Christmas Letter 2017

Dear Friends,

You may notice that the Christmas letter has a new author this year. As many of you know, Tigger the Cat left us for the great catnip farm (or giant litterbox, depending on what you believe) last January.  I, personally, never met the great man, er, cat, however, Liberty, Morrison, Alice and the Hoomans speak very favorably of him.

Perhaps I should stop here and introduce myself...my name is Obsidian Bartholomew The Cat.  I joined the family in February.  The Boy really missed Tigger and convinced the parents to take him to the Dumb Friends Society to acquire a kitten.  After stops at two locations, they realized there were no true kittens, however, I had recently turned one year old and made a compelling argument that I be adopted, rather than some untrained kitten.  When the Hoomans reached the "check-out" they were alerted to the fact that there was a BOGO event, therefore they received not only my fabulous self, but also Coco Puff (also known as Poco and BOGO) and the rest is history.... (Although the hoomans say that it is important to read the biographies of potential cat adoptees...somehow they missed the note of "cat surrendered because it bites...)

The Parents continue at their jobs--Mrs. Ranch at the same high school she has taught at since August 2002 and Mr. IM at his law firm that he opened in 2005.  Mrs. Ranch realized earlier this week that this is her 25th year of being a teacher...a rather astounding number for a young cat like me.  Business at the law firm is going well.  There is a rumor that they have created a video for their website, stay tuned for viewing!

The Girl is a junior in high school.  In exchange for a new phone, she participated in track last spring.  As she states she doesn't like to run, she became a pole vaulter.  She did very well and might have enjoyed the season.  She still enjoys skiing on weekends and hanging out with her friends.  The college quest has started in earnest, with several contenders.  She has a part-time job and is saving money for a lovely classic pre-owned vehicle.

The Boy moved to public junior high after K-6 Catholic School.  Turns out the local Middle School is really a junior high, grades 7-8 only, so he joined his classmates in that new adventure.  Part of the adventure is riding the school bus to and from school as well as choosing lunch in the lunch line (instead of a month ahead).  He continues competitive snowboarding on the weekends, which gives us all lots of adventures.

The other pets are doing well--Morrison and Liberty enjoy trips to the mountains with the family.  Liberty has recently added an anti-arthritis pharmaceutical routine to her life.  Alice continues her reign, now as the oldest pet, including the pet everyone is most afraid of.

We wish you all a blessed holiday season! 

Love,
Sid the Cat (and the rest of the family, too)

Sid

There really isn't much to say, other than we are suckers.  The Boy missed Tigger (we all do), so we went to the Dumb Friends League to get a cat. We found Sid (Obsidian)...

 He is about a year old. As you can see from his artistic work on the temporary carrier, he likes to eat cardboard.

 He was found wandering around an apartment complex.  He is very friendly and maybe not very bright, but it is hard to tell, because he's a cat. He had dental surgery the day before we brought him home and had some extractions.

 As you can see, he has settled in quite well...I think he thinks he is king of the castle.

He is very interested in Alice, she isn't sure she likes him, but can't stay away...

 He is pretty big (skinny, but long, as demonstrated by The Boy) and floopy--like Cass the Cousin Cat was---when picked up he is rag-doll like most of the time.  He slept one night with the adults (during his "locked in the Master Suite introduction to the house") but has spent at least part of every other night on The Boy's bed.  Last night Alice was bedroom surfing and came across Sid...who growled until The Boy said, "Cool it, Sid"...which he did.

 Liberty is terrified of (all) cats, so she is not pictured anywhere and the BOGO cat is hiding, sort of, still...but as you can see, Sid and Morrison are developing an interesting relationship.  Sid seems to enjoy dog food as well...

Welcome, home, Sid!

BOGO!!! Cats?

The Boy pointed out that he hasn't even chosen a pet, since the original crew (MJ, Tigger, Indy) were all older than him, Alice belongs to The Girl and the dogs just kind of joined us.  I suggested he wait until he was an adult and get as many pets as he wanted, but it has been kind of weird with only Alice, the un-cat.  Mr. IM and The Boy got home early from skiing (because it was COLD) so we decided to go on a kitten search.  We really should know better, it is not kitten season for starters. However, we once again found ourselves at the Denver Dumb Friends League.  The Boy fell in love with a cat...who had a friend...ummmm...and then we discovered it was BOGO on cats (really?)....So the Suburban Ranch is now back to (full) capacity--2 adults, 2 kids, 3 cats, 2 dogs, and a whole bunch of fish. The cats will get their own posts soon--as soon as I can get a picture where they don't look freaked (it might be a while).  Both cats are over a year old--Obsidian (Sid) is about a year and Coco (Puff) is about 3 (if I remember right).  Sid was found wandering around an apartment complex (sound like anyone else we know)  and Coco was left in the pet drop off bin.  So far Sid and Alice met and are not happy, but Alice hates everyone, so I'm not worried.  Coco has settled into the "cat hole" (where kittens and old cats hide) in my closet.  

In other news, I assembled the greenhouse that we received for Christmas--it can have its own post as well, probably after the cats.  Time to get started on the garden!