Patt with Two T's

  Forty-seven years ago, when was at a family party hosted by my sister's boyfriend Randy, a kitten wandered in and jumped on my lap. I was married at the time and my husband walked over and said, "No." I hadn't said a word. An hour later, he came back and said, "Ok, we can try it for week."  I hadn't said anything about bringing this kitten home, but apparently my face did. That black cat lasted much longer than my marriage. His name was Dominic Cosmo Davis, but we just called him Cosmo or Cos. My husband had teased me about wanting to use that name for our future son, so I figured I'd give it to the cat so I wouldn't have to name a baby Dominic.  Over the last 47 years, I had multiple cats, and when one died, my house still included at least one other, so I was never without a kitty...until last night.  When Matthew and I met, we each had a cat--Koshka was his and Carrie (named for my grandmother since I knew I'd never have a human

 I feel like I'm not young enough for Amsterdam. Or as my husband put it, I don't drink, I don't smoke weed, I don't like museums (just don't like to spend hours and hours them), and I don't or can't walk for miles on uneven streets.  We hit King's Day yesterday just by chance. We didn't know about it ahead of time. It's a huge country party for the king's birthday -- everyone wears orange, drinks, dances, and parties heavily all day and evening. The tram schedule is modified and crowded, most stores and many restaurants are closed, people put out clothes and goods to buy like a giant flea market, and the canals are full of boats filled with people. It was also very cold, windy, and rainy which made it less desirable than it already was for a woman who doesn't drink or smoke. And yes, men piss in the streets. At least these guys were using the intended urinals, which happened to be placed at the tram station right in the middle of t

Today we tried once again to get to the Albert Cuyp market but failed again. We were in the right area, but managed to turn the wrong way off the tram and walk way out of our way. But I am ahead of myself. When we got back yesterday, I realized I had overdone my walking--4 hour food tour followed by all the walking and getting on and off the tram before heading back to the apartment. A blister has started on the bottom of my big toe. Not good. This happened before and it was not only painful, but pretty much stopped me from walking much on it.  So today I said I cannot walk far because tomorrow is the big day at the tulip gardens--miles and miles of them--and I want to be able to enjoy the day. You're getting the point, right? After all my comments on how great a navigator my husband is, he screws up today and leads me astray.  I had made an online reservation for lunch at a recommended place called Senses. They have no tables available for dinner all week, but lunch sou