Da Goddess

This past Christmas I actually made lots of cookies with King Arthur, Lady M, Lord R, KA’s stepson Lord B, and Lord B’s kids, Miss K and Mister D. It proved to be a little messy, but was tons of fun. The kids, especially, enjoyed the process. Mister D had a great time rolling out dough and deploying the cookie cutters that Lady M had given me as a Christmas gift. Even the adults had a good time with the decorating, except for King Arthur, who thought there was too much work involved. In the end, he liked how they looked.

Because Lady M and Lord R are both graduates of UCLA, we snuck in some school spirit. At one point, we even took a dig at USC (because that’s how we roll around here). Also included, “pirates”. And, there is one cookie that is completely different from all the rest. It’s one from a batch of cookies my sister had made. See if you can guess which one it is.

I’d fully meant to post these photos sooner, however, I’m lame. Just…lame. But I figure this is a great time to post them as you probably need a break from cats, cats, cats. (I have so many more of those stories, too!)

After seeing these photos, I’m ready for a few dozen cookies. Gingerbread, sugar cookies, shortbread, and some of the chocolate chile cookies. I may need to bake this week or next. We’ll see how it goes. If you have a preference, let me know. I’d love to try some new recipes. My only request is: no nuts. Neither KA nor I eat nuts.

Since I was less-than-thrilled with the Oscars and the hosting job Ellen did, I figured I was likely one of the few who felt that way. I mean, it’s THE OSCARS and it’s ELLEN. But, it turns out not the only one who thought the evening could’ve been better; Ellen’s outfits (especially the opening tux — wildly unflattering on her), and the lame time-wasting bits all took a hit, too.

Is it too much to hope that next year will bring us a host like Billy Crystal again? He was fun! He was funny! Heck, let Bill Murray give it a shot. Or why not have Bette Midler do it? She’s more than capable of singing a song, telling a joke, and keeping things rolling along. Yes, that’s it. That’s my vote for next year’s host: Bette Midler. She’d be fantastic! And if she can’t do it, then bring in Neil Patrick Harris, because that man can do EVERYTHING and he’ll do it with class.

As for tweeting and posting selfies during the show? No more of that crap. It’s lame. And let’s eliminate lame bits that include handing out pizza or presenters who can’t pronounce someone’s name.

I like Ellen, so it’s not that I objected to her hosting the Oscars. It’s totally not that. And, granted, the bar was so low after last year’s show, she surpassed Seth MacFarlane’s lame ass attempt. Still, the jokes weren’t funny. The pizza stunt was a time waster (which meant even though we added a half hour to the record time, we still missed the end). And when WHEN will the idea that a host needs to live tweet during the show go away? Make it happen now, please.

In between waiting for an actual award to be handed out, King Arthur and I amused ourselves with the antics of the cats. Now, THEY were entertaining!

Fletch is, despite his size, an innocent and a gentle giant. He’s simply the sweetest little lovebug alive. When he plays, he does so with wide eyes and energetic abandon. His favorite thing is the feather, although the laser pointer is a close second. Or maybe those two alternate. The laser pointer makes him gallop like a horse all around the house. His curiosity will lead him to chase the light as it disappears between a wall and a cooler and wait for it to reappear. If you start leading him around one side of the sofa with it and he follows part of the way, he will know it’s going to be on the other side and change direction, just to beat you to it. He did that with me while we were playing follow-the-leader around the kitchen one day. With the feather, you can get him to scale furniture, leap into the air, and when he finally gets hold of it, he chomps down on it firmly and trots away with it in his mouth, proud as can be with his catch. It’s terribly endearing.

Celia, the lone diva princess, prefers to play alone in the den while we’re not paying attention, except when it comes to the laser pointer. Then she alternates between drive-by swipes and full-on chase scenes. Don’t get me wrong, she’ll run and play and get goofy, but she’s a bit more reserved about it and it takes more patience to get her out of her shell and really let go. As for her cuddle time, she initiates it and it is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallll about her. When she finally submits to the full petting treatment, she will literally fall all over herself and you and meow for more. If you’re not petting the right spot, she’ll give you a very gentle nip and kind of pull your hand to where she wants you to pet her. Then she’ll fall asleep in your lap and not move for hours.

I love these furry little beings so very much. I love them both but I have to admit I have moments where I love one slightly more than the other and then change my mind fifteen minutes later. It all depends on who’s looking at me from those sweet faces: Celia’s gorgeous green eyes; Fletch’s big, innocent eyes. They’re both totally enchanting and you can’t help but get caught up in their spell.

We have a lot of work to do, still, with getting them settled in. They’re almost there. Just fine tuning things at this point. Teaching them how to play nicely TOGETHER (Celia swipes at him, hisses, and then curls up with him later to sleep), teaching them how to use an automatic feeder (for when we’re gone overnight), teaching them how to not scatter their food EVERYWHERE! (hahahahahaha, as if that’ll ever happen), and training them to sit quietly in our laps while we trim their claws. Yeah, that’ll be the big one. Until we get that under control, there’ll be lots of yowling and scratching and hissing, and the cats won’t be happy about it either.

So, yeah. We watched the Oscars and we more entertained by our cats. That was the whole point of this post. Well, that and just general cat blogging.

What else is going on? I miss LD. His visit here was too short and this week has felt empty without him. He’s a damn good kid. We babysat King Arthur’s granddaughter Saturday night. She’s 5 months old now and is all smiles, full of curiosity, and is fabulously cute as a button. Basically, babysitting is an absolute joy with this little girl. Lady M and Lord R have done a great job getting her on a schedule and keeping her healthy and happy. It’s wonderful to see good parenting in progress.

Now it’s time for me to get back to throwing a ball or dangling a feather for my two young charges. They seem to be in need of a good romp before bed.