Simple Pleasures

We've all seen the Snoogie commercials for the so-simple-it's-got-to-be-stupid blanket with arms. I made my share of fun of them. And then winter finally got here to northern California, and my cats started piling on me under and over the blankets I spread across my lap when reading or watching TV. I was reminded of how incredibly difficult it can be to keep the torso covered once a blanket is weighed down by a cat and how cold my hands get when they're holding a book outside the blanket.

So for Christmas I asked for and received a Snoogie (in a royal, CareBear blue). It was an instant cat magnet. My little girl cat will actually stalk me if I walk around with it on, waiting for me to sit down again so she can reclaim and blanketed lap. I retained my mobility even with her sprawled on me from sternum to knee, able to move my covered (and warm) arms to turn pages in books or channels on the TV. Even better, I can tuck my hands into the sleeves to warm them.

I only recently thought to bring the Snoogie into the office with me. Which means as I type, my arms are contorted around an eighteen-pound cat who has wedged herself between me and the keyboard on the Snoogie. It also means that I no longer am plagued by frozen-mouse-hand syndrome, which was a daily occurrence. I'm warm, my cat's happy, and I can move my arms. Such a simple invention. Such a simple pleasure.