The Saga Continues

First there is the saga of Downton Abbey. On Saturday afternoon and evening we watched the last segments of Season 2 and the first of Season 3. Our goal is to finish Season 3 before we start Season 4, so we have to hustle.

The second saga is that of Little Bug, the errant kitten. We are making progress. He still doesn't like us, but so far has given up spitting, scratching and biting. Yea.

Goodbye Christmas

All the Christmas decorations in the house have now been put away for another year, including the Christmas tree. I'd love to have the tree up all year, but then it wouldn't be special so I guess it has to go. I'm also sad to see the outside lights go away for another whole year. All in all, though, it's good to have everything back to normal.

For example, today (Friday, Jan. 3) is the first day I've ridden my horse in two weeks. It was a beautiful day and it was fun to take a break from putting away Christmas for a couple of hours of "horsing around."

Tonight Dennis, Mom and I continued our marathon Downton Abbey watching. We're on the last disc of Season Two. Dennis made paella for dinner and then a big fancy dessert of berries on a cloud of meringue and whipped cream. Diet sabotaged again.

The kitten is still a wild child. I tried to catch him today as he careened about the cat house. I finally cornered him but he put up a good fight, spitting and scratching and even biting me. Little dickens. After all that, he had to spend some time being cuddled and cooed to. He was also caught by Dennis a couple of times and even Mom held him for a few minutes. We almost had her convinced to take him home but she came to her senses.

Another busy day

I started putting away Christmas this morning until I had to go along with Dennis and Mom to sign escrow papers and have them notarized. Then a trip to Target to get coffee, followed by WalMart to pick up Mom's prescription and a few other items.

We were home by 2 p.m. Dennis got Little Bug off the shelf and I tried to entice (bribe) him with canned baby shrimp. He was having none of it so I just petted him and let him go. He hates us.

Tonight we are continuing the marathon Downton Abbey. We had pizza for dinner, leftover from New Year's Eve. Later, I think we will have the turnovers we brought home from D.Z. Akins.

We got him!

We sprung the trap and got the cat tonight. Boy, was he surprised. He went into the kennel after the cat food while we were watching on the cat cam. Dennis ran into the kitchen and pulled the string and the door slammed shut. Poor kitty. Into the cat house, kennel and all. Yea!

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year!

On January 31, 2014, the Year of the Horse begins. This has got to be a good omen. Hope 2014 is a happy year for you.

We started our new year having breakfast at D.Z. Akins with our good friends, Bob and Gay. Dennis, Mom and I got up early and met our friends at the restaurant at 9 a.m. After breakfast we bought some good Jewish rolls and potato salad to have with the Swedish ham Dennis made. We also bought turnovers because obviously we have not had enough sugar yet.

We are now back home watching the 125th Annual Rose Parade. Hope you are doing something equally lazy and fun. 

Happy New Year! 

New Year's Eve Plans

As I see it, these are the plans for Dennis, Mom and me for New Year's Eve day and night:

1. See The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug on Movie Tuesday. Go early.
2. Make pizza for dinner.
3. Watch marathon of Downton Abbey in preparation for Season 5 starting January 5.
4. End evening around 9 as usual. Wake up to Rose Parade on New Year's Day.
5. Continue to try to capture Little Bug, the elusive kitty.

Happy Birthday, Johnny

Sunday night we surprised Uncle Johnny with a birthday dinner at Mister A's. Dennis collaborated with Johnny's niece, Barbara, who drove Johnny to the restaurant where we waited at a prime corner table overlooking the city. He was very surprised! After dinner, we surprised him again with a cake from Extraordinary Desserts. No candles...Johnny is 97 this year.