We returned to the vet at Creature Comforts, this time with both cats, determined to see some progress. Karma gets a clean bill of health, and takes his immunization shots with stoic grace.

Kami finally relents and provides a urine sample. We did find out something rather interesting: She doesn’t pee in a cup, per se. They palpitate the bladder until they feel that it has something in it, then they go in through the side with a needle, just like taking a sample of amniotic fluid from a pregnant mother.  

Anyway, she’s clear. We fixed it. Kami gets her shots too.

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Michael and Roslyn Rychter flew in to Vegas yesterday on their way to England, and tonight we’ll be entertaining them here, so there’s a little bit of food preparation to do. We decided to try marinated chicken kebabs on the grill.

Our mint plant is doing really well in the herb garden, so Lisa picked out a recipe that involves marinating the cubed chicken pieces in chopped mint and garlic, then skewering them with slices of red onion interleaved with whole mint leaves, then grilling them while basting them in lime and lemon juice.

Later in the afternoon we arranged to pick them up at 5:00 at the Paris hotel & casino where they were staying.

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With the skewers all prepared and the rice cooker activated, we drove off into town. North Rancho Drive was chock full of traffic crawling the other way, and the northbound lane on 95 was also sluggish. Hmm. Didn’t look good travel-wise.  It *was* rush hour, but even so, the traffic looked heavy. We debated changing our plans and finding a place to eat in town.

After parking at the Paris car park, and meeting Michael and Roslyn in the lobby, we decided to risk the traffic and head back to the house. The 95 exit was still more-or-less blocked, and I basically missed the off-ramp anyway, not quite on purpose but traffic was really clumsy so I didn’t try terribly hard to correct my mistake. North on 15 it was! This is a pain because it basically heads North-East and although we’re North of the city, we’re more West than East. However, recently a segment of the 215/Beltway has opened up that connects 95 to 15, heading East-West right across the northern part of the valley, so I figured we’d head North on 15, then head back West on 215 and exit on Decator which is basically right at our doorstep, relatively speaking.

This plan would have worked well, except that traffic on 15 North was also crawling. Lanes merging, off-ramps full, and I was usually in the wrong lane. The traffic didn’t clear up until just South of the 215 off-ramp.

A small concession: The view of the Las Vegas city lights spread out on our left as we headed West on 215 was pretty cool. Michael and Roslyn graciously said so anyway.

Dinner worked out really well, with the kebabs taking 10 minutes on the grill, the rice cooker didn’t mind keeping the rice warm for an extra 30 minutes or so, and Lisa’s greek salad was very delicious.

We had a great time talking to Michael and Roslyn, and they had a great time observing all the little costumed groups of kids who knocked on our door demanding treats. The quality of costumes was pretty high this year, and everyone who came to the door deserved a treat.

And so we dropped the Rychters back at their hotel, said our goodbyes, and drove home again. Another busy month has gone by, filled with various traumas and excitement. How lucky we are!