And Visions of Sugarplums (dog treats) Danced In His Head

Our beloved Gizmo, is happy and joyous all year round but he still gets caught up in the excitement of Christmas. He was thrilled to see the Christmas tree go up Thanksgiving weekend, and more thrilled when we hung up his stocking. He spends hours laying under his stocking and staring at it...or sitting by us on the couch and gazing over at his stocking and wimpering. He also liked to lay near the gifts under the tree, looking but never disturbing them. Amazing that he can remember these things from a year ago!

Brenda and I shop for Christmas gifts year round, so our Christmas shopping was basically completed months ago. We only had a few things left to get. Those were for (you guessed it!) our dog and cat. Yes, we are among the pet owners out there who shop for their animals. So, we braved the Christmas crowds and horrific traffic to travel to two stores to find just the right gifts for our Gizmo and Ollie.

As I gave Gizmo his Christmas bath last night, Brenda stuffed the stockings and added his gift to those under the tree. Finally, THE night had arrived! As Brenda and I exchanged our gifts to one another, Gizmo got to open his gift. He carefully tore off the paper to reveal a giant teddy bear. The teddy bear was larger than he and wow, did he love it! That bear was drug from one end of the house to the other, shook, growled at, cuddled with and eventually slept with!

Gizmo also got to explore the contents of the stocking and choose one gift for the night. He chose a rawhide treat. The other toy and treats will stay in the stocking for to choose over the course of the next few nights.

So, that has been Christmas at the Nobles! Now, we are off to celebrate the rest of the holiday with family.

Merry Christmas to you all! Cary and Brenda

Poem on a dog's Christmas by Shel Silverstein

Tonight's my first night as a watchdog,
And here it is Christmas Eve.
The children are sleepin' all cozy upstairs,
While I'm guardin' the stockin's and tree.

What's THAT now . . . footsteps on the rooftop?
Could it be a c*t or a mouse?
Who's THIS down the chimney?
A thief with a beard - And a big sack for robbin' the house?

I'm barkin'. . . I'm growlin' . . . I'm bitin' his butt.
He howls and jumps back in his sleigh.
I scared his strange horses, they leap in the air.
I've frightened the whole bunch away.

Now the house is all peaceful and quiet again,
The stockin's are safe as can be.
Won't the kiddies be glad when they wake up tomorrow . . .
And see how I've guarded the tree.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Christmas music fills the air. Judy is in Florida singing "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas". Vic entertains Daytonians with "Walking Round in Women's Underwear". Sandy Bette does an awesome "Santa Baby". Our wine drinkers will be listening to Jan, Jamie, Jenny and Gail this Friday night singing Christmas favorites such as Merry Christmas Darling, All I Want For Christmas Is You, Tennessee Christmas and Hard Candy Christmas. You can have a Blue Christmas if you buy the Reisling in the blue bottle! Join me to celebrate the season at Dayton's #1 rated Wine Bar, A Taste of Wine, this Friday night. Or, if you aren't a wine drinker, join me Saturday night at the West Carrollton VFW.

Happy Holidays! Cary

Christmas Preparations With A Cat

Our free time in the past two weeks has been spent almost entirely on Christmas preparations. Three days to put up decorations, two days to cook for a family dinner, two nights to write Christmas cards, one afternoon of making crafts together (yes, I actually DID crafts with my wife!!), 2 days of shopping and more! Now, we are dealing with the constant battle of keeping Ollie, our darling kitty, out of our Christmas tree and off our counters with lots of pretty dangling, sparkly items sitting on them. We have discovered a great deterrent by shaking pennies in a can.... one big shake and he runs off to hide. However, Brenda still has huge struggles with him as she tries to wrap the presents. The shiny paper, crinkling sound, ribbons, tape, boxes and opening of the closet doors are just too much for him to resist. She is constantly picking him out of boxes, removing him from the closet, pulling him out of the bag of bows and chasing after him to get her ribbons! Read below to see what she is up against!

Wrapping Presents with a Cat

Clear large space on table for wrapping present. Go to closet and collect bag in which present is contained, and shut door. Open door and remove cat from closet. Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper. Go back and remove cat from cupboard. Go to drawer, and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc. . . Lay out presents and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed. Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit and collect string. Remove present from bag. Remove cat from bag. Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size. Try and smooth out paper, realize cat is underneath and remove cat. Cut the paper to size, keeping the cutting line straight. Throw away first sheet as cat chased the scissors, and tore the paper. Cut second sheet of paper to size - by putting cat in the bag the present came in. Place present on paper. Lift up edges of paper to seal in present. Wonder why edges don't reach. Realize cat is between present and paper. Remove cat. Place object on paper, to hold in place while tearing transparent sticky tape. Spend 20 minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape from cat with pair of nail scissors. Seal paper with sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible. Look for roll of ribbon. Chase cat down hall in order to retrieve ribbon. Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two-directional turn. Re-roll ribbon and remove paper, which is now torn due to cat's enthusiastic ribbon chase. Repeat steps 13-20 until you reach last sheet of paper. Decide to skip steps 13-17 in order to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that is the right size for sheet of paper. Put present in box, and tie down with string. Remove string, open box and remove cat. Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for locked room. Once inside lockable room, lock door and start to relay out paper and materials. Remove cat from box, unlock door, put cat outside door, close and relock. Repeat previous step as often as is necessary (until you can hear cat from outside door) Lay out last sheet of paper. (This will be difficult in the small area of the toilet, but do your best) Discover cat has already torn paper. Unlock door go out and hunt through various cupboards, looking for sheet of last year's paper. Remember that you haven't got any left because cat helped with this last year as well. Return to lockable room, lock door, and sit on toilet and try to make torn sheet of paper look presentable. Seal box, wrap with paper and repair by very carefully sealing with sticky tape. Tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst areas. Label. Sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulate yourself on completing a difficult job. Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed cat. Spend 15 minutes looking for cat until coming to obvious conclusion. Unwrap present, untie box and remove cat. Go to store and buy a gift bag Hope your pre-holiday activities are going well! Cary