Kato laughs

Actually, she was just blinking. But doesn't it look like she is laughing so hard her eyes are closed?

Kato went home yesterday, but before she did, she conquered her fear of the elevator and stairs. Also, she made friends with a chair cushion... all over our living room, around the dining table and in and out of several corners. Her persistence amazed me, as she seemed to amuse herself with the cushion for hours at a time.

Once in a while, she would hop off it and sort of give it a little kick, as if rebuking it. But within a few minutes, she would look at it longingly while playing with another toy, then return to the cushion, often with a sort of embarassed look. Of course, all of this provided me with hours of entertainment during the cold, rainy weekend. Thanks, Kato!

Dogsitting

This is Kato the Shiba Inu. She conquered Chad within 10 minutes of entering our condo and chose this as her favored location to sit/walk around. We are hosting her for the weekend and are experiencing the endless surprises and oddities of a little doggy personality.

Things she was scared of so far:
- The elevator (the doors can be a bit unpredictable)
- Walking down the stairs (from the 2nd floor on down), but not walking up
- The 6-inch wide grate on the way into the garage
- Bubble wrap (okay, so I gave her some to walk on because she seemed to like cushiony things and 2 of the bubbles popped - sorry, Kato)

Things she has taken a liking to:
- A corner of the floor by the door (she licked it)
- One of Chad's monster-feet slippers
- Using Chad as a floor cushion
- Our green shag rug
- The refrigerator (because I have steak in it)

She has also taken to notifying us whenever one of the neighbors opens or closes their front doors and has taken up a guard position by the balcony - maybe she saw one of the giant squirrels that occupy the complex. Good girl!

As always when I am around dogs, I find myself having little conversations with Kato. They go something like this:

"No, no, Philly Cheesesteak Lean Pockets are people food, even though I know it must smell good to you."
Kato sniffs furiously at the tallest point of me that she can reach - my knees.
"I am not going to give you any, no matter how much you make cute faces at me."
Kato twitches her ears back and forth.
" Also, I'm not sure what cheese will do to you."
Kato blinks slowly, licks my toe and walks away.

Come on, Kato, time to watch Dog Whisperer!

Goodbye Christmas Tree

I'm sad to be taking down our Christmas tree. This year, we bought a nice 6-foot artificial pre-lit tree with very realistic-looking molded plastic pine needles and branches from Target. It was a bit of a splurge, but figuring that real trees cost about $30-50 (besides all the trouble of daily needle cleanup, watering and disposal), it will be worth the price in a few years. I love this tree because it is something Chad and I worked on together - he chose the star and convinced me to get the superior 6-foot tree instead of the mini 4-foot thing I originally thought would be more sensible for our eventual moving day (whenever that might be).

Every day that the timer turns it on at 5:30, it makes me smile, seeing its warm, gentle glow. It spreads holiday cheer from its central location near the fireplace hung with stockings, with its mantle covered with Christmas cards. The tree brings back happy childhood memories of going to sleep at night, near Christmas-time, with the only light permitted to be left on being the Christmas tree (which my Dad also kept on a timer). During other times of the year, all lights are sensibly shut off at bedtime.

As I pack away the ornaments, I am careful of their delicacy and fragility. Some ornaments go back into their plastic moulded individual boxes - mostly the fancy ones with moving parts from Hallmark. The bulbs rejoin their mates in the boxes for each matching set. Some soft ornaments are bundled together, their softness also being their strength. The cut-wood snowflakes from Target chosen for their sturdiness make good protectors for some of the more fragile creations. I put the matching snowmen together so they can keep each other company until next year.

The naked tree in January looks more than a little sad, unlike last year, when it looked so full of potential in the same state. Goodbye until next Christmas...