Goodbye 2025

 

Stirring hot cocoa with a candy-cane and a light snowfall outside...and here it is...the end of 2025.

The guy and I, intending to watch the ball drop in Times Square together tonight...ring in the New Year...necessitating a pre-midnight nap, of course...lol!

...this growing old stuff isn't for sissies...

A year of ups and downs.

Some changes...good and no-so-good.

...the older I get...the more I realize this is just life...

Survived the Covid that tried to kill me off last Dec/Jan.

James made 38...Lennon made 37 and Chris is now 36.

Leonard Peltier was freed!

My sister, Tina, solidified her crazy cat-lady status by adding Charlotte and Shadow to her menagerie this year.

We has watched in horror as Trump and his hate-filled MAGA took over and have made an absolute mockery of our government.

...this, too, shall pass...

The Eagles won the Superbowl!

We tried new things and ran away a bit.

In March...John's cancer was back and there was metastasis to his brain.

By April, we were having surgery...radiation and chemo...and immunotherapy.  

I became an official senior citizen at 65. 

In May, Lachlan turned 1.

Chris and Tina celebrated their 6th anniversary...and James and Jess celebrated their 1st.

By June, chemo and radiation were over and we were getting back to normalcy.

And the bears came out of hibernation!

I did 2 months virtually on the Arizona Trail.

...I also learned that desert hiking was not my cup-of-tea...

Over the summer, James released a couple of albums and Chris secured a great position in I.T.

Lennon put all his remaining vacation days together and took the entire month of December off!

In August...we tested and the doctors found John's cancer was in complete remission!!!!!

...this exciting news would soon be followed by a recurrence of the inability to tolerate the immunotherapy...

After a week in the hospital he was back home.

Chunk won FAT BEAR WEEK!!!

In Portland...the had The Frog Brigade...and arrested The Giraffe Guy.

Football was back!!!

I ended up having a late Thanksgiving with the boys and grands...which was wonderful.

The immunotherapy reared its ugly head again and John spent another week in the hospital.

We did manage to pull off an early Thanksgiving and a late Christmas together!!!

He is STILL in remission!!!! 

The Colts and Kansas did not make the playoffs this year.

...sad face...

And we have both discovered LANDMAN...and are hooked!

...happy face...

So...yeah...that has been a brief synopsis of this year.

Looking forward to the ball-drop...maybe a pizza...and a bright shiny New Year!!!

 

Love,

Carla, John and The Cats

 

 

  

 

 

 

That Post Christmas...End of the Year Blur...

Does anybody really know what day it is?????

December Something.

Those fuzzy days between Christmas and the New Year...too much good food and leftovers...too many bubble baths and naps...to much screen time or sofa time...football...and look...more food!!!

Yeah...it is kind of like that.

John and I celebrated a wonderful chocolate-cake-filled Christmas.
 

We totally spoiled the cats this year.

Enjoyed Sisters Day with Tina yesterday.

 And now (until Jan 1st) we fall back and regroup...and Christmas is over.

Hope yours was wonderful!!!

See everyone here on NYE!

 

Love,

Carla

(...stuffing my face and watching the game...)

 

 

 Lachlan and Santa

Twas the Day BEFORE the Night Before Christmas....

 

And all through the house...all you can hear is that damned jingle mouse!!!

The halls are all decked...the tree is festooned with painted snow tipped pine cones...red berries...red and white candy canes and twinkling white lights...candles are lit...Christmas Jazz fills the background...and finishing the last Cinderella Day before Christmas Eve...

And WHERE THE HELL DID ALL THESE CAT TOYS COME FROM?

It would appear that Tux has chewed through the side of his kitty-stocking while I slept and the living room is now a minefield of green and red jingle balls...stuffies...and assorted catnip mice! 

~sigh.

Laundry to dry...dishes to clean up...and then a long luxurious soak in the bubble bath (with Christmas Cookie scented scrub).

Wishing Everyone the Very MERRIEST of Christmas!!!

Love,

Carla and Tux 

 

 

Yeah...Today Makes 11 Months...

 

How are we doing???

 

Yes...me, too.

Since last we left Comb-over Caligula we've:

 

Bombed more boats...lost the ACA subsidies...capture two oil freighters...bombed Syria...watched the economy go to hell...saw page after full page of the Epstein files be completely redacted...saw in-fighting in the GOP...watched him speed give whatever the hell that angry speech was...tell us Congress doesn't need to know if he goes to war...

and so much much more..........

~sigh

 

People are quitting.

Tempers are boiling over.

MAGA are waiting to be told what to think next.

And 37 months until it is over.

 

One more month and we have survived the first year.

 

My happy thought?

We are all temporary.

Even him.

 

We can do this!

 

 

Decking the Halls...John's Birthday...SNOW....And Week 14...

 

It's beginning to smell a lot like....York's Peppermint Patty????

 

...can THAT be right...

 

The tree is lit with hundreds of tiny white lights and festooned with red and white candy canes. At it's base a comfy red throw that Tux-kitty has already claimed. Fir scented candles...bright red faux poinsettia and candy-cane foaming soap.

Then, there was the oil.

To be mixed with cleaning supplies...it was Crushed Candy-Cane scented.

After dusting, I realized that the entire house now smelled a lot like York Peppermint Patty.

...also...now I want one...

Week 14 was brutal...both our teams lost and Indiana Jones got a season ending injury.

...more about this later...

And Kansas HAS to win on Sunday or we are pretty much out of the playoffs.

Then, Riley Leonard also got injured...so we were out of QBs.

THEN...we decided to hire out of retirement Phillip Rivers.

44 year old...has been retired for 5 years...10 kids...A GRANDPA, for godsake!!!

No.

I'm not joking.

So now...I wait for this week's game 15 with morbid fascination.

Rough Week.

John in the hospital Mon-Fri with lung complications from that damned immunotherapy.

...at least we know now that it could flare up for even 2 more years...

He is back on the Prednisone, and home!

Today is his birthday!!!

 "So happy to have my lap back, Dad!!!"

 We are going to celebrate after Christmas.

For this weekend we are hibernating.

It has snowed all day and is snowing tonight.

T-bone steak with all the trimmings...quiet...and football tomorrow!!!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Love,

Carla

 

 Lachlan in the snow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Update:

            And just like that our seasons are over and chance for the playoffs/Superbowl is gone.

 

Oh well...there's always next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving...Week 13...December...Snow....and Rubber Chickens!

 

"Let it SNOW...let it SNOW...let it SNOW!!!"

 

 But first...

 And this year we have much to be THANKFUL for!

Here is some of mine.

It is hard, with jobs and such, to get us in a large squirmy pile these days.

Tina had to work and several of the grands were missing, and Lennon was on the phone...but it was still wonderful!

I am thankful...and blessed! 

Now the holiday...food...and November is over.

Stowing the Fall stuff today...and tomorrow...up goes the tree!

 

"Not yet. Wait one more day!!!"

This year the color is Red with tiny white lights, and the scents are Christmas Tree and Crushed Candy Canes.

The weather cooperated, and we have snow on the ground with more headed this way!

The Week 13 Games for The Colts and Kansas were both dismal. Now 8-4 and 6-6 respectively.

The Colts may make the playoffs...but Kansas has little chance at this point.

 

Then there is The Chicken Guy...

https://youtube.com/shorts/O9T9sV7vkDI?si=5vnaly5JGfzpFcYm

The part, for me, that makes this extremely funny is that the guy who is doing this is actually a classically train orchestral pianist. He can play everything beautifully. Mozart...Chopin...Beethoven...

So...at what point in your life do you say

"Fuck it...I'm just going to play the Rubber Chicken."

Really.

 Off to a hot bubble bath and a nap...then to finish the house.

Love,

Carla
 

 

Week 12....

 OHMIGOD...

 

We won....we.won...we won!

...the Chiefs, of course...

It was messy...it was filled with interceptions...holding...fumbles and flags.

...lord...were there flags...

At the end we were 20-20 and into OT.

Where we won with a field goal!!!!

And the $5.00 bet that John and I do when our teams play each other???

Well, this year it is mine.....lol!!!!!

 

 

 

Our Early Thanksgiving...NFL Week 11...Lennon's 37th Birthday...Don's Fall Visit...Tina's 60th Birthday...And More

  

 

 

Very Autumnish, Now...

 

Waking to the sound of geese overhead in the mornings...the Black Locust has lost all its tiny leaflets and the Maple behind it has turned fire orange...the world smells

like bonfire...wet leaves...and maybe snow arriving soon.

 

Today is a Cinderella Day!

 

John and I celebrated our early Thanksgiving, already. With Beef Wellington and Asparagus...Pumpkin Roll...and Tux Time...and even a well-placed nap together.  

 

Don and I celebrated Fall with talk of Football...and Politics...and catching up with Children...Grandchildren...and Chinese Food.

 

Lennon turned 37...and my sister turned 60.

 

The Colts had their Bye Week and the Broncos beat Kansas leaving us the 5-5 going into this Sunday's Game.

 

TBH...not sure we are even going to make the playoffs.

 

Thursday's Game with Buffalo was brutal.

 

Josh Allen was sacked 8 times.

 

He must have woke up sore!

 

And last night, Chris and Lachlan dropped by.

 

Lachlan babbling intensely.

 

He looks you straight in the eye and chatters away.

 

Obviously has something to say.

 

Must clean everything today.

 

Even me.

 

Looking forward to Sunday's Game!!!

  

 

 

 

Another Month...

The illegal immigrants are smuggling their cows in....

Scott Bessent is sure of it!!!

...for the record...I think he has lost what is left of his goddamn mind...

"Sure Scott...they're putting them in backpacks...is the cow in the room with us right now???"

Do you know what they call cattle smuggled through the Darian Gap?

BBQ. 

Dear God...it has been another month.

Only 38 left to go.

...from we have the Epstein Files...to there's nothing in them...then what Files...to STOP talking about them...it's a hoax...shutting the government down and refusing to seat a duly elected Senator...then the victims declaring "WE ARE NOT A HOAX!"...and congress finally doing their job and releasing The Files...and also 20,003 emails...and they are smuggling in cows...QUIET PIGGY...and six congress-people who should be executed for sedation...

I'm sure I've missed a lot...because who the hell could even keep up at this point?

Oh...and he demolished the East Wing.

Because...of course he did.

 The Portland Frogs have kept me sane this month.

More as it comes.

And you know it will....

 

Snow!!!!...Week 10...and John's Results....

 

Sitting with hot cocoa...watching the first snowfall!! A little early, for us...but beautiful!

Sunday was Week 10 (NFL) and Kansas was on BYE week.

The Colts played The Falcons in Germany (early morning game) and although there were many mistakes in the 1-3 quarters...they redeemed themselves by the 4th Quarter tying the score up...then winning the game with a touchdown in OT.

Hands-down the best 4th Quarter I've watched this season.

Now, The Colts enter their BYE at 8-2 for the season.

Matched (I think) only by The Broncos...and solidly first in their division.

...this might be your year, John...

The very best news came this week with his PET scan and MRI...both which showed no re-staging.

Still in complete remission!!!!!!

To say we have something to be truly THANKFUL for this year...would be an understatement.

 

Love,

Both of Us and The Fur-balls 

  

 

Fall Getaway...Sisters Day...Week 8...Halloween...and The Dodgers Win The World Series

And just like that...the spooky season is over!

Meanwhile John and I enjoyed our Fall Feasting and Leaf Peeping...Tina and I had Sisters Day with Papa John's jack'o'lantern shaped pizza and pumpkin pie with whipped cream...and the guy and I watched both our teams win week 8...handily!!!!

Heading into today's games with

HIM:  7-1...we're 7-1!!!

ME: 4-3...it doesn't have quite the same ring to it....does it??

And we're both celebrating because The Dodgers have now won back-to-back World Series!!!

Games 9 for The Colts involves The Steelers...made more interesting for me because my arch-nemesis, Aaron Rodgers, is their QB...and I must admit I am watching primarily to see him get sacked...smashed...knocked on his ass.

...one can hope...

And to see Indiana Jones bring us to 8-1!!!

The second game today involves The Chiefs vs The Bills...and needless to say...it is always a bit unsettling playing Josh Allen.

It usually comes down to whoever touches the ball last.

Go KC!!! 

The boys went to an apple orchard with the grands.

 And Jess made the best homemade apple crumble and apple butter and sent me some!

 Getting a few things done before football starts.

 

Love,

Carla 

  

Today is 9 Months...

 

How ya doin'....now...

 

This is going to be a long...long...long...three years and 3 months.

 39 months to go...

Since Kirk's death we have seen:

 

...him being awarded posthumously the Presidential Medal of Freedom award...the refusal of release of the Epstein files...the shutdown of the government for 20 days currently...the refusal to seat a duly elected member of the Senate from AZ because she is a Democrat...the illegal bombing of 7 boats in international waters...ICE running rampant...elected officials calling peaceful protestors anti-American, hateful and members of Hamas...declaring ANTIFA an organization and un-American...Middle East Peace...that lasted less than 24 hours...

but we have also seen:

...protestors who are fighting back with silly inflatable costumes...cha-cha dancing and the Hokey Pokey...7 million Americans pouring into the streets for  NO KINGS DAY...Governors and Mayors stepping up and speaking out...

in short, pushing back!!!!

It seems to have reached a tipping point...and people are slowly realizing

THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!!!!!

And we can't let it become the New Norm.

The inflatables were brilliant.

The Frog Brigade, still my favorite! 

 

Despite everything...we're going to be okay.

Really.

 

 

 

Good Food...Good Football and James & Jess' First Anniversary

 

Celebrating a year, today!!!!

And sooooooooooooooooo happy.

Fall is completely here, now...with all the decorations...the leaves turning orange, red and yellow...and, of course, the food!

Made a batch of ham and beans, corn bread and sweet tea.

Sundays all about good food and football these crisp days.

...also sweaters...hoodies and throws...

The Kansas game against The Raiders was an absolute blow-out.

 And now we are 4-3.

The Colts game against The Chargers was a bit tighter...

 But also ended with a decisive win...giving them 6-1 and securing top in their division.

 In fact, they are currently the BEST team in the NFL!

...that is something I didn't think I'd ever hear...

John and I had a wonderful day of football!

Time to call it a night!

 

 

 

 

Chris' Birthday...Week 6 Outcome...Arresting Giraffes...and New Stuff!

 

Chris is 36 today!!!!

...how can THAT be right?????

Excited that we are all getting together for Halloween.

Maybe he and Tina and Lachlan dressing up as Ghostbusters this year...not 100% yet...but if so, Lachlan will be the cutest SLIMER ever!

Lennon reporting this week that he has found the Complete Set (DVD) of ROBOT CHICKEN...a great find.
 

And James...who is still making music and released another album on the 12th!!!

Busy times!

My Niece (Tina's Daughter) and Cody tied the knot in Brown County.

.

 

John and I have solidified our Fall Trip plans...as well as Tina and I getting ready for Sisters Day.

Then, there is football!

If Kansas keeps having late night games, it's going to kill us both off.

Week 6 was outstanding!!!!

Colts and Kansas won their respective games.

The Colts are now 5-1...which is phenomenal.

Kansas is now 3-3...but Rashee is off suspension for this Sunday and Worthy is healthy...so we're expecting great things.

...and Branch learned you can't sucker-punch Juju in the head and not get suspended/fined... 

Making Ham and Beans, Cornbread and Sweet Tea to accompany the games.

Lots of stuff this week...most of the political I'll cover on the 20th...but had to share THIS.

That is right, folks...in Portland they arrested the singing giraffe.

...this may be a new low...even for ICE...

The newest "must try" from Arby's
 

Steak Nuggets!!!!

Have a Great Weekend!

Love,

Carla, John, Tux and Gadget 

 

 

 

 

The Spooky Season...Football...Movies and More

 It is evening, and I have a Pumpkin-Spice candle burning.

The geese are back in the mornings.

The sun is golden now...and at night there is even a touch of frost in the air.

Decorations are all about sunflowers, mums, and pumpkins.

The exception would be a garden spider which has affixed her flat sheet web securely to a nearby plant and my arched arbor...normally I would clear it away...but this is October and she and her creation are inadvertently promoted to Halloween Decorations.

...and this is a must have item...

Yeah.

I know.

I need to get out more.

 

Week 5's football was great!

We watched The Colts absolutely trounce The Raiders!!!!

...40-6... 

And although The Chiefs did not win...it came down to the last few seconds of the game...very exciting!

A lot of mistakes made on both sides (Jags and Us)

Trevor Lawrence tripped over his own feet and fell..Chris Jones thought the play was over but it wasn't..and then Trevor tripped into the EndZone and scored a touchdown.

...sigh..

You couldn't even make that up.

Kansas was beating themselves with penalties.

...flag...flag..flag flag...FLAG...flaggity flag flag....flag flag...FLAG...FLAG...flag and flag...

14 times.

Mostly holding.

...TBH...for years they have hung off opposing teams like small rat terriers and never been called for it...

 Andy might want to let them know when the jersey stretches several feet out...it is time to let go.

...just saying...

John and I are excited for tomorrow and Week Six.

Good Food and Football!

Watching all the spooky movies now.

 Vampires...Werewolves...Spiders...Stephen King Stuff...and tonight: 1954's THEM (B&W radiation-mutated ants)

 Campy...yes...but a lot of fun!

 

love,

Carla