Naughty Cat Diaries: 2015 Edition

The cats have settled down a little bit lately (i.e., we’ve been able to leave our bedroom door open without getting a 4am wake up call) so we were curious whether they would continue obsessing about the tree. 

For all fans of the Naughty Cat Diaries, the boys did not disappoint. They were checking out the box before the tree was even open.  When Ravel got this close, I wondered if I should just stop here.

There has been a fair amount of investigation by both.

I hadn’t even finished putting the tree up before the 12 pound ornaments made themselves at home.

So cute. So naughty.

I finished the decorating this afternoon with supervision from today’s Vikings fans.

I had just finished and taken the picture at the top when the inspector showed up.

Our friends Judy and Wally have saved a long tube like box. We’re going to set it up and see if we can change their investigation focus.  Somehow shiny, tree-like things will probably still be an attraction.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday.  We had a nice group of Bergs, Shinoharas and neighbors!

Ready!

 

Begin! Hide dug into a drumstick!

We employed Doug’s patented “pass the camera around the table” photo plan to get a good picture of everyone! We were happy our neighbors Jimmy (pictured here) and Collin could join us too.

This photo is only included for continuity.  It is a terrible picture.

The Shinoharas with host Grandmother.

Kaz declared Turkey her favorite Thanksgiving food. Note to everyone: none of those wine glasses belong to Kaz. Neighbor Collin was a sport to drink his wine out of a martini glass.

Mary, Collin, Kaz

Dad, Mary, Collin (I originally typed “Duke” here – that’s some family resemblance)

The two brothers and Mary

Action shot

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Packer Game

The cats are busy watching TV. They will need to rest up as they will be busy sniffing Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Veteran’s Day / Not the Viking’s Day

 

Uncle Duke, Mike, Judy and I attended Sue’s Veteran’s Day / Bandorama concert featuring all of her band students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Also, the South Washington County Community Band played some prelude music. Sue had students introduce all of the tunes and for the first time that I can remember, every kid was audible and understandable!  Good job kids!

This is the 8th grade band in the middle of the auditorium, actually gymnatorium. In true Bandorama spirit, on one tune, the community band played along.

 

They played the service marches medley and asked members of each branch of the military to stand up for their song. Mike stood proudly for the air force’s jaunty march while Duke stood for the Army’s Caisson’s song. Thanks Mike and Duke and all service members and veterans for your service to our country.

 

I sat in with the 8th grade trombone section for the performance of America the Beautiful. If you have an instrument, bring it for next year’s performance. Duke, make sure it is a band director-approved musical instrument! Nothing homemade!

 

Bunch of Bergs. Duke, Mary, Mike, and Judy will join Kaz, Sue, and Kaz’s brother Hide on Friday for Thanksgiving Dinner at our house.

 

Here is Sue’s student teacher Claire from Eau Claire. Claire’s identical twin sister was there too just to confuse the students who couldn’t figure out why Claire’s hair was alternating between short and long.

 

Sue made Ruth Delgehausen’s kickin’ minestrone soup from the church cookbook. I told Sue to report back to Ruth that this soup was so good it made me “emotional”. Sue said she wouldn’t do that. I’ll tell her myself.

 

We were in contact with Christoph in Germany on Facebook during the game yesterday. Poor Vikings, poor Christoph, happy Sue.

Football Sunday

Doug and Nigel in full "Christoph mode" ready for the Packer - Viking game.

Recital

We helped with an organ recital at church last night.  The organist was John West from Los Angeles and he was fantastic!  We played a wide range of music which was very, very enjoyable!  In addition to being a phenomenal organist, he also does vocal work for TV shows and movies including the upcoming Star Wars movie.  It was most appropriate that his encore was the Star Wars theme! It was the first time I’ve been to an organ recital where the performer had a costume change at intermission (the above picture was not from last night). 

The black cat continues to be on the look out for any suspicious activity.  I let him outside today when I took the garbage out.  He had a puffy tail and was ready to come in by the time I got back from the garbage can!  Hopefully that will cure him of running out the door during cold weather.  Doug is busy plotting our replacement screen door.

This is the end of two very busy weeks for me so I’m looking for a few more nights at home and a few less nights at school concerts, meetings and assorted other “things”. 

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!  Time to bring back the FruiTurkey!

La Fiesta Autumnal Avacado

 

Kaz helped me with some leaf raking last week. She and I raked about four bags. All total, I probably took 24 bags to the compost place in town. There are still some leaves in the back yard but now that the cold and wet weather is here, the leaves will lie where they lay on the lawn until spring has sprung and showers have come.

 

She did admit that raking was hard work.

We tried out the new Mexican Restaurant where the old Old Chicago (maybe Olde World) Pizza restaurant used to be in Inver Grove Heights.

We ordered the “Guacamole made fresh at your table” service. He used the exact recipe that we used in Milwaukee two weeks ago except he mulled the onion, jalapeno, and cilantro and he used a lot more of these ingredients than we did.

Using a stone bowl for proper mulling is key here. By the way, today is 11/12/2015. This means that I am exactly 12 days in to beard season.

Tonight, we (Kaz and I) will meat Mike, Judy, and The Dukemeister for dinner before attending Sue’s Veteran’s Day band concert.

Wicked, Wickeder, Wickedest

We have been pretty lazy about posting photos lately. Actually, we have been lazy about TAKING photos. Here is Aaron Dickey (the guy from the State Farm ads) making an attempt at the Viking “V” for “victory”. The Vikings are in first place in the NFC North with a 6-2 record. Christoph in Germany Facebooked Sue immediately after the Packers lost and the Vikings won. He is a true Minnesota fan!

Happy 72nd Birthday yesterday Dad! This photo is over two years old but these guys look the same!

 

This one of Nancy and Dad is only one year old!

 

I have reposted Anthony’s awesome photo of Sue at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo to announce that Sue is almost done with the giant photo book from our three-week trip to Japan. It is well-crafted and superbly written. It’s “HUGE” as Donald Trump would say.

 

Sister Cheryl enjoying a martini of some sort at the Water Street Brewery before the performance of Wicked. Cheryl, Mom and Nancy saw the show at the Marcus Center in Milwaukee. I love Wicked and all musicals. Period. I’m fond of martinis, too. more photos to follow (eventually). . .

Brotherly Love