Bad Manners and Brimstone

Second the Nature's Miracle. Living with a senior citizen kittah, we bought it in gallons.

roasted potatoes with beef sausage

I have people in my family with life threatening allergies. Others claiming to have allergies just to avoid things they don't like really frosts me. I will happily make things without the stuff a person doesn't like. Just don't lie to me. I can and have called people out on this.

Tri tip and roasted potatoes.

I had a similar thing happen on my 23rd birthday, my parents called me up and wanted me to 'Come meet them at a restaurant for dinner!" I'd been up all night with my 1 year old, he'd had a sniffle. Got us both cleaned up and over to the restaurant, 1st hubby met us there from work.

Next thing I know, I have a sombrero on my head, whipped cream on my nose, and the Happy Birthday song is being sung. Cranky overtired toddler on lap, smelling like spit up and all. I am an introvert and am miserable with such things at the best of times, which this clearly was not, nevermind I had never cared for the restaurant in question to begin with. Somewhere there is a Polaroid of me looking remarkably like Yzma from Emperor's New Groove.

I refused to go anywhere near a restaurant, or anywhere else I could be surprised with my parents during my birth month for the next 10 years.  My parents did nothing but moan about how ungrateful I was for not enjoying the 'nice party" we'd had, and how I was a "grumpy grouch" for pointing out that if they'd wanted to do something nice for *me*, they could have brought me takeout at home and helped me console my sick baby instead.  I would point out that doing people's dishes and vaccuuming is a fine (and inexpensive!) present. They even said grumpy grouch in baby talk.

Point is I agree wholeheartedly with Miss Manners. The birthday should be planned with the birthday person in mind.  Yeesh, is it so hard to be considerate?

Shrimp chowder and sourdough.

Pizza or something else that will use up the marinara I made Monday.

PS: Turns out grape tomatoes are good in marinara sauce.

Thought of a new one to commit threadomancy with!

When our Maine Coon cat was 13, we acquired 2 kittens from a lady I worked with at that time. Badger had been an only cat prior to this (we did have dogs, who he got along with, but no other cats).

Badger decided to express his annoyance by learning to open the mudroom door ( he turned the knob with his paws) and shoving the kittens out the dog door with an air of "I have seniority, get out!".

The kittens would sit on the back porch for a few minutes and wait for him to leave the mudroom before coming back in thru the dog door. Otherwise he'd just shove them out it again.