Anyway, the subject of today’s 2nd blog is my immediate family. Meaning those who share this roof in Altadena California. Let's start with my significant other, my wife.
This is Nicole. Here she is, hard at work even on a Saturday, coffee in hand, laptop on lap, and keeping up with the latest Hollywood Life. The brief history of how we met... I was on tour (imagine that) and she was helping out at a Tori show in Chicago. We met, we talked, we emailed, we had Thanksgiving together, she moved to L.A., we got married.
The wedding was September 30, 2006. I will never forget that date. Mostly because it's engraved in my wedding ring. I wanted them to add "-3" at the end of the date so I can also remember her birthday, seeing as it's on the 27th of September. But I guess I'll have to use some brain cells for that part.
She married me because her last name (Frankhauser) is too long for most application forms. Boland is much shorter. So she goes by Nikolette F. Boland. Nikolette is her full first name in case your wondering. But don't ever call her Nicky unless you want to be on her bad side. She kept her middle name as a bit of a tribute to my mother, who kept Saavedra as her name, hence, Carolina S. Boland, and Nikolette F. Boland. Nifty.
One added bonus... Her initials are "NFB", which we tell people also stands for "NO F**KING BULLS**T. Nice.
The next addition to our family came about 4 year ago. We got a brother and sister cats. As a good omen for getting good cats, we took our friend Cat the day we went to an event for Lifeline for Pets at our local PetCo. There weren't many cats seeing September is an "off time" for cat breeding. But none the less there were 5 very cute little kittens all from the same litter. We chose the girl right away.
Meet Ipolani. Her name is Hawai'ian for "heavenly sweetheart". She's the little apple of our eye. We chose her because she had the cutest little stub of a tail. I could tell she was the runt of the litter and have a soft spot for underdogs.
Ipo, as we call her for short, has grown up into a fine alarm clock. At about 6 AM every morning she'll jump on the bed, sit on Nicole’s chest and meow incessantly until she's fed. She's also a little lover and will circle your feet until you bend over and scratch her. If you pick her up, she'll jump back down to your feet. You pet her on her terms.
We also adopted Kolohe.
We really wanted a brother and sister pair and we wanted Ipo so we needed a boy. Kolohe is Hawai'ian for rascal. We picked him because he seemed the most full of energy of the other cats. He may not look it in the above picture, but he's a true bull. He runs the house. He's also pet on his terms, and is a rough lover. If you pet him, he'll follow you around the house and do his best to knock you over by weaving between your legs. And if that doesn't work, he'll bite your ankles. I've often found it best to just carry him around the house if I have to move. And he's not a small cat as seen below.
But we love him dearly and he loves us. But since the introduction of our next family member, we think Kolohe has changed species.
Meet Pekona.
Pekona is a beagle we rescued from the Pasadena Humane Society. We had a long drawn out process of trying to find the right dog. And every time we found one we like, he was either adopted before us or the owners came and got him. One day on a whim, we decided to go "dog shopping" again and made a quick detour to the Pasadena Humane Society before heading to a beagle rescue. And there was Pekona. Only hours before did his owners drop him off because he was, according to the paperwork, "Stealing food".
We had to wait a long painful week, that included one false adoption alarm, before we could take Pekona home. When we got the all the paperwork the owners had left with the dog, we couldn't understand why they would just drop him off at the pound. Pekona is a pure bred beagle! He has paperwork and everything! They took excellent care of him for 5 years and then one day, dropped him off at the pound. We don't get it, but we do appreciate it.
Before I forget, Pekona is Hawai'ian for "Bacon". Nice.
So that's us. I figured I'd better put this in considering my blogs may end up being about the ones closest to me. So at least you'll have a frame of reference. Until then, here's some random family photos...
If you have a dog, this is the best toy ever. It's called a Busy Buddy and you stuff little treats in the end that the dog has to get out. Pekona basically sticks his mouth on the end and sucks the treat out. But it keeps him busy for a while.
I call this photo "Kitty Art House". They could almost be an album cover.
This is Jose Luis Rubiera. Or Chechu to his teammates on Discovery Channel Cycling team. He's not a member of my family, but I thought this was a great picture of a really good underrated cyclist. He dragged Lance Armstrong through many mountains in the Tour de France.
Oh, and this is Nicole. I married her.
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