The embodiment of cuteness

Am I right?

Ellen DeGeneres at Tulane Graduation

If you haven't seen this graduation speech, you really must watch it. It totally made me cry. Maybe she'll come to Westminster next year....and dance?

Never eat anything bigger than your head

I remember buying a book with this title about 25 years ago, but this little squirrel dude apparently never read it. I wonder if he ate the entire apple all by himself?

And there's a whole lot more where that one came from.

He's going to have a baaaaad stomachache...

Ribbie the Great

Ribbie came to live with us 17 years ago. She was a tiny grey cat who was so skinny we decided to name her Spareribs. That name didn't last long, however; as with all of our animals, her name was changed to Ribs, Riblina, Ribbie girl, Rib-Rib-Rib (Bob's version of Rick-Rick-Rick), and Twinkle Toes, a name she earned when she was at her heaviest weight. Whenever Ribbie made her way across our bed to her final sleeping location, she preferred to walk over--not around--the people sleeping on the bed. All of her considerable weight was concentrated in her itty bitty little feet. That hurt.

Ribbie was everyone's best friend, but when Logan was living at home, she hung around with him more than the rest of us. I remember watching Ribbie wait patiently by the front window for Logan to come home from school, following him around, sitting in his lap, being carried around on his shoulder....


Ribbie was a kind and mellow soul. She never got perturbed, trusted everyone, slept in the middle of the floor on her back, legs splayed--I mean, why would anyone ever want to hurt her? She was such a good sport.

This is one of my favorite photos of Ribbie, because in it her face muscles are working, and it shows her willingness to do anything that was asked of her. In return, all she wanted was to belong to a family who loved her.

Over the last year Ribbie learned to push the bathroom door open after I went in, and she'd wait for me patiently while I took a shower, purring. After she got sick and couldn't move around much, I'd sit with her and read, and she purred contentedly just to have someone there. I told her many times how much we all loved her and thanked her for making everyone in our family so happy.

Ribbie was an incredible cat. I miss her a lot. Rest in peace, Ribbie girl.

My little Ribbie girl

Sweet little Ribbie died yesterday. I'll write more after I recover a little bit, but I wanted you all to know. I don't think a more congenial or photogenic cat ever lived, and I miss her (and her constant purring) terribly. She was 17. Ribbie improved the lives of our family immeasurably during the time she was on this earth; the world would be a better place if more humans were exactly like her.

Ribbie is hanging in there

. . . but just barely. She is eating a little bit several times every day and is still getting up every now and then to use the litter pan, but she sleeps most of the time now. She doesn't seem like she's in pain. I've been going down to sit next to her and read several times every day, and she still purrs nonstop while I'm petting her.

It's really hard to see such a great friend slip away. Ms. Congeniality. Good sport. So sweet.