Happy New Years, Darlings!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years. The Colonel and I entertained, and then watched the fireworks from the deck. I must say that the south end knows how to do it right - much better than the Space Needle this year, as it turns out - and I was surprised to not see a bunch of fire reports on my desk when I returned to work yesterday. But my people know their fire safety.

Today is the day of the Iowa Caucus, which has me waxing nostalgic. I attended several caucuses as a child, where I was under strict orders to be seen, but not heard. But it was fun. Since my part of Iowa is dominated by the boneheaded Republicans (They're the people that brought the odius Rep. Steve King, who recently squandered taxpayer money with a resolution enshrining Christmas, or some such nonsense) our caucuses were always full of the smart, interesting people in town: Librarians, teachers, union people, doctors, the handful of Jews in town. It was an interesting and sophisticated gathering, which is very unusual in a place like Council Bluffs, where social events tend to begin with either a prayer or a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and end with the same.

In other news, We have a few new additions to Chez Vel-DuRay. Kramer is a new Dachshund that some dreadful people abandoned. He's a very cute little dog, but having some problems with the powder room issues, if you know what I mean. But with time and patience, that should resolve itself.

But most exciting, to me at least, is the new lady in our life. Here she is!



(The bars are in place for the sake of modesty, of course. This is a family site, after all)


She started life at our late great Bon Marche Department store (now - ugh - Macys) and has spent the last several years in Edmonds, Washington. We are taking suggestions for her name, so feel free to leave a comments.

Also, I'm wondering about hair. I think she should be a brunette black-haired beauty, since Mrs. Dan Langdon is a blonde. What do you think?