Merry Christmas from Sammie Claus and Cash Kringle! (Our family's annual Christmas letter)

Hello, everyone. Since my mom hasn't updated her blog in several months, I decided to write and post our annual Christmas letter that I wrote this year. This version contains photos of our 2011. Hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!

Internationally-known feline writer Sammie "Claus"

Hello! It’s Sammie Ann Beutke DeVito, the friendly feline daughter of David and Allyson, writing again this year with our sixth annual holiday letter. I personally don’t think I have lots of exciting news to share about our lives (I think my feline brother Cash is on his 8^th one as much as he gets into trouble), but since so many of you think this letter is the greatest thing since the McRib sandwich at McDonald’s, I feel obligated to tell you about our 2011!

Cash gets into everything...literally. He is so curious and loves to help decorate for the holidays!

We’re still living in the Bluegrass region of Lexington, Kentucky. We figured out it’s called the Bluegrass because bluegrass is a type of grass that grows in many of the pastures in the commonwealth. Yes, that’s right… we don’t live in a state anymore. We live in a commonwealth. I wish someone would share some of this common wealth with us.

My dad finished teaching his chemistry classes at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in May. A week later, he started a summer job at a company called Lexel (how original) in Lexington. He made radar tubes for military aircraft and realized why he is going to school to become a dentist.

Here is our dad on his first day of dental school. He purchased an actual fishing tackle box to put all of his dental instruments and supplies in for his classes. He added the UK stickers. :)

He started dental school at the University of Kentucky in late July and finished the fall semester on December 15. He is 1/8 of a dentist now, which means he is officially qualified to work on plastic teeth. His spring semester starts January 3 and goes until late June. He starts his second of four years in late July. He is the oldest, I mean wisest, person in his class, and some of his classmates were born in the 1990s, a few years before he graduated from high school.

We like to help Dad study, especially when the subject is dental anatomy. It's our favorite!

He took the equivalent of 28 credit hours, including biochemistry, dental anatomy, public health, and histology, which is not the history of teeth but the study of tissues, and not the Kleenex kind. He also had to learn more than 30 dental instruments, and some of them have strange names such as Dr. Felt’s #6, the amalgam hoe, and the football burnisher. You should ask for one of those the next time you visit the dentist.

Look at all the dental instruments my dad has to know how to use. Our favorite is the football burnisher!

He also learned that while all 32 adult teeth (fewer for some Kentucky residents) look similar, they are very different in terms of shape and size and each one has a name such as the right permanent mandibular second molar. (Imagine if you were a baby tooth and had to learn how to spell your long name!)

I helped Dad inspect his dental school supplies. Cash climbed into the boxes they came in and tried to eat the plastic wrap. Crazy Cash!

During the spring, he’ll take gross anatomy, where they will dissect a cadaver. Won’t that be fun! I don’t know why they need to examine an entire body when they should only care about the mouth.

Our dad had a special ceremony in August, and he received his official white coat with his name on it—it's a way to welcome first-year students into the profession. When he got home, he insisted on a photo with us. You can tell how thrilled we are!

During October, he traveled to the rural area of Ashland, Kentucky, near the West Virginia border, with some of his classmates. They cleaned kids’ teeth (or tooth for some of them. They really do love Mountain Dew up here, no joke!) and put sealants on them. They even made the front page of the one-page newspaper the next day. My dad also received an award from his classmates. During November, the men in his class participated in “No Shave November” to raise awareness of prostate cancer.

In addition to not shaving for a month, our dad also didn't get a haircut, so he was extra hairy!

They didn’t shave their facial hair for a month, and if you know my dad and his Viking ancestry, you know he came out of the womb with facial hair. He received the “Manliest Beard” award, and we have the certificate on our refrigerator. He still has a goatee, and plans to have a Magnum P.I./Tom Selleck-type mustache for Christmas. Oh happy happy, joy joy!

My mom taught at EKU in the spring and again this fall. She taught two classes there—mass media and society and broadcast news writing and reporting.

EKU has a gorgeous new EKU Center for the Arts, and my mom and her students were able to watch a live news broadcast and performance on the opening night.

EKU’s mascot is a colonel like Colonel Sanders who started Kentucky Friend Chicken, but the mascot is an angrier version of him. Maybe the EKU colonel is upset that he doesn’t know KFC’s secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.

She also had the opportunity to teach two classes at the University of Kentucky this fall. It’s a new course that combines writing and public speaking. She already knew a lot of students do not write well, and she learned some of them cannot speak well either. She will teach three classes at EKU and two at UK during the spring, which keeps her busy.

This is a view of the University of Kentucky's campus from one of the top floors of the library.

My parents left us when they visited Florida for an oblication (the combination of a vacation and obligation) during June. My mom thought we needed a cat sitter, but I tried to convince her that we would be fine on our own. She said if we could learn to use the toilet and flush, we wouldn’t need a sitter. Cash couldn’t master that after many failed attempts, so this really nice lady named Miss Maria came over and made sure we had plenty of food and water and cleaned our litter box. She is a retired police detective. Cash wanted to borrow her handcuffs, but they were too big for his paws, so he used them as a stylish collar.

Sometimes Cash sits on the stairs and pretends to be in jail.

My parents said it was great seeing their Florida family and friends, but they definitely don’t miss simmering in the sizzling summer heat. 

Florida was hot and humid as usual, but the sunsets are breathtaking.

They spent several days hanging out with my human cousin, Judson, who is so cute and now 15 months old.

My mom and Grandma Sharon put one of my mom's dresses from when she was a little girl on Judson during their Florida visit. They got into trouble with Judson's dad, Uncle Jason, but they both said it was well worth it. At least he'd make a cute little girl too! My mom did the same thing with Uncle Jason when he was little. She also told him he was adopted like I tell Cash all the time.

My parents also gave Judson a little Wildcat towel that he uses at bath time.

Isn't our human cousin Judson just the cutest little wildcat!!!

They also got to meet some young cousins on my dad’s side of the family. If you ever want to visit us, just get on I-75 and head north. You’ll know you’re in Kentucky when you start to notice all the bad drivers from neighboring Ohio.

Speaking of Ohio and the crazy buckeye nuts that live there, I am happy Urban Meyer is headed back. He’s from Ohio and coached at Ohio State before, so once a nut, always a nut in my book. The Gator Nation is much better off without him around, but I’m not too sure about this Coach Muschamp either. Hopefully, they will have a better season next year. I have been watching the Denver Broncos play since my boy Tim Tebow is their quarterback. Cash has been working on his Tebowing pose, but it’s hard to do since he doesn’t have an elbow.

If we’ve learned one thing about living in Kentucky, it’s that basketball is the most important thing ever. People wait in long lines outside in the cold for days just to get on a list to get tickets to a practice game that starts at midnight. We also have the largest basketball arena in the U.S. At least the basketball team is doing well since the football team isn’t very good. Also, the stadium up here is so cute. It’s like a miniature version of a real stadium. I think it could fit inside the Swamp at UF.

We’ve only had two sets of visitors this year. Grandma Betty, Grandpa Jean-Paul, Aunt Allison, Uncle Matt and their canine son, Toby, visited us for New Year’s. We got Toby, a daschund, some small snow boots to wear, but he didn’t like them, and there wasn’t any snow, so it worked out well. We learned that Toby can run up the stairs in our house, but he can’t go down. Gravity plays a mean joke on him and he kind of tumbles down. It was fun to watch. He also went into the litter box and ate one of Cash’s turds. I guess he needed some protein.

Our canine cousin Toby made himself right at home and immediately started eating our food.

In October, Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Amos came for a visit. It was their first time in Lexington, and my parents drove them around and showed them all the sights.

I watched "The Amazing Race" on TV with my grandparents, but the competition was too intense, and I couldn't take it, so I had to turn and face the back of the couch.

We fed them well, and they enjoyed their first Kentucky Hot Brown, an open-faced sandwich with turkey, ham and bacon, covered in a creamy Monray cheese sauce, topped with sliced tomato and broiled until the bread is crisp and the sauce begins to brown. Yummy!

Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Amos shared this Hot Brown at the legendary Ramsey's Diner in Lexington during their fall visit. They loved every bite of it!

We’d love for you to visit us! There are lots of exciting things to do. People love horses up here. I haven’t ridden one yet, but Cash and I might go to the Kentucky Derby in May. It’s actually in Louisville, not Lexington. Don’t you think I’d look so cute in one of those big hats the ladies wear at the Derby?

Our parents visited Churchill Downs in Louisville where the Kentucky Derby race is run each May. It was raining on the day they went in July, so they'll explore the track next time.

My mom is disappointed is hasn’t snowed yet this winter. We had a White Christmas last year, and it was so nice since she had been singing that was dreaming of one for weeks before Christmas.

We had a White Christmas last year, and it was so beautiful!

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Remember to have your pets spayed or neutered! (By the way, my parents were watching The Price is Right while I typed this, and they noticed the models are now allowed to talk and have their own microphones. Look how far women have come in the work place!)

Love,

Sammie Claus, Cash Kringle, David and Allyson DeVito

Even though we have our own cat bed, our favorite place to sleep is at the foot of our parent's bed while they are in it.

P.S. My parents got new smart phones (I wonder what a dumb phone is?) in February. Whoever had my mom’s number previously was a meth drug dealer in Hazard, Kentucky because strange sounding people would text and call at all times of the day and night asking for a delivery. As my dad says, these could be his future patients since their teeth (or tooth) will be rotten! Have a great 2012! ☺ Go Wildcats! Go Colonels! Go Gators!

Need help with chemistry? Check out chemistrydoctor.blogspot.com!

Chemistry—a subject many of us probably didn't like in school, but it's required. However, I'm sharing some good news that might help some of you who need help balancing equations and calculating reactions. My husband, David DeVito, has taught chemistry at the college level for several years now, and he has a new blog devoted to helping students with chemistry. He started it a few months ago when he finished teaching chemistry at Eastern Kentucky University as a way for his students to keep in contact and continue asking chemistry-related questions. Check it out at http://chemistrydoctor.blogspot.com.

David has a PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida and this week, he started as a full-time dental student at the University of Kentucky. Like me, he loves teaching and interacting with students, so this blog is hopefully a way for him to continue this interaction and instruction.

In his second post, he links to this website about wisdom from a Chemistry Cat: http://www.uproxx.com/webculture/2011/07/meme-watch-chemistry-cats-word-is-his-bond/#page/1. 
Unfortunately, our cats, Sammie and Cash, don't share in their dad's love and knowledge of chemistry. :)

Happy Easter! Happy Spring! (A letter from Sammie the cat)

April 2011—Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

This tree bloomed outside the front of our house. When we moved here in September, it had green leaves and then lost the leaves during the winter, so it was a surprise to see the dark pink and lavender leaves.

It’s Sammie Ann Beutke DeVito writing. I know how much you all love and adore me, and my clever writing skills, so I thought I’d give you a quick update about how we’re doing in the Bluegrass. 

I went to the vet's office for my annual check-up, and this picture was in our exam room. Too cute! It reminds us of Dolly. I think she would have liked Kentucky.

Easter is so late this year, but it’s finally starting to feel like spring up here in Kentucky. We even had a dusting of snow at the beginning of April. 

We had a little snow just as the trees were starting to bloom. It has snowed here each month since November, so six months out of the year!

It has rained and rained and rained this month. One night, the winds were so bad that the chairs on the back deck blew across the deck and smashed into my mom’s flowerpot, and it broke into several pieces. The wind also destroyed the umbrella on the porch table.

After the storm, my parents surveyed the damage. In addition to the broken pot and umbrella, the grill cover blew off and flew into the neighbor's yard.

My dad used super glue to fix the flower pot.

Cash and I slept through the whole storm. We were dreaming about the two bird feeders outside that attract many types of birds. We could sit for hours watching them and thinking about how tasty they would be for Easter dinner.

My parents both finish teaching for the spring semester at Eastern Kentucky University on April 29, the day of the Royal Wedding in England. (By the way, I was invited to the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate, but I really dislike those long flights across the Atlantic. I hear airplane food is horrible, and now they charge you for a blanket and a pillow, and you don’t even get to keep it!)

My mom hopes to teach at EKU again in the fall. EKU’s mascot is a colonel like Colonel Sanders who started Kentucky Friend Chicken, but the mascot is an angrier version of him. Maybe this colonel is upset that he doesn’t know KFC’s secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.

My dad starts dental school at the University of Kentucky (Go Cats!) on August 1, and he is quite excited. Before he starts this crazy, I mean awesome, adventure, my parents are planning to leave us here all alone so they can visit Florida this summer. My mom thinks we need a cat sitter, but I’m trying to convince her that we’ll be fine on our own. She said if we could learn to use the toilet and flush, we wouldn’t need a sitter. I don’t know how easy it will be to learn that, especially for Cash.

We’d love for you to visit us if you haven’t already. There are lots of exciting things to do. People love horses up here. I haven’t ridden one yet, but Cash and I might go to the Kentucky Derby in May. It’s actually in Louisville, not Lexington. Don’t you think I’d look so cute in one of those big hats the ladies wear at the Derby?

We hope you have a wonderful Easter! I really hope the Easter Bunny brings us a baby bunny and chick, but I don’t think that will happen. My parents look forward to seeing some Florida folks in June. They can’t wait to simmer in the heat and humidity! :)

Love,

Sammie, Cash, David and Allyson DeVito

Merry Christmas!

We have a white Christmas in Lexington this year. It started snowing around 10 p.m. Christmas Eve and continued through the early morning hours.

We woke up to several inches of the white fluffy stuff on the ground, and it's a gorgeous sight on Christmas Day. According to the weather folks, this is only the 12th white Christmas in Lexington since 1872.

In honor of the holiday, Sammie and Cash put on their Christmas hats.

Sammie was less than thrilled and told Cash he had to wear all of them.

Cash the elf

Cash Kringle

Santa Cash

How do you like my beard?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Sammie Claus and Cash Kringle!

Hello, everyone! It’s Sammie Ann Beutke DeVito, the feline daughter of David and Allyson, writing again this year. We hope you’re doing well, staying warm and enjoying the holiday season. I have lots of exciting news to share about our lives in 2010 and in 2011!

I prefer the warmth and comfort of my winter blanket than playing outside in the snow.

First, we’re now living in the Bluegrass—Lexington, Kentucky. I don’t know why they call it the blue grass since the grass isn’t blue, but I digress. My super smart dad accepted a full-time chemistry lecturer position at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond, Kentucky, about 20 miles south of Lexington. Ironically, his luck started to change in August when he received a phone call from the chemistry department head on Friday the 13^th, and a little more than a week later, he started teaching three chemistry lecture courses and two labs. 

The view from my dad's office at Eastern Kentucky University.

My mom already signed up to teach at UT-Knoxville, so the fall was a bit of transition, but luckily they found a house for us in Lexington and we moved on the weekends during September.

The front of our rental house in Lexington with some fall decorations.

For the first few weeks, my dad had to live in an apartment until our rental house was ready. The apartment smelled like a combination of cigarette smoke, animal urine and mold, but it had gorgeous hard wood floors. Lucky him! 

The smelly apartment my dad lived in, but look at those gorgeous wood floors!

We really like our new house in Lexington since Cash and I now have stairs to run up and down. My mom says it's funny how folks ask about us and want to make sure we like the new place. They seem more concerned about us than my parents. That’s so sweet of you. 

This is a view from the top of the stairs. Note the ledge that goes across. Cash loves to run up the stairs and then jump onto the ledge and walk from end to end. It makes my mom a nervous wreck!

A lot of the streets up here are named after famous racehorses, such as Man O’ War Boulevard, Star Shoot Parkway and Sir Barton Way, since Lexington is the horse capital of the world. I think Sammie Sleeps A Lot would be a good name for a horse.

My dad is teaching five classes again in the spring, and he really likes the campus and all the people, including most of his students. Several of them nominated him to attend a faculty appreciation dinner this fall. 

Dad wore a tie to his appreciation dinner, and Cash insisted on trying it on for size.

Anyway, he’s still getting crazy excuses from students about why they can’t attend class because someone in the their family had a bizarre accident and/or near-death experience each week of the semester. While some of them sound outrageous, one of his students did have to go home because her grandmother was arrested for driving under the influence and smoking marijuana, and she had to bail her out of jail. True story!

My mom taught her final class at UT and will teach at EKU in the spring. During October and November, she commuted from Lexington back to Knoxville one or two days a week to teach. It was a beautiful two and half hour drive each way with the fall leaves changing. She said the worst part was the other drivers who try to pass in the left lane but still drive the same speed as the cars and trucks in the right line. As part of a completely unscientific study, she observed that the drivers who most often commit this offense and don’t know how to drive at all have Ohio license plates. Coming in second, Michigan drivers!

While this photo doesn't contain any Ohio drivers, my mom saw a lot of them trying to drive.

My parents made a short trip to Florida in September to meet my new human cousin, Judson Beutke, who was born to Kristen and Jason on September 14. 

Judson with his dad, Jason, and a Gator outfit my parents got him. He's only a couple days old here.

I’ve seen photos, and he’s a cutie pie with chubby cheeks, and some of his facial expressions remind me of Grandpa Amos.

Everyone loves this photo of three generations, Grandpa Amos, Uncle Jason and Cousin Judson.

Grandpa Amos took this photo of Judson, and it's one of my mom's favorites. Wonder what he's thinking about?

What a happy family! Judson is wearing the Santa Pooh Bear/Baby's 1st Christmas outfit my parents bought for him.

He already weighs more than Cash and I combined! I found a t-shirt online (WARNING: This link has some offensive t-shirts on it!) I thought about ordering for him. On the front, it says: “I’ve accomplished more than Obama!”

In other exciting baby news, my parents are finally ready to share their big baby news—we now have three new fish and are hoping for babies soon! Cash is still a great help with feeding them each night. 

They are hard to see in this photo since they are rather small, but our new fish seem to love their new home.

The first visitor to our house, besides the plumber and the gas man, was Grandpa Sam. He drove up again this year for Thanksgiving. We set him down in front of the gas fireplace since he was cold in Knoxville last year. I also sat on his lap while he watched The History Channel over and over and over again.

Notice the remote control in his hand and the blanket and me on his lap.

For New Year’s, we’re expecting a visit from Grandma Betty, Grandpa Jean-Paul, Aunt Allison and Uncle Matt, and our canine cousin, Toby! Maybe I can convince Toby that he needs a brother, and they’ll take Cash home with them. A girl can dream, can’t she!

I got this photo from Aunt Allison's Facebook page. Toby was a hot dog for Halloween. Isn't he cute!!!

We’re hoping Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Amos visit us soon. I’ve got some word jumbles I can’t solve, and she’s so good at them. Some of you might have heard that Grandma Sharon was diagnosed with the earliest form of breast cancer in September. She underwent surgery and then seven weeks of radiation and is doing great. She appreciates all your thoughts and prayers and reminds you to have a yearly mammogram since early detection is so important. Save the Ta-Tas!

Doesn't Grandma Sharon look great! I wonder why she isn't working on a word jumble in this photo.

Oh, I completely forgot to share the biggest and most life-changing event that will happen in August 2011 for our family. After much praying and planning, I know a lot of you have been waiting for the special official announcement: My dad has been accepted to the University of Kentucky’s College of Dentistry. That’s right…he’s going to be a dentist. The man loves school more than Sarah Palin loves Alaska! I can’t imagine sticking my paws in someone else’s mouth, but he’s quite excited about it. I did make him promise that he’ll never try to clean my teeth though. Did you know Kentucky has the most number of people with few or no teeth? They really love to drink Mountain Dew up here. We’re very happy for him since it just confirms what Cash and I have known all along—cats, especially wildcats, make the best college mascots! 

The dental program at UK in Lexington is four years long, so we’ll live here for a while. My mom will always be a Gator and a Volunteer, but she and I are quite excited to eliminate orange from her wardrobe. She says the color orange is for the fruit, not the person. Kentucky’s colors are blue and white, which match my gorgeous blue eyes and snow white underbelly perfectly. Coincidence? I think not. In case you haven’t figured out my parent’s pattern, they just move from SEC to SEC to SEC school. I’m hoping this is the last stop, and we don’t move farther north, especially to a place like Ohio. I mean their mascot is a nut, the buckeye. I’m sure they chose it because they’re nutty drivers. (If you don’t get this joke, please refer to paragraph nine of this letter.)

My mom made my dad a blue and white Kentucky Christmas tree once he found out about his acceptance to UK's College of Dentistry.

We’ve already had more snow in Lexington than we did all last winter in Knoxville. It snowed 4 to 6 inches the first and second weekends in December. 

Look at the poor dog who has to go outside and use the bathroom in this weather. I'm so thankful for our indoor litter box!

Highs barely make it out of the 20s and lows have been in the single digits with wind chills below zero.

We had a wintry mix of ice and snow Dec. 16, and a 1/4 inch of ice covered the several inches of snow already on the ground. There is still ice on our back porch more than a week later on Christmas Eve.

The weather folks said Lexington usually gets about 16 inches of snow each winter, but we’ve already had half of that, so I’m just hoping the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow on February 2, and winter will be over. Do you ever wonder how a groundhog can predict the weather? Couldn’t a cat have the same magical powers? Maybe I’ll stick Cash in a hole in the ground that day, and we’ll see if he comes out and sees his shadow or not.

My mom took Cash outside in the snow to play, but there was so much that he just sank down in it and couldn't really walk.

We hope that when you think of all the Christmas cards you get each year, you remember mine, I mean ours, as your favorite. I had writer’s block for a while this holiday season. It takes a lot to be this creative and still find time to nap 20 hours a day. I wonder how members of Congress maintain the same schedule. 

We love naps!

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Please come visit us! Have your pets spayed or neutered!

                                                                       

Love,

Sammie, Cash, David, and Allyson DeVito (dmdevito@gmail.com or allydevito@gmail.com)

***My parents no longer have a home phone…something Grandpa Amos, who worked for the telephone company for almost 40 years, still can’t comprehend!

P.S. I know the Gator Nation had a rough football season, and Urban Meyer has said he’s stepping down again. At least the new coach has a winning name. Coach Muschamp must be a champ! Get it! Have a wonderful 2011 and Go Wildcats! Go Gators! Go Volunteers!