I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

OMG - are those your daughter's kitties in the video??? That is just fantastic Alexandria. So wonderful. What are their genders and ages? You see, that is how I imagine Emma will be as she so wanted to lick Ms Boo (and she likes to lick me), but Boo would have none of it. Did your daughter do any of the put in separate rooms for days, then slowly introduce them???

My problem is that I'm totally stuck on these Devon Rex cats. I would have never considered a pure bred - being a Rescuer all the way, but these cats came on my radar while searching on petfinder.com First available litter is in 5 months, at the least.

Devon Rex:

Trouble posting pictures, as usual. Here is a link:

https://www.facebook.com/happytalescats

Just popping in to say hello! I've been reading and keeping up with you all as best I can ... you are a chatty bunch

Love the discussions and pictures! It is so refreshing to read a group of smart women having sensible discussions after reading some of the comments on FB and elsewhere. My faith in humanity needs a dose of restoration after reading some of the mean and nasty crap that is spouted out in cyberspace. Ugly it is.

Hugs to all that need them and congratulations for the good scans and mammogram results.

I'm ready for winter to stop already. Do not like snow. Do not like cold. Do not like cold snow being blown at me by cold wind. Ack ... and it's only December. My dogs however love it and have been having a good time playing in the snow.

Jackie.....lest we forget:

http://www.mediaite.com/online/here-are-all-the-presidential-handshakes-with-murderous-dictators/#0

A few flurries here in Niagara and very windy -- sideswiping from the major storm that's sweeping up the northeast. Be safe, everyone!

Kam, I don't know much about the Devon Rex breed but they are classified as Orientals, I think, so no doubt they have some of the same characteristics. Curly hair, sleek bodies, beautiful eyes -- what's not to love? And I suspect that Emma would definitely welcome a wee kitten and a playful companion. I've introduced several kitties to each other and never had to isolate them. They always manage to work out a peaceful co-existence, which soon leads to cuddles and lots of grooming.

Wabbit, I only like snow that falls overnight, presents a pretty picture in the morning, and is all melted by noon. And sometimes it actually happens!

BLUE - what a charmer. SO HAPPY FOR YOU to have him nearby. Heart warming.

Wabbit - stay warm, and don't let what you see online, in the media, get to you. The cynics seem to get the most press. Try to remember, when Mandela was elected President, he invited his JAILERS to sit in the front row of the ceremony, and honored their presence. Forgiveness is SO MUCH HARDER than anger, and especially in public life, it, forgiveness, is at the heart of reconciliation.

Temps near 0 here, but sun is shining on the gorgeous ice covered trees, looks like diamonds dripping off the branches, ice so thick will probably last for days. Supposed to be well BELOW 0 tomorrow, and for a few days. A perfect time to be inside, reading, watercolor painting, finishing up jewelry I'm making for Holiday ( tee, hee) presents. Loved those cartoons, RL, you always make me smile.

Just loaned my copy of The Goldfinch to a friend, now reading The Secret Friend. Donna Tartt. WOW. Waiting for The Luminaries to appear at my Costco, hope they get it soon.

STAY WARM...

Good Morning Everybody!

Our temps have finally climbed to 26 degrees this morning. Tomorrow's high is 38. That's cold for around here. Snow is forecast for the coming weekend.

Sunnyflowers ... I was thinking about you as I was checking NOAA this morning. OMG ... you win the prize for the coldest temps. Last year or the year before we had a huge ice storm and when the sun came out it was truly gorgeous. Love your description of "diamonds dripping off the branches." You'll get a kick out of this ... my mom gave me a $50 gift card from Ollie's ... so going shopping tomorrow with my sis. Going to get Tim a new sauce pan for Christmas! hahahaha! He's getting me a new weed-eater with his $50 gift card from Home Depot. Do you remember the holiday story of the man and his wife who were poor and he sold his watch to buy her a comb for her hair and she sold her hair to buy him a chain for his watch.

Wabbit ... So good to see a note from you. I hope you're doing okay ... I think of you and Jerry often. I know you must miss him.

Susie ... Glad you had fun in New Zealand. A 60 year anniversary is huge!

Blue ... How are you feeling? Still taking the meds every two hours? You're so lucky to have your precious Philip living close to you. I really miss my boys. Need to get their Christmas packages sent off to them this week.

Hope everyone has a good day.

hugs,

Bren

kay, I wouldn't have read it if not for the INTERVIEW I heard her do with Charlie Rose I'll find it online & link it. ALSO, it was the front page review on the Sunday New York Times Book Review. Usually, I don't read "modern" authors - esp. those who get "rave" reviews. I have been SO disappointed in the last few years of Booker Prize winners. BUT, something about the fact she has only written 3 books, she's 49, and LOVES the process of writing, doesn't let the "zeitgeist" influence her, she's not going to "speed up" because of the public demand, etc. Anyhow, I hope you love the process of reading as much as she seems to enjoy the process of writing. I REALLY do. Pleased I found The Secret Friend ( her 2nd book) in my local used book store.

eta:

THAT WAS EASY :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZ_92v9D_E

My mom used to take my sis and I to the beauty parlor on Christmas Eve so our hair would be beautiful for the Christmas Eve church service. OMG ... what was my mom thinking with that big hair! My sis and I are natural redheads!

Bren, those pics are adorable! Are you the big sis? (meaning the eldest)

Bren

Found this and hey....enjoyed the reading.

Daily Meme: You Are in a
Foxhole

Yesterday, Representative Steve Stockman posted a
letter on his website. It began, "Dear
patriot, You are in a foxhole fighting to save
our constitutional Republic … and the last thing you need is a Republican
bayonet in your back. But that’s what liberal John Cornyn has been doing to you
every day."

That would be the Liberal John Cornyn, who prefers to
be called "Big
Bad John" andhappens to have an 88-percent
rating from the American Conservative Union.
The Texas senator's office also says—oh so proudly—that he is "ranked as the
second
most conservative senator in
America."

Although Cornyn did tell Texas Monthly, "I
love Robert Caro’s books, and
I wish we had more Lyndon Johnsons in the
Senate today when it comes to the skill to actually get something done." One can
easily observe, after scanning a few sequester and shutdown headlines, that
getting things done is perhaps not a conservative strength. Maybe Stockman's
complaints originate not with ideology, but with legislative efficiency and
enjoyment of languorous history
books?

If you don't speak Tea Party Texan, Stockman's message
roughly translates to ... "Dear America, This is going to be an entertaining,
and perhaps somewhat terrifying, election." Or, as Sarah Posner sees
it, "In Texas you must now out-Cruz Ted
Cruz."

Ted
Cruz, by the way, wants nothing to do with
this.

And based on Club
for Growth's initial response, it seems
unlikely that many
of the big conservative campaign cash cows are
going to get involved in this war at the very edge of the ideological
spectrum.

Let's recap the greatest (or worst, depending on what
floats your boat) moments in the Stockman canon (and no, that is not a pun).

First off, his Twitter presence. He's been known to
say a controversial thing or two, and is subjectively known
as
"everyone's favorite tweeter in Congress." Like, "Conservatives see kids
in poverty and want to find the family jobs. Liberals see kids in poverty and
say
they should have been aborted."

Or, "Our
campaign bumper sticker: If babies had guns,
they wouldn't be aborted. http://stockman2014.com  #gosnell
#tcot"

Or, "About 110,000 people contract chlamydia each
month, more than signed up for Obamacare. Obamacare is less popular than
chlamydia."

Or, "Democrats just curb-stomped
veterans. Because Obama told them
to."

Or his festive Earth Day tweet, "The best thing about
the Earth is if
you poke holes in it oil and gas come
out."

When the representative was discussing Obama's gun
policies on Fox News, he said “He’s even using children, it reminds me of Saddam
Hussein when he used kids to ..." Greta Van Susteren quickly
cut him off: “Well, I think that’s a little bit of a stretch, but anyway,
congressman, always
nice to see you."

In the past year, as recounted by Molly Ball,
"He brought Ted
Nugent as his date to the State of the Union
and raffled an AR-15 for the Fourth of July."

Or, as Tim Murphy sums him up,
he's "almost certainly the only member of Congress to have been
caught with 30 mg of valium hidden in a cellophane wrapper in his underwear.
He's defended militia groups; accused an attorney general of 'premeditated
murder'; appeared on a Holocaust-denying radio program; waged a one-man war
against Alfred Kinsey; compared his constituents—favorably—to Branch Davidians;
and traveled to Denmark to protest climate change while wearing a red blindfold.
The man who bested his 2012 opponent by 44 points isn't the most ballyhooed of
incoming lawmakers. He's
just the nuttiest."

So ... why is Stockman doing this? The fact that he
only has about
$32,000 in the campaign bank and $163,000 in
campaign debt thus far this electoral season may be partly to
blame. 

And this race could have bigger ramifications than
whether the seat will be filled by a conservative or a conservative. As
John Sides notes, "The issue is that, in general, the
party would be better off — that is, it would control more seats and be
better-positioned to steer policy — if it could discourage primary challengers
in races where negative consequences are more likely. And Stockman’s example —
particularly if successful —
may only reinforce the desire of other conservatives in the party to mount similar challenges." And, outside of Texas,
extreme candidacies don't usually fare terribly
well. 

Regardless of how the senate race turns out, the
candidates who filed last minute to run for Stockman's congressional seat are
likely mighty
pleased.

Jackie

Stockman...a true bona-fide nutjob if ever there was one.

Bren - lovely pics.

While I was in NZ, my cousin's wife showed us what she had been doing with lots of old photos of the family. She has made up albums to pass on to her daughters. One for my grandparents going way back to when they were married in London after WW1 and one showing each of their 9 children with details and photos of their marriages and children. She had some of me I had never seen. I tried taking photos of the photos but my camera wouldn't cooperate. It's made me realise I should put all of my really old photos in an album to give to my children.

Here's one of me I had scanned ages ago. Must scan all of mine.

Did you girls see this?

http://www.news.com.au/world/africa/deaf-community-outraged-sign-language-interpreter-for-barack-obama-at-nelson-mandela-memorial-service-was-a-fake/story-fnh81gzi-1226781075030

Susie ... you were such a cute baby!

Kay ... hard to believe those blue poppies are for real! They're gorgeous.