Instalife

 It is so cold here in Nashville! Today the high was 9 degrees! I know for some that is par for the course in winter, but it is really unusual here! I had to search the house for gloves this morning and all I could find was this mismatched pair of skeleton gloves. Haha, I think I need to buy myself a real pair of gloves.
Thankfully the ice storm the news anchors in town were predicting didn't happen. When I left for work at 6:30 am today there wasn't any ice on the roads. That made me so happy! Now we just need to get through the rest of the cold spell comfortably. There has been lots of cuddling with the dogs on the couch, and the cats are sleeping in piles!

I made these cookies for a party in December and I've been hooked every since! One of the best vegan cookie recipes I've ever tried! And they turn out looking like regular cookies too! Highly recommend!

Phyllis had her annual check up. The vet wants to start seeing her twice a year since she is a senior now (how can it be?). Her check up went ok. She is now totally blind in her left eye, with about 30% vision in her right. We've got to start giving her eye drops because that left eye is borderline not producing enough tears for her. And of course the same old bad joints. But it is all to be expected from an old pug. Nothing we can't handle.

Scampi the cat has started sleeping on MY pillow all day every dang day. Believe it or not, I'm allergic to all animals, but all the critters I live with usually don't bother me. But it does make me itchy on my pillow. So I'm trying to remember to put it up every day. And there on the right you can see Franklin, our porch kitty. He lived in our house before we did, but his owner died and the family left him behind. The neighbors feed him and take him to the vet. I wish we could bring him in. I'm thinking about him in this cold cold weather.

One thing we're trying to do this year is eat out less. We have been budgeting and before we were spending a TON of money on eating out. So wasteful! So goodbye to Woodlands for now! I'll miss you masala dosa!

Just my poodle collection. I'm going to hopefully start taking my Christmas stuff down tomorrow, so these guys will be back in their place of honor.

We got to see our nephew Ellis this past weekend, and he and Travis ended up in the same shirt! Haha, how cute is that? I think it looks like Travis has a ventriloquist dummy! Ellis is getting so big and can really interact with you now. I can't wait until he can talk to us!

I found a whole board of buttons from the 1960's at a local antique mall. It was so hard to choose which ones to get! I passed up on "Jesus was a drop out" and "apple pie makes you sterile". I love these two!

We're also trying to go to the movies less. At least the full price night showings. Recently we've seen Saving Mr. Banks (I really liked it!) The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (the dragon was so cool!) Bettie Page Revels All (a new documentary about Bettie, it is great!) Anchorman 2 (just ok. Funny, but not as hilarious as the first one) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (beautiful to look at. Pretty entertaining).
I really want to see The Punk Singer (that new movie about Kathleen Hanna !!!!!) and Inside Llewyn Davis.

We haven't had a lot of time to hang out with our friends through the holiday season, I hope that changes soon! We are talking about doing a friend vacation again this year. I really hope it happens! Also, we have spent at least the last four new years eve's with Crystal and Marc. I hope that continues until we're old.

And last but certainly not least, in December I had the honor of attending a friend's home birth. I was nervous about it, but wanted to do it. She gave me the job of tracking contractions which was good because it gave me something to do. I saw that little dude born in the early hours of the morning and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! What a great way to close out a great year!