Sasha NO

Yes, the Christmas shopping is really all done. The wrapping, however, has not been done and I have an excuse: Things have come to a grinding halt since we got our first early Christmas present, a kitten. We have had cats nearly all our married years, but it's been a long time since we've raised a kitten. This is an indoor kitten. Imagine her glee when we brought a tree into the house just for her! She had never climbed a tree.

We strung the lights (she has a fondness for cords) and hung about twenty-five balls (she loves balls). Then we left the house for about three hours. When we returned, many of the cords reached the floor and there were at least 8 balls on the floor. We decided right then and there that the lights had to go. We'd never be able to plug them in. Well every day since, she has systematically removed balls from the tree. We even tightened the wires, so now we find balls without wires and we have to go looking in the tree for them. More than that, she has really gotten good at climbing. She got the angel off the top! We have an artificial tree so each day its configuration is a little different, depending on which branch she stands on to reach the top balls.

This cat, by the way her name is Sasha but she thinks it's Sasha NO, has a fondness for house plants, newspaper, waste baskets, leaky faucets, computer printers, shoe laces, etc. We bought her an early Christmas present, some wheat grass. She loves it.

Well, back to Christmas. I don't plan to put up many decorations this year. I put up four of my little houses to make a town but my town will not have cotton for snow, little people, or trees in it this year. I will not put my three wise men on top of the hutch because Sasha could jump from the table to the top of the hutch in one mighty leap. We will not hang our stocking on the chimney with care. I will not put my pretty 12 days of Christmas skirt around the tree because she will eat the days one by one. I will not put wrapped packages under the tree until Christmas morning. Do I sound depressed? Well maybe a little.

So what is Christmas anyway? Lights, balls, stockings, angels (well maybe), wise men (yeah), little towns with cottony snow, Christmas tree skirts? Probably all of the above, but mostly it's Jesus' birthday. We can still play and sing Christmas carols with one another and rejoice that we can celebrate together. And next year Sasha will be one and a half years old.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita