A year later...

What?! No new entries for 5 days??? We have a good(ish) excuse, I promise!

I worked for three nights, during which time Dean worked full time, instead of his usual half time. Add to that, we had work to do at home. Yesterday was our 1st wedding anniversary! Yippeee! We thought about the idea of just the two of us going out, but we go out a lot so it's more fun to eat in and have some friends join us here! It's just not possible to invite everyone we know, so we stick with inviting a handful of friends (tonight there was 11, including us). Dean did his wonders with smoking pork loins in the smoker, as well as making toss salad and potato salad. He is clearly proven to be the better cook of the two of us. I made dessert (brownies a la mode) and did the cleaning and clean up! Dean helped with the cleaning of course, it helps if he puts things away where he will know where to look for them. We don't have any pictures to share, however, we were too busy enjoying the guests to get any of the cameras out!

So, here we are - a year after the "I do's", and nearly a year into this blog! How is it possible that after spending this much time together we still have never said an unkind word to each other, still make each other laugh, and still want to spend the rest of our lives together?! Clearly, the man is a Saint - that's all I can say!

Next up will be preparing for the annual Grand Canyon Star Party! Dean has turned the organizing and preparation over to the TAAA, but we will attend as amateur astronomers for 3 nights. Actually, we'll go up a day early (on Friday), since we have the time to do that. Fortunately, we have our live-in student, Jason, to care for the cats and the house. After the GCSP we will return to Tucson for a week (long enough for me to get 6 nights of work in) and then it's road trip time - destination, St. Charles! I promise pictures of the upcoming events, whenever possible as it proves to be a memorable trip!

A little update on Scruffy, our newly house tamed feral...
Scruffy lived in Jason's bathroom for a little over a week, then we decided it was time for him to start getting used to 'the others' (and we felt sorry for Jason, sharing his bathroom with a rather smelly cat). Scruffy is now living in a kennel type of crate in the living room, though it seems to be a little small for his liking. We have had him out a few times, to wander the house when the rest of the clan are outside hunting lizards to bring into the house as a surprise for 'Mommy'. For being a feral, Scruffy seems to be quite fastidious about using the litter box - which is always a good trait in a cat. He also seems to be pacing his eating a bit, no longer ravenous and unsure of where his next meal is coming from. He has finished his antibiotic therapy and his hair is starting to grow back some! He seems quite docile, even when youngster Atticus comes up to his cage and hisses at him. The rest of the clan, while aware that he's here, do not seem to distressed to see a new cat in the house. Hannah seems to think he's awfully cute, and frequently noses around the cage to get a better look at him! I would imagine that Scruffy will be out of his cage soon, as all seems to be going well so far. We want him to feel safe and comfy when we take the cage away. A hiding cat isn't a good thing. His voice sounds different, now that he's healthier and stronger. When he was outside he had this horrid, grating yowl that sounded desperate. Now is voice is quieter, and no raspiness about it. About the only time he meows is at night, when everyone has gone to bed and he's lonely (such as now). We aren't to the point of calling this a success story yet, but we're well on our way!

We look forward to more exciting posts in the near future, and hope all of our friends, families, and passers-by continue to read our little story!