I'm no-baking

Nancy's Not Very Quiet No Bake (left)
Emily's Whipple-Scrumptious No Bake (right)

This was my plan: Run home from work, throw together one batch of couldn't-be-easier no-bake cookies, eat dinner, make second batch. Go to store and buy fruit or veggies or some other snack option to go with cookies for birthday treat tomorrow. Then do other Important Things.

At my no-longer-new job, it's my turn to be birthday treat girl tomorrow. I got my assignment in January and was so excited I consulted the Dec. 6 birthday person right away to find out what sorts of treats he liked so I could put this in the reminder on my calendar. Without hesitation, he said "no-bake cookies."

(And before anyone gets any ideas, the birthday person is a very nice, very married man. Being the birthday treat person is kind of a big deal in our office - and this is my first time not-cooking for my co-workers.)

Seriously? NO-bake? I had a distant memory of sampling this type of cookie in the 70s or 80s. But in all the thousands of cookies I have baked in my life, I don't think I ever made the no-bake variety. Well then. I asked around the office to see if anyone had a favorite recipe. Apparently, there was a no-bake-off some years ago and several people brought in cookies. There was reminiscing. But no sharing. My copy director told me that she hadn't made no-bakes since her daughter was little. She called them "quiet cookies" because they were the only ones she didn't use the mixer for so could whip up a batch during naptime. I just love that.

So I started researching - months ago, really. I discovered so many recipes, all similar, that I shelved my research until the last minute, figuring it would be a no-brainer. I'd just get the ingredients, then close my eyes, pick one of the ubiquitous recipes and make a few minor modifications to Nancy-fy. They'd be the best darned no-bake cookies ever. Most call for 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup of milk. Then things started to vary. 2 T cocoa (that just sounded too light on the chocolatey-ness). 1/2 cup peanut butter. 1 cup. 2 cups oats. 3-1/2 cups. Quick cooking oats? Old-fashioned? Oh dear! Then there were the variations with evaporated milk and margarine (oh my, no), coconut, nuts and other crunchy bits ... Of course, if I were making these for my family, there would be nuts. But I wanted these to be "traditional." Then I read one recipe that used 1-3/4 cups brown sugar. The rationale was that it was less sugar but a richer taste. Hmm. I liked that. So I thought I'd compromise.

Well, class. Here's what I did:

Recipe 1 (Nancy's Not Very Quiet Cookies)
In heavy saucepan, melt together:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups sugar (I modified: 1 cup brown, 1/2 cup white)
1/4 cup cocoa (I used 5-6 tablespoons)
1/2 cup milk

(I melted the butter, then added the other ingredients and whisked together. Not sure if that matters. I watched a video where the cook just dumped everything in all at once.)

Boil for 1 minute (start timer after a rolling boil begins)

Remove from heat. Stir in:
1 cup peanut butter (I got Simply Jif - the less-salt, less-sugar kind, which was kind of blah by itself but I thought would be fine in the company of all that butter and sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats (I used old-fashioned)

I had covered the counter in wax paper during the butter-melting stage so it was ready to go right after the boiling, etc. I started plopping out my tablespoons of hot gloopy cookie mush right away.

Result: Very soft (but very dark and rich cookie with definite peanut buttery flavor). After about an hour and no signs of setting up, I slid the cookie-covered wax paper onto cookie sheets and put them in the fridge.

Then continued to research. I read that many people cool the stuff first. Some even chill it. Did I cook it too long? Not long enough? It's definitely not too humid. I was still trying to figure out what I did wrong when my friend Deb popped up on Facebook chat like she KNEW I was having an culinary emergency. Deb to the rescue!

She had three recipes from her son's third-grade cookbook ("Whipple-Scrumptious Chocolate Favorites" - how incredibly cute is that?) and all three called for less peanut butter than I'd used in Recipe 1. Most other quantities were the same. So I chose the one with more cocoa and more oats.

Recipe 2 is Emily's from Whipple-Scrumptious
In heavy saucepan, melt together:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups sugar 

1/4 cup cocoa 

1/2 cup milk

Boil for 1 minute (start timer after a rolling boil begins)

Remove from heat. Stir in:

1/2 cup peanut butter (used Simply Jif again)

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups oats (old-fashioned again)

This time, I allowed the stuff to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. I think. I was writing and almost forgot about it. It was definitely a stiffer dough. 

Result: Slightly crumblier cookie with smooth, fudgy flavor and only the merest hint of peanut butter. Set up into cookie form in less than 30 minutes.

Now I have to decide if I should make a batch without peanut butter. Just in case. Oh dear. I don't think I'm going to the grocery store tonight. I gotta wash dishes! Does anyone out there have a favorite, no-fail, no-bake cookie recipe? Do share!

Always in season

The house is still quiet. Pie no. 3 is in the oven (pecan) and I'm enjoying my coffee and letting the college girl sleep a bit longer. I've been reading other people's posts - a mix of thankful lists and menus for the day. Is it ridiculous that we are making six pies? And that I was fretting that we could only make six because we are limited by the number of pie plates in the house?

Last night, we made two pumpkin with nut topping - the all-around favorite in our family.
This morning we'll make one each of pecan, chocolate, apple and Nantucket cranberry.

Yes. We are enthusiastic enablers of dietary decadence.

This summer at our church's Vacation Bible School, the theme centered around Jewish feasts and holidays. Because I worked with older kids - upper elementary and youth - our class probably learned more about these holidays and their significance than the younger kids. My teaching partner, Beth, and I did a lot of research (much of it in a coffee shop, surfing the Web with our laptops) and really enjoyed connecting the feasts with the history of the time and the significance of the various foods and symbols and activities. Each day, we introduced the kids to exotic "Bible foods" and traditions, connecting the promises of the Old Testament to their fulfillment in the gospel. It was seriously cool.

The most important thing we learned was that feasting and celebrating and thanking God for an abundance of blessings is not restricted to one season. Of course, I knew that already ...

I plan to savor every moment of this day of thanksgiving. From the quiet times of the morning (whoa - where did the time go? how can it already be this late?) to the precious joys of baking with my daughter to the sweet chaos of our family gathering this afternoon. With each moment, I thank God for the rich and abundant blessings in my life.

The pecan pie is now cooling on the counter and I'm hearing the pitter-patter of footsteps upstairs. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Twice on Tuesday

Guaranteed smile-maker

I shared this over on Finding Joy and thought it worth sharing twice.


A co-worker's pre-teen daughter packed her lunch today. This is what I saw this morning when I opened the door of the fridge at work to put my lunch inside. Not only did it make me smile, but it warmed the hearts of all of the women in the office who saw it. I suspect some of the guys, too.

Il faut chercher la joie

Pays Cathare, en route to Foix

I totally forgot about these photos. Anyone looking for a room in an old mill? C'est très charmant, non?

As part of a writing "thing" this month, I'm mostly hanging out over here with a few writer friends. We're posting daily on a variety of joyful topics.

I'll pop back over to Shiny Things from time to time, but feel free to come visit!

A day, a weekend, a week,  a month ...

Words, words and MORE words!

This is about the niftiest thing I've seen in a while. Not my mug on the page here, but creating a self portrait out of words. Hey - that's almost like writing, right?

Thanks to the American Heritage Dictionary, you can go make your own portrait! Please go do this right now.

And I thought I was fresh out of words today. Phew. Crisis averted.

A plethora of pumpkins

Pumpkin panorama                 Photo credit: Tom Twaro

Last Thursday, 40 pumpkins were dropped off at our office and we were asked to kindly carve them up. Sounded like a good idea - and we're a creative bunch. My co-workers have been bringing in their pumpkins all week. Most carved one. Some carved two. Some asked their spouses or significant others to help. Our copy director's husband used a power drill to poke holes through the one that's the fifth from the left - isn't that nifty? The crazy glowing porcupine on the far left was engineered by one of our sales guys. I just love the diversity of our designs. Some of the guys built a platform across the shrubberies along the side of the building, drilled holes through the pumpkins and then ran white lights through the whole lot. The panorama pic above doesn't quite capture all of them, so be sure to check out this link. We're very close to a busy road, which makes it impossible to fit the whole length of our display into one shot.

I love carving pumpkins. My freshman year in college, we had a carving contest in my dorm and my team won. I have a photo somewhere of Karl from Flushing posing with our masterpiece. I remember that we were inspired to sculpt our squash rather than go the traditional route. It was nothing like these - but still pretty impressive.

I don't know where we got this year's pumpkins from, but these were no ordinary specimens. None of those lopsided, dented, funky blobs. These were plump and shiny and perfect. I only took a "before" picture of one of mine. I almost didn't want to cut into it, it was so perfect! I decided to go with a classic friendly jack-o-lantern and then a super-simple design I thought might look interesting when lit from within.

Before

After

There's a village near here that hosts The Great Pumpkin Roll every year before Halloween. They started it 17 years ago as a positive response to pranksters who had a tradition of making a giant grody mess. It is now a popular event for all ages that brings the community together and has raised thousands of dollars for the local Parks and Recreation department. You can watch some of the fun here - the action starts around the 1:20 mark.

Wild and wooly weekend

A. Raise your hand if you knew this was how 

Brussels sprouts grew. 

Well, not that wild and wooly ...

Friday: While most of the family went to the Red Wings game, I came home from work, ate leftovers and watched a movie on Netflix before picking up Sharon's friend's daughter at the airport. She and I then went to Walmart at 1 a.m. because the airline lost her luggage and she needed a few items in case her bag that was in Atlanta or Argentina or Azerbaijan didn't show up. Got the People of Walmart song stuck in my head. It's oh, so very wrong but oh, so very funny.

Saturday: Went to the farmers market and purchased Brussels sprouts. See photo A. I'm planning to roast them. Then I went to watch Sammy and Ashton play hockey. And then I saw the Footloose remake (read a review here - written by the son of a friend in my yoga class) with Kay and went to Starbucks afterward for mochas and chitchat. When I got home, I started carving pumpkins for work (we have a huge display in front of the office) and then went to dinner with Sharon and her childhood friend and three daughters (including the one whose luggage had still not been delivered).

Sunday: After church I took an impromptu and informative trip to the Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor with Barb, preceded by a detour to the cupcake shop and followed by an early dinner at Frita Batidas (my new favorite Ann Arbor eatery).

Calabaza salad and chorizo frito - oh, yummmm - served on 

eco-friendly plantain leaves with compostable cutlery!

Rows of white picnic tables festooned with a selection of salsas,
seasoned salt and bag-o-limes adds to the understated ambience. 

But back to this Fiber Expo thing ... three whole barns full of wooly, furry, funny critters and wooly, furry, funny people creating beautiful creations out of formless fluff. I will never look at sweaters the same way again. I really didn't expect the critters, and they were a terrific bonus since I don't know a drop spindle from a niddy-noddy and really only went on this jaunt for the ride. (And the promise of good food. And friend time.)

Oh - did you know that our English expression "spinning a yarn" is "raconter des salades" in French?

I call it "Fiber Flower Salad." 

Indeed. It was a very educational afternoon. After I'd finished pestering all of the animals and while Barb was off purchasing balls of fluff, some nice ladies introduced me to needlefelting and I made this bookmark-whatchamacallit-cat-toy-dust collector.

Now I want to needlefelt all sorts of things. And I'm rather inspired to learn how to knit socks.

All in all, I had a lovely time. And when I arrived home with a full head and a happy tummy, I finished carving pumpkins and did laundry. I'll try to post pumpkin pics tomorrow.

These two were humming a little song (it's a thing alpacas do).

Alpaca babies!

Feel my sheeps ears ... they're made of boiled wool. Baaaa!

Lady, leave my butt alone. I'm feeling a draft in here.

But I would like just a little trim around the eyes, puhleez.

Can you tell I'm a little bit horngry?

This is what silk looks like when it's gathered from the 

silkworms. (I did not see or pet any silkworms.)

Cheeeeese!

We learned that camels shed their hair (part of the molting process) - it is generally not shorn like other animals valued for their coats. As you can imagine, the hairy fibers are kind of dirty when they're gathered up but then are sorted and washed and "de-haired" before being spun into yarn. 

Pretty pretty colors everywhere! (But sadly, I did
not see any technicolor sheepses.)

The second Sunday in October

Women and girls carry water home in Geles, an Arab village in Darfur.

Credit: Paul Jeffrey/ACT-Caritas

The CROP Walk in our community is always the second Sunday in October. I've walked the 6.2 miles of our local Walk almost every year for the last 16 or 17 years. (Two years ago, I helped hand out snacks at my sister's church, which was one of the rest stops.) It is a wonderful annual tradition, and I especially enjoy sharing it with some of the young people in my life. It's pretty cool to walk - rain (or snow!) or shine - with hundreds of others working to end hunger locally and around the world.

If the women and girls in the photo above can walk this distance every day just to get water - I figure I can do it once a year -- what an easy way to help raise awareness - and funds - to help dig wells in deserts and provide nourishing meals close to home.

Will you help me "de-feet" hunger?

Can you hear me now?

Where's the jelly?

I lost my cell phone at work yesterday. I remember picking it up off my desk and putting it in my purse before heading out for lunch. And then later in the afternoon realized it was missing. I completely retraced my steps after work ... nada. A mystery.

So even with things like email and Facebook (and LinkedIn and Twitter) and a regular phone, I still feel disconnected. Itchy. Annoyed.

So please don't call or text me on my cell today.

I saw this truck while on my way home from work the other day and it made me think of peanut butter. When I was a little girl, I was convinced that cement trucks were peanut butter mixing trucks. Still, today, I think of peanut butter every time I see one of these. Especially the orange ones. (OK. Is it a concrete mixer or a cement mixer? I know the difference in the two materials but was not finding a definitive answer by googling.)

I heard the other day on NPR that we're having a bit of a peanut shortage this year.

Oh, it's cold here. I have nothing important to say but I just don't want to extract myself from my cozy nest with a snuggling kitty cat. I can't bring myself to turn the furnace on just yet. Brrrrr ...

Happy Saturday!

Flower whisperer

Swirled ... 

Today's post is dedicated to my neighbor, C, as she heads west to Abiquiu, New Mexico ... aren't her posies giving her an appropriate send-off?

I wanna do nifty things like this when I'm gracefully retired. Or now. Now would be good.

Have an unforgettable time, C!

Unfurled!

I yam growing pumpkins!

Orange they nice?

Shrumpkin = shrubbery + pumpkin

Right here in the city ... the birds took seeds from smashed pumpkins between my garage and the neighbor's and we've been enjoying watching the swirly-twirly vines working their way along our driveways. 

I have a pumpkin patch of three - two outside the back door and one entwined in a shrubbery. 

The neighbor has one perfect little squash-let. Splendid!

Close-up of shrumpkin stem

The neighbor's perfect squash specimen

Chewy, gooey fun

Yesterday, we had TWO birthdays to celebrate at work. Birthdays=interesting treats. 


In the morning, we were treated to marinated cheese and Ju Ju fish. Awesome combo. As much as I love cheese, I'd never heard of doing this before (the cheese thing, not necessarily pairing it with Ju Ju fish). Boy, am I behind the times. I Googled it and got more than 6 million results. Here's one version, with a photo of what it looks like. Recipes are all pretty similar, but the one we were served is below. (And mid-afternoon, we got Drumstick ice cream cones!)


Marinated Cheese

 Prep Time:  10 Minutes
 Chill: 8 Hours

Ingredients
1   (0.7-oz.) envelope Italian dressing mix   
1/2 cup  vegetable oil   
1/4 cup  white vinegar   
2 tablespoons  minced green onion   
2 tablespoons  water   
1 1/2 teaspoons  sugar   
1   (8-oz.) block Monterey Jack cheese, chilled   
1   (8-oz.) block Cheddar cheese, chilled   
1   (8-oz.) package cream cheese, chilled   
1   (4-oz.) jar chopped pimiento, drained   
   Assorted crackers   

Preparation

1. Whisk together first 6 ingredients. Set aside.
2. Cut Monterey Jack cheese in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Repeat with Cheddar cheese and cream cheese.
3. Arrange cheese in 4 rows in a shallow 2-qt. baking dish, alternating Monterey Jack cheese, Cheddar cheese, and cream cheese. Pour marinade over cheese. Cover and chill at least 8 hours.
4. Drain marinade; arrange cheese on a platter in rows. Top with pimiento, and serve with assorted crackers.

Note: Many of the recipes I found did not drain the marinade, so I'd say draining is optional

Savoring

Aunt Linda's homemade whole-grain breads ... heaven in a basket (in our N.C. hotel room).

Lentil sprouts, instant espresso and Eastern Shore 

coffee ... necessities when traveling!

Reflecting on a perfect weekend-y weekend and the winding down of another too-brief summer ...

I'm savoring ...
... the rain drippity-dripping outside my window

... those last delicious moment snuggled in flannel sheets

... a savory Sunday from beginning to end - church, lunchtime study with youth, chilled white wine in the afternoon with dear friends, a leisurely visit of chatting, visioning future writing projects, snipping fragrant herbs in the back yard, cooking (and eating) "slow food," delighting in a frolicking puppy, a long walk wrapping up a splendid day

... the joy of cooking and serving a big dinner with a crew of young people and reliving our time at Youth 2011 at Purdue just two months ago

... a crisp late-summer Saturday morning at the farmers market filling up on the season's last tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and peaches - plus capturing moments with my sister and catching up with (and making new) old friends

The doc brought flowers to 

beautify our hotel rooms.

... memory-making with loved ones during a whirlwind trip to my nephew's wedding in North Carolina just over a week ago - dancing, swimming, eating, sharing stories and oh, so much laughter

... thoughts of "gracious living" at Green Lake - long walks and cocktail hour and drinking wine out of Barbie glasses on the dock with my cousin

... nine jam-packed days with my favorite college student before her senior year

So much to savor. I don't think I'll ever stop.

I don't cheap main

Just sayin'.


I never shared this, did I? This is the transcript generated by the speech-to-text function on a friend's "smart" phone last year. 


Hey ___, It's ______. Ha me if you get this. I just tried calling your dad any pick up in bonanza. I went to paste it by T. I was just up here in this month and got some things for the 3rd for your mom. I don't cheap main. I. E. N. E. But reading getting a cake. I just want got. I got a few things that the people at the If you'd like you said your mom like service you. I think that there would be great. Should be event. But anyway, if you could send it to your dad. I'm driving so that's not safe. If you get this and let him know that I picked up from the 30 things that some things we can stick a candle and if they were if you guys want to.


I.E.N.E. = anyway ... (Anyone ever seen the movie Nell? With Jody Foster and Liam Neeson?)

So long, Kroger. I'll miss you.

2 red pears
1 red onion
bunch of bananas
bag of clementines
1 cucumber
loaf of harvest grain bread
Kalamata olives from the olive bar
cut-up chicken to make Pioneer Woman's chicken stock
4 or 5 cans of Campbell’s Soup (variety) and 2 boxes of Cup-a-Soup (chicken noodle) to re-stock my desk at work
2 boxes of granola bars - my favorite kind
2 boxes of tea – red Rooibus and citrus mint lemongrass ... sigh
2 small containers of cherry pomegranate yogurt
1 large container of Greek yogurt
½ gallon of milk
pint of ½ and ½
2 packages ham and cheese Lean Pockets

This is what I left in my cart (and in the bagging area) at Kroger last night when there was exactly one "regular" checkout lane open (with a mile-long line) and after I got fed up with the stupid self-serve scanner, which repeatedly refused to recognize my bread or hermetically sealed-and-barcode-labeled English cucumber and only reluctantly recognized some of the other barcoded items. It wanted me to keep my precariously piled items in the minuscule bagging area. I hadn't even started with the weigh-and-look-up-the-PLU produce, and after more than 10 minutes and less than half the cart, I gave up and walked out.

Poop. I'll miss Kroger. I don't even need to write a long diatribe about what I profoundly dislike about self-scanners ... these other people say it so well:

• http://consumerist.com/2009/07/dear-kroger-please-make-self-check-out-suck-less.html
• http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2008/11/07/self-checkout-a-consumers-rant/
• http://blogs.consumerreports.org/money/2010/02/self-checkout-is-a-pain-retail-shopping-supermarket-automated-longer-checkout-lines-scanner-no-cashi.html?EXTKEY=I91ECON&CMP=OTC-ConsumeristLinks

The self-scan things may be time-saving and convenient sometimes - in the rarest of circumstances - maybe. They are not meant for people like me. I use my own bags. I don't buy a lot of packaged food (list above is exceptional). I usually prefer small, locally owned stores with real people but I do like my olives and my grainy bread and my yogurt and ... dang it! I tried so very hard to be patient and I failed. Will I boycott stores with self-scanners? I'd sure like to but I know I'll weaken at some point. It will sure be a very long time before I go back to my formerly favorite Kroger.

Maybe I need a catitude adjustment?

Keegan G. demonstrating proper laptop use.

Several years ago, we had a writer who was going through a particularly rough patch of writer's block. I'm sure it was amplified by all of the other stuff happening in his life and also some medication he was on. But it was truly like he could not remember how to write. Our copy director pulled out samples of his work and pointed out the brilliant, snappy copy. "See? You did this! You can do this again!" He nodded weakly, crept back into his office, shut the door and I think took a nap.

I think of him often - and how that must have felt.

Have I been going through a rough patch of writer's block, you ask? I suppose. In a way. I think it's been more about not really knowing how to articulate what's going on my head. Oh - and that makes me think of seldom-quiet Midori, our bubbly and fun exchange student from a few years ago. I commented one day that she was awfully quiet and she said, "Oh! I'm noisy in my head!" And soon it all came spilling out.

The life I've been living the past several weeks just hasn't seemed blog-worthy. I drag myself to work in the morning. Pretend to write all day, often working through lunch or lunching at my desk while staring into space. Drag myself home - my brain and soul depleted. Fill the hole with inspirational or fluffy reading, Netflix or sleep. Do it over the next day. Yoga on Wednesdays. Feel guilty for not using my Y membership but not wanting to admit defeat and cancel it. The occasional dinner with Share and Jake or friends. Birthday parties and hockey games. Youth group. Church.

I remind myself to count my blessings. To be thankful for employment even though what I'm doing is not quite what I think I'm meant to do. I knew I needed to leave my last job and I did it. I've stretched waayyyyy beyond my comfort zone. I'm thankful my new job allows (and encourages) working at home when the roads are treacherous. I'm awed and amazed at the technology and talent that surround me. I'm thankful for neighbors who snow-blow my driveway and sidewalk. And that I realized in time the furnace exhaust was covered and was able to dig it out before dying of asphyxiation and frostbite ... for the daughter who continues to amaze me with her wisdom and grace ... for family and friends ...

I guess the point is I'm living a life - my life - moving from one day to the next, while trying to look beyond my own grumpy self and remembering to count my blessings. Some days it's more of a struggle than others. Some days I fail completely and vow to start over the next day. Many days I just want to pull up my covers and stay in bed.

Like today. I spent the night in Lizz's room again and it's just so cozy!

I awoke to the sound of Claudette shredding a patch of carpet in the upstairs hallway and then barfing. In a secret spot somewhere. I cannot find where she did it. Lovely.

My out-of-town Christmas gifts are still sitting in bags, needing to be wrapped and boxed and shipped. Why is this so hard for me?

Gotta work on taxes and the FAFSA thing. Ick.

Maybe if I work for a bit I can feel better about going to a movie later with friends. And I have a fun diversion to look forward to tomorrow, too ... I started going to a French conversation gathering at the university to practice my French on the occasional Sunday afternoon. I should brush up on my vocabulary and verb conjugations so I can do more than mutter, "Oui! D'accord! Zoot alors!"

I brought homework home, too, but maybe I can just push that to tomorrow ... yes, I'm sure I can do that ...

The house is still decorated for Christmas. This might be a good weekend to pack up the dusty decorations. Or I could hide upstairs and read. Because I ordered several books with my B&N gift cards and the box arrived the other day so I have plenty of material to fill my "spare" time (and to tempt my procrastination tendencies):

• The new Pioneer Woman book - Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (done - passed on to Kay)
• Little Bee (loved the cover and the intriguing "don't tell your friends" plea on the back)
• An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination - because I heard the author interviewed on NPR and I loved the title and part of the story takes place in France
• The View from Mount Joy - pure brain candy
• Half Broke Horses - so I can read the rest of Jeannette Walls' (The Glass Castle) story
• My Life in France - because it was cheap and I wanted my own copy (having read it a few months ago)

Oh me oh my. I'm sure I need a catitude adjustment. My dear friend MBG sent the pic of her cat, Keegan, the other day and it gave me a chuckle and I knew I had to borrow it. I'm sure she won't mind.