Weird Cats and Odd Bratwurst
Hello from Kola and Me!
This Week
How to Tell If Your Cat is "Normal"
A Completely Unscientific but Useful Set of Questions to Consider
In this not-to-be-taken-too-seriously essay, I pose some questions and answers to help you determine if your cat is on the outside of normal.
Cat Cats Be Improved Upon?
Inspired by an auto-generated title, I tackle the challenge to come up with 11 ways to improve upon the basic cat model. See if you agree with my thoughts, and perhaps have some good ideas of your own.
Behind-the-Scenes
It's been an oddly long week here. Last Sunday afternoon my wife and I drove up to Mt. Hood (in Oregon), which is less than 2 hours from where we live. We figured we'd head to a little ski village where there are some fun shops and restaurants. We didn't even leave our house until 2:00, but looked forward to a nice drive on a beautiful day and a good dinner.
On the way, we stopped by an RV dealer that we hadn't realized was so close to the mountain. We've been looking at getting an RV as it seems like the safest travel option amidst all the Covid variants, but nice used RV's are few and far between these days. Well, this place had THREE motorhomes we really liked. It was so exciting! We spent a couple hours looking, and the rest of the evening - and most of this week discussing the pros and cons of each, looking at insurance, storage, financing....and all that comes with such a major purchase.
In addition to the RV activities, my wife has had a crazy, busy week at work all while having a super bad headache, and my daughter started her junior year of high school. As I think back over this week, I can hardly believe it is only Friday. Some weeks are like that...(even in Australia). (Can you name the book that line is from? First correct response will get a shout-out in next week's update!)
In another area of life, I started on the desk I am refinishing. Removing the old paint is going to be slower going than I had hoped. I have found three layers of paint. You can probably tell by the pictures - there is the brownish color it currently is, then bright yellow, and under that is white (maybe a primer?). I have found some nice wood under it all though, so I think this piece is going to turn out really nice. For those of you new to my updates, I have been working on a bedroom makeover. So far, I have made a headboard and refinished an old Ikea dresser. This desk is the last piece of my remodel puzzle.
Favorite Fun Stuff
A friend posted this photo. If nothing seems odd to you, read the label again. Yes, it does say "gummy bears." I haven't tried this and would not buy it, but I suppose if a friend offered me some at her backyard barbecue, I'd give it a try. It's definitely a unique spin on the savory/sweet food combinations. After seeing the picture, I found this article.
What's your favorite odd food combination? In my family, one of our favorites is whole berry cranberry sauce in chili. It might sound weird, but give it a try!
If you're like me and prefer to receive links to articles rather than videos, please forgive me, but some things just have to be seen to be believed.
These "mind blowing dog tricks" will surely…well, blow your mind. Be sure to check out Jumpy and Chaser (the one you have to got to YouTube to watch), both are featured near the beginning of the list. Our dog, Kola, knows several cool tricks, including "put your toys away" but these videos have inspired me to work with her on some new ones. I'm excited to get started and know she will be, too!
Confession Time
Yesterday's Snickers bar inspired this memory:
This past Easter as I was taking apart colorful plastic eggs and filling them with candy, I found a leftover Snickers bar in one of them. It must have been in the bottom of one of the kids baskets, missed when I put all the decorations away. It was a year old. I ate it anyway. It wasn't that bad.
Have a wonderful weekend! For those in the US, enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Please mask up and stay safe.
Wishing you peace,
Dakota Duncan
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If you want to find about about my graphic novel or children's chapter books, visit my website: dakotaduncan.com
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