Babbette is Home!

I guess since she has lived with me for eight months, I am belated in introducing Jen’s female calico cat, Babbette.

Babbette has slowly captured my heart and filled the void left by Foggy, as the two are fairly similar. Babs is incredibly independent. She pretty much does what she wants around the boys, which is comical. When one of the two approaches her, she swats him in the face. She also enjoys hanging around with her “brother” Guinness. Jen has nameded them the “Wonder Twins.” Babs is a bit intimated by Chumley, but she swats at him regardless, to which he pretty much ignores her.

I think they think that she is still Foggy, and do not understand that Foggy has passed.

Every morning, she joins us in the bathroom and wants to be petted. She also likes to curl up with us and seems to enjoy a good snuggle. I do not know how intelligent she truly is, as she chases her tail (a Foggy trait) and she seems spooked often.

She loves Jen and she seems to like me more and more. She is amazingly cute, but a tad evil, thus the perfect female.

What I love about her is that Babs refuses to take crap from the other cats or me. She has made our home equally hers. This is the fourth home she has lived in and she has made her mark within.

She has spent many an afternoon napping and cuddling with me.

I admire the sweet kitten as she is not afraid of showing the boys who is boss. No wonder, she is Jen’s cat!

Aruba: Vacation In Paradise

“Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you

Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama”
--The Beach Boys

We’re back from Aruba!

Jen and I shared our honeymoon (slightly belated) in the calming waters and crisp sands of Aruba. The temperature was between 82 and 87 degrees, which is warm for me, but I did not notice it much as we had a cool breeze consistently blowing in from the oceans. With extremely low humidity, it truly is a paradise.

We saw some incredible sights on the journey. We went to visit some ruins, we went to the first Catholic Church (1740s)on the island, we ventured into the catacombs of a cave inhabited by bats, and we spent most of our time on the beach.

The food was great, albeit expensive, as everything is imported. The island is made of lava rock, sand, and not much else. The people were wonderful. They were very helpful, spoke English, and were fun to be with. As we were leaving, our hotel manager told us she would see us again, God willing, because “no one goes to Aruba just once.”

Aruba is part of the Dutch Antilles Islands and the natives speak Dutch, English, Spanish, and their own language, which is a combination of the previous three plus some African. They accept dollars, so no need to transfer funds. They also brew their own beer, Balashi. I liked it quite a bit. It had a mild sweetness, like a good pilsner should have. It was also brewed there by the highest quality water purification in the world, no kidding. I had to snag a shirt. I have backed off my beer consumption considerably, but when in Aruba, do as the Arubans do.

Jen is an excellent travel partner, actually she is an excellent partner in everything, but in travel, she knows what she is doing. She booked the rooms through our RCI points, arranged the flights, and was a calming influence on my “ugly American” attitude. I may write on that phenomenon someday, but another blog for another time.

My best meal was either a seafood dish complete with red snapper, clam, scallops, shrimp, grouper, and calamari in a rich lime cream sauce or a delicious Ostrich steak, from the ostrich raised on the Island, both were courtesy of the Pirate’s nest, an eatery associated with the hotel two doors down from where we staying.

As calm and tranquil as the trip was, it was made even better by sharing the time with my beautiful bride.