Our prize is here!

The other day Mom and Dad came home and there was a huge box on the front porch. They'd kind of forgotten that we'd won the contest that The Creek Cats and Maggie May were having to win some Hill's Science Diet Hairball Formula cat food.

Honestly, we thought we'd get a small bag of the food to try, which we would have been very thankful for. But no, they really fixed us up. Look at the size of this box!


Josie helped Dad open it -- you can never be too sure about what's in a box.


And Maggie was quick to check it out too (and notice she's putting her stink on the box -- weasting no time to claim it as her's).


Huggy Bear had to see what all the fuss was about, then he saw -- FOUR large seven pound bags of cat food. Now we don't have to share!

And to make things even better we have this amazingly huge box to play with now, too!

Thanks so much to the awesome cats and beans at The Creek Cats (and especially Maggie May) -- and of course, the good people at Hill's Science Diet for shipping us this great package. Can't wait to try it out.

The internet is working against us

So the other day Blogger was all goofy and wouldn't let us sign in, then last night Flickr wasn't responding. Dad was determined to upload a picture of either Huggy Bear or Josie. I know we've been lapse in posting pictures of any of us, but HB and Josie have really been missing from the pictures lately. And they deserve some face time too. So I've given Dad a goal: lots of pictures over the holiday weekend. Shoot, he's got an extra day with us. He should be able to take a couple that are worth uploading. Take the camera out of the bag and pay attention to us!

On the watch

This is one of my favorite spots -- sitting on the scratcher at the very top of the stairs so I can watch the foyer downstairs, plus a full view of all the rooms upstairs. I am the sentry, I keep tabs on everything. And I can see when Maggie is trolling around in pounce mode.

No Wordless Wednesday

Well, it looks like I was just a little over confident yesterday expecting a picture -- I understand though. Mom and Dad didn't leave the theatre until 3 am finishing the grant that is due on Friday. Since Mom and Dad are going to their niece's graduation Mom had to have the grant done and turned in today. She was very very very stressed about it, but it is done and that's more important than a picture. But I know there are pictures ... they're just on the laptop that is packed up for the trip. Mom and Dad both got new phones yesterday (smarter than their old phones) so maybe they can post from the phones now.

Pictures are coming

I know there are pictures sitting on the camera. I remember Mom and Dad having a photo shoot with us. But they've been so busy -- Mom is trying to get a grant application finished for work (yuck!) and then they have to go to Mom's niece's graduation this week too. But on the plus side, that means that Dad will be clearing the pictures off the memory card for the trip, so I expect to have a Wordless Wednesday for tomorrow. Keep you paws crossed.

In the meantime, if you haven't seen this yet, you may want to pass this one along to your people: How to pet a kitty.

Bad storms

Oh we had horrible storms last night. About 1:30 in the morning the sky lit up with lightning and the house shook and the power went out. Dad scrambled out in the rain to move the car into the garage because he heard some hail falling. Today is our trash day and all our recycling got spread around the front yard, the trash can got knocked over spilling a bag of litter box scoopings, and one of Mom's potted plants was uprooted (although OK). Dad got it cleaned up this morning while Mom got ready in the dark. It's nights like this that make us so happy to have our Mom and Dad and a roof over our heads.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the momma cats out there, and especially to our Mom beans who take such good care of us and make sure we have treats and brushes. What would we do without you. Today I plan to snuggle with my Mom so she knows how much I love her.

--

PS, the bag of rice worked -- Dad's wet phone is working again!

Oops...

So I spilled some water last night, which isn't anything new. Usually it's one particular glass I don't like. But last night I decided to spill Dad's water. OK, it was water, which cleans up easily. But there's one problem -- I spilled it on Dad's phone. It's still working, except the keyboard. He has it in a bag of rice, so hopefully it will be back working right. My bad...

Feather Friday

Mom and Dad have a bird issue. They have hanging ferns on the front porch that the birds love to nest in. Mom and Dad try to discourage this, but the birds are just so determined. There was one fern that was dying because Mom and Dad didn't want to water the baby birds. Well, the baby birds were due to leave about the time that Mom and Dad were away last weekend. So when they got home they checked the nest and the babies were gone, but new eggs are already in the nest. So there's this dead fern that is driving them nuts now. So the question is, what to do next? If they move the fern to the side of the porch (about three feet at most), will the momma bird move with it? Can they put the nest in a new fern in the same spot? Can they put the eggs in a matching nest in the other fern (like I said, busy birds)? They don't want to harm the eggs, but they want a live fern hanging in that spot. Any advice is a help. Thanks!

Happy Cinco de Meow-o

Happy Cinco de Meow-o! Have some catnip and celebrate!


Mom and Dad were in Atlanta last weekend for a very meaningful event -- they do the 5K MS Walk each year to support their dear friend Nikki. This big drooler wasn't with their group, but he was all-in with the walk -- he even had his own t-shirt.


Here's Mom and Dad at the finish line at Marietta Square. They had a farmer's market there too. Mom saw an awesome t-shirt there -- it speaks for itself:

Goblin

Mom and Dad were visiting friends in Atlanta and look what they had: a hamster named Goblin. Goblin saw very friendly, although not the kind of visitor that Mom enjoyed. Dad thought he was kind of cute, and we think he would be fun to play with, too.

Silly question

Dad asked the other day if we intentionally leave hairballs where he and Mom are most likely to step on them. I wanted to give him a serious answer but I was laughing too hard. Of course we do!

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Storms update: We made it through all the crazy weather unscathed -- just some rain, wind and nervous cats. Thanks for your concern.

Stormy day

It is a very stormy day today. Fortunately, so far, we've missed the crazy sever weather that has been hitting the southern states. But today we have lightning and thunder and a tornado watch until noon -- and that has made us four very nervous cats. It's days like today that I wish Mom didn't have to work so she could stay here and keep us comforted and calm. (Who am I kidding? I wish Mom didn't have to work ever.)

Rest in Peace Sweet Praline

Our dear friend Sweet Praline went to the Bridge Monday. We are very sad, but we know this is what was best for her. Please keep her Mom Paula in your thoughts and prayers. Praline was a good friend and companion of hers for many years. Praline, we'll see you at the Bridge one day. Until then, I know you are in good company.

Purring for Praline

We are purring hard for our dear friend Sweet Praline. She's not doing well and may be going to the Bridge soon. Please keep her and her Mom Paula in your thoughts and prayers.

Treadmill cats

Dad never let us play on the treadmill. We'd probably have done what these two cats do...


I like how the white one is trying to catch and understand the treadmill but the tuxedo just wants to whap it into submission.

My stinky goodness cake

I got to enjoy my number 9 stinky goodness cake before by brother and sisters. Dad shaped the stinky goodness into the shape of a 9.


Maggie was quick to come up and try some of the cake too. Funny thing was, Maggie and Huggy Bear are usually the biggest pigs of us, but they didn't really care for this one. Josie and I liked it a lot, though.

Overall it was a good birthday. I could have taken some more Mom and Dad time, but there's really never enough Mom and Dad time. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. You all made me feel so loved and special.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my birthday! I can't believe I'm turning nine years old. This is my last year in single digits. Mom and Dad said we'll have a party tonight with stinky goodness cake for us. I can't wait! It really seems like just yesterday that I was being adopted by Mom and Dad. I picked them the second I saw them and made sure that they knew it. The rest is history. And now that I think about it, I've spent more than half my life as a blogging cat -- wow! Thanks for sharing all this time with me.

Wordless Wednesday

Cat playing with dolphins

I love this video, but I don't know if I'd be as brave as this cat.

Lizard adventure

We had a little lizard adventure the other day (little lizard, and little adventure). Dad was in the living room and he could hear Maggie whapping the back kitchen window. He looked to see what she saw, and there was a lizard on the screen. Then he looked closer and realized the lizard was on the wrong side of the screen, somehow trapped between the screen and the window.


Here's the "lizard under glass."


Maggie was very good about keeping an eye on things while Dad tried to decided how to handle this.


Josie did some investigating too.


It seems the lizard tried to hide in the corner but Maggie pointed it out to Dad.

Dad went out back to check and couldn't figure out how to get the lizard free from that side. One of the clips on the screen is broken, so the lizard could have climbed up and back down the wrong side, trapping himself. The other possibility is that we were playing in the garage the other day and this window was open, too. If the lizard was really sneaky he could have made it from the garage to the window, but we would have spotted him before this weekend.

Dad eventually opened the window and tried to reach up and grab the lizard, but of course he ran up and away. So then Dad unlocked the top of the window so it could lean in a little, un-did the screen and shook the lizard free.

Maggie and Josie watched the whole thing, but never had a shot at "helping" with the lizard too much. We're glad he is safe and free, but we miss our lizard tv.

Maggie's tuffet

Maggie has re-discovered her tuffet. Mom thought this would be a big hit when she first found it. But we hardly paid any attention to it. That is until it got placed up in the corner to get it out of the way briefly. Now Maggie loves it -- almost too much since she's not snuggling with Mom at night as much.

New views for the blog

Did you see the new ways to view a blog on Blogger? Check out my blog in mosaic view. I think this is the best of the five views. You can go to the drop-down menu on the right in the "new view" mode and change view styles. I'll still stick to looking at the blogs in the original for the most part, but it's kind of fun to look at my own in different ways sometimes.

Vote for Daisy

Have you voted for Daisy in the Best of Blogs yet? A quick registration and you're ready to vote. I think you can even vote more than once.

Making up Mom and Dad time

Mom and Dad has been so busy lately that on Sunday they spent most of the day home with us making up for lost time. I don't like when they are away doing other stuff, but I really like when they make up for it.

Making Mom and Dad work

Well Mom and Dad are wrapped up in theatre stuff right now. It's closing week at Mom's theatre and Dad's been called in to help backstage. So they get home a little later. But we make sure we still get our Mom and Dad time. We make them work hard when they get home, giving us all kinds of pets and brushes. I'm dealing with a bunch of mats right now so that means extra brushes and attention for me. I don't like the mats, but I do like the attention.

Maggie Monday

Maggie loves to perch up on the kitchen stool and snoopervise what's going on in the kitchen. She's always a big helper, whether it's in the kitchen or when Mom or Dad are on the computer. I also think she likes the stool so she can pounce us.


She might be a stinker, but she's my sister, and a pretty cute one at that, if I have to admit it.

Easy Like Sunday

This is how we plan on spending our Sunday -- except hopefully the bed's not made because it's even more comfortable when you can snuggle into the unmade sheets. It's supposed to be rainy, which makes for great napping!

Upload new pictures!

Maybe if I get real close and stare into Dad's eyes he'll upload some new pictures. I know there are some on the camera...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope everyone gets some special treat today (but not green beer -- save that for your beans). I forgot to prepare something for today, so I'll pull out some old favorites -- our St. Patrick's Day picture from a few years ago...









In my Wordless Wednesday yesterday I was on the Wii Fit balance board. Mom and Dad seem to have a lot of fun on this so I figured I should try it out. I could stand to get a little fit anyway.

Wordless Wednesday

Pictures coming

I was being very cute the other night and Dad got a lot of pictures of me, so maybe I'll have some pictures to post soon!

My wound is healing up nicely, and Mom is doing better (good enough to leave us and go back to work -- which is good and bad, because we don't get to snuggle). Thanks for all the great purrs to help us get better. It truly helped.

Lizard watch

Dad went out to water some plants and guess what -- Dad almost touched a lizard. The lizard was right on the hose caddy, and Dad didn't even realize at first. Think about it -- he could have caught us a lizard and brought it in the house for us to play with. But it is right near the garage, so maybe the lizard will sneak under the door and come visit us in there. Let the lizard watch begin!

Cat prints

Check out these cool cat prints...

Are you serious?

I'm not kidding -- as soon as I get feeling better it seemed like Mom got sick! Total bummer, and such a very busy week for her at work. She's been laid up in bed and we've been taking good care of her. Everyone has been so good to send me all their purrs so I could get better, but if you could send some Mom's way too, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm free!

I had a very good weekend so I have been set free in the house. There's still a little uncomfortable hissing at me from Josie, but overall we're doing OK. My abscess isn't oozing so Mom and Dad thought it would be fine for me to wander and do my thing (which is mostly to nap in the bathroom sink anyway, but by choice this time). Thanks again for all the healing purrs. I'm not 100 percent by any means, but I'm definitely on the mend.

Still in the bathroom

Well, I'm still spending my days in the bathroom, hanging out mostly in the sink or in a box, but at least Mom and Dad are letting me sleep in their bedroom at night. They've forced Maggie, Josie and Huggy Bear to hang out with us too, which is helping them get used to me again since they weren't very happy about me smelling like vet and illness.

In the meantime, I've been checking out the Simon's Cat comic strip on the UK Daily Mirror. Nothing like a little Simon's Cat to lift your spirits.

Thanks again for all the purrs and positive thoughts. I'm feeling great, it's just that I have an open sore so I can't be getting on the furniture and stuff like that.

Hanging in my new box

Well, I'm not healed up, but I'm certainly doing better. I'm spending most of my time in the bathroom still, but at night Mom and Dad are letting me hang out with them in their bedroom. Tonight Mom and Dad brought in Huggy Bear, Josie and Maggie so we can all hang out.


Mom and Dad bought a new litter box for us tonight, but before they could put litter in it I claimed it as mine. It is a perfect napping size!

Thanks again for the purrs. I hope to be back out around the house free in the next day or so.

Still locked in the bathroom ... and not happy about it

I spent all day in the bathroom after my visit to the emergency vet yesterday. The abscess is clearing up, but still oozing. The nice vet (Dr. Lindsey) said that it may be two or three days. Yuck. Maggie is all out of sorts because I smell like ooze. She was hissing, purring and meowing at Mom all at the same time. I think she's a little worried and a little confused.

Late last night Dad cleaned me us and let me wander in their room for a few minutes just to get out of the bathroom. I think that was a little bit of a mistake for them, because when they put me back in the bathroom I decided to fuss at them for not leaving me out. And boy did I fuss. I talked and yelled and meowed ALL NIGHT LONG. Dad tried to comfort me in the bathroom and even thought about sleeping on the bathroom floor, but I kept talking even with him lying down in there. Mom ended up going to another bedroom to sleep. A little while later Dad ended up on the couch downstairs.

Mom will be home with me today so I'll probably get some supervised bedroom time. Hopefully the abscess will be mostly dried up by the end of today so I can rejoin everyone. Thanks everyone for your purrs. It really means so much.

Back from the vet

I'm home from the vet. No cone, thankfully. The shaved hind quarters is humiliating enough. I am isolated in the master bathroom while I drain and heal. It'll keep me (and the house) clean, and allow Mom and Dad to monitor me. It'll also keep my sister from biting me again. I don't like being stuck in the bathroom. I keep trying to turn the doorknob, but I don't have thumbs. Dad has been brushing me and giving me extra treats. This is the first abscess that Mom and Dad have had to deal with from us. Mom's old cat Fluffy used to get him, but he was an indoor/outdoor cat, so he'd get in fights. But then after it was drained he'd just go outside to ooze. I get to ooze in the bathroom -- much less fun.

Thanks for the purrs. It really makes me feel better.

At the emergency vet

UPDATE: Apparently I have a ruptured abscess on my hind leg. The vet said she just needs to clean it up. I blame Maggie -- she's a rough-houser and a butt biter. But the vet said I was being good. That's before she really started messing with me. She's hearing me fuss now!

---

Please send me some purrs. I'm at the emergency pet clinic. I had some spotting in Mom and Dad's bathroom where the food bowl is -- almost like I was having bloody stool -- and it really stinks. Dad tried to clean me like I had messed myself but I cried like it hurt (as opposed to me being mad). My mood was fine though, until they put me in the carrier and then in the car. I talked the whole ride over (fortunately a short one). So now I'm with the vet lady. Ugh! I'll update soon. Thanks for the purrs.

Referral links

I don't check my stats all too often, but I did today and found out that my blog was linked to from the About.com Cats post about cats celebrating St. Patrick's Day. It was a 2009 post linking to pictures of Maggie, as well as posts by Daisy and two other cat bloggers. I'm not the celebrity that some of my cat blogging friends are so I'm always tickled to have been noticed. Now maybe I can leverage this into more treats.

Extra floofy

So maybe it's the winter coat, maybe I'm just extra floofy. But I heard Mom and Dad saying that Huggy Bear and I need to lose a pound. We can't help that we're big boys. It's in our genes. And some of it is in our tummies. The big issue is this -- how do you get two big boys to, ahem, diet, without limiting what the two "just right, perfect specimen of a cat" girls eat? We won't eat by ourselves, so if we get isolated in the bathroom we'll just sit at the door wondering what excitement is happening on the other side. We're funny that way. We also eat dry food because some of us (Maggie) are little piggies and chase their nice older brother (me) away from my food. It's quite a challenge.

Maybe Mom and Dad need to clean up the garage, then create a cricket arena for us. Then, in the cricket arena, they can put us, and a cricket, and let us chase it. That'll be good exercise and we can still eat.

Still no pictures ... prepare for the bite

So Dad got distracted this weekend and didn't upload pictures -- big surprise. He forgot about my threat until this morning when I started sharking around his legs. I was all prepared to dish out my vengeance until he gave me treats and I forgot why I was supposed to bite him. But he promises pictures will be uploaded to Flickr tonight (or at least tomorrow).

It was a nice weekend and we had the windows open a lot, so I'll give him credit for that, at least. Mom's back was bothering her all weekend so we got extra snuggle time with her, too. (OK, go ahead and point out the irony of the chiropractor's wife having back pain...) I hope everyone else is having better weather too, or soon at least.

We need pictures!

OK, Dad is in trouble now. I was looking at our Flickr and he hasn't uploaded pictures in over a month. I know there are good pictures of us on the camera, too. So I told him if he doesn't upload pictures this weekend I'll bite his ankle while he's shaving. Expect new pictures soon...

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all our amazing cat friends out there. You make us feel so loved, not just on February 14. And Maggie wants to say a special HI to her blogging buddy Scout. We'll be snuggling with Mom and Dad as soon as they get home tonight, and hoping for heart-shaped Whisker Lickins. And we also promise to not hiss too much at each other and to share our toys. Until tomorrow -- then it's back on!

Finally Friday

Oh good, it's finally Friday! Too bad Mom's not feeling hot. But you know what that means...


...we get to curl up in bed with Mom and make her feel better.

Yesterday was Aunt Tiff's birthday, but we get to celebrate with her tomorrow! Hopefully we'll get more food like at the Super Bowl (and maybe get to eat some this time). It's supposed to be nice this weekend, like maybe open-window nice. We're hoping. I hope you all have a great weekend, too.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Mom usually takes pictures of her food, but she didn't get any of the Super Bowl food. But this is the chicken version of one of the feta cheese and caramelized red onion burgers (minus the green stuff).

Easy Like Super Sunday

Mom and Dad had friends over for the Super Bowl, and these are responsible pet people so we were able to visit and hang out. Mom made a bunch of great snacks, but we were on our best behavior and didn't try to eat any of them (although the bacon cheeseburger sliders were tempting). I hope the right team won for you. I was just watching for the commercials, but only made it to halftime. The halftime show was so bad that I decided to go upstairs to the closet and sleep in a box instead.

Mancat Monday

Yeah, this is how I spent my weekend. I can't think of anything better than this.

Funny guy

So Mom and Dad were watching the Daily Show and there was a commercial for a stand-up comedian who made the observation: "Cats are only one foot tall, but somehow their butts are always eye level." It's a cat skill that obviously we work hard at doing well.

Tree cat

I saw this story from the Free Kibble Kat question from today, in case you missed it. This kitten was born in the tree and decided to just stay up there. It's a big tree, and I bet little Almond has lots of fun climbing and exploring. But I have to wonder where the cat's litter box goes...

Watching the Golden Globes

Mom had friends over to watch the Golden Globes last night. Sure, it actually aired a week ago but they couldn't watch it live so they had a little party where they could fast forward through the bad parts. We actually got to hang out with them, and Dad even gave us some bacon. I think we need more parties like that (especially the bacon part).

Wordless Wednesday

Mancat Monday

Thanks for all the nice words about Sassy. She was cremated with her favorite toy, a squeezy duck that was her very first toy and made it through all 16 1/2 years, and is now resting in Aunt Kelly's room where she would want to be. Now, back to happier posts...


Huggy Bear says it's OK for a Mancat to want to play Just Dance 2! He likes to help pick the songs...

Sassy goes to the bridge

Dad's parent's dog Sassy went to the bridge on Wednesday afternoon at 3:35 following multiple system failure. She was 16-1/2 years old, and a very good friend to Dad's dad. She was supposed to be Aunt Kelly's dog, and she was, but there was no denying the connection to Pop either. Mom and Dad have always commented on what a difference Sassy made for him. Sadly, she passed the day before Pop's birthday.


This was Sassy's favorite spot. Although I never met her, I could tell she had good taste, because I know I would have also sat on the landing of the stairs where I could watch everything that went on in the house too.


Sassy had a huge smile, and loved Mom, although Mom is not a "dog person." Sassy liked to lick Mom's toes, which did not always make Mom happy, but it was how she showed her love of Mom (or maybe Mom had dirty toes). Sassy was also a veggie dog. She loved to snack on radishes and baby carrots. I don't get that.


I'm sure Sassy is playing with Fluffy (Mom's cat-who-came-before) at the Bridge. They got to meet once, when Mom and Dad were moving to Iowa. I think there was some barking and hissing, but I'm sure they're getting along fine now.

Sassy, you will be missed. Rest in peace sweet little one.

Square blue box

So Dad thought the picture of me getting in the box was funny, and I guess it was. But I actually did fit in the box. See:


I think this is a perfect fit for me.


If it had a lid I could spring out like a Jasper in the Box.


Once I got out Maggie had to try it. It's now as snuggly for her as it is for me.

This box actually had a really cool gift from Aunt Cathy. It's the Cat Tao Glasses with cat pictures and saying on the glasses. I think all our beans need these glasses.

---

We got snowed in on Monday and Tuesday. We were expecting a lot of snow and ice by South Carolina standards and Mom and Dad both had work canceled on Monday and Tuesday so we got to hang out with them and snuggle a lot. There was a good three inches of snow and 1/4 inch of ice on the driveway. You'd think that Mom and Dad would have helped me visit my friend's blogs, but they had friends stay over for a "snowcation" and they sat around and watched a bunch of movies instead. But we did get to snuggle and got lots of treats for being good with company. I hope everyone is staying warm.

Wordless Wednesday

Tabby Tuesday

Maggie was checking to see who was on Skype. She loves to socialize.

Mancat Monday

Last weekend Mom had some friends over for a brunch. Huggy Bear was a big helper and did his part to get the chairs ready for company.

Snowy Christmas

This was the scene on Christmas Day. Snow here, in South Carolina.


I've seen snow before, being born in Illinois and living in Iowa for a few years, so I know what the stuff is. Mom and Dad actually thought they were funny when I was a kitten and put the leash on me and let me stand in the snow. I hopped around twice, then went back inside. I'm no fool.


Huggy Bear wasn't really sure what the stuff was. This is only the second time he's seen snow in his life. But that may change. The weather people are actually saying it may snow here this weekend or Monday. I'm not sure what's going on with the weather, but I think Mom and Dad moved to South Carolina to get away from the snow. I hope everyone is staying warm with this weird weather right now.

Maggie in the tree

Maggie's been spending some time up in the Christmas tree. She really didn't seem to remember this game until after all the presents were unwrapped. Then all of a sudden she couldn't help herself. She'd climb up, Dad would get her down, and she'd go right back up. I think Mom and Dad have given up trying to stop her. The tree's stayed up longer than planned, but is coming down this weekend. If it were up to Maggie, she'd leave it up all year long.

Tabby Tuesday

Maggie decided to show off last night and got up on the new dresser and started posing for Mom and Dad.


Here she is laying on the dresser pretending not to notice Dad taking her picture.


This was Mom's favorite, with her paws tucked under and her tail wrapped around her feet.


Here's a close-up of Maggie's tail.


And here's Maggie trying to figure out who that pretty girl is behind her.

Boxing Day

I know sometime after Christmas is Boxing Day -- well, I observe boxing day almost any day I can. We've had company lately so all the boxes have been put up, but now that the holidays are wrapped up I think I'll insist that Mom and Dad pull a box back out for me.

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year and that there weren't too many fireworks or anything. Ours was very nice, and we even got to socialize some with Mom and Dad's friends at the end of the night. Mom and Dad even had a brunch with friends on Sunday that we were invited to, although we didn't get any of the bacon. But we did get to have some open window time on Sunday, so that made up for no bacon.