Aw, Amy, I'm so glad.

The bag and the ornament both were acquired at a holiday thank you party thrown by TAF for its volunteers. The ornament was handmade and donated by the artist. Trio was a pitt bull who was found as a puppy crawling down a hallway in Cabrini Green. She had been a bait dog in a fight and her hind leg was bitten off. (Hence the name.) Her owner started a foundation in her name that funds medical care for injured animals in shelters, without which their adoption chances are basically nil.(Trio's mom, Sue, spent this past weekend driving from NY to Chicago with a Pitt who'd been languishing in a shelter for weeks with a broken leg and other injuries after being hit by a car.) they are made of awesome.

At the same party I met a local artist who had some neat sketches on display. I called him up a couple of weeks ago (phone call! To a stranger!) and he agreed to o something for Lulu using a picture I tanked from your Facebook. I was so delighted with what he came back with and how it all came together. I'm really glad you liked!

Trio was a pitt bull who was found as a puppy crawling down a hallway in Cabrini Green. She had been a bait dog in a fight and her hind leg was bitten off.

Man, every time I read things like this, I run and hug Kato. He likes being hugged about as much as I do (we have photographic documentation of Tim hugging Kato and Kato leaning as far away from Tim as he can while still having Tim's arms around him), but he tolerates it. And then I scritch his belly and he's happy.

Seriously, whenever I hear about animal abuse, all I want to do is hug my dog. It kills me.

Hah! That's Darby's view on hugging too.

I didn't totally realize Kato leaned so far away from hugs until I took the picture, and then it just made me laugh and laugh.

OTOH, he will come over and sit with his back to us, which means "It ain't gonna pet itself," and if we don't pet him, he'll scootch closer and closer, incrementally, until he's sitting on our feet and leaning his full weight against our legs. "Pet me or you will never regain circulation in your feet, human!"

And occasionally he'll walk over to us, fart, and walk away. ISTG, that's what he does. How did he learn that???

And occasionally he'll walk over to us, fart, and walk away. ISTG, that's what he does. How did he learn that???

When you're out of the house, he's watching The World According to Jim marathons.

I've mentioned before how Spare Cat has a "hand over the cuddles and no one gets hurt" attitude, right? She will nip at you -- not too softly -- if you're not properly attentive.

Percy the Emo Cat will pat my arm or leg softly when he wants attention. If I don't respond, the pats become more insistent until finally the claws come out. He's got me trained.

I've got a cat that uses his head, he butts me with it constantly. If I don't give him sufficient scritches, it's more head-butts for me until he's satisfied.

So since both the Rose Bowl Parade and the Winter Classic were pushed to today I'm going to go with my current belief that today is actually the first and do my wrap-up.

It was a very difficult year for me. There was adultery and sex abuse at my church. About six of my closest friends and coworkers moved away, including my band leader, so I quit my band. A wildfire consumed much of my state. My husband was sick and had a root canal. My dog had allergies, dental work, and a torn muscle in his leg. We had financial and work problems. Family health continues to decline.

We had great shows, lots of fun hobby stuff like the telescope, social justice stuff, lots of good kid stuff for work.

I lost my Auntie Mikie, my mentor Mike Girton, my friend Gary Rowe. I attended the one year memorial of my student's death.

And mostly I was consumed by the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsuanmi and nuclear disaster. I want to thank Buffistas who saw me through that time, and particularly Cass, who kept me sane while it was happening. I am really grateful.

I lost a good bit of the year to the resulting situational depression. But reflection reveals that there was lots of situation. Despite a terrible start, I believe this last part of the furlough has hit the reset button. So regardless, I am looking forward to the new year. Hope it's a good one for all of you.

Every year, I always feel like *This* will be the one!" and it never really is.Even though it is nice having one of my stories in a book.I'd like to get more excited by life in 2012, although I feel fortunate that I was just a witness to most of the struggle, including my brother developing an auto-immune disorder I still can't spell...his treatment is going fairly well,although there are ups and downs.