Fun with Boxes

 

I got something from Tupperware (yes, it still exists…I was surprised too) recently and the cats decided the box is the best thing they’ve seen in a long time. 

In a cat’s mind, it’s quite versatile.  “we can sniff it”, “we can scratch on it”, “we can attack it without it yelping”

“It’s a great place to ambush the others”

“It’s a great place to hide from the others”

“It’s a great place to take a nap”

And, what did we get from Tupperware??  The much hunted for divided covered container.  You might be surprised to find out these are impossible to find so I was very happy a friend was having a Tupperware ‘book party’.   

I wanted something to keep cut up veggies to use as salad toppings.  I’ll admit I’m so lazy that I’ll skip a salad just because I don’t want to cut up the good stuff to put on top. 

The Aftermath

An unbelievable amount of snow fell yesterday.  Officially it was 10 inches at the airport but I'm guessing we had more than that.  We shoveled Thursday night and when I went out to shovel on Friday morning (thanks to the Snow Day - our 6th of the season), the snow was deeper than the steps.  There really isn't anywhere else to put the snow so I'm officially requesting this be the last snow fall.  

While Doug was at work yesterday (more about that adventure later), the cats and I entertained ourselves by  watching the Olympics.  Of course there are the Olympics on TV but also the household 'cat olympics'.  This event was Startle Your Opponent.  The first one with a puffed up tail loses. 

 

The official kept a close eye on the competition, intervening when necessary.  His other important job was watching the neighbor's dog (looks like a Husky mix) leap with joy in the snow.  

There are plenty more Snowmaggedon photos so stay tuned. 

Milwaukee Weekend

 

We had a very fun weekend in Milwaukee! 

A couple messages were sent out earlier in the week and we ended up seeing several dear friends from the UW-Eau Claire days all at once!  Thanks to Kevin and Cathy for hosting!  As far as we could remember, we hadn’t seen Jason and Nicci for almost 2 years, I hadn’t seen Sue for 7 and it was longer for Doug.  However, it was just like old times – lots of laughing and stories!  Sue’s husband fit right into the fun.  In fact, we think he might have been at UWEC in disguise back then!

We had a chance to see some of the nephews’ basketball games.  Brett and Brad were playing in a tournament nearby so we could a game of each with Dorene. Between games, we had a nice lunch out at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants with Chuck and Dorene.  

It was fun to watch them play but hard to believe Brett & Paige will be headed to high school next year!  Bradley isn’t far behind, either!

Cheryl coaches Brad’s team and we enjoyed the fact that she is the tallest player on the team.  Those Williams tall genes are strong!

Our trip was cut short by the weather so we only had time for a quick visit with Mike and Sunanda and didn’t have a chance to see the rest of the crew.  We made the decision yesterday afternoon to come back then instead of waiting until Monday morning.  Considering the snow and blowing wind right now, we definitely made the right choice.  (I would have had a different answer last night when we were 4 1/2 hours into a nearly 6 hour drive and sent a text to my brother stating we could never drive to Texas!). 

The cats were well cared for by our young friend Daniel.  It sounds like they did a lot of playing and were very wild again this morning.  I think they will look forward to his return in a few weeks!    

Do Not Cry For Me Argentina

 

After another snowfall last week complete with winds, drifting, and obscenely low temperatures, I made the executive decision to close “The Christoph Connector,” a segment of footpath that connected the backdoor with the garage-front yard pathway. It was named after Christoph because he used this path everyday when he went to and came home from the bus. Now only stray animals venture on its unplowed ruts.

Yes. Here is the garage-front yard pathway that was newly created this winter for the heavy foot traffic of people (Sue and I) carrying snow shovels from the garage to the front sidewalk. I paced it out: by cutting the hypotenuse there are five fewer steps to walk in the horrible cold weather.

The city came by with a giant snow blower and actually removed the excess snow on our side of the street.

There is much more room to park here now.

Grand Uncle Tailwheel and nephew Nigel lounging together.

They even lick each other now and then.

This has to be the fourth time Sue has made this carrot cake in the last month! We went to the Pfeifer’s house yesterday for our Tanzania Group One Year reunion dinner party. We had a really good time reliving stories of survival on the Serengeti.

Showdown.

Happy 51st Anniversary to my Mother and Father yesterday! They attended Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, our Christmas gift to them that just happened to fall on their anniversary. Hope it was good!

Buddies