It was the 4th of July. Guppy & Storm had been working hard getting ready for everyone to come over and eat. After the meal was done, they sat down and got so "comfy" with everyone in the room that they went right to sleep. But that's just an ugly rumor that Guppy was snoring!

I thought I'd take a minute to post, because I won't have another chance until Thursday. A big trade show is in town, and I will be busy from 7:00 AM to midnight for the next three days, and from 7:00 till late afternoon on Thursday. Lots of work, yes, but there will also be lots of hugs and jokes and good conversations, not to mention the sales leads.

I realized yesterday that I had completely worn out my favorite pair of shoes, so I did one of the things I hate the most: I went shoe shopping. The reason I hate it so much is that I wear a size 5 shoe -- try finding that anywhere. And because of my job, I have to have closed heels and closed toes, and if you've looked at shoes lately, you know they don't make them that way anymore. After a couple of stops at the inexpensive places, I gave up and went to Macy's, where I actually did find a pair of boots and a pair of shoes that I liked. I spent a ridiculous amount of money on them, but at least I don't have to go through that agony again, at least not for a while.

Ironically, when I had a job where I could wear dresses and high heels, the clothes and the shoes were so ugly (in my opinion) that I didn't want to buy them. Now that they are making some really attractive clothes and shoes, there is no point wasting money on something I'll never have a chance to wear. It's very frustrating. At least the manufacturers seem to have gotten beyond the belly shirts. I just need to find some pants with waistlines at the actual waist -- an odd concept, I know. But some of us no longer have those flat little bellies that look good peeking out between the shirt that's too short and the pants that are too far down. I call my condition Dunlop Syndrome: my belly done lopped over my belt.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. I'll catch up with you all on Friday.

Little bright eyes: a baby gorilla on a mountain in Rwanda.

Thirteen reasons I don't have time to do Thursday Thirteen:

1. Every customer I know, and some I don't, wants to give me an inquiry, an order, or wants to know where the &*(&^%^ their order is.
2. I am out of town, and need to go make some sales calls.
3. There is a big trade show next week, which will require 18 hour days.
4. Last week, the factory asked me to set up a dinner with a "significant customer".
5. The next day, they asked me to set up a luncheon with other customers.
6. I have been dealing with emails, reservations, and trying to figure out how many people will accept at the last moment and screw up my reservations.
7. The other day I had a complete brain meltdown and made someone else pick the menu for the luncheon.
8. I've also been working with food choices and reservations for a family dinner.
9. The architect called last week to set up an appointment.
10. I still haven't called him back.
11. I don't know when I'll be available during working hours.
12. I am unable to make any more decisions right now, especially about things I'll have to live with every day.
13. So there's no way I can think of 13 things to say today.

Even from this angle, the Eiffel Tower is unmistakable, isn't it?

Just a few more pictures from Hawaii:

"Hey, boss, the plane, the plane!" (Opaekaa Falls)

Wailua Falls

Above the clouds

Sunset at Hanalei Bay

Walking on the beach in the morning

Hanalei Bay

1. One of my heroes, Ann Richards, died last night. She was the quintessential Texas woman: big hair, big voice, big ideas, big heart. She was the first woman (and at this date, still the only one) elected governor of Texas on her own. There was an earlier one, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, who was elected to finish out her deceased husband's term.

2. A lot of people referred to Governor Richards as Ma, but the Professor and I always called her Granny Annie. She was the first political candidate I ever gave money to, and it got me on her Christmas card list. Her Christmas cards were always pictures of her grandchildren.

3. I used to smugly think to myself, yeah, her grandchildren are really adorable, but nowhere near as adorable as mine are.

4. Governor Richards was elected on the day that Kritter was born. I thought that was such a wonderful symbol of the freer, more open world Kritter was being born into.

5. One of the reasons I admired Ann Richards so much was that she was raised just like I was -- women stayed home, raised children, and supported their husband's career. It didn't matter how smart or energetic or capable you were; there were rules, and you were expected to obey them. So she became an excellent cook, gave lots of parties to further her husband's career, and never, ever gave away her recipes because they were her only source of power.

6. Maybe not so surprisingly, she became an alcoholic along the way. Her family finally did an intervention, telling her things she had done when she was drunk, and ending every recitation with "and I know you wouldn't have done that if you hadn't been drinking." She said in her autobiography that one story that really haunted her was from her godchild, who told of being scared when Ann was holding her arm too tightly and wouldn't let the child go.

7. So she got sober, got into local politics, and before long became state treasurer. I know this sounds impossible, but she was the first treasurer who ever thought of investing our money to make it grow.

8. Next thing we knew, she was running for governor. She lucked out in her opponent, a west Texas millionaire who started running ads in January of the election year. He had cute sound bites that some people mistook for actual thought, things like his idea for drug offenders: "I'll teach them the joy of busting rocks."

9. The man -- Clayton Williams, I think his name was -- had it in his back pocket until just a couple of weeks before the election. Then, one day while he was waiting for fog to clear so he could give some reporters a tour of his ranch, he said "The weather is just like rape; you can't do anything about it so you might as well lay back and enjoy it." A week or so later he refused to shake Ann's hand in public, and that did NOT sit well with Texans.

10. So fortunately for Texas, Clayton lost the election for himself, Ann was elected, and life was good. Even her enemies have to admit she did a good job. But she lost the next election to a political novice named George W. Bush.

11. In addition to the fact that I agreed with most of her ideas, I felt a real connection to this woman because we had both spent years trying to suppress our competitive and goal-oriented sides, trying to behave as we had been raised to, and never acknowledging, even to ourselves, that we were miserable always being the passive and subservient one.

12. It's hard to explain this to younger people, but the rules changed, and it felt like they changed overnight. Suddenly, sacrificing yourself for the happiness of others earned scorn, not admiration. Suddenly, you were supposed to know what you truly wanted out of life. Ann did it first, and Ann did it better, but she helped light the way for me and countless other women who were still afraid to take on a "man's job".

13. We have lost a smart, funny, compassionate person. But we can say about her what we all hope they will say about us someday: the world is a better place because she was in it. Rest in peace, Ann.

First seven of thirteen pictures of Kauai:
The moon over the Na Pali cliffs.

Sunrise at Hanalei Bay.

The beginning of the Kalalau Trail. (We only hiked a mile of it this trip.)

Kee Beach (pronounced Kay-aaa)as seen from the Kalalau Trail

The Na Pali cliffs

Hanalei Valley

Kilauea Lighthouse

Last six of thirteen pictures of Kauai:
Polihale Beach at the westernmost edge of the Na Pali cliffs:

Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"

Waterfall in Waimea Canyon

The Kalalau Valley, at the end of the Kalalau Trail -- but we had to drive clear around the island to the Waimea Canyon to get this shot.

Hawaiian monk seal napping

Spouting Horn, an underwater lava tube

I always knew that at the end of the rainbow, you'd find Hanalei!