Now that the shock and surprise of picking up and moving to another country, as well as changing careers, is subsiding, life in the Courteau-Stafford household is falling into predictable routine. One of the routines is a nightly check to make sure the cat has plenty of food and water, as she's developed a habit of feeding at night along with the habit of issuing loud notifications when a bowl runs dry. And when I looked last night, both food and water bowls were full.

Today is Constitution Day, a holiday much like President's Day in the US -- celebrated only for the chance to sleep in and goof off for the day. And while Greg was able to quell his internal alarm clock long enough to sleep in until 7am, I got a different, and unfortunately somewhat habitual, wake-up call: Izzy darting back and forth across the bed in which I'm trying to sleep, screaming at me to wake up and save her from Greg, who is holding a loudly crepitating bag of catfood in one hand and trying to catch and remove Iz from the bedroom with the other.

Those who have personal knowledge of Izzy know just how brave an action that was! (thanks, Nick!)

So I believe I will be getting a second cup of coffee next door when they open.