We’re in Cannon Beach and it is gorgeous.

It was a long day of driving that began at 6am for me – Poulsbo to Redmond to Hillsboro to Cannon Beach. I’m not complaining though – Tanya’s day started at 4am Central time and included three airports.

We’ve grocery shopped, settled into our cute little rooms at the Blue Gull Inn and shared books, reading materials, computers and favorite blog sites.

It’s a great group of women – I’m looking forward to the down time with them.

This weekend, I am going to Cannon Beach with a small group of other mom-bloggers.

We are all members of a not-so-secret society – S.S.B.M, or Secret Society of Beast Moms, founded by the Beast Mom, Christina. It’s not a subversive thing… just a group of blogging moms of all shapes, sizes, vocations, children’s ages, hopes and fears. We don’t all even write about parenting, but we do support each other!

This weekend we’re going to be doing non-maternal things. We’ll be staying up late, sleeping in, shopping and walking on the beach. We’ll probably jump every time we hear a stranger’s child call, “Mom?” It’s a good bet most of us will tote laptop computers and digital cameras along, as well.

I’m looking forward to spending some downtime with Christina, Becca, Tanya, and Grace. Thanks, Christina, for organizing this!

We were super-glad to see our doggies when we came home. They were, we thought, equally pleased to be reunited with us. We use a dogsitting service that stays with them in our home for minimum disruption to their little canine lives.

Instead of happy puppy-petting, this week has been the dog-owner’s week from hell.

First, there was the heat. 96 degrees F and extra-furry black dogs don’t mix, so the old Princess was mildly heat-exhausted.

Then, there was the bone meal. We’re supposed to put it down 6 weeks after our iris bloomed – and we had no idea the dogs would snarf it up like caramelized sugar glaze off a creme brulee. While rather upsetting to their tummies, it’s not especially poisonous unless it’s ingested in huge quantities – it’s ground-up bone, after all!

The bottom line – carpet cleaning several times a day, and dog butt washing a couple of times a day. The dogs were puking and pooping everywhere. Of course, they prefer soiling the carpet to harking on the linoleum or hardwood – who wouldn’t? I’m sooooo glad I work at home. I think.

They’re pretty much back to their normal perky, healthy selves. Even the old stubborn Princess, who was sickest of them all, is wagging her tail and eating treats again – although she is still firmly convinced that she needs to be carried up and down the stairs.

In the bustling western town of Jackson, Wyoming, we overheard an intriguing scrap of conversation from a middle-aged couple walking past our table at the Gun Barrel Restaurant.

The woman said, “She packed up her stuff and called the sheriff.”

She paused as they snatched a couple of after-dinner mints from the hostess station.

“The sheriff came over with the deputy and they shot him. Then she left.”

With that, the couple telling the story walked out the door, leaving me (and others around us) open-mouthed with curiousity.

It’s none of our business.

But what was the whole story, muddled by lack of context and pronoun problems? Was it a tv show or a book they were discussing? Was it a skunk that got shot, or some other wildlife? Could it have been a person? If so, what was the background, and why is ‘she’ packing and leaving so freely?

We’ll never know.

Curiousity is the cure for boredom. There is no cure for curiousity.
      ~ Dorothy Parker