We had a lovely Christmas here, straggling out of bed a bit before 10 AM and going downstairs to open presents. Later, we talked to Gretchen's brother, Jeff, and still later, we spent nearly two hours on the phone chatting with my brother, Mitch.

Dinner was standing rib roast. The first of the bones was sacrificed to Ruby the Dog once I carved it free of my portion and she was very happy to receive it. (And incredibly respectful. She watched as I finished pulling the bone loose, then sat down with her eyes wide, and gently took it when I handed it to her and retreated to her bed.)

Speaking of the dog and cat, the door to the library has been left open now and Ruby and Sunshine are ignoring each other for the most part, which is a good outcome. Ruby's fascination with the cat pan is *not* a good outcome, but the cat pan should move upstairs shortly, which should limit Ruby's access to it. We'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, Gretchen observes that after having gotten a black dog who is invisible in the dark, we have now acquired an orange cat who pretty much matches the hardwood floors. This is just a recipe for tripping over animals...