Mitchell
Welcome back, everybody. We are slurping into episode 21. If you like to play along at home. Yeah. We don’t need to belabor the beginning, do we? I can always, I fade the music out. We do as we want, right? So, yeah. Doing the most. We are back. So, this is our podcast. We are Scarlet and Mitchell. we’re doing the most episode 21 episode 21 as we’re rounding out we now admit the delay of the release so we’re both nurses we have a whole bunch of cats and vacuums and there’s some kids a child

Scarlet
how vacuums always has to be like because that’s originally this whole thing was like we’re doing

Mitchell
the most because there’s so many flipping things around here and the cats and the yeah speaking of cats actually that was i didn’t even put that on the list that was a little excitement recently or depressing excitement. However, we have five cats. If you’re just joining us for the first time, welcome aboard. You’re going to enjoy this cautionary tale. So if you think your life might be poor or bad, this will tell you how bad it could be, right? Oh, okay. Or not.

Scarlet
Wow. Yeah.

Mitchell
So, you know, we do this out of the Broadway studios here in Portland, Oregon. Not really in Portland, but I say Portland for our international and national listeners. Oh, we’re international now? There’s some listeners outside of the U.S. There are. Oh. And I think there was some in Brazil. Well, thank you. Yeah, you don’t have to speak. I mean, you have to speak English. I don’t have to speak. Sorry, you don’t have to speak in foreign. The listener can just speak English. He needs to listen in English. I don’t know what I’m talking about. I don’t know. Let’s just move along. Okay.

Scarlet
What are you so tired of?

Mitchell
oh what am i tired of yeah well we just had thanksgiving so right now in this moment i’m tired of eating and i’m tired of eating leftovers and i’m i mean uh i’m single-handedly eating that pumpkin pie that my wonderful mother sent with us so so i’m not tired of the pumpkin pie here’s what i this is okay for me halloween launches what i like to call the beginning of fat season Mm-mm. Uh-oh, why? Yeah, no. Apologize to anyone who feels like you, like if that’s, I’m sorry. That’s what I call it. Is there a more politically correct way? It’s just the beginning. How about the beginning of over? Gluttony season. Yeah, gluttony season. There you go. And I’m not a big fan of that because I’m not. So it’s like Halloween and all the candy. And the candy’s everywhere at work. Candy’s coming home from the kids. And then you’re like, ah, we’re okay, okay. And then Thanksgiving hits. And then that’s like a whole day of gluttony. And then you’ve got the leftovers. And then at that point, you’re like, well. And then at work, the holiday stuff starts to kind of trickle in. We fade out of Thanksgiving because at work, there’s like two ton of Thanksgiving stuff. People had Thanksgiving at work. I did not. I was not there. But then there’s that. And then you go, well, we got the holidays. And then there’s all the cookies and this and that and another kind of meal. And then you’re like, oh, okay. Well, I got a New Year’s, so there’s a little bit more gluttony and snacks and eating going on. And then you fade out of there. And then usually you’re like, okay, we’re good. But then you’re like, oh, well, you got Valentine’s Day just around the corner. And that’s when you’re like, okay, hopefully. But that’s not like necessarily food centric. But like, I kind of like feel like you got to get through the January to recover from this. So you got November, December, you got two solid months of just like, it feels like there’s always one more thing. And then because you have like maybe family visits. And then during the holidays. Yeah.

Scarlet
And when your family’s in town, you’re like, let’s go out to eat. Because it’s the reason to go out to eat. I don’t know. Personally, I don’t like cooking for people. I don’t like the pressure of like, what am I going to make? Is it going to taste good?

Mitchell
Are they going to like it?

Scarlet
Are they going to be picky?

Mitchell
It can be enjoyable, but it’s not usually if you’ve worked. It’s just usually you’re just kind of like, yeah, I’m over everything. And you’re kind of like ready to just, I don’t know yet. So eating out becomes easier. And if you’re visiting someone, it becomes like suddenly eating out. I was like, that’s all you’re doing. You’re like, oh, man. And you can’t wait to get back home and just eat some of your own home restaurant food.

Scarlet
No, no. That first night, you’re like, I’m going to. And then you get home and you’re like, hey, how about we order pizza?

Mitchell
Or just not eat. You just traveled. And you’re like, yeah.

Scarlet
Everybody fend for yourselves. That’s my favorite, personally.

Mitchell
My mom always used to do that. Is everybody fend for yourself. It was like, what’s for dinner? Let’s fend for yourself. It makes it sound like we’re out in the wild. You have to hunt something down. So that’s, yeah, what was I saying? The beginning of gluttony season, that is what is, what do you call it, bugging you? No, what’s in your mind? You were like.

Scarlet
What are you so tired of?

Mitchell
Oh, yeah, yeah, that’s what I’m. I’m tired of food right now. And I feel like, okay, it doesn’t matter. Nobody cares. I worked hard over the course of October and part of November, just slowly chipping away. I’m not just weight, but feeling fitter, doing my rowing in the morning, just kind of that. And I feel like in a matter of four days, I blew everything out of the water. Somehow, I was able to just gain weight by breathing the air. And that was frustrating. But this is where you’re like, okay, how many more? Okay, I can make it through. I just, this week, oh, we’re going to settle back in. You’re trying to find a rhythm again.

Scarlet
Maybe that’s why January 1st has everybody’s chance to be like, let’s go get a gym membership.

Mitchell
Yeah, because you’ve spent, and the gyms probably know that. you’ve spent the last conceivably month and a half, unless you kick off in October or 31st, I feel like really November 1st. Let’s call it November 1st, Glutton’s Day. You just kind of kick it off. So what about you? What are you so tired of?

Scarlet
Well, that. Oh. Yes.

Mitchell
I mean, I know you have a wishbone to pick. Dad jokes.

Scarlet
Yeah, you know, you and your family have already heard me talk enough about how I’m tired of turkey. But also, this Thanksgiving was different because we did the cooking. But I was really starting to hate Thanksgiving because I feel like we go over to your parents. We’re there for like three hours waiting for food. No, I mean, this is before. Now we did most of the cooking this year and it was pretty fast and efficient. But like, and you know, and people are grazing while this is before people are grazing while the food’s cooking, you know, because there’s nothing else to do. I hate that. Just like waiting around for the food to be ready. And it’s like, oh, it’s family time. And it’s like, I see your family every week. I don’t need to have three hours of just sitting around. Like, I could be home doing laundry that needs to be done. I could be home vacuuming that needs to be done. There’s always something at home that needs… Wow, am I boring yet?

Mitchell
No. People, only people on YouTube… By the way, go to YouTube. Doing the most with Scarlet Dimensional. At less cats, please. He’s already yawning. No, only people on YouTube would see that. That’s why I was trying to yawn indiscreetly. Now you called me out.

Scarlet
But that thing, how you… That is exactly how I feel waiting for food on Thanksgiving. And then everybody gets the food. Everybody’s talking about the turkey. Oh, the turkey’s really tasty. Or the turkey’s too dry.

Mitchell
Or the turkey, turkey, turkey.

Scarlet
And I don’t even think this is original for me talking about this. So I feel like I’ve listened to…

Mitchell
Yourself talk about this a bunch?

Scarlet
No, I feel like I’ve listened to a comedian talk about how the family talks about the turkey.

Mitchell
More funnily?

Scarlet
Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, yes, I’m tired. But this year was different because it was more fun. I guess because we were doing the cooking.

Mitchell
You had already gotten a jumpstart on the turkey. My oldest daughter.

Scarlet
Your oldest daughter and her fiance were here.

Mitchell
Thank you, Audrey. And so that was nice. And yeah, I got a jumpstart on drying the turkey out a day and a half early. I had to work Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And yeah.

Scarlet
But yeah, I hope it’s like that more in the future. And I had decided no more turkey. ribs. Maybe I was even looking up a your mom would hate that. I was looking up prime rib.

Mitchell
What about a smaller turkey?

Scarlet
Why?

Mitchell
Because I know you said you don’t like turkey. Right?

Scarlet
Isn’t a smaller turkey you might as well eat chicken?

Mitchell
I realize it’s still turkey. Well, okay. I love a turkey.

Scarlet
I love a smoked turkey leg. I love the skin on a turkey.

Mitchell
Probably the smoke. But then you get to the turkey breast and I’m just like, I can’t get enough gravy. I’m already re-talking about it. I’m just saying.

Scarlet
Why are we still? That’s why I can’t stand it. Because we’re still talking about it.

Mitchell
But here’s what I’ll say. This year for us, I enjoyed Thanksgiving, right? This year. And it was actually crazy. We had everyone in the kitchen. And by the way, my mother, she prepared a bunch of stuff ahead of time. She did all the pies. Yes. So I don’t imply that she didn’t do anything. She did the pies. Right. Yes.

Scarlet
And the stuffing was in the crock pot.

Mitchell
Yeah, she did. She did do work. But I said, I’ll do the turkey. And then like Austin did some green beans. You did some mac and cheese. Yeah. Austin did green bean casserole. I did.

Scarlet
Yeah. We brought over world’s best mac and cheese because hello. Like, why would you not? And we put it in the microwave. That is like.

Mitchell
Right.

Scarlet
That was probably the best way to do it. Didn’t dry out. It was delicious. So, I mean, everyone did, but we were all in the kitchen.

Mitchell
And normally that could be a recipe for disaster.

Scarlet
Yeah, it did feel really hectic, but it was also not… But no one felt like… Everybody stayed in their zone. Yeah, it was beautiful.

Mitchell
I mean, I enjoyed that. I mean, that’s why I was like, oh, actually, normally I get bent out of shape about everything. But I decided not to do my world’s greatest gravy. I just did regular gravy like every other human does, not this. Yeah. Power reduction method. And no, but I’m with you. But then I’m always, I was, because I made the turkey, so I’m always super hyper, like, oh, angry about how it turns out. Not here to talk about the turkey. But I’m with you in the sense of, it’s a lot of, I don’t want to say it’s anticlimactic, but here’s what I was thinking of recently. I was like, why do I have cherished memories of Thanksgiving as a kid? Like, even as a teenager, I would say. I really loved it. I loved the turkey. I love gravy. Really, I love gravy. That’s why, if there’s no drippings, I’m like, oh, what are we going to do? But I actually know what you can do. But I like the gravy because you make potatoes, fill it up with a mote of gravy, and you dip everything in there and gravy. And it’s just a lot of brown and gravy and all that going on, right? Wow.

Scarlet
Do you want to say gravy anymore?

Mitchell
As much as I say Fortnite. And then I like to dip rolls in the gravy, like gravy, gravy, gravy, right? Although at one point I started wondering, I started thinking about my heart, and then I started thinking about the LAD, right? The Widowmaker.

Scarlet
Why are you on the left side of your chest?

Mitchell
because that’s where the heart’s located okay and then that the left i mean you know i’m talking about the widow maker my mom and i started feeling like it hurt a little bit while i was eating

Scarlet
anyway that’s the other here for your mom it was her rca i thought it was the widow maker i don’t

Mitchell
think so well we’ll check in with her but what i’m saying is this i was like kind of like uh worried about that while meeting but why oh sorry i was thinking about what was this in motion i don’t No. I was thinking about being a kid. I was like, I really treasured it as a teenager. I did. And it was maybe because I’m just lounging around and eating a ton of food. And I’m with my siblings. I enjoy being with my siblings, just horsing off, being stupid. But I thought, I don’t want to rob my kids of that same experience I had. I thought, has Thanksgiving changed or have I changed or does it matter? Do you have cherished memories of Thanksgiving growing up? Like, do you go, oh. You’re like, nope. Never enjoyed it.

Scarlet
Well, it was always the same. We would always go to my me-maw’s. She always had a ton of food because she cooked everything. My dad’s five sisters would bring over various side dishes or whatever. And my cousins would be there. And when we were smaller, it was fun because we were going outside. We were running around, chasing each other in the woods, running out in the yard, playing games. Informal family reunion. Yeah. But as we got older, you notice like, oh, well, this aunt stopped coming. And oh, this aunt’s beefing with this aunt. And so this aunt’s mad at this person. And so they’re not coming this year. And then, well, they’re too good to come visit. They’re going to so-and-so. They’re going to their in-laws now. They’re not coming here anymore. And as everybody got older, it just started kind of breaking apart. And it wasn’t really like, I don’t know. And then people started getting married.

Mitchell
Right. moving away and then it’s not as fun as it once was the nostalgia yeah so maybe as i was like

Scarlet
when i was a kid i have fond memories because of that time with my cousins and my grandparents but as i got older it i don’t know it was just it felt like more of a chore well this is what we do we go here and and max is not gonna have that unfortunately like young cousins or he might have

Mitchell
What are they going to be to him? He’ll be their uncle. He might have young nieces and nephews.

Scarlet
He’s watching us in real time. And Max has a nephew three years younger than him.

Mitchell
Right.

Scarlet
Because that’s our reality. Right.

Mitchell
But, you know, hey. Don’t call him cousin. He’s Uncle Max. He will never be a creepy uncle to that niece or nephew. Right? You know, it’s just. Well, yeah.

Scarlet
Yeah, so I don’t know. It just felt like this is what you do. You go over to your Meemaw’s, and then you go home, and your dad takes a three-hour nap. Yeah, or watches the game. Or falls asleep watching the game. That’s what my dad feels. Yeah, your brother’s watching football because that’s all he cares about and how he can watch a football game.

Mitchell
Yeah.

Scarlet
I don’t know.

Mitchell
And then the ladies are cleaning the dishes. That’s the eye group.

Scarlet
I think it’s like all this expectation that’s put on this holiday because of how it’s been throughout your lifetime. And you try to recreate that, kind of. And it’s disappointing. It’s almost always disappointing.

Mitchell
This is what I’m wondering. Did my parents, when they were our age or my age, have that same thought of like, they’re doing it for me and my siblings, but were they exhausted? I feel, and it could be generational. Because my mother may be like, I just love this. I don’t know. Or did she feel, but she just trudged on? Because I hear what you’re saying. It’s like, oh.

Scarlet
No, I’ve never done a Friendsgiving with maybe friends who have kids similar age.

Mitchell
That could be fun. Friends are the.

Scarlet
But I need friends.

Mitchell
But I was saying, when I say this, I said to someone just recently, maybe it was Audrey, said friends are the, you know, the classic saying, friends are the family you choose. But I was like, but family are the friends who will always be there. Now, you can quote me on that. Or disagree. Because I was like, because family is always going to be connected. Now, you can have a beef with your family, but they’re not going to come in and out of your life maybe like friends can. So I think there’s benefits to both. I’m just like, oh, family, though, is always there. Or they’re connected by blood. But here’s what I’m saying. Because we’re not going to beat this horse, this turkey. We were kind of talking about, how would you reinvent Thanksgiving for us and our family? And what would be like, because I was thinking about this too. It’s like, well, how do you distill the parts that you enjoy? Because for me, it was like, I enjoyed, well, the games this year, thanks to a four-year-old. But I enjoy the games and hanging out, watching a dumb movie, falling asleep on the couch as a family. The peripheral stuff is actually fun. Even the desserts. So it’s like, and the food is great, but sometimes there’s a lot of stress and depends on the year can be a lot of pressure on that. So how do you like alleviate that? How do you have a meal that brings us together and yet it doesn’t require so much time and energy? And we talked about this already. You were like for Christmas, like let’s do soups. Like two different soups. I’ll make some bread. we’ll have another you know and then keep it simple and it’s kind of hearty and warming soups doesn’t take a lot of it doesn’t consume the leftovers don’t take seven dishes it just take you know it’s just you know so that was your idea but what else would you you know contemplate and as you said my father was like well i like turkey and that’s when you reminded him in fairness you’re like we even have turkey any time of the year like there’s no rule that says you have to have turkey yeah thanksgiving like if anyone which is funny if you ask anyone hey do you want to roast

Scarlet
up a turkey any other time of year people like probably not no your dad’s like i’ve been having turkey for 84 years nobody and they’re gonna take my turkey away from me like nobody yes in the

Mitchell
middle of june nobody’s going hey you want to make the turkey let’s do let’s do turkey you guys want to do turkey this weekend just right before summer starts you’re like uh no that’s thanksgiving thing I mean, that’s weird that we put it that way, too.

Scarlet
I know. All these weird man-made, self-made constructs that we put on things and these expectations that have been created throughout generations. I don’t know. What would I do? I don’t know.

Mitchell
Sorry, it just came to me. Maybe one of the soups needs to be a nice tomato bisque. And you have grilled cheese sandwiches, too. Simple. I’m just throwing that out there. I like a grilled cheese sandwich dipped in some hearty soup when it’s cold out.

Scarlet
Costco still have that tomato bisque because then I won’t even have to make it.

Mitchell
You just pour it into a pot. I don’t know. Okay, well, any other thoughts on… Wait, that’s bugging you the most. What did you call it? Taking your time up. No, you’re…

Scarlet
I don’t even remember now because you’ve gotten it wrong so many times. What are you so tired of?

Mitchell
Well, that’s right.

Scarlet
No, I mean, yes, I am. tired of that. Thank you. But I’m also tired of people who think it’s okay to blow their nose in restaurants sitting next or blow their nose at a table where people are eating.

Mitchell
Yeah, that is a, and by the way, if you’re a listener, you who are listening, yeah, I’m talking to you. If you have feedback about this or thoughts on this, you can always chime in, send feedback through email at feedback at scarletmitchell.com, or you can DM us on any of the socials we probably don’t go to blue sky but hey at less cats please is our handle everywhere

Scarlet
send us your thoughts and feedback but yes so we went to a ramen restaurant for lunch today delicious um it was a small restaurant tables close together and we were sitting in those ones where it’s like a really long booth chair and there’s a bunch of tables kind of staggered that they can rearrange into like twos or fours or whatever right yeah and we sat at a two top next to a four top and as soon as i sat down the guy next to me like blew his nose yeah no i remember to a you know his napkin that they had provided him and i was just like you couldn’t just get up and go to the

Mitchell
restroom to do this like if this is yeah no i mean it is uh so you’re eating a spicy ramen

Scarlet
What I do is I fold the paper towel or napkin, and I’ll do this as I’m also wiping my mouth.

Mitchell
You give a little, you give any drips, but you’re not doing a full-blown elephant kazoozle.

Scarlet
Why is that okay?

Mitchell
It’s always men, I think, too.

Scarlet
And then he was a slurper. So he was eating his ramen and just slurping.

Mitchell
Yeah. I mean, is it acceptable to slurp, though, a little bit with a noodle soup? I mean, or is it the addition of that? You’re like, you not only had to blow your nose.

Scarlet
It was over-slurping.

Mitchell
Okay, over-slurping.

Scarlet
Like, it’s okay to be like, okay, I have some ramen broth.

Mitchell
Because I… It’s a little… Oh, here I am.

Scarlet
Okay.

Mitchell
Yeah, yeah. That was like a good example.

Scarlet
You’re slurping your broth, because he’s at the end of the bowl.

Mitchell
ASMR.

Scarlet
He’s got the bowl picked up.

Mitchell
ASMR.

Scarlet
And he’s like, too much.

Mitchell
And then, yeah. Well, and then I had to sit next to his friend who was a coffee tuberculosis tin.

Scarlet
Yeah.

Mitchell
Who was like.

Scarlet
So, obviously, I came home and took some vitamin C and some elderberry tea. But, yes.

Mitchell
I was like, what is going on with this?

Scarlet
He was covering his mouth.

Mitchell
But towards me, I feel like he was doing the. But like, I always imagine like he’s doing the elbow shield.

Scarlet
Her tables were so close together.

Mitchell
And I remember imagining like the spittle was like kind of shooting outside of his thing. And you know what happens? What I do when that happens, I kind of hold my breath for as long as I can. And then I just kind of like, and I kind of turn away and I try to inhale some air from the other side who, you know, but these guys.

Scarlet
So if we get sick this week, we know exactly why.

Mitchell
We know the epicenter of that. Yeah.

Scarlet
And when I’m that close to like tables like that, I can’t help but just, you know, and there was the right side of me. And I’m like, these guys are trying to like, I thought these guys were like.

Mitchell
Closing a business deal?

Scarlet
Well, I thought at first they were like maybe father and son-in-law. But then the guy was like, okay, so why are we really here? And I was like, oh. And I’m like, Mitchell, shut up. Stop talking to me.

Mitchell
Yeah.

Scarlet
Because I was trying to listen.

Mitchell
We’re the quiet couple who are just like listening. It wasn’t anything interesting. Well, then one guy’s like, well, for $250,000, they were talking about lighting and lamps and rebates. I kept hearing the word rebates come up. I was like, I don’t know. And then the other guys were talking about…

Scarlet
Did he work for PGE?

Mitchell
I feel like it was a lighting place. I’m not sure. I couldn’t feel that…

Scarlet
And it was like multifamily dwellings. Multifamily dwellings.

Mitchell
Yeah, and then…

Scarlet
Were you…

Mitchell
Yeah, and there was some lighting. There was lighting going on.

Scarlet
I am not good in a setting like this where I’m this close to people because I just become non-functioning and I’m just eating my soup and not participating in my own conversation because I’m too busy listening to everybody.

Mitchell
We enjoyed it because Sneezy McConferton table, he was like, they were talking, he was talking about crows. And I thought, oh, Scurta’s going to, brain’s going to get sucked into the crow conversation about the birds. And he saw like 14 of them. And then some of them are dumb crows. And I was just like, man, I just like, and they’re so close. You can’t really barely turn your head or eyes because you will make instant eye contact.

Scarlet
Yeah, they’ll know you’re listening to them.

Mitchell
So that was an interesting group.

Scarlet
But it’s actually. The ramen was delicious. Yes.

Mitchell
And we always love to listen to. We do enjoy that. Usually that’s our thing. We go somewhere and you’re like, there’s some juicy conversation going on. I love it. You’re just kind of like tuning in. So yeah, I don’t think the, I don’t know. Do your respiratory care somewhere else besides a public restaurant table.

Scarlet
It’s not okay at a table. Even your own personal at-home table. Don’t be that one who’s just like,

Mitchell
I gotta blow my nose at the table.

Scarlet
Just like you, there’s probably a bathroom within 10 steps of you.

Mitchell
Yeah, just be like, you know what?

Scarlet
Or just a different room.

Mitchell
yeah you know i concur so well okay so we’ve talked about turkey thanksgiving yeah we didn’t

Scarlet
go i can get back to you about my dream thanksgiving and what that would look like i know i don’t want

Mitchell
to sit here and brainstorm it this could take forever we don’t need you to workshop it right

Scarlet
now yeah because i don’t really have any ideas let’s talk we have i’m not even a big fan of it like in my personal opinion it would just not happen well we could do this anytime we gear in

Mitchell
In the past, didn’t we not try a few different variations? Didn’t one year we say, let’s cater it?

Scarlet
Yes, and we got Whole Foods.

Mitchell
And didn’t we do that?

Scarlet
We did.

Mitchell
And we didn’t have a ton of leftovers because it was kind of like the right amount, if I recall.

Scarlet
Yeah, but it was all pretty bland.

Mitchell
Okay. Yeah. Well, that’s good for my father. He needs less sodium in his life.

Scarlet
Yeah, well, he got it.

Mitchell
So, I mean.

Scarlet
Not this year.

Mitchell
And I might actually know what my dream has always been. And it still has to this day. I bring it up every year and I kind of sell it. And it’s like, yeah, yeah. But then when I really, and then the next year, it kind of comes down to it. It’s like, well, my mother would be like, oh, I got a 37 pound turkey.

Scarlet
She gets the turkey in September. And she’s like, well, we’ve got the turkey for Thanksgiving.

Mitchell
And I’m just like, here we go again. Because my dream is this. You book at one of the restaurants that do a turkey dinner or just a Thanksgiving dinner. You book there. You go, you eat. Boom. It’s done. They do the dishes. They cook it. You go back, lounge on the couch. I feel like that’s the perfect. I’ve wanted that. That’s my personal dream.

Scarlet
No cooking, no cleanup.

Mitchell
And Gustav’s, rest in peace, no longer around, used to do a Thanksgiving dinner. And you would reserve it. And it might have been like 40 bucks a head or something. They’re in Vancouver. But anyways, that’s my personal dream is to do a…

Scarlet
We’re going to make this happen for you next year.

Mitchell
Where you go to a restaurant.

Scarlet
And if it does not happen, we are getting a smoker and we are doing ribs.

Mitchell
well I’ve always wanted a Traeger or a smoker of some sort it’s just I can’t even care for half that I mean this is by the way if you listen to our podcast you know that this is actually against everything that I stand for which is more stuff I’m trying to reduce stuff as we sit in the studio

Scarlet
the studio filled with more stuff

Mitchell
right now organizational stuff you can see in your shop by the way brought to you by Richard you know we only use that grill like twice this year. I know. The other year

Scarlet
we used it. You know why? Because I just don’t think it’s worth it anymore.

Mitchell
Grilling food? Grilling.

Scarlet
It’s dirty.

Mitchell
Interesting.

Scarlet
I don’t know. I’m just kind of over it too.

Mitchell
I mean a smoker is the same. You’re going to smoke some stuff. I mean although I do love brisket. I don’t grill by the way. I love brisket. Oh. Okay.

Scarlet
I think we would get better use out of a smoker. Let us know what you think. Would you rather have a grill or a smoker? Yeah. Do you like your smoker? What kind of smoker do you have?

Mitchell
Most people are going to say Traeger, but I’ve been so fascinated by the big green eggs, which are really expensive. But I like to make pizza, and I’m like, ooh, it’d be fun to do wood-fired pizza on a stone and a big green egg. But you have to get a pretty big one. I don’t know. More stuff. This is anti-what I stand for. I want less stuff in my life. Okay. Which is where we’re at. So we said we’re going to do a shorter episode. So this is more concentrated for folks.

Scarlet
Yeah.

Mitchell
We have five cats. We went down to four cats. Remember this? This is how busy our life was or can be. We lost. Why are you laughing? Because when you say it out loud, because tragedy equals, no, excuse me. Comedy equals tragedy plus time. Yeah. And it’s been enough time. It’s been a week or so.

Scarlet
We still don’t know what day, but we have high suspicion. of the day.

Mitchell
We don’t, yeah. One of our cats, we have five cats. They’re all indoor cats. And then…

Scarlet
Yeah, and time out. For the record, when this happened, we both work Friday. I’m off Saturday. Mitchell’s working. Then I’m working Sunday and Mitchell’s off. And then I’m working Monday.

Mitchell
Right.

Scarlet
And Mitchell’s usually doing his thing.

Mitchell
Right. Sunday is solo parenting day for me.

Scarlet
And then Tuesday is family day when me and Mitchell, we’re off work and we have Max. He doesn’t have daycare that day.

Mitchell
So the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Scarlet
So we pretty much, we all come together on Tuesday. So it’s like, we work Friday. I’m off Saturday, but Mitchell’s working. So we don’t even really see each other until Tuesday. Yes, we see each other at night. That doesn’t really, you know, whatever. It’s like, okay, I’m going to eat dinner. I’m going to bed good night. Yeah.

Mitchell
um tuesday so proceed i don’t say tuesday two days before thanksgiving we at some point for whatever see max or whatever i triggered in my head where’s kennedy he’s there which is so weird

Scarlet
because i was max was just in the bathroom with me right and i was like you should go find your cat because i like when was the last time you went and snuggled kenny right and max was like hmm yeah I’m gonna go find Kenny and you had it was like our wavelength met we were in two different rooms two different floors of the house

Mitchell
but they thought of where’s Kennedy came up then that quick little preliminary curse research if you have cats then you kind of go here’s the deal though Kennedy’s favorite spots are not hiding they are on the counter on the table on the pony wall Like on the land, he is always obnoxiously wherever he can be. You set up a ladder, he will be on the ladder. He is always out in the open. So we look everywhere. Then we start looking in closets and all the oddball places. Then in the garage. Then the reality starts to settle in. He ain’t in the house. I mean, we have turned over every stone. And suddenly it’s like, great. So then we immobilized. And I’ll make the story short. We made posters, and I went on Nextdoor.

Scarlet
We did all the things we’re supposed to do.

Mitchell
Checked with all the things. Post online.

Scarlet
The microchip. Put it up on the microchip website. Social media. Flyers in the neighborhood. Did all of that. Walked around. Called his name. Shook bags. Walked around multiple times a day.

Mitchell
I did that in the nighttime.

Scarlet
I did a lap. You did a lap at night, too.

Mitchell
Doing it in nighttime. Late night. So it was like, ooh. And this is where you kind of like. But like you said, the sad thing. This is Tuesday. We weren’t sure when the last time. And we’re reviewing all our camera footage that we have. We have indoor and outdoor cameras.

Scarlet
He went out the garage door. Because he likes to slink out.

Mitchell
He waits. Into the garage. And then.

Scarlet
And our high suspicion was that it happened Friday. Because Mitchell.

Mitchell
A lot of traffic. A lot of traffic. Let’s just call it a lot of traffic.

Scarlet
A lot of in and out when Mitchell and I were not here. This is like a part of our routine. We are on alert if Kenny is like sitting on the shoe rack by the door. You know he’s like. Waiting for his moment to go explore the garage. Right. So this is part of our routine. Just kind of like pushing his head out of the way. Like whatever we’re taking in and out. We kind of push him out of the way. Like okay. Go on. Yeah. Not a part of people who help. You know. Not a part of other people’s routine who don’t have cats.

Mitchell
Right. So like not pointing a finger. We’re just saying.

Scarlet
I was home all day Saturday. And I was like, and then by Tuesday, I was like, I can’t even remember if I even saw him Saturday. We know you saw him Friday because you had a picture.

Mitchell
Right. At 5.35 a.m. With him knocking over all the Christmas stuff. Photo evidence. So we knew Friday was the last time, which was sort of sad, but true.

Scarlet
And so I remember Saturday, the washer had leaked all over the laundry room under the litter boxes. So here I’m pulling out the litter robot, the litter box, mopping, cleaning, because now all the litter that was on the floor is now just a goopy mess because the washer is leaked. So I’m spending most of my morning cleaning this. And I don’t think he was at bath time that night, and he loves to sit on the counter while you’re giving Max a bath. He’s been doing that basically since the beginning of Max.

Mitchell
He runs in there and jumps in there, yeah.

Scarlet
He loves it. It’s part of his routine, too. And I was like, I can’t even remember if I saw him because I was like solo parenting all day. And I’m just trying to get to the finish line because I got to go to bed because I got to get up at 3.30 and go to work the next day.

Mitchell
Right.

Scarlet
And it didn’t even register. And then for Sunday, same with Mitchell.

Mitchell
Yeah. So hold your cats a little tighter next time. We found him. Oh, yeah. So that’s Tuesday. Wednesday.

Scarlet
And by the way, he’s like, if we’re going to pick a favorite cat.

Mitchell
He’s one of the top two. Top two. Maybe. Like, it’s Max. It is Max, our four-year-old son’s buddy. Like, they are like, they’re just, you know, they’re two. They’re in trouble together. They’re goofing off. Max treats him.

Scarlet
So if we were going to lose a cat, he was not the one that we wanted to be lost.

Mitchell
Not that you want to lose a cat. To be lost. But, yeah, there was a lot of like, yeah. It was there’s some tears and this and that. And you think, oh, so Wednesday, my daughter who’s in, my older daughter’s in town visiting. And you were going to bed early because you’d worked Wednesday.

Scarlet
Yeah, but I had come home after, you know, like I was first thing in the morning, people were like, oh, they just come into the charge office and they’re like, how are you doing? And I just burst in the tears. I slept so crappy the night before too. And I was just like, I can’t bring her a cat. And they’re giving me tips and whatever. Right. So I come home that night and I take all the dirty cat litter from the litter genie, from the litter boxes, and I put it in a box and I go sprinkle it around the perimeter of our fence of our property line. I put a little piece of dirty litter on our back porch because I was like, well, I’ve never seen him go up and down the stairs, but now if he smells it, he’ll know to come up the stairs.

Mitchell
Because he jumped off the deck the one time.

Scarlet
He did, yeah. Without hesitation.

Mitchell
Yeah, just jumped off.

Scarlet
Like he’s been doing it his whole life.

Mitchell
A one story of deck.

Scarlet
So, and then, you know, and then your daughter was coming over and I’m like, I’m just really tired. I’m just going to call it a night. And then that’s when I was laying in bed. I heard, I don’t know.

Mitchell
Outside.

Scarlet
Outside.

Mitchell
And I heard it too. I was downstairs. Very loud. And I remember having a moment, because I was like, I was just kind of like, that was pretty loud. why just brush it off momentarily but i heard it and then eventually you came down yeah i get out

Scarlet
of bed i’m like looking in the backyard with your i pop the screen out with my stupid phone flashlight which is useless then i run over and get the flashlight out of your nightstand because i thought i saw two glowing eyes and i shine it in the neighbor’s backyard but it’s just a bush with

Mitchell
some raindrops on it it’s an evil bush yeah it’s a burning bush don’t worry about that and i was

Scarlet
And I was like, and I called his name, like expecting what? For him to be like, I’m here. I’m over here. Like, because he’s not a vocal cat either.

Mitchell
No.

Scarlet
So.

Mitchell
He chirps a little bit when you have him. He’ll purr and sometimes chirp. But he does not meow and talk like his sibling-ish.

Scarlet
Yeah. Hammy is very vocal. Yeah.

Mitchell
He’s the spokesperson. Yeah. Spokes cats. He’s really the only vocal one. Yeah.

Scarlet
So, yeah. Anyways, so I finally came downstairs and I was like, I think I heard meow.

Mitchell
I know. That was my favorite part amongst four adults. It was like, okay. And then everyone’s like, yeah, okay. And I said, I heard it too. And then I was like, okay, fine, everyone. I guess I’ll go look because everyone else is just sitting around still. So I immobilized. All y’all are chilling. Immobilized? Yeah, I mobilized.

Scarlet
I stopped moving.

Mitchell
Yeah, I stopped moving. I was paralyzed. Yeah, this is what’s funny. Because you called. Was I at work that Wednesday? Yeah, we were both. No, I was at work. No. I worked Wednesday, too.

Scarlet
Yes, because of Thanksgiving.

Mitchell
I didn’t go. Yeah. Well, I’m saying this is you were at some point angry at me. Like, where’s the open the lock on the gate in the backyard to get into the alley?

Scarlet
I was texting. Yeah, yeah.

Mitchell
Anyway, so I go out there and I’m looking around just for where these cat noise is happening. And then I go and I’m like, oh, the gate is locked. And I couldn’t. I was angry at two. I was like, where’s the, why can’t I open the gate in the back? So I, but because this is what I’m saying, like this is the, what do you want to call it? The universe. There was a cinder block there. And so I stood on it to look over the gate. And had it not been there, I wouldn’t have done what I did, which I took my flashlight, looked over and I turned to the neighbor’s yard and boom, I see what I believe to be and now know was Kennedy on the very far, far side sitting on the fence. And it looked like he’s like, all I saw was a glowing eye than a slight white thing. But I was like, that’s gotta be Kennedy. and it was just like his posture and all of a sudden i was like kenny kenny kenny i’m yelling but then he flops down outside and i was like oh no and that’s when i can’t get out of the guys i’m running around the neighborhood to go through another trail running and we i don’t want to make

Scarlet
this story super long you’re the only one running and i’m just like danger can you go help him you

Mitchell
guys aren’t in the back yet you don’t know what’s going on because i don’t have my phone on me so the very first run i run all the way around i’m like kenny kenny you know i’m trying to like And I’m like trying to talk to my watch, but it’s just too far from my phone to send you a message, which is, I was like, ah, then I’m like, oh. So I kind of run back. And that’s when I’m like, listen, I need you out here. I need my phone. And you guys are all sitting around the table, of course. Just, I need my phone. I think I heard Kenny. Anyways, the story still goes longer. But like, he goes, I go back around. Everyone’s running and looking for him. Then he appears in the garage.

Scarlet
I know, because Audrey and I are at the table talking. And all of a sudden, we hear, rawr.

Mitchell
You’re like, what?

Scarlet
And we look at each other and you’re like, do you hear that? And I go open the door to the garage and he’s sitting right there, like three feet away. And I was like, oh my God, Kenny, you’re home. And then Audrey comes up behind me and he’s like, who the F is that?

Mitchell
Bye.

Scarlet
And just like takes off running again. And I’m like, no.

Mitchell
Right.

Scarlet
So I was like, okay, even if Mitchell doesn’t catch him, he knows how to get to the garage now. He knows.

Mitchell
And we know we have proof of life.

Scarlet
Because he had been missing for five days.

Mitchell
Possibly. It had been raining.

Scarlet
It had been cold. No food that I’m aware of unless he went totally feral and was like catching mice and stuff. Highly doubtful. His survival skills are nothing.

Mitchell
He can barely, he can’t even cover his own excrement in the litter box. Yeah. That’s how, what’s the right word? Domesticated he is. He doesn’t even flush, if you will. oh so mitchell catches him yeah after i i he takes off his sweatshirt and like 30 degree like drizzly weather and he just wraps him up and he scruffed him and i was like he was like not happy yeah like freaked out yeah freaked out yeah we brought him home i mean the rest

Scarlet
and we have never loved him more and he is sleeping with us every night i don’t care if has fleas or not.

Mitchell
Initially, he was in a bathroom. He had more leaves on him than you would think humanly

Scarlet
possible. Oh, I know.

Mitchell
There were so many leaves on this cat.

Scarlet
There were so many leaves.

Mitchell
Anyway, so we got him back. We’re back up to five. He is… And he didn’t seem to be injury-free. He wasn’t nursing anything. Yeah. He didn’t seem to be super thin.

Scarlet
He’d probably just been hiding for days.

Mitchell
So, yeah. And he was only like one house away on the backside. Which they always say, they don’t run that far if they are. So nonetheless, point being, what is the point of the stream? We were almost going to be forecasted. Thanksgiving was better for that. Yeah. So that was Wednesday before. Because I remember thinking if we had to do Thanksgiving, the whole time we would have been just thinking like, I need to be searching. I’ve got to be out there searching for this cat. There. Happy ending to that story. Kennedy’s back.

Scarlet
That was my thankful that Thanksgiving.

Mitchell
That’s right. Thankful for Mitchell. Which is kind of, I laugh because it’s so silly how much these little animals bring into our joy and into our lives. I laugh because it’s sort of silly that we get so emotional about it.

Scarlet
But it’s not because all they’ve ever given you is love. You can’t be like. I know.

Mitchell
Hamilton gives me a handful of change on the ground every other day.

Scarlet
But ultimately, they’re not malicious.

Mitchell
Right.

Scarlet
I know it’s not like.

Mitchell
No, no, they don’t like.

Scarlet
Which sounds so crappy about when something happens to, you know, maybe a loved one or something. Not that you’re necessarily holding those grudges still, but I don’t know. You’re just like, I don’t know. We had our differences. I’m sad that they’re gone. But with an animal, like when all they’ve ever given you is love. And now.

Mitchell
During Kennedy’s absence, I feel like the beans incident and the Christmas tree happened. Did it not?

Scarlet
Yes. Yes. So the same night Kenny came home.

Mitchell
What was that? That same night?

Scarlet
The same night.

Mitchell
Yeah.

Scarlet
Oh, my gosh. I wake up at like 1.30 in the morning to this just screeching sound. Right. And I’m like, oh, well, I guess the cats are downstairs fighting. And the screeching stopped. And then it started again. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I have to go see what’s happening. And Beans got his leg stuck in our artificial Christmas tree.

Mitchell
The lighting cables or something?

Scarlet
I don’t even know. It was part of the tree part, the tree wire. Okay. And I was trying to get him. I was half asleep, and I was trying to get him out of the tree and trying to fix his leg, but he was in so much pain every time I moved him. He bit through my thumbnail, bit through it. He scratched my head. I know. You were. Not scratched, but he put his claw on my head. So I had punctures in my head. So now I’m bleeding down my face. My hand’s bleeding and totally chopped up. And he ended up getting himself out by just climbing higher. And he was able to slide his.

Mitchell
But I was just like, what is happening?

Scarlet
I know because I was like, I need you to get him out of the tree because he had already torn my face.

Mitchell
I still have this mark. Yeah, I see it.

Scarlet
And then on top of my head.

Mitchell
You have the mark.

Scarlet
Yeah.

Mitchell
Well, I was half asleep. I have a scratch here too.

Scarlet
I was so confused. Like, he tore me up. And I was like, I can’t say anything to Mitchell because Mitchell already hates this cat. And now I’m going to try to get Mitchell to get this cat out because I took my robe off. And I’m like, I’m just going to wrap him in this robe

Mitchell
so he can’t scratch me. I was just going to put him down.

Scarlet
Because he was.

Mitchell
I felt like we had to put him down. No, I was so, I still am like, I was so hazy.

Scarlet
Which apparently this is a thing with cats getting stuck in artificial trees.

Mitchell
I was so dazed. I remember like, I didn’t know what was going on. You’re waking me up from a dead sleep. I know. I’m sorry. And I’m like, you’re like, I remember just being like, I don’t know what’s going on.

Scarlet
I was like, I need you to help me get beans. You were like, this lady is crazy. She’s sleepwalking. I’m just standing there looking like, I don’t know what’s going on. My hand’s bleeding.

Mitchell
My thumb is throbbing. There’s a robe is coated in blood. I’m just like, I don’t know what’s going on. And then all of a sudden he pops out and he finishes up.

Scarlet
Yeah, he is.

Mitchell
It was just funny because I. But he goes his way out of the tree. It was sweet that you sought me out. Was it? Well, in the sense of like you thought my husband might be able to help. That made me feel good.

Scarlet
Well, yeah.

Mitchell
But, you know, I don’t know why I get called in, but, you know. I do have some animal handling skills. I took a class a long time ago. Are you serious? Yes. Like a 400 level class and part of it was animal handling. Which is why I don’t ever have issues with like when dogs are like getting them. There’s a way that you handle animals when you need to do things.

Scarlet
Well, I do not handle beans right.

Mitchell
Which is okay.

Scarlet
You didn’t know that about me. He tore me up.

Mitchell
Not thankful for that.

Scarlet
And then he was even angry about it the next day.

Mitchell
But he’s good.

Scarlet
He’s fine now.

Mitchell
Yeah, he was a little bit.

Scarlet
He was pretty PTSD.

Mitchell
Tensions were high with all the cat community.

Scarlet
I just can’t believe that all happened in one night.

Mitchell
It was just, I was just so like, what is going on? You were just doing the most.

Scarlet
Yeah.

Mitchell
With Scarlet.

Scarlet
So I’m still seeking out a new home for him while I do love him. I just, Five Cats is too much. If we can’t even keep up with them.

Mitchell
It’s a little bit of a.

Scarlet
It’s too much to keep up with.

Mitchell
I mean, I, okay. Let’s see. We went, we were going to do a short Super Shotgun episode.

Scarlet
Yeah, we’re, I’m done.

Mitchell
I’m just saying. We can end it there. We’ll revisit that. Because I feel a lot of guilt if you want to get rid of beans or you’re trying to. I don’t want to talk to you about this. I know. He’s a good cat. I feel like for indoor cats, we’ve got a lot and there’s a little limited space. And I feel like they deserve better. I agree. So I hear what you’re saying.

Scarlet
We need a bigger house with a catio.

Mitchell
That’s fine, too. Because I need a bigger studio.

Scarlet
Okay.

Mitchell
Catio and a studio. We’re still in this house.

Scarlet
in 2027.

Mitchell
That’s true. We have another year to get through.

Scarlet
Oh, it’ll fly by.

Mitchell
That’s what the problem is.

Scarlet
Something to look forward to.

Mitchell
Well, any or… Okay, so closing thoughts. Arguments.

Scarlet
I think I made them.

Mitchell
Well, then I guess you know how this ends.

Scarlet
Doing the most with Scarlet.

Mitchell
No, you’re supposed to say, this is Scarlet.

Scarlet
And this is Mitchell.

Mitchell
No, no, no. You say.

Scarlet
You say. this is Scarlet

Mitchell
and Mitchell

Scarlet
and we’re

Mitchell
doing the most

Scarlet
bye