Sophie's Story

        When you adopt a kitten, you never quite know who is coming to live with you. You may have an idea when you meet her/him the first time, but once the kitten gets settled in you start to learn more about them.    Barnaby was described as "starving for affection" which immediately made me want to meet him. When he curled up in my arms and began to purr the first time I picked him up, it sealed the deal. I wanted to take him home.     The first few days with us were not easy. Willow wasn't happy with the new arrival. I realized that I needed to give him time to get used to his new home and give Willow a chance to adjust as well. In about a week they were able to be together and now they are friends.     Barnaby has turned about to be an interesting kitten. He's not quite a year old so there may be more changes ahead. He's grown a lot and is much bigger than I thought he would be. When I try to play with Willow, he wants to play too and take over. I had assume

     Yesterday one of my tasks was to clean out the fridge. I've been increasingly frustrated at my inability to get to what I need without having to take a lot of things out. I also wanted to see if there were any forgotten leftovers luring in the back. I know that I'm missing at least one container.    One of the the things that I noticed is that we had a lot of vegetables. One reason for this is that we got a small veggie tray for Super Bowl snacking. There was also a partial container of mushrooms that C bought as a  side  with our Valentine's meal of steak. I found a bag with one dried out tortilla in it. That irritated me because I try hard to use things up before opening a new container. There were two open bottles of store bought pickles. They were consolidated.  I found some rice that was starting to mold and a container of pulled pork that someone had given us. The pulled pork made me a little mad. I don't eat pork and I wish that C would have given it away if

        It finally snowed this week about two months too late. I was still happy to see it. Unlike just about everyone else I know, I like snow. It brightens up the winter atmosphere and makes everything, except roads, look better. There are few things prettier than snow sparkling in the sunlight.        It was the perfect snow, just enough to cover the ground and the trees not enough to cause major problems with traffic. As much as I like snow, I'm not a fan of snowstorms or blizzards. Not everyone has the privilege of being able to stay inside during bad winter weather. I have had to drive during bad weather to get to work.  This was a nice snow where the flakes came down and the snowplows were out pushing it off the roads and putting down snowmelt. The ridge that the snowplows leave in front of driveways was small enough to drive over.    Along with the snow has come some cooler weather, another thing that I welcome. The cooler weather gives me the chance to bundle up and feel c

     This year for what felt like the first time in several years, C and I watched the Super Bowl. I've given up watching football, at least pro football because it just wasn't any fun anymore. I enjoy watching college football, preferably small schools, where the players play because they enjoy it, not because they are planning to enter the pro draft.    Another reason why I didn't  watch past Super Bowls was because I was tired of seeing Tom Brady and his team in the game. The game always seemed to be Patriots versus another large market team. It was a given the the Patriots were going to win. No fun.    We both thought this year would be a good year to watch the game. Although we hoped  that Detroit would be playing, the San Francisco- Kansas City matchup would be an entertaining one. There was the added benefit of not being a big fan of either team, although I would admit that I really wanted Kansas to win.    The first thing that we did on Sunday afternoon was to put t

     In the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes, Idgie is trying to comfort Stump. Stump is the son of Idgie's business partner Ruth who is dying of cancer. She says, "I guess you already know that there are angels masquerading as people walking around this planet and your mom was the bravest one of those."   It's one of my favourite  quotes in the entire movie. Part of the reason is because I believe  it is true. One of them was a guy I knew in high school named Harold. Another is my cousin, Ann.    I'm writing this on Friday night and right now my cousin Ann is in Rochester. Her niece, Rachel, is there in hospice with just days to live. Rachel was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, I'm not sure when. Ann and Rachel's siblings are there to spend this time together before Rachel leaves mortality. Ann has been caring for Rachel during her illness.    Unfortunately, this is not a new situation for Ann. Her older sister, Jean, who is Rachel's mother, fo