A very weird but exciting Christmas!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

I have had a lovely holiday with all three of my grown children at home for several days and my two daughters' boyfriends here for at least part of the time as well. I was looking forward to the usual holiday activities--opening presents, eating great meals and being together as a family. Well, all that happened and MORE! 

First of all, my oldest daughter, who became a vet in June of this year got here Friday night with her boyfriend of three years who also graduated from the vet school with her. They had a gift with them that they wanted us to open right away--strange request, but we were fine with it and my husband and I opened it together. It was a photograph of lovely wooden rings that my daughter's boyfriend had made for her--in each ring, there was a word. Apparently, her boyfriend had put the rings on her fingers the night before as a gift without telling her that the words were there--eventually she noticed the word inside one and  took the four rings off to read them. The words were "Will", "you" "marry" and "ME?" !!!!

Once we figured out what the rings in the photograph said, we were ecstatic!! There were a lot of tears and congratulations--then my husband said to the boyfriend "I thought you were supposed to ask me first!" Ooops!! He was just joking though.

The rest of the holiday was pretty humdrum at first after all that excitement compared to the engagement announcement but I got a lot of doodle gifts--my other daughter got me a "Doodle mom" sticker for the car and had a big street sign made for us online that says "Labradoodle Drive"--FUN! I got a great Labradoodle Mom sweatshirt from Cafe press too!

Then things got WEIRD! I have two big male stray cats hanging around and I have been feeding them and taming them for a few months now. (We have a lot of farms around here and lots of abandoned cate--they seem to all find their way to my house eventually.) My vet daughter decided to give me one more present --she brought all the equipment needed to neuter the cats for me! LOL!! We couldn't get the bigger, stronger one to trust us enough to be injected with sedative, but the other one who is more tame was able to be sedated and we got the job done right on the kitchen counter. A few hours of napping in a dog crate and the cat was off and running.How is that for a weird family activity on Christmas day!? I have some photos, but have not downloaded them yet--if they aren't too gross, I will share!

My other daughter's boyfriend is from a family that does not celebrate Christmas and he just loves to come here and do all the traditional things. He cooked us a lovely dinner and he and my daughter are finishing a gorgeous gingerbread house right now that they have worked on all weekend. He doesn't seem the least bit perturbed by the weird stuff going on--it's just part of the Nightingale family Christmas!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We do the same thing every Christmas....LOL!! This sounds like a Christmas you will always remember.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

OMD, now THAT was a XMAS to remember! 

[Bryce P]

Free vet advice. Maybe you can make that a tradition, find a stray cat every year.

[Ginny Nightingale]

No problem--they find me--I must be up to 15 or 20 that I have fed and helped over the years--some lived out their lives here, some were neutered and adopted, others have just moved on---no end to them, unfortunately!

[Becka]

I knew my holiday was missing something and now I know what it was! I didn't neuter any cats! Sounds like the start of a wonderful Christmas tradition--talk about a gift that keeps on giving (or would that be a gift that keeps on not giving?)

[Ginny Nightingale]

Well, maybe just one surgery picture--for the more curious of you out there in doodle land! 

It's not bad, really! And the cat was anaesthetized and given pain meds--he is a bit sore this morning, but fine otherwise. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I feel like I was watching from the old surgical amphitheaters. Not too much you can see but at least we now have an idea of the OR setup. Glad the patient is doing well.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I have a few that are more graphic (thanks to my gore-loving DH who had the camera) but I don't want to offend anyone!

Isn't it fun to see the Christmas dinner on the stove behind us?

There is a documentary about a vet named Dr. Pol on National Geo Wild--it has been shown in four parts before, but they showed all two hours of it last night--in one scene they are operating on a dog and the kitchen (similar to mine) is in the background--they fix their lunch right next to the OR table! Very low tech--makes me feel better about our set-up!

[BG and Gavin]

For the non-belieivers!  This picture is a keeper for sure.  Triple love this!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Here is another photo of the happy couple--this one shows that they have a sense of humor! A giant Christmas cracker we opened on Christmas eve had fun costume things in it--everyone got into the act, but these two looked the best--maybe we can save these props for the wedding!?

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

What a fun-loving couple! Their life together will have an important ingredient -- humor!! 

[Bonnie and Kona]

What an amazing Christmas! The cat neutering had to be a highlight. Thanks for sharing. heehee.