Friends, Family, Foes…

Intense picture, right? It was taken last summer when Ivy took an Art of Africa camp with Jen Burke. Such an amazing experience for Ivy, and such a shock when I went to pick her up that day.

I’m sitting here with my glass of wine watching the kittens Occupy the Christmas Tree. It’s a tenuous situation…I don’t know exactly what they want, there are no food/water bowls nearby, certainly no litter boxes and the only way I can get them to leave is to pepper spray them with water. Unfortunately, the only end I see is them toppling the Christmas tree, and then I’ll just have to strangle them.

Yes…so the big news in the Mann household is the addition of three kittens to our loony bin. I swear all this came about in a very normal (seeming) way, although the end result makes us look anything but normal. We had to send our dog back to the greyhound people…poor little dude developed an aggression issue, and we couldn’t have that around Ivy or her friends. To make up for this, and the two geezer cats that are going to kick off any second, we agreed to get Ivy a kitten. Aaron said that two kittens would play with each other, and leave us alone. We ended up with three…they’re kind of like potato chips. Anyway, we are now the proud so-called owners of Stan, Loki and Fifi La Roux. It’s no coincidence that their names are all four-letter words.

Ivy is now in second grade, but she’s sporting a tenth grader’s mouth. I can’t complain too much, because anything she can come up with short of Juvie will be an improvement on my teen years. It’s just that she seems to be starting so much earlier than I did. I’m not sure Aaron and I will actually live to see her 18th birthday.

Aaron’s company is still growing by leaps and bounds…we’re up to 20 employees, and a few trusted contractors. It’s mostly amazing, but also has its oh-crap-I-hate-this-and-all-it-entails moments. Aaron is currently being courted by a few companies looking to buy us, and he is LOVING IT. I, of course, trust no one, and pick apart any offer received, looking for ways they want to…ahem…screw us. And really…someone other than myself should remind Aaron that other people pay a lot of money for the service I happily provide for free. I’m a giver.

I’m going to wrap this up and print before I sober up, and start editing. That’s the goal, you know…start drinking, write the letter and print it off before I sober up. I’ve gone four years on this record so far. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy & Fruitful New Year