Catching Up

Happy New Year!

Our holiday was very quiet, but very nice and relaxing. The week felt like months, it was so nice! We mostly hung out at home and did the things we enjoy. On Christmas Day we went to see I Am Legend because Will Smith is awesome, and the theater was packed. The movie was good (though paying $8.50 for a matinee showing was not so good) and I might have cried a little in the dog scene. Later that week we went to a comedy club to see Christopher Titus perform and he was really funny. Otherwise, we stayed up too late and ate great food prepared by yours truly... which reminds me... Tofurkey? Never again.

My parents gave me Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for Christmas and I've been loving it. There's so much information I'm pretty much reading the book cover to cover, like a text book. I've already learned a lot and I'm only about half way through, and I've been cooking from it and quite happy with the results. I also received an immersion blender so we've been having lots of creamy soups that are incredibly easy to make (Roasted Garlic and Potato; Creamy Tomato; Butternut Squash; I even used it on my veggie-loaded marinara sauce).

We had a small breakthrough on the pet front over the holiday. Ayla usually wants to play and chase Gretel when Gretel is on the floor, which does not go over well. However, if Gretel is head-level with Ayla she is definitely in charge. Well, we were all lounging one day and Ayla is roaming around looking for a place to land, but all of the seats are taken. Desperately she looks at Gretel on the couch, then gently and with much trepidation got up next to her, where they both took a nap, side by side! Lookie, I have proof:

If I don't see you, I can pretend you aren't there.

Almost touching!

It happened again last night. I was sitting on the floor with Ayla, reading, a blanket over us, when Gretel came by wanting to snuggle. She proceeded to climb onto my lap, then on top of the sleeping dog, then jumped off of Ayla, jumped back on, walked all over her, repeat. Gretel is a little heifer at over 12 lbs. (she's on a diet!) and her walking on you feels like being jabbed quiet hard with sticks since all her weight is on four little stilts. Ayla looked up once, then just went back to sleep. Good girl!

Finally, here's a few pictures from last Saturday's usual hike:

Christie resting at the top of the hill

Ayla enjoying the view

Ayla sleeping on Christie on the way home

TTFN!