Simply Saturday

Days are slipping by quickly, and once again, I have let the blog slide to the side. I will try to be a good little blogger and keep it more up to date once the movers have done their thing. That said, next week is not looking good for blogging. All of our worldly possessions are being boxed up and sent "over the pond" to our new home. I'll be lap topping it until we see them again in a few months.

Update on the kitties: They are doing very well and are enjoying the perks of living with Grandma and Grandpa. I suspect they have each gained a pound or two already with the extra treats that they are getting, but this is not confirmed at this time. Ashley is still her mellow self. Tink is pulling her normal routine of getting into everything and slowly driving the Grandparents insane. You have to love the Tink. When these three years are up, the Grandparents will either meet us at the door with kennels in hand, or yell through the peek hole that we can't have the babies back. I am prepared for battle. Dad gets credit for the latest Tinky pictures. I am still waiting for him to start his own kitty blog. They provide a lot of material.

I am off to prepare for the movers on Monday. Things to sort, things to toss, things to pack into suitcases. Our lives have to be divided into need it now, need it in 3 years, and can live without it for 2 or 3 months. I have found that I am more of a hoarder than I thought. I blame my parents. (I am quite sure that it can't be MY fault!)

Wavering Wednesday

Greetings from the glorious, thawing tundra. I've been slacking a bit in the blogging, but we've been a little consumed by this big move. I am happy to report that Tink and Ashley are settling in nicely at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Ashley is still a little shy but Tink has claimed the entire house as her domain. Not surprising. We are already counting the days until we get them back. I haven't had anyone sleep on my head or drool in my hair for several days. The kids have offered, but it's just not the same. I have taken to carrying a pillow around, petting it and making purring sounds. The neighbors stare a bit, but it seems to help.Only a few more days until the movers come and take our major household goods. Then we will be roughing it with inflatable mattresses, camping chairs, the laptop, and a 13 inch TV from the stone age. This should be very interesting. I suppose it will make us appreciate our belongings even more when we get them back. You will be happy to know that Jessica's passport finally came in. For a while there it was looking like we would have to leave her with the neighbors. She might have ended up on the blog with a sign around her neck saying "Free to good home!" Stranger things have happened. Russ has recovered from the heartache of selling his beloved Tundra and wheeler, and is checking out sports cars online. You can practically see the testosterone. The kids are helping him pick out the color. I am reminded of "Tim The Tool Man" Taylor on that old TV show Home Improvement where he grunts and says things like "more power". Oh, well. He has 3 years to dream and plan. Then he will probably head out and get another Tundra.

Where For Art Thou Romeo?

It's been a rather traumatic week, but we have all survived. Ashley and Tink are a little bruised and battered, but are safely settled in at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They will never fly again. If I have to drive across the entire United States from our next US base to pick them up, then so be it. I have learned how evil the airline industry can be to someone else's beloved pets, and I will protect them better from here on out. Enough said. On to other things.

It was a sad day here on Elmendorf. Due to Tink and Ashley's recent trauma, I have decided not to share the news with them. We are in mourning. I'm sure everyone knows Shakespeare's famous tale of Romeo and Juliet. Not quite so many know of our own Romeo the squirrel and his love affair with my precious Tink. They were quite close, and I was afraid that he would take her leaving rather hard. It seems we underestimated his love and devotion. He appears to have thrown himself under a vehicle today and did not survive the encounter. (Not unlike the original Romeo who could not live without his Juliet--- although without the whole car thing.) Before you ask... no, I was not the one who ran him over. I am not sure when the services will be held, but we will most certainly send flowers.

One Step Closer To Moving...

The cats are almost ready to be shipped off to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I took them to the vet this morning for their checkup and flying paperwork. I would say it was an easy appointment, except it was quite the workout. Both of these felines are a whole lot of woman. (No one in this house has missed any meals!) The hardest part was getting Ashley out from under the armoire when it was time to leave the house. She does not have fond memories that include the kennel. Tink still considers it a cool play toy, and climbs in and out by herself. Ashley has to be encouraged. I even tried luring Ash out of hiding with kitty treats. Tink jumped in and gobbled them all up. Needless to say, things did not go well after that. Still... I got them in the kennels and off to the vet. They got back in the kennels MUCH quicker when it was time to come back home. Tink is now hanging out on the computer table, taking a power nap. Ash slunk off to hide under the dining table and pout. Tomorrow, I get to start the fun again and try to wedge their stubborn bodies once more into the kennels. Tomorrow is the real deal. The kitties will be heading off on a brand new adventure in one direction, and we will soon head off another way for an adventure of our own. Yet another tough day in the moving process. We just have to keep an eye on the goal. Waffles, chocolate, beer, castles, and endless opportunities. The kitties will take good care of Grandma and Grandpa while we are gone. Ashley will make a lovely reading companion for Grandma. Tink might even teach Grandpa how to play fetch. I can see their new blog now..."Adventures With Ashley & Tink."

Redoubt & Tink...Both Like To Be The Center Of Attention

All is quiet here on the Northern front. Redoubt is still having a bit of a temper tantrum. She is currently sending a plume of steam up to about 16,000 feet. Naughty little thing. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, "Low-level seismicity continues and a lava dome is growing in the vent. Plume conditions this afternoon allow views of the base of the north side of the dome." It's quiet here in town. No one is running for cover and yelling, so I assume that she is still stewing in her own juices.

Exciting news in these parts is that they have added a new camera angle to the Redoubt web cams. You might want to keep an eye on this beauty, because when she blows, you will have a front row seat. (At least until the lens is covered with ash and snow.)

The latest on the Tink saga...I am the queen of lists. There is nothing better to me than a brand new pack of yellow sticky notes and a black ink pen. I think I've mentioned before that nothing is more satisfying than making a list and then getting to mark everything off as completed. I had a sticky sitting on the computer desk in the basement, just a little something to remind me to copy some pictures to a DVD for someone. Nothing major. We shut the lights out and went to bed. Hours later, we woke to the sounds of something crinkling. It's completely dark, so the hubby grabbed the flashlight and shone it at the end of the bed. No surprise. There sat Tink, sticky note in her mouth. "Mrpppp?" she asked. Clearly Russ is interrupting her. I just want to point out that the sticky was on the desk in the basement and the bedroom is on the second floor. This was not an accident. We told Tink to knock it off and go back to sleep. I didn't even bother to fight her for my sticky. Take notes, Grandma and Grandpa. All of this will soon be yours to deal with. The excitement continues...

Did Anyone Else Feel That?

Either we just had an earthquake, or someone spiked my lunch. I suspect the cat. They say that animals can sense these things just before they happen. Tink was oblivious. I was just sitting at the computer desk, trying to see the screen. Tink was, of course, between me and the screen, trying to keep me from seeing it. Then I heard a creaking sound from upstairs and the whole chair jerked around. And the desk. And the room. Just one big motion, and then...nothing. I, for one, do not want to be trapped in the basement with all of those exposed pipes if the Big One is coming, so I headed upstairs. Tink decided to risk it and wait it out on the desk. Nothing else. Nada. Zip. Very exciting, and better for waking me up than a cup of coffee, I must say. I wonder if Redoubt could be to blame. They aren't showing anything major on the website right now. Just the regular stuff. She still has an ash and steam plume, extending 10-15 miles south east of the crater. They have noted that a lava dome is forming again at the summit crater. She could blow again, without warning. Could this be her way of making sure I stay home and clean closets? OK. I'm going.....I'm going.

The Day After Redoubt...

I tell you, it's a good thing that you weren't around here last night. Talk about chaos and panic. I'm pretty sure I heard Tink yelling "IT'S EVERY CAT FOR HERSELF!" at one point. Once we got her calmed down and convinced that the world wasn't ending (she watches too much TV), things went a lot smoother.
I went out this morning and took a few pics of the ash fall. It's a really fine grain, sort of between sand and baby powder. Does a lot more damage, though. The airport has been closed all night due to ash fall. I'm not sure when it's going to reopen. When you consider that everything in Alaska comes in by boat or plane, it kind of puts a damper on things. For instance, no mail until this clears up.

Everything looks just a little bit dingy this morning. You can see the thin layer of ash on the snow. We are expecting more snow today, so this will be covered up soon.

In the interest of science, I got a sample of the ash and put it in a little bottle. I'll make a cute little label for it later. Some day, when I'm old and gray (oh, wait, that's now!)...Some day, when I'm older and grayer, I will look back at this little bottle and tell my grand kids how I survived the volcanic eruption of 2009. Of course, the story will be a LOT more exciting at that point. I'll throw in a couple of fire engines and sirens to spice things up. No sense in boring the younguns!

Redoubt Volcano...Again!

She's been holding it in for so long that now she just can't seem to stop letting it all out. Poor Redoubt. She erupted a couple of times last night, and again around 9:30 this morning. The latest ash plume went around 50,000 feet above sea level. Winds have shifted, and it's heading our direction. Luckily for Anchorage residents, they are calling for "trace amounts of ash fall in the area". Not really sure how much trace amounts are. I looked at my measuring utensils in the kitchen and couldn't find "trace" on any of them. Must be somewhere in the category of "smidgen" or "tad". Snow has been falling all morning, so it would be mixed in with that and not very noticeable. We are under an advisory until 3 pm.

(Picture Date: March 26, 2009 21:41:00 UTC Image Creator: Dehn, Jonathan)

(Homer Lodge, Picture Date: March 26, 2009, Image Creator: Isaak, James)

The weather has been a little wacky lately, not even counting the volcanic activity. It's in the low 30's right now, and will stay in that area for most of the week. Big flakes of snow are falling, and sticking for the most part. Ice is melting off of the roofs and dripping down onto the snowbanks below. Essentially, Anchorage in a big slushy cup at the moment. Spring Breakup is not the most attractive season for Alaska. Kind of like seeing your favorite movie star without her makeup on. You know she is beautiful, but you aren't seeing much of that right now.

In case you were following out sad cat saga, there is much celebration in our household now. Grandma and Grandpa have saved the kitties. They have volunteered to babysit our babies for the 3 years that we are in Europe. Whoopeee! The kids have stopped moping around the house. Jess has stopped accusing us of "putting a price tag on family". Now we can relax in the knowledge that our cats will be well taken care of. I won't even complain when they weight about 30 pounds each when we return to the states (because Grandma loves to give the kitties treats). I will just remind her that Tink loves to sleep on your head, and that could be very dangerous for everyone involved if she were the size of a bean bag chair. Ashley will have a reading buddy to lounge with, and Tink will have a glass door with a whole new crop of squirrels to check out. Her heart will be broken many times, I'm sure, but she is tough and can handle it. We have given up on the cats Dutch lessons, and are now working on teaching them to speak southern. Meeeeeooooow, ya'll. Grandparents rock!

Free To Good Home

It's not looking too good for the babies. While trying to book our overseas tickets, we have found that getting two cats to our new home is not as simple as we first thought. Or as cheap. Seems they don't really want any more cats over there. And they want to make it as difficult as possible to take any. Tons of forms and regulations, as well as approval from a foreign consulate. For cats? Did they commit some crimes that I'm not aware of? Are they on some "list" that I don't know about? (Did Ashley order too much off of the Home Shopping Channel and have Tink write a couple of hot checks to pay for it?) Not to mention that with all of their fees and tickets, it is adding up to about $1,500 to get them over there. Not to mention, we would have to go through all the paperwork and another $1,500 to get them back to the states in three years. If something is not 100% correct in their paperwork once we got there, they automatically put them back on a plane to their city of origin. That would mean the cats would be sitting in the Anchorage airport for the next 3 years while we were overseas. I've informed them that they need to be practicing their "cute" looks. It looks like they will have to shop around for a new home.

I Spoke Too Soon!

What light through yonder window breaks? Tis but the reflection of the morning sun off 4-5 inches of freshly fallen snow. Not exactly romantic, and definitely a bit of a surprise. I should have known better. I blame myself. The streets were clear of snow. We took both vehicles to the car wash and cleaned them. I was so excited about the prospect of Spring that I got a little cocky. I mentioned riding the motorcycle. Apparently that angered Mother Nature and she decided to send me a little message. Point taken. I have hung my head in shame. Embrace the winter. Don't get ahead of yourself.

Tink took advantage of my distraction to sneak outside and look for Romeo, her plump rodent boyfriend. He was no where to be seen. I think the romance is on the downhill slide. Ever since his robust frame broke the rope hanger on my bird feeder and he robbed us of all the seeds inside, he seems to have traveled on to "greener pastures". He never calls any more. She is starting to get depressed. Most days you can find her sitting by the back window, looking longingly for her lost love. O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy species and refute thy hunger!

Speaking of Romeo and the bird feeder, I decided to salvage what I could. I couldn't find a rope small enough to thread through the little opening at top of the feeder, so I tried a shoestring. It worked wonderfully. I was very proud of myself until my daughter took one look and said "Mom! That is SOOOOOO redneck! I can't believe you did that! How embarrassing!" Well, I am from the south. She's just lucky I didn't slather it with duct tape. Besides, I think the bow on the top is a nice touch. My hopes of Spring are covered with snow. Are you admiring how shiny and clean the truck is? Or was. Or might be once we dig it out from under.

On another note, we are still riding the Redoubt Volcano see saw of fun. We have once again been upgraded to "Watch" alert status. It would seem that we have been having continuous small earthquakes, approximately one every minute, prompting Observatory Geologists to release this statement.

"Seismic activity has continued to increase and conditions may evolve rapidly culminating in an eruption within days to weeks," an observatory geologist reported Sunday morning. “We are watching closely.”

Does this sound familiar? It should, because it's the same statement that they have been using for a while now. I am starting to feel sorry for the geologists. Can you imagine the flack they are receiving about this. Is it going to erupt or not? Hey, Frank, did you feel something? Release statement number three.

Redoubt and Tink - Two Unpredictable Women!

Someone can't make up her mind. Redoubt has quieted down again and although we are still on orange watch status, it looks like she is planning on behaving herself for the near future. Then again, she could blow her top tomorrow and we could wake up under a thick blanket of ash. Your guess is as good as mine (and the personnel at the volcano observatory). Either way, I have no choice in the matter and will simply stand at alert with my trash bags and duct tape at the ready. (I'm from the South, so I always have these things at the ready.)

On to other issues. Last night, I was awakened by a scratching sound near the end of the bed. It was a faint, repetitive grinding noise. I grabbed the flashlight, aimed it at the offending area, and clicked it on. There on the dresser sat Tink, mouth open and teeth attached to the corner of a box that I had placed there. "Mrp?" she asked, as if I was the one doing the disturbing and not her. "Go to bed Tink" I replied, shut off the light, and went quickly back to sleep. Some time later, I was again awakened by a strange sound. This time it was the tinkling of a little bell. I'm pretty sure I can guess who is to blame, but just the same, I aim the flashlight and click it on. There is Tink, knocking one of her many toys under the dresser and then fishing it back out again. (She had to pick the one with the bell inside it?) "Mrp?" she asks me once again. "Go to sleep, Tink!" Click into darkness. I can hear the claws digging into the mattress as she climbs up the end of the bed. The mound appears under the covers and slowly moves up the bed to my pillow. (She takes great pride in her shark imitation.) She climbs up onto my pillow and lays down on the top of my head. She is finally ready for bed. The alarm will go off in five minutes.

It's another lovely day in the frozen north. The weather is a little chilly (it's around 19 degrees right now), but the hope of Spring is in the air. Well, we did get another inch or so of snow last night, but still...the HOPE of Spring is still in the air. The kids are relaxing and enjoying the last few days of their Spring Break, Ashley is curled up in slumber on a dining room chair, and Tink is sitting between me and the computer screen, looking at me with that lazy eye and preparing to climb onto my shoulder to catch a few winks. Tink is an unusual cat. Therapy might be in order. She "talks" to you and carries on serious conversations. When you call her name, she answers with the cat equivalent of "Huh?" She plays fetch with little fur covered mice when she is in the mood. When she isn't, she rips the heads off of the mice and hides them around the house. It's kind of like living with a furry little Mafia boss. She is in love with a squirrel. (The FAT squirrel who tore up my bird feeder the other day and is now on MY hit list!) When she is tired, her left eye droops half shut, and she crawls on my shoulder for a little nap. She hides her head in my hair and purrs sleepily until her nose starts to run. OK, it's not her most attractive moment, but it is endearing in a weird sort of way. Only Tink can pull it off. She also finds great joy in tormenting me in unusual ways. Lately, she has been jumping up on the kitchen counter and sitting on my kitchen sink. This apparently provides the best view of her boyfriend in the back yard. I've opened other windows, and provided seating for her, but this is boring, because she doesn't get any attention from those. Yelling and putting her down have no effect. I've started turning the water on and shooting her with the spray nozzle to scare her off. Now it's become a game. She jumps up on the kitchen counter and looks at me. She waits until I turn the water on and grab the nozzle, and she is off. She has to get around the corner before I shoot her. Sometimes she wins, sometimes not. Then yesterday, Jess told me that Tink comes into her bathroom sometimes when she is washing her face. Jess has been getting her wet, because she seems to enjoy it. Wait a minute! She enjoys getting wet? Are you kidding me? The cat has trained me to spray her with water whenever she likes, and I have taught her nothing. Cat - 1. Human - 0. Why am I not surprised?

Anyway, if you are interested in visiting glorious Alaska, or just want to check out what is here, the new Anchorage Visitors Guide is up and running. For your copy, go to this site and fill in your info! http://www.anchorage.net/454.cfm They will mail it to your front door and it's completely free.

Birthdays And Young Love

Today was a very important day in our household. It is Jessica's 15th birthday, and Russ'... well, after a CERTAIN AGE I am told that it's not polite to count any more. Anyway, it was a day of great celebration for us. What kind of cake does one get to mark such an important age? One might think you would get something sophisticated and elegant. A twisted parent would probably go and get a "Dora the Explorer" cake. Guess which cake came home for the party? After all was said and done (and a LOT was said, trust me!), any cake is a delicious one, and the family gobbled it up. I promised Brandon a "Phineas and Ferb" one for his next birthday. The excitement never ends around here.

I bet you thought the "young love" part would involve Jess, too. Well, that's another story that I am forbidden to write about ("You are NOT putting this on the blog!" were her exact words.) This love story involves Tink. I caught her looking longingly out the back window today. I wondered what had caught her attention, and went to check it out.

These tracks came from the fence up to our back door. It would seem that she has had a visitor. A suitor, if you like. A young man has come a callin' on our young Tink. Yes, he is not exactly what we had in mind for our young lady, but love is blind. It knows no boundaries. It will conquer all...

He is a dashing young fellow. If he keeps coming back, I will have to corner him and ask him what his intentions are toward Ms. Tinkerbell. It's the innocent looking ones that you have to watch!

The Iditarod... And The Cats

The official restart of the "Last Great Race On Earth" 2009 will take place at 2 pm today at Willow. I won't be there, but I send my best wishes to the mushers and dogs taking part. They have a long trek ahead of them. You will be able to track your favorite mushers on the Iditarod website after that time.

I think that the fight between me and the cats is at a standstill. I am determined that they will stick to their new diet (1 dixie cup each of dry food each a day), and they are determined to make my life miserable until I give in and feed the little porkers. Each morning, around 5 am, they start their little game. They take turns trying to coax me out of bed and down to the feeding bowels. One at a time, they walk up my back with their pokey cat feet. Then Tink stands on my head to look out my bedroom window. (Seriously, there are a dozen windows in this house, does this one really have the best view?) Then they sit beside me and tell me it's time to get up. Sometimes Tink does her shark routine, where she climbs up under the covers from the foot of the bed, and sneaks up on me. If I ignore them (which I try my best to do), they start to argue amongst themselves. Ashley has a nervous habit. When she gets irritated, she starts twitching her tail. She can't help it. Tink, in turn, can't resist anything that moves. Do you see where this is going? Tink resist for about 30 seconds, and then she pounces on Ashley's tail. Now I have two cats fighting on the bed. Ugh! They win. But only to a point. I dump their little dixie cup of food in each bowel, and they can't decide whether to dig in or look at me in disgust. The diet continues.

Crazy Cat Wednesday

Normally, it's the kids who are driving me crazy. This time, it's the cats. I don't know if it's the new diet, or they just need the extra attention. Ashley is trying the adorable and lovable attempt to get more food. Normally she could care less is anyone is in the room with her, but now she's been following me around and talking to me a lot. I can't sit down without an 80 pound ball of fur jumping in my lap and telling me how she is starving and can barely survive without more food. Tink, on the other hand, is just being a royal pain. I came home yesterday to discover that she had pried open my closet door and chewed on the plastic dry cleaner bag that my formal dress was in. Luckily, she stopped just short of eating the bottom of the dress. She has also started jumping up on the kitchen counter and sitting on the edge of the sink to watch the birds at the bird feeder. I am constantly using Clorox wipes to get the "cat butt" off of the counters and sink. Before you feel sorry for her, let it be known that I open the dining room window and put her cat perch in front of it. She has a BETTER view of the bird feeder from there. The other night, I came around the corner to find her completely sprawled out on the kitchen bar. She didn't even blink when I yelled at her. I had to drag her off of there. She is just being a pill. I told both cats that I no longer feel sorry for them that they will be stuffed in the belly of a plane with all of our luggage for hours on end. I might even smile when I send them off. That will keep your cat butt out of my sink...

Cat Diet Day 1

Day 1 of the new diet for the fat cats. They have already tried to find ways to smuggle themselves out of the house. It's not pretty. Ashley has started gnawing on my ankle. Both of them stare at me constantly. I am afraid to sleep tonight. I must warn the boy. They will probably go after the smaller and weaker members of the family first.

You Can Tie A Cat To A Treadmill...

You can tie a cat to a treadmill, but you can't make them run on it. It's true. I tried. In doing all of our research for the move, we've been pricing flying the cats with us. Tink is a pretty normal sized cat, but Ashley...well, let's just say that she's a whole lot of woman. 15 pounds of woman. Did I mention that some airlines charge by the pound? Tink is small enough that she could ride in the cabin with us, at a much cheaper rate. Ashley is headed straight for the baggage compartment. (Cue the forklift.) I know what you're thinking, it's the owners fault that the pets are fat. True. Now the cats are on a diet. No food for the next three months. That should do it. Water only. The cats are not amused.

Merry Christmas!

We are having a lovely White Christmas here! The snow has been falling for several hours, but we haven't ventured out in it yet. We had thoughts of going sledding today, but there are too many distractions inside right now with all the Christmas food and gifts, so it will have to wait. We got a Wii for Christmas this year. Tink has been very helpful in reading the directions and installing all of the hardware. I don't know what we'd do without her. I must say, she is very dedicated to her job. She was very thorough in making sure all of the parts were out of the box. See what I mean? Dedication!

She had a few problems that she had to work out with her supervisor (Ashley), but for the most part, it was a problem free installation. I think she just needs to work on her "people skills".

This is the beauty that Russ got me for Christmas. It's an ulu, hand carved out of a sun bleached walrus jaw. This was something I've been wanting since we moved to Alaska. An ulu is an Inuit all purpose knife that dates back to around 2500 BC. The handles are traditionally carved out of caribou antlers.

Before I forget, turn on your speakers for the full effect, because I've now added music to the blog. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tales from the Tundra

It's warmed up a little bit. It's around 14 degrees now. That's practically balmy. Everything is covered with a layer of frost, and that layer is now being covered with a thin layer of snow. It started snowing again an hour or two ago.

I remember once when I had a nice looking Christmas tree. Now there are hardly any ornaments from about the middle of the tree down. Tink steals them. If you aren't there to appreciate this act, then she will hunt you down and proceed to chew on the ornament in front of you. Whoever saves the ornament then tosses it back at the top of the tree where Tink might not be able to reach it. All of the ornaments are on the top third of the tree. I will be surprised if the tree survives Christmas this year. I will be surprised if the Tink survives Christmas this year.

Another Snowy December Day

It snowed again yesterday. Fresh snow always makes it feel more Christmasy. (Is that even a word? Spell check says no, but I beg to differ.) This is the overhang on our front porch. Whenever it warms up a little bit, the ice and snow slowly slide down the metal roof and ease over the edge. Then it refreezes at night, and we are left with what look like huge fingers or paws reaching over the roof of the house. It gets very exciting when it warms up again, because then the ice and snow slide off and hit the ground with a big boom. One big chunk almost took out a neighbor on his back patio last year. It's best to keep an eye on things while you are shoveling off your patios and porches. As you can see, we are getting a lot of use out of our fire pit right now. You can almost hear the crackling fire and smell the marshmallows roasting. As I was standing in the doorway, taking pictures of interesting things out back, a big gust of arctic wind came through. I jumped back into the house, reached out to shut the door, and happened to look down. What interesting tracks. Some small creature has been checking out my back porch. Then I looked down at the stairs. That's my small creature! Apparently Tink crept out when I was taking a picture. She's lucky I looked back before I shut the door! We could have ended up with a Tinksicle. Of course I yelled at her. I explained to her that I was wearing socks and was in no way going out there to get her. She was not impressed. I explained to her that her spoiled little rear would be frozen in minutes if I left her out there. She took a bite of snow.

I told her she was being a royal pain and I was shutting the door now, cat or no cat. She decided her toes were a little chilly and began to casually pick her way through the snow to the door. Of course, you can't rush the Tink. With each step, she would raise a paw, shake the snow off of it and carefully place it back down. Ugh. I wouldn't have half this trouble if I had just gotten the kids a reindeer.