Pet Mania and the Truth about Tryptophan

After a brief hiatus from blogging, I think it is time for me to fill in some gaps!
Firstly, after 10 years locked in a pet stalemate (Rance wants a dog vs. Julie wants a cat) Rance and I finally caved and let our kids get a pet. Since we are obviously not great at compromising, we got a dog named Riley and a kitten named Spanky. Both previous owners assured me that they would get along with each other like peanut butter and jelly. It turns out that they go together more like pickled pig's feet and marshmallows. Luckily they only fight as much as our children (AKA: all the time). So far we have contained the "mortal combat" that is our home by quarantining the cat in the laundry room and the dog in the kitchen. That means if you want to do a load of laundry, you have to lock the dog in the bathroom, put the cat in the bedroom, get the hamper, shut the door so the cat can't get out, and then let the dog out of the bathroom. Needless to say the frequency of laundry in our house is rapidly diminishing...The kids are happy though, and after a rough week (it feels a little like I gave birth to another baby), I just have to remind myself that that is what it is all about. Right? I do have some funny pictures of the kids torturing the cat in the washing machine that I will post later when I get my camera back from Stephanie.
Speaking of Stephanie, she makes the BEST TURKEY EVER. Now that I know, I am inviting myself back to her house for Thanksgiving next year too. She soaked it in some magical brine before roasting it and I have got to get the recipe, because it was tasty. Apparently it wasn't too loaded with tryptophan because we managed to stay up until 2am playing Rock Band. That is probably the real reason Steph is holding my camera hostage. It has some questionably punchy photos of us all rocking out on it. (By the way, did you know that turkey has no more tryptophan in it than any other meat? And if you want to get technical some kids of cheddar cheese contain more tryptophan. So, if you really want to put someone to sleep like they did in Seinfeld, go for the cheese!)
That's all I have time to post right now, because I have to get back to work (and the cat is clawing up my back-youch!!!) but I almost promise not to let my posting lapse for such a great length of time again. Remind me to tell you about our recent trip to the dentist. It was a real humdinger!