Here's How He Does It...

By occasionally being the snuggliest, smoochiest, most boneless varmint on the planet, Leo manages to get away with a lot of "Hostile Takeover!" type of behavior.The story behind these pictures is this:

Although Sunday was pretty cold, Leo wanted to go out on the porch. We forgot he was out there for about an hour. D'OH! Michael let him in and Leo was incredibly smoochy - but Michael couldn't pay much attention to th' little varmint because his pager had gone off. As Michael headed out, he dropped the cat into my office and told me about Leo's brush with abandonment issues. He's not allowed to roam freely in the studio, so I tucked him into my sweatshirt while I worked. He purred his brains out (A small task: purr, purr, plop!) and stayed put for more than two hours until I finally evicted him to go in search of coffee.

Leo can be hilarious or infuriating when he's bad... but boy is he cute when he's feelin' snuggly.

Hostile Takeover!

Jason emailed photos of a recent New Hampshire real estate grab. Our intrepid photographer captured the magic moments, frame by frame, on his cell phone camera.

First, Peanut enjoying her loft-style, 2-bed perch with a view,
nestled on a 1-acre lot in scenic Epping, NH.Varmint! The undesirable element has moved into the neighborhood.The next thing you know, violence breaks out!
Real estate values plummet!Peanut sells out cheap, and now the Orange
Stripey Thug owns the joint.Don't be fooled. He's gunning for you next...

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving I carved a Turk-O-Lantern to bring with us to Carole's house. It looks cool in a dark room, but I took these pictures this morning so you'll have to use your imagination!

There was an incredible variety of delicious food, everyone brought their favorite dishes to share. In years past I've brought lumpia, home made bread, pies, cookies, roasted veggies -- you name it. This year my contributions were solely to the dessert table. You're looking at a date custard pie that tasted just like Grammy's. (I'm a braggart for saying this - same taste, better texture - because I baked it in a water bath. Forgive me Grammy!) Silky, rich heart attack special - packing 6 eggs and 3 cups of half & half. Soooooo delicious.

When is the last time you had peanut butter fudge?
This was creamy, peanut buttery chunks of decadence. Triple gingerbread cake that I made in a fancy pan
instead of my usual 9x9 square.
We served it warm with fresh whipped cream... mmm... mmm... good.

The entire dinner menu was incredible. To give you an idea, here's just the desserts: chocolate trifle, decorated sugar cookies, apple pie w/ice cream, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, candied nuts, medjool dates, fruits, and what we brought. Crazy. Delicious.

Monkey Memo: Send Pictures

Jason emailed a couple pictures of Cynthia's Naval Aviator Winging Ceremony, and I'm hoping this post will be a reminder for him to put the rest of the photos on disc and send it to his Favorite Motorcycle-Riding Aunt. (I'm using my mind control waves Monkey! Obey!)

A Class ActOur Favorite PilotDrew stands out from the crowd too!

Just Passing Through

This afternoon I was double checking spices and baking ingredients that I'll need for Thanksgiving cooking. I practically fell off the step stool when I looked out the kitchen window and saw a moose standing in our driveway, next to Michael's truck. I kicked off my slippers, ran down the stairs, grabbed my camera and dashed out the basement door -- scaring the moose down the driveway.

Here he is gallumping across the cul-de-sac:
I stopped about half-way down the front lawn and crouched near a tree. He stopped across the street and turned around to see what I was doing. Sorry the picture is so blurry -- it all happened pretty quickly.I was setting up to get a better picture when a UPS truck roared down the street and scared him off completely.
The UPS driver and I walked over to the edge of the woods to see if we could get a last look at him, but he was gone, gone, gone.

Rafael, Is That You?

After my previous post, I found this:Jason at 12 with a drawn on mustache looks remarkably like Rafael at 27(?)! Hee, hee, hee!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Jason, Happy Birthday to you! I mailed a birthday package that should arrive today, however, I couldn't resist the opportunity to post a couple pictures of my favorite Marine. Here's one with a creative wardrobe choice:It's good that your fashion sense has improved considerably. Ladies don't really dig the box look, but you were sporting cholo style pants/socks/kicks before hip-hop made it cool!

I love this one with the missing tooth... And a picture of my favorite nephew and niece celebrating my favorite holiday. You're still a little batty, so you fit right in with the rest of us hanging in your family tree!Happy Birthday Jason, we love you!