents from his parents, and typed in S. Cooper. Grace and I set out again.

Twelve miles later, we ended up in the ghetto. In the residential ghetto with no pet store in sight. Thankfully I had my trusty guard dog as my co-pilot.

Once again I looked to the Garmin and looked up pet stores. I found Hollywood Feed and Pets twelve more miles away. I picked it because it was one of the furtherest from where I was, and I figured that was a good thing.

Grace and I drove to Barlett and turned it to the shopping center to find NO PET STORE. I was seriously about to lose my mind. I called the number and they said they had moved three blocks down.

When I went in and told them I was looking for Wellness pet food, they said they only had the treats, and no one else carried it in the area. A customer informed me that All Pets in Germantown carried it and the store was located at Germantown Parkway and Dexter.

I went back to my Garmin, typed in the cross streets and it said no intersection. At this point, I decided I had been beaten.

I went to the grocery store on the way home, and Grace enjoyed her dinner of the equivalent to doggie lucky charms cereal.

Oh the adventures of a new city! Grace seemed to enjoy the car ride. What a face.

World Championship BBQ Fest

So our second day in the city, we visited the WOrld Championship BBQ Festival in Tom Lee Park, along the river. There were TONS of competitors, and we took advantage of the nice weather by walking around, eating BBQ, looking at vendors and getting some free stuff. One of the awesome free things was samples of Tums. Someone was thinking! Here are some pics.

We needed change to buy our tickets, and Chris ran down and up these stairs while I waited at the top. This is his trophy picture. 

BBQ nachos are delicious!

Me on the riverfront

Me on the walkway with the competitors

We cleansed ourselves with a salad for dinner and a long walk on the riverfront. So far, we've enjoyed eating in Memphis. Yum!

First Night in Memphis

We've gotten use to Friday night being pizza night, and we've continued the tradition here in Memphis. From our apartment we were able to ride our bikes down the boardwalk to the pizza place. It's a nice flat ride and the views are great. The pizza was pretty good, and we rode back just in time for sunset. 

The non-blogger blogs

So I always told myself that I wouldn't blog. No real personal angst against it, but I just never thought I would have much to report. Well now that my life is on to Plan B, I've decided to blog about. 

Plan B being living on Mud Island in Memphis, having no particular full-time career and living in a one-bedroom apartment with my husband, who has secured an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime job. My how these past few months have changed things!

This week I'll be uploading lots of pictures from our first days here, but I have to travel back to Roland to get the camera cord first. More to come!