Good morning everyone - I think I am back among the living again. This time change and the late arriving flight and luggage really hit me. My brother is on Brazilian time and I was on Boston time - we both fell asleep for a "nap" and next thing I knew it was past dinnertime. We both laughed and decided to call it a day..........DONE!

MOFF I have been following your problems with your landlady - and you can bet that I will be praying that this trouble turns out to be a good thing. After having gone through the flooding and cleanup and people - I sit here with a new furnace that heats the whole house? I had no idea they were supposed to do that - I thought they just selected certain rooms and then left others freezing.

So I am hoping you will have a new safe home in 2006 and you and your kitties will be happy and snuggled in and comfortable. It is just "getting there" that is the hard part. I wish we could all come over and help you pack up.

I am not sure who Orc is - oh, go ahead, bash me........I haven't gone back and read everything.

TPM - I hope you guys are having a good vacation and the kitties are happy.

Compassion - Slick and Deb - isn't that a funny word? Some people have it - and I think a lot of people were born under rocks. I just read the biography of J.K. Rowlings and she described her Mother's passing as having a huge slab on her chest - it was heavy and it hurt. It hit me that this is the best description for how we feel when we have lost a beloved pet. It is a heavy hurtful pain that so many people cannot even think about - therefore they cannot relate or don't want to relate to you when you are going through it.

I have always been somewhat suspicious of those people.

Crab cakes - oooohhhh Laurie - now talk about those words - makes my mouth water!!

Coffee?? Oh, thanks - well, o.k. a little bit of Bailey's in it sounds great!

New Year's Eve has not been my favorite holiday - too many lamps without lampshades, so I will usher the New Year in quietly - with a great hope that each of us will be here next year - laughing - teasing - drinking our cyber drinks - and enjoying life!

I love each and every one of you!!