Happy Kristin Day!

Hope your day is filled with lots of smiles, laughter, fun, and ... CHOCOLATE (well, I suppose I've already made sure of that one :))

Happy Birthday to All - 1st Quarter...

We celebrated January birthdays this weekend at my Auntie Jeri's house and we had such a fun time.  The night started out with a few too many margaritas....  

And then we played a dice rolling game...

Cat got a good roll...

... so did mom...

... but not me - boo hoo!

Linda put in a lime instead of a chip!

 Dad was the big winner!

Craig gave Stephen a litmus test to make sure he could drive home ... we only had about six blocks to go, but Stephen thankfully passed :)

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Vicki, Gary, Lou, and Jeri, Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Gabrielle is so cute!

The Recovery Room

Baby Kitty and I have been holed up in the bedroom for the last two days recuperating.  Me, from the flu ... or whatever nasty, phlem-filled, hacky, sneezy, never-ending sickness this is, and Baby Kitty, from the cruel operation of being declawed.  Yes, we declawed our cat.  I feel terrible.  I wish I could take it back.  But, considering what we've been through with Baby Kitty, declawing was the only option.

I've been wanting to write about Baby Kitty for a long time, but I was worried that I would jinx her stay with us.  We almost gave her away about ten times.  Every time I thought she had finally become a member of our home she would climb another set of curtains, rip another scratch through our leather chairs, pee on the floor ... again, give me a black eye, or take another chunk out of my poor, scratched up hands.  I actually got used to the sting of lotion rubbed into the numerous scratch wounds spread over my body.  And, whoever heard of a cat that doesn't use a litter box?

The problem with Baby Kitty was that she was not a domestic cat.  She was abandoned behind a Forza Coffee, and who knows where her mother came from or went, but Baby Kitty did not trust humans.  She would do everything she could do refuse the love and attention we were trying to give her.  It has taken a very long time and a lot of patience, but we finally earned her trust and she is truly a member of our family.  She will finally sit with us, loves to be pet, and -thankfully - always uses the litter box.  She is still more standoffish than cats I've had in the past, but I know she feels safe here.  If she ever gets locked outside she begs desperately to come back in.  Our home has finally become her home.  Unfortunately, it has been impossible to break her of the habit of using her claws - she uses them on furniture and people alike - so this week we took her to the vet (who promptly asked - "oh, is this the psychotic cat?") and had those weapons removed.  I just hope she is as playful as ever when she's fully recuperated...

One More Christmas Celebration

Since the Christians weren't able to join us for Christmas Eve due to the snow, we celebrated with them a little late this year.  Last night we had dinner at El Toro - that was a big group! And then everyone came back to our house for dessert.  Neither the Christians nor the Johnsens have been to our house, so everyone was checking it out from top to bottom - I'm pretty sure we got the seal of approval :) We had a great time with everyone, and I think there may be more events to come at our house - yikes!

Steve and Sandy

Kaitlin and Luke playing Mancala

Me and Grandma Annabelle

And of course, where there is a big screen, there will be boys - we didn't see these guys for most of the night :)

Dental School Reunion ... already?

We went out with Stephen's dental class last week in Seattle.  It was a treat to be out in Beltown since we rarely get up there anymore and it was great to see everybody.

Wait a minute... Ashley didn't go to dental school ...

... but I just had to bring her along so she could check out some of these hot dentists!

Seriously though, we had so much fun ... starting out at Amber, then Twist, and then a late night snack at the Broadway Grill right down the street from our old apartment.  We didn't make it home until about 3am, but it was totally worth it.