Dinner with friends is something I used to take for granted.  Now that I’m older I realize that good friends are precious since those relationships aren’t easy to build and happen gradually over time.  Then, due to life circumstances, one of them might choose to move away or switch jobs and suddenly you don’t see them as often.  Initially, B probably didn’t think so highly of her new dinner mate.  When Hank was younger he was food obsessed.  He would run back and forth between the food bowls, trying to commandeer all available resources for himself.  B was less confrontational and would surrender her spot, assuming there would be more later (see my previous post about B’s preference for snacks – Big is Beautiful)…she lost a lot of weight during this period of time.  Today things are better but get complicated again when Henri, my part-time dog, is around.  He never grew out of his food obsession so when he’s over the cats get breakfast and dinner in bed.  It works out more like having a newborn baby for me with the midnight feedings that are impossible to ignore as the wake-up call quickly turns into gentle taps on the head followed by hair yanking.  I don’t mind though because there’s nothing cuter than seeing those little mouths chow down up close, and besides, I don’t take that extra time with them for granted, right?