Friendly Fill-Ins and Festive Flashback Bloopers

Sorry for the late post, friends! We really are working toward getting back on track. We hope all of our friends in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that our friends in other corners of the world are having a great end to their week! My family and I had a lovely Thanksgiving, which then ended with some scary events in our neighborhood that resulted in a great many police officers searching our street and coming door-to-door to try to find out any information they could. We're still not sure what all went down, but it was loud and scary. This kind of thing doesn't usually happen in our neighborhood, and so it's been a bit distracting. All is well, though, and everyone is fine, and now here we are.

So, let's finally get to the Friendly Fill-Ins. My co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two. Feel free to join in on the fun!


1. I find it easy to choose a gift for _________.

2. I find it difficult to choose a gift for _________.

3. Now that I've _________, I can _________.

4. I'm especially looking forward to _________ this holiday season.

My answers are below in bold.

1. I find it easy to choose a gift for my sister.
(I can easily find gifts for my sister. She and I share a lot of interests, and we both enjoy fun and quirky gifts of all sorts. It's especially great that she loves cats, with a special affection for black cats, and I have indeed gotten her many gifts in that realm. It's also easy for me to shop for my mom, who also loves cats, eccentric gifts, and who is very easy to please. Oh, and knowing my kitties' and pup's favorite toys and treats, they're also very easy to shop for.)

2. I find it difficult to choose a gift for my dad.

(The funny thing is, I probably have more in common with my dad than anyone else in my family. We both obviously love cats, and he and I share a lot of the same hobbies, like reading and various outdoorsy activities. Yet, he's the most difficult to shop for. This is probably because my dad gets for himself what he needs or wants throughout the year, and he's also a bit of a minimalist. My dad is probably the main reason why, years ago, my family started creating lists with ideas of gifts we might like to receive for Christmas. I wouldn't need this list to find gifts for my sister or mom, or my furbabies, but I do use my dad's list for gift ideas for him.)

3. Now that I've made it past Thanksgiving, I can finally focus on Christmas.

(No offense to Thanksgiving, especially since I know it's meant to be a day of gratitude, but my favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas, and Thanksgiving kind of just gets in the way. I also don't like how commercial and focused on sales Thanksgiving and the days surrounding it have become. I'm not saying I've never taken advantage of such sales, though I only shop online on these days, but is this really the meaning of the season? Okay, I'm off topic. Again. So, now it's the day after Thanksgiving, which obviously means it's Christmas! Our trees are going up today, and my parents will be coming over to my house tonight to watch our favorite Christmas movie, which is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.)

4. I'm especially looking forward to a quiet Christmas with my immediate family this holiday season.

(No offense to my extended family, whom I do appreciate seeing sometime during the Christmas season, but my favorite way to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is with just my immediate family. Maybe it's because I'm a diehard introvert and homebody. And maybe it's because my extended is huge and undeniably very loud. All that combined, I admittedly enjoy feeling festive and cozy in a quiet celebration, with just my parents, sister, and furbabies, and that's indeed how we're celebrating this year. I cannot wait.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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And now it's time for the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop, hosted by none other than Melissa and Mudpie of Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, & Meows.

As always, our resident blooper queen Eddy is more than ready to share some photo shoot outtakes. This month, she actually wanted to share some flashback bloopers to celebrate the fact that today, her beloved Christmas trees are going up. And the tree she gets to enjoy year round in my bedroom is being decorated with Eddy-safe decorations, which she will probably have thrown to the floor within a matter of minutes. I'm under no delusions here.

Can you see Eddy in there?

I use battery-operated light strands when I can, and I only set them loosely in the tree. I like my Christmas trees to look festive, but I more so like to keep my kitties safe. And with no less than two tree-climbing cats at my house, my options are limited.

At our house, ornaments get hung from garland that's strung high up on the wall where no kitties have access. That practice started after Eddy's first Christmas, because she was my gateway tree-climbing cat, and I've never seen so many ornaments meet their demise in just one season.

Wishing you all a festive Friday!

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Flashback Festive Doodle of the Day

Christmastime is here!

I have so many new Christmas doodles planned out and in the works. I wasn't able to focus on as many autumnal or Thanksgiving ones as I intended to, because I just couldn't get Christmas out of my mind. We hope you enjoy the festive doodles we have coming up!

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Tip of the Day

We've been discussing the safety of our furbabies when it comes to common Thanksgiving foods, and we'll be continuing those through the end of this month. This topic would feel incomplete without a mention of none other than stuffing. Is this Thanksgiving staple safe for your furbaby? More than likely, it is best that you simply avoid feeding any of that stuffing to your kitty or pup. Why? Because many stuffing dishes include ingredients such as onion, garlic, salt, butter (which could especially be a problem for furbabies with lactose intolerance), and other components that could have uncomfortable or dangerous side effects. If the stuffing is plain, without any potentially dangerous ingredients, then a small taste might be fine for your furbaby. But, more than likely, that Thanksgiving stuffing will contain some ingredients that are best avoided in your cat or dog's diet.