Back home in the USA

Amanda Knox is home in Seattle, Washington, USA.  I am so very happy for her.

WELCOME HOME AMANDA!

Amanda and her mom and dad in Seattle right after arrival

She has been in prison, involved in the crazy Italian legal system for 4 long years. I have read books and followed this case in news programs detailing it over the years. I never believed she or Raffaele Solicito were involved at all. They were just two naive college students who got trapped in the Italian legal system by a Prosecutor who was being tried for corruption at the SAME TIME as their trial for murder was going on.

Amanda and Raffaele after the murder

The murderer of Meredith Kircher is Rudy Guede whose DNA was all over the crime scene and who got 25 years in prison and then, on appeal and upon changing his story and testifying against these poor kids, got his sentenced reduced to 16 years. Crazy? Oh yeah!

Rudy Guede, murderer

It is over and I am so very happy for Amanda and Raffaele and their families. 

For more info about this crime check out this blog by Candace Dempsey, a Seattle reporter who was in court during all the trials of Amanda and Raffaele and wrote a book on the subject with all the facts, MURDER IN ITALY.  Her blog is at: http://blog.seattlepi.com/dempsey/

Oh, and my new headphones work very well!

No more LOUD

Last week I heard a loud knock on my door.  I opened it to a lady who let go on me with all the frustration and anger she had stored up for months. I have only lived here 6 months so I imagine it was most of that time. She said the noise was going to have to stop, that last night there was noise until 4 am. Not really, but it was probably 3 am. She said there must be talking or my TV but if I did not stop the noise she would report me to the housing people.  I was stunned, my mouth must have been open.  But I got myself together and told her I was very sorry, it was the first I had heard of it and I would stop the noise. She reminded me that after 10 it is supposed to be quiet, that we are to even walk lightly. Well, the floor is carpeted and I am not huge so I don't think that is a problem.

She left and I immediately started looking for my headphones and that night I tried them out. They did not reach to my bed which is where I watch late TV.  So I finally found an extension cord at Radio Shack. My son Devon had suggested cordless headphones which I also priced at Radio Shack, They were quite expensive for a good pair. So I got the extension cord to get me by until I could check further,  The Radio Shack guy said Sony was their best set, the most comfy, etc.

So I priced headphones online, and at Target, Fred Meyer and Best Buy.  The best price for the ones I wanted was on Amazon. So I ordered them Friday and they arrived today. NO, I did not pay for two day delivery. Just standard. So I was impressed. I also ordered an electronic toothbrush from Amazon since mine died. I ordered it before I ordered the headphones and the tracking said it was in Kirkland on Oct 1 st, Saturday. But it is not here yet.

So I am very excited about my headphones. They are on the charger and the insructions say 16 hours for charging,. They have rechargable batteries.  I used my own audio cords. The ones with it had one prong to go into my TV's headphone slot and the other end goes into the charging base, representing left and right.. Mine have left and right going into the TV and left and right going into the charging base. I can't wait to try them out but for tonight I will have to use my jimmied together cheap headphones and extension cord. The extension cord and headphone cord do not fit snugly so I have to tape them together with masking tape. It works. I am a genius, heheheh. Well, maybe just a geek chic.

My new Sony headphones

My downstairs neighbor will never again hear my TV noise after 10 PM.
Hmmm, maybe I should send her the bill for the headphones?

Happy Birthday NIKKI !

Yesterday, October 1, my little companion Nicole was 14 years old.  She is the longest love relationship I have had.  Never married that long, never in a relationship with a man that long, never had an ongoing friendship with anyone that long. She has been with me since she was a little orange baby. I drove her home as she nestled inside my shirt on my chest.

 I already had a miniature poodle named Sammy who was bigger than most minis and was very energetic, caught balls in his mouth and retrieved them to be thrown again. Sammy loved playing ball. He demanded most of the attention so little Nicole aka Nikki sort of hung out in the background waiting for hers.  When I divorced and moved into an apartment with my two babies and had to go to work, Sammy did not adjust well. So I found a poodle rescue lady in Bellingham who took him and her daughter fell in love with him and they kept him. He had a ranch to run around on and other poodles to play with.

They loved going out in the boat on Lake Ballinger and swimming in the lake

Nikkie and Sammy in the backyard in Edmonds

Nikki and Sammy in the backyard in Edmonds where my husband and I lived



Then there was just Nikki and I. She was happy to get all the attention but she was never interested in playing ball or retrieving.  She just loved me, sat on my lap all the time, soaked up and gave love.

She was always very self protective, not liking her space encroached upon. She has bitten my grandson Joseph when he was a young boy.  So my son does not love Nikki.  Nikki mostly loves people, she will lick you before she will bite you. But she is not recommeded for young children. She is protective of herself and of me.

I have taken care of her all her life, from 6 weeks on. She was always a beautiful little girl.

She will always be my little girl and we have gotten to be old ladies together.  She has MVP (mitral valve prolapse) aka heart murmer and has taken a heart pill every day for three years. She also has a "mass" in her abdomen.  She doesn't like to sit on my lap much anymore.  But so far she seems to go along like the little puppy I have always loved.

Happy Birthday, NIKKI.

Nikki today