Merry solstice. Dr. Mrs. Dr. F. spent the day preparing a French Christmas dinner for my folks, and will spend most of tomorrow finishing it. She has decided to go for something more modest than the last time we did this, so we will stick to just a bouchee a la reine, a roast pork loin with sweet potato puree with pecans, green beans and quinoa with cherries, a French apple pie and homemade tiramisu.
I thought I made that joke up, but then Google told me someone got there first.
Villago Delenda Est
OK, for the homemade stuff, did you do it the authentic McMegan way with a $1500 gadget, or did you do it the pathetic proletarian way by hand? You know, how ACTUAL FUCKING PROFESSIONALS WOULD DO IT?
MikeJ
Finally it feels like xmas. Michael Stipe is threatening to throw Olive, the other reindeer, off the roof.
Tim F.
@Villago Delenda Est: We used a big pot, a smaller pot, a wooden stirring spoon, a soup ladle, one cast iron fry pan and some mixing bowls. Somehow we survived without wasting counter space on a kitschy salt pig.
Villago Delenda Est
@Tim F.:
Assure me now that Max got to lick the bowls :)
Tim F.
@Villago Delenda Est: Not to worry. Max made sure that the skin and fat from the stewing hen did not all go to waste.
Mnemosyne
Ran out of tape while wrapping my nephew’s presents and had to go out to Vons to buy more. While I was there, I picked up some road snacks (apples, carrots and Pop Chips — yes, we try to be those horrible Healthy Eater kind of people). And a pizza, because I didn’t say we always succeed at being those horrible Healthy Eater kind of people.
sfinny
@Mnemosyne: Mmmmm, pizza.
opie jeanne
@Mnemosyne: If only my dear husband would think of road snacks like that. We’ve both got the pizza part down pat, but I spend a month getting rid of the 6 pounds I put on every three months on our quarterly trip to visit Dad, 1100 miles and three states away.
leinie
My Hippy cat died this morning. He was featured on the front page once, with a photo of his sweet face. He was the sweetest, most wonderful cat ever, and I miss him so much. I just feel empty and my heart just aches. He was 18, and it was old age that got him we think, but somehow that doesn’t make it easier. Even though it was time.
So I was remembering him, and thinking about that post, and remembering the kind words of the commenters.
I miss my baby cat.
Brandon
Am I missing something about this Thor thing? Because I am just not seeming to get it.
TooManyJens
@Brandon: It’s a take-off on “Keep the Christ in Christmas.”
Richard
God of thunder and rock and roll
The spell you’re under
Will slowly rob you of your virgin soul
Cheryl from Maryland
@leinie: Oh, my dear. what a sad loss.
Helen
@leinie: So, so sorry. I am not really a cat person, but I emphathize with those who are. Try to enjoy the holidays as best you can.
Villago Delenda Est
@leinie:
Losing a beloved pet…especially one who’s been around for years to make itself a seemingly eternal presence in your life…is never easy.
Best wishes for you…I’m sure that one of Hippy Cat’s spiritual successors down at the shelter will step in and help fill the void that never quite gets filled.
Alison
I’m watching Barbara Walters interview the Obamas on 20/20. I love my parents and all (I even live with them right now, and I’m many years into adulthood) but damn do I want the first couple to adopt me. They’re just so awesome and cute and charming. Plus I only have two older brothers, and I bet it’d be fun to be a big sister to two young girls who strike me as somehow NOT being as horribly annoying as most young girls (like my nieces who are basically the same ages…ugh).
Also, @leinie – so sorry for your loss, friend.
Dee Loralei
@leinie: So sorry for your loss. Yes, even when they die of old age it breaks our hearts. Best to you. My beloved Delilah died 3 years ago from lymphoma at age 5&1/2 and my heart still has a Lilah sized hole in it. And yea, I got two more Goldens 6 months later, but this time of year, my heart breaks again.
And my Moses kitty died this year from kidney failure and my heart still hurts for my sweet handsome boy.
It still hurts when I miss my dogs and cats who lived to be quite elderly. So take care of yourself these next few days and weeks as you get used to being without your Hippy cat.
gelfling545
@leinie: Oh, I’m so sorry for the loss of your dear companion.
WereBear
@leinie: I’m so sorry about Hippy cat. My condolences. But do remember you made him happy, too.
Southern Beale
I went back and revisited my first post about Ron Paul’s racist newsletters, from 2007. And I looked at the Houston Chronicle’s original 1996 reporting of said newsletters.
And I just did an update because I’m really amused that Paul’s defense way back in 1996 was not “I didn’t write that!” but rather, “those comments were in the context of all the Negro crime going on at the time.”
I mean, really.
chopper
both perry and Gingrich failed to get on the primary ballot in Virginia.
seriously, what a fuckin clown show. and newt lives in fucking Virginia! It’s his home state!
that’s what, 50 delegates down the drain for those two?
leinie
Thank you for the kind words. Hippy was the best cat. I’ve still got 4 because we kept one of Emma’s kittens (also featured on the front page) and they have been extra cuddly, especially the ktren, Buttsey-Wiggle. That Hippy was just special. Only cat I ever knew who gave hugs.
Schlemizel
@leinie:
What a crappy Christmas ‘present’. I know how much it must hurt and hope you can enjoy the sweet memories long after the pain subsides.
Schlemizel
@leinie:
We have our daughters cat now as well as our own & her cat will sit on the back of the chair or couch behind us & she has to reach out & put her paw on one of us. It is amazing how sweet that is.
I had an afghan hound for a brief time, they are peculiar for dogs in that they don’t like everyone like most dogs. But she loved me & every time I came home she would jump up, put her paws on my shoulders & pull me up against her. Thats weird.
Roger Moore
Can we has a new thread. This one is old and stale, and the newest thread on the FP is more than 12 hours old. Honestly, can’t anyone around here run a blog?
Anoniminous
Gingrich failed to get on the Virginia ballot for Super Tuesday.
As did Perry, Bachmann, and Huntsman.
Roger Moore
@Southern Beale:
What I still don’t get is why “somebody else wrote that stuff and Paul never bothered to read it” is considered to be an acceptable excuse. I want my president to be a good manager who will appoint competent people and carefully oversee their work. Maybe Ron Paul isn’t a racist himself, but just appointed one to run his newsletter and took years to figure it out because he never bothered to read the thing. That may be an adequate excuse if you’re defending Paul’s character, but it seems like it’s still a disqualification for the presidency on the grounds of utter managerial incompetence.
sdhays
What Roger Moore said!
Robert Waldmann
I was considering being all twitty and noting that Quinoa is not French, but then you wrote “tiramisu.” Uh that doesn’t mean “pull me up” in French.
First they stole the Mona Lisa now they are stealing tiramisu.
Sorry about the Thor sign. Google always shows someone got there first.
Robert Waldmann
Oh and also, you can still be the first to do Tuesday and Wednesday.
I claim “keep the Freyja in Friday !” illustrated with this from google images, http://bit.ly/tugUWz
except that I am having trouble resisting
“keep the fries in Friday !” using this image
http://bit.ly/vCogY2