DECEMBER 26

Even though he hated it, there is no denying that the 26th of December was my son's birthday. My first child, my only son. I can remember in detail how I felt about that wonderful day......the excitement and the love. The love is still there. It always will be.

CHRISTMAS 2009

Annabel and Mia with Santa. Annabel is not too happy.


My husband and I had a very quiet Christmas alone at our home this year. It was the first Christmas Day in my life that I didn't have either parents or children in it. Because of that it was very unusual and I'm still contemplating how exactly I feel about it. However, I must say it was fine. In fact, it was pleasant in that there were no pressures of any kind associated with it. We didn't even have a Christmas tree. I really think I needed this type of (non) Christmas this year.
I spent the day knitting a new hat for Chance.

We had a "Kids say the Darndest Things" moment on Christmas Eve when we spoke with our 8 and 6 year old grandsons:

Us: So, Jack, what are you doing right now?
Jack: Listening to the music from "Glee".
Us: You really like this TV show. How are you listening to it?
Jack: on an iPod.
Us: What did you have for dinner?
Jack: Mashed potatoes, peas, roast and salad.
Us: That sounds delicious. Can we talk to your brother, Hayden, now?

Us: So, Hayden......We hear you are listening to the music from Glee.....
Hayden: Yes, but I don't like it.
Us: What kind of music do you like?
Hayden: Ummmmm........Disney music.
Us: Well, maybe you can listen to Disney music and Glee music.
Hayden: Yes, I'd like that.
Us: So, what did you eat tonight, Hayden?
Hayden: Ummmmm.......mashed potatoes, these carrot thingies and Ummmmmmmmmmmm Cow!

I love these candid moments!!!!!

VACATION WITH THE KITTIES

This past weekend we had to leave our cozy cabin home because it needed to be tented for termites. That meant all living creatures must leave. That meant we had to take all four of our cats with us. We chose to go to our daughter, Anne's home in San Diego. Anne was not thrilled with the idea of "All" of us coming, but I reminded her that even though we do have 4 cats, no one ever suspects this since our 2 female cats hide whenever there is company. I also reminded her that I never complained any of the times when she or her sisters had brought all of their pets with them while visiting us. Anne said our cat's would have to stay in the garage. After all, she has a new condo.
Since it's been really cold in California lately I was worried that our pampered kitties would be miserable if they had to stay in the garage. It was in the 30's when we left our home. My husband assured me not to worry. I wasn't all that sure about this whole outing.



But, I had forgotten that my husband was still the head of our household. When we arrived, he promptly brought all four cat carriers into Anne's home and announced to everyone that this was quite an occasion. It was the CAT'S FIRST VACATION!

He opened up all 4 doors of the carriers and ..................................nothing happened. An hour later...........Still nothing. We finally dragged our most adventurous cat, Rocko, out of his carrier. He was fine. Then we took Ernie our Maine Coon cat out. He went right back in. Then Lucy oUr most "scared" cat. Lucy promptly joined Ernie in his carrier. We just left little Miss Kitty, our tortie cat alone at this point. Some vacation!

All along, I had been thinking that it would really be more of a "Cat Reunion" since Anne has another cat rescued by my daughter, Jane, named Frank. Frank is an orange tabby that Anne took in because he was terrorizing our two females. We discovered that Frank is still a bully cat. Only Rocko seemed to get along with him, although eventually, all cats settled in for the most part in my grandson's bedroom so anyone who came to the house would be hard pressed to realize there were any cats in Anne's condo. Seriously!

It was also, my husband's birthday this past weekend. He said he had one of the best birthdays ever.



That made the whole "tenting for termites", "Cat Vacation" worth while! He deserved a nice birthday.











(I know..........I'm a horrible picture taker)