The First Snow

Had our first snow this morning, well actually it was just a dusting, but it was still snow. I had decorated the tree yesterday, so it was kind of fitting. It did make it feel like it is really the Christmas season.

Speaking of the tree, so far the cats have been very good kitties and have left it alone at night. I hope it stays that way.

Back to the snow. To tell the truth, I'm not looking forward to the first real snowfall, but I would like a white Christmas. I mean, we've learned since we were youngins that you're supposed to want a white Christmas, right, and growing up in Pittsburgh, I remember having a lot of them. I also remember not being scared to drive in snow, until I had that bad accident that is. Even then I still loved it. I remember how disappointed I was when we lived in California and Virginia and how excited I was when it snowed after we moved here.

Well, times change and so do people and I've changed in how I feel about snow. Now after driving in it and worrying about Dave having to drive in it, I don't look forward to it. If it happens when no one has to go anywhere then that's fine, but if someone does, then I'm a worrywart. I hate thinking of them having to drive in the stuff and what might happen. I'm not happy until they're home safe and sound.

And I haven't even touched the cold that goes with it.

Oh, and as for the tree, this is how it turned out, not too bad I must say.

Christmas Time is Here

Got the autumn wreath on the front door taken down and have the tree up, but not decorated. Dave wants to see how the cats react to it before I decorate it. That will determine if they have to stay in their room all night or if they get to roam the house, something I would prefer. It's a pain trying to get all for of them in there at once, plus the mice seem to take advantage of the situation, so this year if we can, we've decided to let them stay out.

One of the things I've been thinking of is wrapping the tree with chicken wire at night so that they can't climb it or knock the ornaments off. It's something I'm still contemplating. I'll see how tonight goes first.

They knocked the tree over one year. I think that was when we started confining them to their room at night. It was also then that I realized that four cats and a tree with glass ornaments did not go together well. Unlike our last two cats, who never bothered the tree much less try to climb it, these guys loved taking the chance. I think one of them would climb it while the others egged them on, or they would all take turns. I wonder who was doing the climbing when it got knocked over. I bet they had a shocked look on their face when it happened and probably ran to hide, something they all do when they know they're going to be in trouble. Unlike the dogs, they don't kiss up.

Our old tree was one of those that you pushed the branches into a little notch-type thing, so in the morning I would also see branches knocked out, but miraculously, the ornaments would still be on it. I wonder who was responsible for that one, Patches probably. She is the smallest one of the four and the most ready to take chances like that. Maybe it stems from her being an outside cat or rather kitten longer than the other three.

We have a new tree this year, one of the pre-lit kind. I didn't want a pre-lit one, but it was the only one I could find to fit in front of our window and not stick out into the living room too much. We have a long narrow room which also has way too much furniture in it. This one fits in it perfectly. Let's just hope the cats don't like it as much as they liked the other one and leave it alone. I'm sure though that if it were up for bets in Vegas, the odds would probably be 1000 to 1. Wanna place bets?

Happy Thanksgiving

From our home to yours, 

Wishing you a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Some Thoughts

I've been here thinking that I can't believe that it's almost the end of the year. This Thursday is Thanksgiving and then onto Christmas and after that 2011.

And anyone who really knows me knows how much I love my dogs. You're probably thinking, "What's that got to do with the end of the year," right?

Here's what. I was thinking that in 2011 Jake and Rolli will both be 11 and Angel will be 9. Max will be 4. I still remember when they all were puppies, when we adopted Jake from the shelter, when Rolli and Angel wandered into our yard, and when Max followed Dave and Rolli home. It's sad to think that three of them are in the last half of their lives.

Jake is slowing down, a lot. He still acts like a pup at times, but the times are getting fewer. He still has his hyper moments though such as when a car goes up or down the road and he barks up a storm. I don't think that will ever change. I do miss him sleeping beside me on the bed at night like he used to do. Now he prefers the floor. I don't know why, he just just started doing it this year. Looking at his whitened face and muzzle, it used to be a beautiful strawberry blond where most of the white is now, I'm not looking forward to the day when he'll no longer be with us, but I know that day is coming.

Rolli is more active than Jake and acts like a puppy more times than he does. It's funny when she goes into what we call, "Rolli mode." She acts so goofy that it just cracks me up. And seeing her playing with Max outside, especially seeing the both of them digging side by side, even though they know that it's a no no, is just so cute. He loves to torment her, probably because she's the same size as he is, only rounder. But just looking at her gray muzzle lets one know that she's not so young anymore either.

Angel is slowing down too. It looks like she may be developing hip dysplasia because I've noticed that she's having trouble jumping on and off our bed. She's walking slower too. Her breed is one that is prone to it. Hopefully though, she still has a lot of years left. Other than her slowing down, she doesn't look any older. One thing that will never change is that she'll always be my baby girl.

Max, our little puppy butt and spoiled little mama's boy, still is a puppy at heart. He tries to bully Jake, but Jake has gotten to where he just ignores him, which is good. I guess Jake finally decided that he's too old to let it get to him anymore. He loves to torment Rolli, but I already said that. He's so cute when he "roo roos" her or anyone else for that matter. He's such a little clown. Right now he's in one of his favorite spots, sleeping next to me here on the couch. He hates when Jake gets there first.

I guess the weather today has a lot to do with my thinking. It's cloudy and dreary. Winter is definitely on it's way, but I'm glad that it decided not to arrive early like it did last year. We had had our first snow by now then. This year at least we haven't had that yet.

The good Lord is the only one who knows exactly how much longer any of us have here on earth and I'm going to try not to think about it as often, but to saver the time I have left making the time the pups have left as happy and comfortable as they can be. I owe them that much for all the joy they have brought into our lives. Our home would have been so empty without them. I'm so thankful they chose us.

Thank a Veteran

Today is Veteran's Day, be sure that if you know a veteran to thank him for serving. If you see one of our men or women in uniform, thank them too, they deserve it and it makes them feel good to know that you appreciate what they are doing.

I Have Learned My Lesson

Never go to a store opening especially if it opens on a weekend. Bad bad move.

That's what Dave and I did yesterday. They opened a Trader Joe's here, well not here here, but in West Des Moines and being that we became fans of the store when we were in Indy on business, we were looking forward to the one opening here. It actually opened on Friday but being that we had to go there, to West Des Moines on Saturday anyway, we decided to check it out. Bad decision.

We didn't have a problem finding a parking space, which was kind of surprising, but once we got in the store, there was hardly any breathing room, let alone walking room. Talk about feeling like a sardine in a can. There were people everywhere. And you know how people always tend to stop in the middle of the aisle at grocery stores, yes, even I have been guilty of it, people were doing it in every aisle. Since people were coming the other way in the same aisle, it was very hard to get around the person doing so. When the line was moving, I felt like I was in a very slow moving assembly line. I felt really bad for the employees too, the stuff was selling faster than they could restock the shelves.

The next time we go, it'll be after the newness of the store being here all dies down. Then we'll be able to really enjoy it. We learned our lesson, that's for sure. Hopefully we've learned it for good.

The Morning After

Whether you liked or disliked yesterday's election results, I'm sure we can all agree about one thing, that we're glad those campaign ads are no longer running.

But...don't get too comfy because in their places for the next month and a half we will be bombarded with store Christmas commercials. Those annoying ads begging us to buy buy buy. Macy's got the jump on everyone and started theirs early.

It's funny seeing Macy's commercials here in Iowa because there are no Macy's here. I believe the closest one is either in Minnesota at the Mall of America or down in Kansas City. I don't want to go shopping at Macy's that bad. I wouldn't mind going back down to Kansas City or back up to Minnesota, but not to go to Macy's.

They tried getting a Macy's here once and almost succeeded, but instead got a Dillard's. I guess Macy's didn't think Des Moines had a big enough shopping population for them. That's okay, there are plenty of other stores to shop at. And if I really want to shop there, I can do it on line, one of the perks of having the internet right at my finger tips, well maybe not for my wallet.

Iowa used to get looked over for a lot of things, except during the presidential elections, that "First in the Nation" thing. That's slowly changing. People are starting to notice our little state for more than that. It's nice in some ways and not so nice in others. I just hope that it doesn't cause Iowa to lose all the charm that makes it Iowa.

Oh, and as for those annoying Christmas commercials, at least they'll be gone after Christmas, only to be replaced by News Years Day ones, Valentine day ones, etcetera, etcetera. One thing we can always count on are commercials wanting us to buy, it's like knowing the sun will come up tomorrow, we can almost certainly count on it.

Just a Reminder

If you haven't done so already,

TOMORROW NOVEMBER 2

All Saints Day

I remember when I was in grade school, went to a Catholic school from first grade to eighth, we used to have the day off school and would celebrate All Saints Day by going to Mass. One of the perks of going to a Catholic school was that we got days off that the public schools didn't, but we also got out for summer after they did.

If I remember correctly and believe me, this was a long time ago, All Saints Day was considered a Holy Day Of Obligation, meaning you had to go to Mass or it was a sin if you didn't. I remember there being a lot of those.

I remember going to confession too. Our pastor's name was Father Frawley, they named the church's hall after him, Frawley Hall, it's still named that. When we had to go to confession every Friday, we kids hoped and prayed that we wouldn't get him to confess our sins to. He would give out the longest penances, the prayers you had to say when you were finished confessing your sins. Instead of a few Hail Marys and Our Fathers, he would give us lots to the point we felt like we were never going to be finished saying them. He was also tall and an ex- Marine, which made him seem all that more menacing to us.

I don't go to Mass anymore, but I did go through high school. By that time they had started having Mass on Saturday evenings if you didn't want to wait to go on Sunday, so a couple friends and I would go. We would sit in the back rows so that as soon as Mass was finished, we would be the first ones to leave. I think we only went because our parents wanted us to go.

The old school has closed down, but the church is still active. Father Frawley of course is no longer there, but we still have the hall to remember him by. The wedding reception for my brother's wedding was held in that hall. Maybe the next time I go back home to visit, I'll stop in. It can't hurt and who knows, maybe I'll run into some of those friends I used to go to church with long ago.