Greco-Roman Wrestling The day begins with Precious Angel flexing her muscles and sprinting around the table at 6:15am. She then begins hurdling over the legs and then does a spring board onto the balance beam (the wicker laundry basket) followed by a head first dive into the litter box. Standing up and slowly shaking her head she becomes a target for her opponent, Pumpkin Spice also known as Pumpkin Noodles. Pumpkin slowly circles the laundry basket slinking close to the floor and keeping her eyes glued to her opponent. With a fell swoop she lands on top of Precious and pins her to the floor. Precious is down for a count of two before she takes her rear feet and upends Pumpkin. She then pins Pumpkin to the floor and holds her down to the count of three before they both spring apart and begin circling the mat(aka towel) and sizing up their opponent before the next take down. Precious lightly paws Pumkin's tale and then Pumpkin hunkers down and faster than a speeding bullet she lands on top of Precious and holds her for a count of five. Pumpkin is declared the winner and she leaps onto the nearest chair and then dives down on Precious' back and a new match ensues. This has become a normal morning adventure before they sit by the bed waiting for a response from me and declaring it is time for their morning feast. I have two spoiled to the core kittens who refuse to drink water from the tap. They sniff at it and then sit, stare acusingly at me and then sit near the counter where the Zepherhills water sits and refuse to take their eyse off the bottle until I pour water into their bowl at which point two heads begin lapping water like mad. The next move is to follow me into the kitchen and sit and watch until I open the Fancy Feast and then they beging dancing in circles when they hear the spoon banging against the plates. I place the plates on the floor and two flashes beging inhaling their food. Following their feast they take a few moments to groom their beautiful faces before they sit near my feet and watch every move. They are waiting for me to take the fishing pole out with their fake fish attached. Then it becomes gymnastic time as they stand on hind legs and bat at the fish, grab it and attempt to run before the elastic line reels them back in and finally they roll with the fish on the floor (by the way I had to purchase a second one so that they each have one). Pumpkin is the smart one. She has managed to free her fish twice now by chewing the rubber line into two pieces. Oh the terrorist. I was awoken in the wee hours of the morning yesterday when I heard a crash of stuff landing on the floor off of the table. I then felt a thud on the bed and finally on my head followed by a pat down massage of my fact. I had the television on and in the flickering light I slowly opened one eye and stared into the sweetest most innocent face you have ever seen. Precious stopped in mid-pat and became a still statue and while staring at me her eyes seemed to be saying I am not doing anything why are you looking at me and then she patted my cheek and her eyes seemed to say how can you sleep when something as cute as me wants to play. I just reached up, grabbed her and placed her next to me and slowly stroked her head as her eyes closed and her breathing became slow and regular. I shortly felt a second thud as Pumpkin jumped onto the bed and placed her little terror filled eyes under my hand. I slowly stroked her until she fell asleep with her head on Precious' stomach. They were still there when I awoke around 7. That is the first time tey have done that. I have misplaced the memory card to the camera after uploading images from a shoot and as soon as I locate it I will take pictures and post them. Thanks for the kind words as regards my writing *blushing* Pictures coming soon I hope. Linda

MM.. I'm glad you came to 'check in' with us.. Sometimes writing down what you've been through helps 'unload' your bottled up feelings. I feel for you, and I'm so sorry to hear of all you've been going thru. I give you credit, for your inner strength. You seem to have handled it in a way, that's 'healthy', to get you thru it all... (pugs included). Hopefully now, you can focus on a happy part of your life that is coming up. May this also be a 'new beginning' with many happy memories ... to come. As far as naps, I try to do that everytime I need to recoup. It's so helpful for both mind and body, and you shouldn't feel guilty in taking one. Remember, 'You Only Got Just One Of You' ...so 'Handle With Care' !! Jane

I don't think it was the cutting in line that brought the cowboys down. It was that thing at Lucas films. The one brother was in his way, he couldn't step forward to get to the end. If it had been any other team, they would have probably shoved by the one brother. I also can't believe that the cowboys didn't catch on to the turning around to read the clue. After all, there were there for several minutes watchin gth eone brother whining about turning in circles... you think my cowboys would have figured that out earlier. Those women from California, I hope they watched the show and saw how really ugly they are. I wish my cowboys had won! Aren't they cute? lol

@palimpsest I agree, but the openings on either side of the fireplace lead through to the dining room on the other side. The side that is being blocked by the Christmas tree in the first photo has a built in cabinet with counter and book case that separates two rooms, but the right side if the fireplace can be passed through (although just the dogs do, we dont walk through it). There is a bedroom upstairs on the other side of the fireplace wall. I’ve seen a house on my street where they closed off the rooms completely from each other, but I don’t think that’s something I want to do here. Here is the reverse side of the fireplace wall (seen from our living room) - it is usually the dining room, but it is currently filled with stuff bc of the kitchen and floor work going on. There is a central courtyard that the dining room opens up onto, so I like the light that it lets through.. the room I’m putting the panels in faces north and the roof extends over the front patio area, so it’s quite dark. Especially since we haven’t added lights yet in there!