Bagheera

My cat is wonderful!

I have missed not having one around to greet me when I come home, to purr and sit on my lap, to sleep with me. And this one does. Thank you Elizabeth, Andrew and Abby for giving me one of your favorite kittens! (And having him neutered plus sending him up to us!!)



And a big thanks to David for bring him to Alaska. And to Tawni who had to endure having a back pack that the cat sprayed before leaving SLC... They both seem to like MY cat...Sorry David.








He's a playful teenage kitten.

He likes the automatic kitty litter we have. He likes to sit back and watch the rake do its job. He likes to play in the litter crystals too...
















He decided that he liked playing with the ribbon around one of Kent's packages. He actually bit the ribbon and tried carrying it away to play with.




It's nice.



























I like this cat the way he is.













































Fortunately I was able to sidetrack him with good old yarn!



















It's nice to have a cat again. I'm hoping he doesn't wander off. I do wonder how he will be after he gets over his "teen years" and becomes an adult cat.


My cats always seem to have a personality shift then. I wonder why?

They Caammmme!

Tawni Chambers and David arrived safely on Tuesday, 15 December 2009. It was a crisp day. The fog was finally lifting and you could see the beautiful frost laden trees. However wonderful it was to see David and meet Tawni, (who is quite impressively beautiful, and how did David ever luck out meeting her?) I must confess I was more interested in what they brought me...my Christmas present from Elizabeth! Bagheera , the name of the panther from Jungle Book, is now MY cat. Both actually look a lot alike. I like the name but cannot pronounce it correctly as everyone that I tell about my cat corrects my pronunciation. I feel like I'm back in Norway...

Wonder why?

This cat's fur is more like velvet rather than soft cotton ball's like Scratch. He's also shorter hair which will be nice.

We did like Scratch. And we miss him.

Bet you don't wonder about that!

It's Never the Same, OH, but it IS!

I was starting to write this nice blog about David, Tawni and MY cat. Nothing big, life is great, love Tawni, love MY cat (even if I can't say his name correctly), it's cold here, excited for Christmas, etc., etc. When what to my troubling eyes did appear...my printer is no longer reading my SD memory card to download pictures. Why? David is here...

David has figured out why I couldn't download my pictures onto a digital frame. (I had plugged the memory reader into an USB extension rather than the computer...so it didn't have enough juice to receive and download pictures.) But with the good comes the urghhhhs! I tried to download pictures of the kids at Beluga Point and at James Cook's monument but... I usually do it on the printer's card reader but it says it's not connected to the computer... Where is the cord? Why is it NOT connected anymore? David, what did you do? And of course, David is asleep... Wait a minute, he just woke up but he is too tired.Can it wait until morning? Of course it can. Minutes later he is up. Tawni is still awake. He comes down. He finds the cord and makes sure I can download now. Somethings are figured out while other things that were working no longer are, WAIT they are again! YEAH!!!

David, also wanting to receive wireless connections has configured the router into our server. If you only have one computer and it's a desktop, you need to stay in one place and so it doesn't matter that the router is not in use. Now it IS nice that if we ever get a netbook or a lap top we can use it wherever we want to in the house. BUT the computer is not the same. The yahoo site looks different, it's acting slower, pictures are not coming up with the post...



Today is Saturday. Yesterday Tawni and Kent put up the tree. (Did David help? He usually refuses to help put the lights on the tree and decorate it but Tawnie is here and he needs to impress her?) Early this morning I went through several containers of Christmas decorations and put them out while everyone else was asleep.



These long nights are confusing their sleeping clocks. It stays dark until at least 10:00 and then the sun sets around 3:30 so if you're sleeping when the sun is down, you're getting lots of sleep... You think it's 7:00 because of the light only to find out it's 11:00.

Today they finally got going around 1:00 and we went to Beluga Point south of Anchorage after finding an open Wells Fargo and the Post Office. The tide was out and you could see the chunks of ice sitting on the shoreline.

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!

And baby was it EVER cold today! David and Tawnie have discovered the windchill factor in Alaska means that what is cold (10 degrees F) is REALLY cold and that's at 3:30 p.m. The wind is blowing and it is freezing!

Kent and I look a little more acclimated to the weather, don't we? There's a reason we store fat in the winter... I only wish it came off in the spring!










Getting back into the warm car, we went north to downtown Anchorage to see James Cook's monument.




It might have been an impressive sight if it were lighter and you could see further than two feet from your nose...





David IS a good cook. We have been sharing cooking responsibilities: David and Tawni one day, Kent and I the next. So far David's made curried beef, Kent has done a roast. Yesterday was leftovers from a PCA (Personal Care Attendant) Open House appreciation day my company held which included shrimp, tortilla/turkey/Swiss cheese wraps, ham croissant sandwiches, chips, cookies, cupcakes and drinks. It all tasted really good! I was able to bring some of the leftover wraps and shrimp home so David and Tawni were relieved of cooking duties yesterday. They were all relieved as the went to the Anchorage Museum all afternoon and were hungry when they came to pick me up at 5:30. Today was my turn and we went to the best Mexican restaurant that we can find in Anchorage-Pancho Villa's. Good food at reasonable prices (for Anchorage!). Don't I have this cooking routine figured out?

You know, I really love my job BUT it is tough working when you'd rather be home visiting, playing games, decorating, sightseeing, and so forth. Problems at work always pop up and need to be resolved. New plans come in and need to be presented to clients. I think I'll have the afternoon off only to have a busier day than usual...

So at the close of this post, the wondering thought is how to balance the now with not being home like I used to be. It would be nice to be home to play but... it is nice to have a job too. In this day and age where so many need jobs. I'm so thankful I don't have to wander far from home.