Puff Tiggy's Christmas Letter

Greetings, Suckers, I mean, Humans!  It is I, Puff Tiggy, the rapping kitty....

Bet you all didn't think I'd write this year!  Ha!  Despite rumors to the contrary, I am alive, and while not well, alive is something.

This year I celebrated my 18th birthday, and by celebrated, I mean I slept and the people brought me food.  For most of the year I lived in self-imposed seclusion in the master bathroom.  I went in one day, it seemed nice, so I stayed.  After a few days, the people felt bad for me (ha!) and moved my food up there.  About a month ago I decided to shake things up and have moved back to the pantry.  The family thinks it is because I missed them...but they will never know my real reasons (cue evil laughter.....).  In a few days I will celebrate 18 years of living with this family by sleeping in my custom made bed and eating kitty treats.

The family has been busy this year, doing things they always do (school, work) and some new adventures as well. (Keep reading)

The Girl played club volleyball last spring and summer and enjoyed it.  She did not play volleyball this fall, but kept busy with Honors 10 English and a fun photography class. The other pets and I got to hear "hold still!" many times.  She is thinking of running track this spring and is, of course, skiing this winter.  She has a nice group of friends who give me ear scratches when they come over.

The Boy continues to snowboard with a team--he won a couple prizes last spring and again went to Snowboarding camp in the summer.  He got to be a volunteer at Vacation Bible School this year and thought he was pretty cool.  He is a 6th grader this year and is enjoying being in the Middle School wing.  He continues to read everything in sight and especially likes graphic novels (comic books) this year.

Mr. IM's business continues to keep him busy.  In his spare time he enjoys working on his car, walking the dogs, and various home projects.  (Enjoy might be too strong a word for some of those activities).  He installed a new patio for the side yard to keep Morrison from digging holes and it is a favorite spot in the morning or evening for all of the people.

My person is still teaching--this is her 15th year at her school.  She keeps saying she never intended to stay in one place this long, but since she has, she might as well stay. She says that she loves her job and the people and kids she works with, but does occasionally fantasize about running away to a deserted area of Montana to raise goats (although I don't think she'd do it...it is cold in Montana and goats smell).

The rest of the pets continue to do what pets do...Alice quietly plots everyone's deaths, Liberty protects us (except for when I scare her by meowing ,and then she hides), Morrison digs holes...

The family's big adventures this year included a trip to Alaska in July.  (We pets stayed home with D and A and their dog, Emma).  The people were able to visit with Mr. IM's sister, brother in law, nephews, and mom and sightsee in Seattle.  The cruise was with my person's parents for their 50th Anniversary. My person's brother, sister in law and nephew went along too. You can read about the start to their adventures here.

The family also has acquired a seasonal rental (whatever that means) so they are gone many weekends (don't bother breaking into the house, I am here to protect it and there isn't anything valuable anyway).  Once in a while the whole family (including the dogs) does go to the apartment, but usually, it is just Mr. IM and The Boy--The Girl has an exciting social life.  My person says she will write a post about the apartment later (but she's been saying that for months, so don't hold your breath...)

That may be all the news from here--best wishes for a blessed 2017!
Happy New Year from Puff Tiggy and the rest of the family!

November 2016 Books

How is November over? (how has it been over for 2 weeks?!)
Here's What I read in November....

1.  Firefly Lane (Kristen Hannah)--Somehow I read the sequel first.  Knowing "what happened next" kind of ruined the story for me--this book seemed like it was supposed to end on a "high note", but since I know what happened next, it was one long bummer.  The sequel also did a good job recapping, so while there was some new material, there wasn't anything too surprising.  If you're going to read these, I'd read this first.
2.  Stars Over Sunset Boulevard (Susan Meissner)--Connects 1930's Hollywood through 1940's/50's and today.  A little about Gone With the Wind, a lot about the relationship between two life-long friends.  Good book.
3.  Building a Better Teacher:  How Teaching Works and How to Teach It To Everyone (Elizabeth Green)--It took me months to get through this.  It was good, had a lot about the research on how math in particular is taught today.  Good advice that boils down to "get into other classrooms and learn from each other".
4.  The Girl in the Glass (Susan Meissner)--Another Meissner book where she connects the past and the present, this time Medieval Florence and today.  Cute story, good read.

Apparently I was busy doing other things during November!

All good books, but none really contenders for top 10....

What I read, October 2016

Here we go....

1.  At the Water's Edge (Sara Gruen)--Like Water for Elephants, this book has a young female main character who is in a bad situation.  It is historical fiction.  The description on Amazon really doesn't tell much of what the book is about-I wasn't sure I wanted to read it after that description, but enjoyed the book.
2.  Finding Bliss (Dina Silver)--Recommended by a friend and ironically had a lot in common with At the Water's Edge.  I didn't love it, but it was a quick read.  I might have liked it more if I hadn't just read such a similar book!
3.  Orange is the New Black (Piper Kerman)--My mom kept recommending it and I was baffled...I mean, haven't all my friends told me what happens on the tv show?  Turns out the book and the tv show have little in common...same basic premise, but real life wasn't as exciting in most ways as the show is.  Book is about redemption and "finding yourself".  Good read.
4.  Blood on the Tracks (Barbara Nickless)--Intriguing book--about a female vet and her search and rescue dog who work in law enforcement in the US.  A sequel is due out next year.  I liked this book, I'm kind of curious about what "happens next" but not super curious.  Good book...waiting to see what happens next.
5.  Secrets of a Charmed Life (Susan Meissner)--I really like how Meissner weaves together historic (fictional) stories with modern (fictional) stories.  This time it revolves around two sisters, separated during World War II and a young woman interviewing a WWII survivor.
6.  The Winter Garden (Kristin Hannah)--Another story with a connection to WWII and a family secret.


Contestants for top 10 of 2016:
Orange is the New Black
Secrets of a Charmed Life
The Winter Garden

The December Birthday Dilemma...Chapter 12

So the Boy's birthday is this weekend.  When he was born, I had only accumulated about 4 weeks of leave. That combined with two weeks of Christmas Break and notes from both my doctor and the kids' pediatrician saying "keep that child out of daycare for one more week" meant that I ended up with just short of 7 weeks of leave--which made me very thankful that he was an "almost Christmas baby".
However, as he gets older, his holiday season birthday has created some interesting situations....like the year only one friend appeared at his party (because all the others had last minute visits to Santa, holiday events, etc.), or the year that 27 kids attended his Harry Potter themed party at our house (advertised as "We live 3 miles from the Outlet Mall....drop off ALL your children at The Boy's party and get your shopping done!!!").  Often he is a victim of "here is one big gift for both Christmas and your birthday" (I am guilty of this....) Every year we debate how many Christmas decorations are appropriate before his party (also influenced by if the birthday party is at our house or somewhere else).
This year since snowboarding is happening on both Saturday and Sunday, it may be months before The Boy actually gets a party (although there is a motion on the table to do something one day during winter break with one of his friends, who hasn't had a birthday party yet this year either...). And the Christmas tree dilemma...do we get it before his birthday? On his birthday?  After?  One year we picked up a tree for 75% off on December 19 because we had the party at our house that week and didn't want a bunch of little boys with lightsabers and a tree with ornaments together...
This year we will celebrate early with the family, before the boys go to the mountain apartment (The Girl has finals to study for...) so I made a cake tonight--it certainly isn't as impressive as some other birthday cakes (the jewelry box, the pirate ship...) but it looks like it is going to be delicious.. (and if I did it right, there will be a surprise when we cut into it...).  And I tasted the reject pieces and frosting and can attest that it is very tasty no matter what....

Impromptu Movie Reviews

Updated 12/5/2016
Gee...I feel like I have a lot to catch up on.  The short (long?) story is that after spending years driving 2+hours each way every Saturday and Sunday, we finally gave in and rented a "ski condo" (cue hysterical laughter).  I'll have to give it its own post...it is cute, very appreciated, and the right price (or at least close enough).  We've spent a couple weekend up there, cleaning, making it homey and practicing for ski season. Last weekend Mr IM and the kids went up right after school on Friday and I stayed home ALONE (well, except for the livestock).  I did some shopping, cleaning, reading, and watched five movies of my own choosing...leading me to publish this impromptu movie review issue of the blog....

Movie #1 (Friday 4:20 pm): Whisky, Tango, Foxtrot--from the library, enjoyed it.  Tina Fey is funny but it does a good job with serious content--there is a book that the movie is kind of based on that I just put on hold at the library.  I'll report on the book later.  Two thumbs up...

Movie #2 (Friday, about 7 pm):  Age of Adelaide--Another good one, "rented" for free from Amazon.  The Boy tells me I started watching it once before and didn't like it, but it was good this time...two thumbs up...

Movie # 2 1/2:  (Saturday, mid-day) Girl on a Train--Another from Amazon prime.  I wanted to like it, I thought the book was interesting, but I couldn't reconcile what was on the screen with what I remember from the book and ended up wondering if it was the same book that I thought I read.  I stopped it after about 15 minutes.  I'll try again some other time, maybe...

Movie #3 (Saturday, mid-day):  13 Hours in Benghazi--from the library--intense but very good.  I read the book and the movie does it justice.  Two thumbs up

Movie #4 (Saturday afternoon):  Bad Moms--actually the only movie I paid money for this weekend because I'd heard how great it was....if it had been free it might have received more praise from me...I was disappointed because I was expecting it to be hilarious stupidity (and it was) but the main premise was that a mom decides to be a bad mom, break up with her husband of 10+ years and start looking for a fling.   (Ok, there's more to it than that, and it was funny...but I'm disappointed that I rented it instead of getting it for free from the library later...)  One thumb?

Movie #5 (Saturday evening?):  Hot Pursuit--so here's the thing, I don't have any idea what order I watched any of these in, but it doesn't really matter. And I'll admit that I graded papers, and did housekeeping while watching some.  This movie was free on Amazon and it was entertaining--a good movie to "watch" while folding laundry!  Two thumbs up...

So next weekend, I may be home again, but The Girl will be here studying for finals, so it may be a book weekend instead of movies (or only what I can watch on my kindle with headphones!)