Curiosity + Cat = ?

Pumpkin has a certain fascination with the bathroom. No matter what we are doing, if we are in the bathroom, he'll come running. I don't know what his first house was like, but we let him explore. If you keep it from them then they want it even more. The bathtub in particular fascinates him. I'm sure he's trying to figure out why we would submerge ourselves in water when a tongue bath is just so much more efficient.

Of course the moment I bring out the camera that little smarty stops doing all the things that I think are adorable. I swear they have a spidey sense about me and the camera. As you can see he has that very put upon look on his face. Almost like he's a little annoyed with me for trying to steal his soul. The first photo looks like he's searching for the water that's normally in there.

Hey! Where's the water? He looks so very confused. But if I put the water in the tub he'd be off like a shot. There's no way he'd want to take a human bath. He's already shown me he doesn't care for the shower. But it is fun to peek in and bat at the water when his crazy humans are taking a bath.

My Bed!

So while out with my buddy, Greta, a week or so before Christmas we spotted this cute kitty bed at Walgreen's. Colten chose which one I bought. I thought it would be a good idea for Kyla. I mean Pumpkin sleeps on the bed or on the hope chest. So maybe this would make her feel like she's well loved. And that we really want her with us. She seemed to like it. Snuggling down quite quickly after doing a thorough examination of it. Including chomping on the whiskers of the stuffed cat head.

Only Pumpkin decided he really liked it too. Especially those tasty whiskers. Pretty soon we started having a kitty smack down over who got to sleep in the kitty bed. And races to the bed itself. It was kind of funny. So I went back to Walgreen's and as luck would have I was able to get another bed. Whew! Color me relieved. This one is grey. So I have one that vaguely looks like Pumpkin and one that vaguely looks like Kyla.

Now if only I could convince Kyla to sleep in her bed at the foot of our bed. It's taking time, but I'm sure she'll eventually warm up to the idea.

Christmas Cookies

Every year around Christmas I bake cookies to give away. We don't need them sitting around. I mean they're yummy and all, but I don't want us eating them all by ourselves. I'm not looking to add any more pounds on with that temptation sitting around. It's just not in the holiday spirit either.

When I started this tradition we were living on base. So I would make a batch for security, the doctor's office, the housing office and, of course, my sweet baboo's work. Now that's only four groups, so I normally sent out pretty big platters with three to four kinds of cookies as well as some candy on it. This year I decided to do it for the people on the street I live on. I figured it would be a great way to meet all my neighbors. That's right we've been in our home something like three months and I've met only one neighbor.

Most people don't realize how much work goes into the goodies that they get. They just gobble them down. I was kind enough to include a list of the cookies I made with the box. That way if they liked something they could research it. Or, better yet, come talk to me! I only made three types of cookies this year. There were just too many batches to get out to do more than that. May sound grinchy, but I'm only one person. And I didn't want to get grouchy about doing this. I made my great grandma's applesauce cookies (which are always a hit), peanut butter blossoms and, of course, sugar cookies. Easy to do except for the icing. That can be a bear at times.

I delivered eight of these boxes. Plus I took a large box to a friend's party. One of my neighbors wasn't home and the other 'house' has been turned into a duplex. Not something I was happy to hear about. Considering this is supposed to be zoned for single family dwellings only. Don't know how they got away with that.

I probably made something like 20 dozen cookies. Hopefully everyone enjoyed them. We have noticed that our neighbors wave at us more now. Nothing like a little sugar to get into the good graces of our neighbors. :-)

A Grand Gift

If ever I wonder if my sweet baboo loves me I merely need to look at this gift. I won't go into detail. You can click on the link and read this post. I try never to repeat myself.

Needless to say I'm truly pleased with my present.

Even if my sweet baboo grouses because I'll have nothing to open on Christmas day.

A Farewell To Strudel

I'm sure that there are many people out there upon viewing the title would think that I'm starting a diet. And am therefor saying goodbye to a yummy baked good. Sadly I'm not. On Monday, December 22nd my best friend, Greta, had to say goodbye to a good friend of 15 years. It took me a bit to actually write this. And for that I apologize. And you may want a hankie for this, but only if you're the sentimental type. I know I am.

That's right. Strudel was a red daschund. She was better known as Stru. Occasionally I called her competition since she loved my sweet baboo. And he adored her. And there were times I had to fight her for his attention. How could you not love her though? Just look at these pictures of her.

As I said she was 15, which is longer than most daschunds live. The breed tends to have back problems. And what a life that little darling had. She loved just about everyone that she met. The first time she met my hubby she lost control of her bladder she was so excited. From then on we had to call before coming over so that she could be put outside to greet us.

We sometimes joked that she was a life support system for a nose, because she liked to sniff so much. And as most mature women do as they age she put on a bit of weight. We jokingly referred to her as a yard cow. Not only because of her size, but because she liked to eat grass. A lot.

She had eyes that melted you. But she was smart too. She could say 'Rugrat'. And she'd dance too. And if ever she saw someone unhappy, especially Greta, she would hurry to comfort them. She didn't like to see people cry. And as you can see from the middle picture she was a bit of a ham.

When Greta and Steve brought Colten home there were concerns that she might not like having to share the attention. Instead she started mothering Colten and always wanted his toes clean.

Farewell sweet girl. You will be missed.

Growing Older

So yesterday was my birthday. It sucks to get older. Now granted I'm not ancient and I'm in reasonably good health. Still there are times when I ask myself where did all the time go? And holy crap! Where did that gray hair come from? What happen to the young girl I used to see in the mirror? I think everyone should be able to freeze at a certain age. Don't you? Okay I'm done griping. Maybe. This is not a rant I swear!

So I got lots of phone calls and emails from family and friends wishing me happy birthday. Thank you everyone for that. And Tim, I'm sorry I missed your call. My sweet baboo took me out for breakfast. He had the day off. Which was really cool. He then took me to get an outfit. Hey! The man is hardly ever home so I don't fault him for not being able to get me a birthday present before said birthday. At least my hubby got me something I wanted. How many wives can say that? Hopefully more than I'm thinking at the moment. And then we went to get me a new pair of glasses. Hey real life still happens.

By the afternoon we were ready to head to Ingleside Winery for some more Rosato. We were running low. It was also a good excuse to see our buddies back at the winery. Plus they have their champagne now and I had to have a bottle.

As luck would have it the winemaker and his wife were having an Open House/Christmas party at their beautiful home and we were invited. Bill, Maria it was wonderful! Thank you for having us. We saw people that we hadn't seen in forever. Had some yummy food. Met Maria's mom and cousin from Venezuela. And I think I really need to learn Spanish now. And of course we had wine.

The hubby and I finally left around 11. Which means we didn't get home until somewhere around 1:30-2 a.m. time frame. We had to make a stop along the way. So of course we slept in this morning. But at around 8:30 there was a knock on the door. I don't know who freaked out more. Me, the hubby or the poor FedEx guy. Kaiser went bonkers and scared my sweet baboo awake. There's no way you can go back to sleep after that.

All in all it was a pretty good day. And I have my sweet baboo to thank for that. So thank you darling!

My Blankie!

Although the past few days have been quiet lovely, the weather is getting colder. I mean it is December. We should expect it to get colder. No snow yet though.

And apparently the most prime spot to be is under the bird cage.

Who knew?

I guess I can't complain too much. At least Pumpkin is under the cage and not on top like I've caught him a time or two.

He's not trying to get the birds. When he's on top of the cage it's normally when the birds are covered. Although he does get in quite a bit of trouble for it.

Apparently this blanket that I'm using this winter is the best kitty bed ever when it's folded up.

And of course monkey see, monkey do. Kyla soon took up to sleeping under the bird cage once she saw Pumpkin do it.

It's not like they are cold. They just seem to like the cushioning of the blanket.

I guess they're just telling me that they do not have enough soft places to nap upon. The beds, couches and my lap just aren't enough.

The poor babies.

Now to see them race for the bird cage once I uncover the birds every morning.

I'm so evil!

Let The Fur Fly!

So yesterday my brother sent me this photo.

That's right I'm an auntie again!

Ginger's going to need to learn how to share her people now. Or else the fur will fly.

She's adorable. No name as of yet.

Welcome to the family darling!

Yes Virginia There Is A Santa Claus

He may not always be dressed the way you expect him to be though. And he can come in many forms. So yes there is a Santa Claus.

It's so good to see things like this are out here. And that those who have fallen in defense of their country and their families have not been forgotten.

For anyone interested you can click on this link to learn more about Snowball Express.

Happy Holidays!