Basically cats are weird.

Charlie and Bella were sisters but hadn’t really gotten along the past five years or so. They’d hiss at each other in passing and generally avoid one another.

Charlie had been our downstairs kitty—at every house. She rarely came upstairs and pretty much lived her life on the main floor. She had a special wet food diet (that her sister benefited from) but wouldn’t really cry for food until Tom set foot in the kitchen at whatever god early time he woke up (could be 4a, could be 6a). She did have a random caterwaul that could happen any time, but mostly at bedtime—we assumed it was because she was lonely or going senile.

Bella was our quiet upstairs MBR kitty. She didn’t seem to like people much so pretty much lived/hid in our bedroom—though she did go downstairs to eat and use the litter. She slept with us every night and never cried for food.

Now that Charlie is gone…my how things have changed.

Bella is downstairs most of the time and rarely sleeps with us. She sleeps in random cat beds and sits on the back of the couch. But!—WHAAAT?!—she has started crying at any and all hours of the night. This morning she woke us up SCREAMING (we assumed for food) at 4:30 and kept it up until 5:45 when she came upstairs to scream at us, come visit us in bed for a minute, then leave. But then was quiet—so maybe she wasn’t hungry…but lonely? But she obviously knows where we are since she’s lived in our bedroom for years?!

We didn’t expect any of this and it’s been interesting to watch. So what I’m basically saying is cats are weird.

Rest in peace, Charlie.

Seventeen years is a long time for a cat, but it was still too soon. I hated to make the call but she told us it was time.

We are all devastated of course, and the kids are really taking it hard—especially Katie since Charlie has been her best buddy since Day 1.

It’s hard to pick from all the thousands of pictures I have, so here’s just a few of the more recent ones.

Rest in peace, Charlie.

Charlie hiding from Honey

We had brunch with Anna and David today and they brought their dog, Honey. She’s a great dog and we love her but she wants to play with Maggie and the cats and they want NO part of it. Charlie actually lasted fairly long in her bed but eventually she snuck up the stairs and just sat there. She RARELY goes upstairs so you know she wasn’t herself.

Maggie puppy in watercolor!

A Facebook ad strikes again! I kept seeing the PAWS ad on my feed for awhile now where they take a pet photo and make a watercolor out of it. Yes I know apps can do the same thing but it was only $5 so I thought I’d try it. It is cute and I’d say worth the $5 but it’s nothing super special. But damn Maggie was a cute puppy.

The original, 2005

Christmas Eve with our bubble!

If I haven’t mentioned it, we have created a bubble with our good friends Anna and David. Each family quarantined for two weeks and we always wear masks when we are with anyone outside our bubble—and even try to avoid prolonged visits with anyone outside the bubble. So we do hang out with each other a lot.

We usually share Hello Fresh dinners but decided to splurge tonight on not one, not two, but three orders of our favorite octopus appetizer from our favorite restaurant (Primo) and a homemade charcuterie board. That was seriously all Tom, Anna, David, and I wanted. Easy peasy.

We didn’t take one single picture of our amazing dinner, but it was delicious. We might also have drank an entire batch of Dave’s amazing rum punch and watched Christmas Chronicles with the kids. I’m not naming names but someone fell asleep.

Then we got ready for Santa!

We left out Girl Scout cookies because Katie texted Santa and asked if he liked them and gave him a choice and he picked the chocolate and peanut butter ones. The candy cane is for the reindeer.

I absolutely love the letters both kids left for Santa. Owen thanked him for being awesome (and gave him a spot for a Robux code) and Katie wanted Santa to write his name.

Owen’s full note.

And this was where Maggie was. Maybe sneakily waiting for Santa, too?