That Cat!

Wow! I've not posted  here in a while... I wonder what that's done to my readership.

I've been busy subbing, making posters, playing word games with my sister, being a band mom, and generally not keeping up with much around here.
That's life, I guess.

It's been kind of hard to think of things to write about - until this morning.

I was in dreamland - on the bleeding edge of sleep and awake...
I could hear Mini Kitty getting into trouble...
It's one of those distinct sounds that you just can't describe... kinda like silence and scratching all at the same time.  She is worse than a toddler - she just gets into mischief... She can't help it.
I opened my eyes to find her on top of Mr.'s dresser with her paw reaching into his sock drawer.
I watched as she reached in to his barely open sock drawer. She slowly pulled out one sock at a time (this took some doing as the drawer was barely open), inspected it, and dropped it on the floor.
She watched each sock float to the floor before she went for the next one...
Eventually, she caught me watching her.
She paused - sock in claw.
She looked at me as if to say, "Umm... Yeah... Um... This isn't a sock..." as she quickly let the last one go.
She abandoned her sock quest and hopped down. 
(There is now a pretty decent sized pile of Mr. socks in front of his dresser which I left there for him to find.)





That cat!

Mini Kitty

Is a tail wagger...
She wags her tail when she's happy.
She wags her tail all the time!!
This morning she was laying on the bed wagging her tail.
It was too tempting for me -- I decided to pat it... I don't ever pull, just pat.
She got up, turned around in her spot, tucked her tail around her body, up under her front paws and looked at me.
I'm figuring she didn't want her tail touched.
I went to touch the tip of it that was still wagging just a smidge and she put her paw on it.
I guess she told me!

Ever have...

One of those days??

Herding Cats...

It's a skill that Mr. perfected.
He gets out of bed, puts on his slippers and suddenly, 2 cats appear.
They look at him adoringly and meow a "good morning" (or "feed me!") at him.
He motions towards the door with his hand and they run - full tilt - out the door and down the stairs.
They knock each other over on their way down the stairs. They sound like elephants.
They stop short at the bottom and look up adoringly... they wait for their shepherd.
They sit and watch him make his way down.
When he reaches the bottom of the stairs they trot to the kitchen - Angel sits next to the bowl (she is the queen, you know). Mini Kitty rubs along his ankles purring.
He gets the food and plops it in the bowl while opening the back door with the other hand.
Angel eats.
Mini Kitty goes out.
Herding cats... it's quite a skill.

Obsessions....

Mini Kitty is a crazy kitty!
Her newest obsession is a flat piece of cardboard - an 8.5 x 11" piece of cardboard. She enjoys it most at 5am. She flings it around the bedroom. She bites it. She grabs it. She pounces on it. It's her new "giant mouse".

Mr. has threatened to use it as kindling...

Breaking News!!

Attention!!
Gram and Grandpa have an intruder! - An unwelcome slovenly interloper!
They have... a mouse.
According to the reports, the suspect is big fat and gray. He was seen trying to steal an eaten popcicle stick from the family room trash bucket. When he was spotted, he dropped it and made a run for it.
Needless to say, the cats have been welcome visitors next door.
According to Gram, "It's me or the mouse. One of us has to go!"
We are hoping the cats can rid the Grandbugs of this nasty intruder before Gram has her bags packed.

Wordless Wednesday

Hey! Lady!!!
Let me in! Hey! I see you lookin' at me! Open the door!
Hey!!! Open up!!! Lemmme IN!

Revolving Cat Doors

We have two cats.
The mini kitty still thinks she's a dog. She wags her tail.
(No, our dog does not have a tail. I have no idea where she learned that trick!)
The cats like to go outside.
Not to run and be free.
Not to chase bugs or blowing leaves or other creepy crawly things.
They like to go out, because when they come in, they think the "food fairy" will have left them a full bowl.
Silly kitties.
The "food fairy" only comes twice a day.
So, they ask go out - okay, umm ask is putting it nicely. They whine until we can't take it and we throw (umm I mean let) them out.
They sit on the deck for 30 seconds. We've timed them. (Yes, we need a life!)
Then they scratch at or climb the french door and whine until we open it.
Once the door is open, they run in and jump up to their food bowl.
It is still empty. It is not dinner time. They already had breakfast...
Darned food fairy didn't show up again?! You should see the dirty looks we get!!
Then the whole thing starts over.
Once in a while, they figure out that the "food fairy" is not delivering. They turn to other forms of torture:
They curl up on my desk. They make room for themselves by pushing my stuff off of my desk. Yes, that is extremely helpful.
They walk on the counter and across Mr.'s keyboard... another very helpful thing that is not at all appreciated.
They taunt the dog.
They taunt the children.
Then they ask to go out.
History repeats itself... over and over and over.. all day long.
Anyone need a tail wagging, door climbing, dog taunting cat?

Wordy Wordless Wednesday

It's a toy mouse. Don't hyperventilate out there...

Mini Kitty - aka: Poppy - loves this thing. She carries it around. She bats it. She pounces on it. She attempts to drown it - or give it a bath (your choice) - at least 2 times each and every day. It's not so bad that she tries to drown it, except that she always tries to kill it in Zebbie's water bowl.

The poor dog will NOT drink out of a bowl with a mouse in it - even if it is a toy. He's got scruples...

More Kitty Tricks

Our kitten is nuts - but you already knew that.

She is obsessed with the toilet.
Yes... the toilet.
If she hears one flush, she comes running. She will bang the bathroom door with her head to open it. There's nothing like giving your self a concussion just so you can watch the water swirl in the commode...

The other day, the toiled was flushing and she came blasting into the bathroom. I had already shut the lid on the toilet. She was frantic! She actually started biting the toilet lid - She thought that if she bit it, it would open. Silly cat!!

This morning as the contents were making their way toward the septic tank, the kitten stood on her hind legs, put her paws over the rim of the seat and basked in the glory of the swirling water. I think I saw her eyes glaze over! I really don't know what is so exciting about a flush, but she lives for it! Once the water was gone and the pot started to refill, she hopped up on the seat and hung her head in. The view must be so much better from that vantage point... She watches intently. Once in a while she'll put her paw into the water - I guess she wants to make sure it's real...

Personally, I think she needs to lose her balance and go for a quick swim...

She has figured out that the flush happens when the lever is pushed... she hasn't figured out how to do it herself yet, but... she's pretty smart... It won't be long before she'll be showing all the neighbor cats how to do their own swirlies!

Poppy Meets Rambo

I have this kitten named Poppy. She's cute. She's fun. She's a pain in the butt!

Mr. and I have a large bedroom. It's almost too big for us, but... we'll deal. (Someday when we get rid of the 1980's wall paper and the 20 year old beige carpet, I'll take a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.) We have a wing chair in the corner on my side of the room. It's an old wing chair, but it has good bones. It is in pretty good shape for being purchased in 1989 on our way home from our honeymoon.

I like the chair.
Poppy has issues with the chair.
Every morning - when she feels we should be up and moving -- around 4am -- she claws the chair. I don't know if the chair becomes a mean and nasty object that must be killed at that hour of the morning or if she just needs to do her nails. Either way... she's got issues.

I have a squirt bottle on my nightstand which I usually grab and squirt in the general direction of the clawing sounds. Notice, I have not opened my eyes. I should put a plant there, it would actually get watered!! Sometimes I hit her. Sometimes I miss. But, when she tries to sneak by, (I've pretty much pried one eye open by then) I get her good. This has been going on for months.

This morning, she started with the clawing. It's a really annoying clicking pulling sound that grates on my nerves. I became a raving lunatic. (It might be sleep deprivation or it might be that I'm just totally nuts!) I leaped out of bed with my squirt bottle drawn. Just call me Rambo or The Terminator. I squirted around every corner of the chair. I squirted under the chair. With each squirt, and there were many, I said something like, "Don't you claw my chair, you nasty thing! Don't you get it? NO CLAWS! How can you be so thick?! Stop clawing my chair!" I saw her try to make a run for it and I blasted her!

She hasn't been back... I'm sure she's still drying herself off somewhere. That could take a while.

Today I'm installing a night vision scope on my squirt bottle. I'll be ready for her.

Cat Puke

Let me set the scene for you.
I was prone on the couch - watching TV and vegging after my long weekend. #1 was on the computer playing on his Gaia account. LLB was upstairs in her room playing with her Legos and her tiny toys.

Mr. was in the kitchen watching football and starting dinner.

All was quiet.

Then - I hear Mr. yell - at the top of his lungs, "HEY!!! HEEEEEYYYYYY!!!! HHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

I was up of the couch and on my feet before I knew it. #1 had typed a bunch of gobbledygook.

And one gray cat had puked her way through my house...

Miss Angel was binging on her food when she started to gag and puke. Mr. thought - in some convoluted way - that yelling at her would get her to stop. I assure you, that is not the case.

There was puke next to her bowl.
There was puke across the floor.
There was puke in my foyer.
There was puke at the base of the stairs.

I am sure that he scared the puke right out of her.
I know he almost scared the poo out of me!

Catching Up...

Our itty bitty mini kitty finally has a name...

Thanks for all of your suggestions. It was a hard choice! Mr. liked Chessie because she looks like the kitten on the Chessie railroad cars. #1 has been calling her Mini Kitty.

LLB has named her Poppy.

Why? Because she is Zebbie's lollipop and because she keeps popping up in places we don't expect her to be! Oh, and she has a lot of red in her. And, it just suits her.

Poppy went to the vet this week. The good Doc told Mr. that Poppy is too small and needs to get bigger fast. Mr. has taken this as his personal missioin -- he can't help it -- it's those Italian genes of his. At one point Poppy ate so much that she had a BELLY!! She had a big ol' kibble belly hangin' out there! His mission is working... she's getting bigger every day!!

I'm sorry I haven't been around this week, but LLB has been very under the weather and I have been driving to the Jazz camp (one hour each way every day...) LLB is still not herself, but I am hoping she's on the mend. She finally ate a whole meal at dinner tonight! LLB is my child who eats more than anyone and she hasn't been eating. THIS is distressing! Oh and whatever she does manage to swallow, reappears in very little time. We are currently getting ready to do a "stool study". I wish it were the 3 legged kind instead of the stinky kind...

Jazz camp finished up today and we definitely won't be doing that again. #1 learned a ton and got a whole lot out of it, but LLB was turned off the first day when the teacher told them that their rock/pop music -- including Kenny G -- was stupid and had no value. (#1 was not impressed by the teacher's tirade on music, but at least he sucked it up and dealt!) The fact that LLB has been sick most of the time doesn't help, either, but really... to tell the kids that their music stinks and has no redeeming value is not the way to get them interested in Jazz.

LLB was disgusted and horrified! She likes opera, pop, rock and even rap! She likes techno. She likes musicals. She even likes new age machine music!! But to be told that those musical genres are useless really didn't sit with her. FYI: LLB is very much like my sister, Nicole, in that if what you say makes sense, she'll listen. She might not agree with you, but she will value your opinion. Fortunately, LLB has way too much class to call this teacher on his small mindedness.

So, what's next?

Well, #1 is getting ready to head out to Marching Band Camp. We have all the necessities -- the camelback water system, the extra towels, the clothes, and the oh so important peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars. He is excited and a little bit nervous... I am sure he will have a ball!!!

Now, what are LLB and I going to do? She has plans for me: She wants me to take down the oh so ugly wallpaper and paint her room. She's pretty funny!!

Zebbie's Kitty

Our still nameless kitten and Zebbie have become the best of friends. He has absolutely adored her since she got home. He is sweet and gentle and oh so funny with her!

Zebbie spends his time sliming -- um I mean kissing -- her face. He just licks and licks and she loves it. The whole thing is just eeeww!! Need proof?