Santa & Mr. Fluffy pictures.... coming soon to a blog near you!

Monique: This morning, I went out birding with my nature group. Unfortunately, I didn't get myself out of bed early enough, so I rushed to get dressed. I forgot my mitts, and the weather called for thermal attire, but I didn't get to that either! Main thing: I made it to the meeting spot on time... barely! Could have been worse though. Our president of the club (who is a professor at my university) came with me in my car, and when we got to the first spot (about 30 minutes away... driving "birdwatching" style), he realized that he forgot his binoculars!!! So I had to share mine with him. No worries because neither of us missed much! Today was a quiet day. We drove and walked in quite a few locations and found nothing. A few Starlings, Ring-billed Gulls, a House Sparrow, a lot of Crows, a Bald Eagle, oh and our grand finale.. a White-breasted Nuthatch! It was my first time seeing one, so I was a little excited. Such a beautiful bird! Anyway, it was still nice, and I got to meet a couple of new people. We came back early since it was such an uneventful morning.

Fluffy: After Mom got home from birding, it was still pretty early, so she took me to see Santa. I was such an AMAZING boy!! I didn't meow or pant once, I was so calm in the car and even made myself comfortable! I was even being curious when I was in my stroller. Like last year, I was quite the hit!! I was happy because it wasn't crowded like last year. There were only about 4 dogs, and none of them barked! As a matter of fact, one of the ladies in front of us had a doggy that was about the same size as Cousin Mabel, and she was having a great time sniffing my stroller. People were coming around wanting to see and pet me, so Mom unzipped the mesh. Of course when the people left, I was still "unzipped" and the curious doggy decided to poke her head inside. Much to Mom's surprise, we just gently sniffed each other's faces!!! Mom couldn't believe that I didn't hiss or try whipping her with my paw! She thinks the photographer should have captured that special moment! Even the lady said "Oh my goodness, that's so adorable!" So now, it was my turn to see Santa, and I was AMAZING!!! I was very cooperative this time (because I just wanted to get it over with of course!) but when I went back into Mom's arms, I didn't want her to let me go.. I didn't even want to get back into my stroller. So, she held me for a little while, then eventually I was ok to go back in. $30 later (she bought a calendar, cookbook and paid for the pictures.. going for a good cause of course - the animal shelter!) we got home, and I got treats! Mom was soooo proud of her little man! No pictures are posted yet, but we will post them as soon as we can. Stay tuned!!!

Beautiful White-breasted Nuthatch. Not the one I saw of course, but wow, what a gorgeous bird!