The pets, the book, the shopping

Taylor Mae, our 11 year old cat (birthday this past week) is very happy with her new Tiki food, so much so that she sits by Kathy's head while Kathy sleeps. That's Taylor's way of saying, "Yum". Taylor is not afraid of the dogs any longer and they don't bother her. If you want someone who is a little standoffish to love you, serve them a plate of Tiki cat food and see what happens.

Bea plays with the string on a wand every night at 8:15. She is an extremely agile kitty who can fly when need be and is not hampered by the chubbiness that visitors comment on. She insists that she is simply "big boned".

JayJ is an angel and an extremely handsome dog. He absolutely adores Kathy and is nothing without her. He becomes despondent when she is not around, but then who doesn't? He is a popular dog among the iggy set and he likes them, too. He is indeed a little gentleman.

Neville and Peggy are in there with each other. Neville now jumps up on Peggy's lap and falls asleep. Neville has become more confident over the past couple of weeks and shakes less. He barks and growls at JayJ, who pays him back by stealing his bone from his kennel. When JayJ does that, Peggy gives Neville some yummy gluten-free Gorilla Munchable cereal and Neville doesn't even have to do a trick to get a few pieces of cereal. Actually, we have not stumbled upon a trick that little Neville can do.

Peggy's editor says she has to turn her book over to her in 36 hours and simply leave it alone now that it is "near perfect". Peggy thinks about her book all of the time and feels pretty good about having fulfilled the 40 year dream of writing it. It is a wish fulfilled. From Peggy: "It posed a few of the questions I had about poverty and answered a huge question that I have about life in general. After the editor cleans it up, I will look for a literary agent and see if the book can be published. It can take a year or so to find a literary agent so I will concentrate on other things rather than re-writing. Things like...well...writing a second book."

Kathy and Peggy nervously thank those of you who followed the Backyard Project to completion. The landscaping crew laid sod this afternoon after a couple of weekends of placing drywells and related duties. It looks great out there and the household is jazzed about having a nice looking backyard again. Tomorrow the household drinks coffee on the deck, re-instituting a weekend tradition.

Kathy and Peggy have a warm-weather vacation coming up and are assessing their wardrobes. The television show "What Not To Wear" says that walking shorts are a good alternative to crop pants. You know how Peggy feels about crop pants (she is undone by them). Incomes being what they are (not), a trip to Penneys to check out the Charter Club line is in order. Just generally, items of clothing have come down in price by about $20 per item, so there may be a bargain in store, although you can be sure it will not be a crop pant, especially one in a fruity color.