Christmas still going on

Mom and Dad are back home after visiting Mom's family. They left the computer off (and had dial-up down there) so I couldn't even really relay messages through them to post comments on everyone's blogs. Thanks to everyone for the Christmas wishes. Christmas continues for us Wednesday when Dad's parents and sister (our Aunt Kelly) roll through for a quick visit. As long as people keep bringing gifts the holiday's not over, right? And it keeps getting better with Aunt Tiff coming on Friday for the weekend!

Merry Christmas to all

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We've stopped terrorizing the tree and have accepted it as a haven of warmth and napping. I hope Santa recognizes what a challenge this is for us and rewards us with special presents this year. We've all been (mostly) good this year. I hope Santa brings you everything you asked for. I know we'll have plenty of wrapping paper to dive through and nap on. What could be better than that?

Fat-Cat to the rescue

Dad had some commotion at his office the other day. It seems there was a little furry visitor (well, not so little... last year, they had a little field mouse. This year, it was definitely a mouse, not the "rat" that someone screamed, but it was about three inches long and almost two wide). Dad and the other man in the office were busy with patients, and the maintenance guy went out to "get supplies to do what must be done." Despite the fact that Dad encouraged everyone to keep things calm until after patient hours, four of the women in the office ventured into the office manager's office (the mouse hung out behind her desk all day) and preceded to try to catch it in a box. Dad said it sounded like Sylvester boxing the baby kangaroo, which did little to "keep things calm" like Dad had asked. Eventually, the maintenance guy returned, but instead of using a trap, he managed to catch the mouse in the box. [Poi Rats may want to stop reading now...] One of the ladies took the mouse out and met Fat-Cat, a gray and white tuxedo who visits the parking lot of Dad's office. She showed Fat-Cat what was in the box, he jumped in the box, the big ugly gray mouse jumped out, Fat-Cat jumped out, there was a big dust cloud and stars like on Scooby-Doo, and the office mouse problem was solved. Fat-Cat to the rescue.

William was right

William suggested that maybe Maggie's missing collar was actually doubling as a Christmas ornament, and you know what, he was right! Maggie had been operating in "stealth mode" since misplacing her collar. Without her collar she had been getting under Mom and Dad's feet and Mom accidentally stepped on her. Dad switched from casually looking to actively looking for her collar and, after moving a few presents and looking up and under the tree, Dad saw her collar on a low branch. Maggie came right away to get her collar back ... I think she was tired of almost getting stepped on.

Dog Judo

These dogs are just silly... I don't think you'd find cats engaging in this sort of behavior, but it is fun to laugh at their foolishness.

Well wishes

Get well, Smudge. Prove them all wrong ... we know you will get better.

Josie reflecting

This is Josie's new favorite spot since we've gotten the new couches. Mom and Dad liked the way the tree reflected in the window.

All around the tree

OK ... we all turned our backs to the camera, it's a little dark and fuzzy but face it, four cats in one picture around a Christmas tree ... this is about as good as it's gonna get. See that blue box on the left between Huggy Bear's head and the red ball ... that's where we've made our tunnel to dive through to get behind the tree. Also, Maggie has decided to go without her collar. I suspect Mom and Dad will find it behind the tree when it comes down. (We're currently in negotiations to keep the tree up year round as a climbing toy, but looks like we'll come out on the losing end of this one...)

If the tree's a'rockin'

Last night Mom and Dad put up the big Christmas tree, which means twice as many trees for Maggie to terrorize. The backside of the smaller tree is nice and flattened from her lying across it. Dad piled the presents around the tree thinking this may form a wall, but Josie quickly proved that that was a silly idea. With Maggie watching, Josie carefully approached the gifts, then hurdled one of the tallest boxes to land perfectly in the empty space behind the tree. Then Maggie found a small tunnel between boxes and, with one quick burst, dove head-first through the gifts. A small scuffle ensued behind the tree and Dad coaxed them out with treats. I've behaved, but all the others have taken their turns around the tree. This morning Dad came down and heard the familiar tink, tink and said, "Maggie, you'd better just be under the tree" and then the tree leaned slightly and Maggie's tail popped out from about midway up the tree. Dad quickly removed her, but he's now working on ways to secure the tree. (This is a new tree so we're still adapting to the base, and this tree is thicker so Maggie ends up more on the outside edge of the branches which makes it wobble more...)

We got some good pictures last night so I'll try to get them up today or tomorrow...

Who's purr is it?

We all have unique purrs ... I was thinking about it last evening while lying in bed with Mom and Dad and having a battle of the purrs with Huggy Bear. It's really not fair to battle purrs with him because he purrs deep in his throat and through his mouth. He's got that kind of purr that announces his presence. I purr through my nose more, so it's a slightly higher pitch purr. Maggie's purr is a quick, excited kitten purr because, although she's a year-and-a-half old, she's still a kitten. Josie has such a subtle little purr ... it's the kind that you feel in her chest when Mom and Dad pet her. Sometimes Josie will project her purr a little and that's when you know she's extra-special happy. I had turned my purr off for a while, but it's back now and Mom and Dad couldn't be happier.

Josie got in trouble

Mom felt so bad, having to yell at Josie, but Josie knew better ... On Sunday, Mom was preparing a ham tray for a Christmas party she was helping organize, so her hands were all covered in ham. Josie was on the back of the new couch in what has become "her spot" and then, for no reason, Josie started to scratch at the arm of the couch. Well, with her hands covered in ham, Mom could do nothing but yell at Josie. Josie looked so scared and ran upstairs and hid for a little bit before coming back and mewing at Mom and rubbing on her leg. Mom felt so bad yelling at Josie and scaring her, but she can't rip the new couches. When Dad got home they trimmed Josie's nails and gave her so love. Tonight is HB's and Maggie's nails. Mom and Dad are discussing trying the soft nails on them, but just don't know. Maybe they just need mittens.

Baby, it's cold outside

Mom keeps saying, "It's cold out there. You don't want to be in the garage." Well, sure, maybe it's cold out there but she doesn't know what I want. She forgets that there are stacks of old comforters that Dad uses to cover furniture in the garage and those are warm and comfy to nap on, plus I have fur. So maybe I do want to be out there. But she says no, and has the thumb that can turn the lock, so I guess it's inside naps today. (On a side note, I've gotten good at grabbing the pull handle to the door from the house to the garage and I'm hoping one day the stars will align just right and I'll be able to pull it open myself!)

Maggie last Christmas

This was Maggie last year. Imagine her bigger, but essentially in the same place and you have her this year. Stinker!

Tree'd again

Mom and Dad were so proud of Maggie. After last year when she was such a little kitten and they couldn't do anything to keep her out of the tree, Mom and Dad were a little nervous about putting up a tree again. But they were having a surprise birthday party for a friend last weekend and there's a odd space in the foyer by the stairs that is perfect for the small tree (we'll end up with two trees this year!) so they set up the tree there. For the first few days, the tree went unscathed. Then the other morning Mom awoke to tink, tink, rustle, rustle and sure enough, Maggie was in the tree again. Five balls down, four shell ornaments down (I'll have to post a picture, but it was unbreakable ornaments from Martha Stewart and sea shell ornaments Mom made that are so pretty). One ball was by the front door ... obviously a play toy, right? The others were all in a corner under the tree. Now, Dad has had to restring a few rows of lights from Maggie trying to hold on as she is coaxed out of the tree. One shell ornament has broken (just a little ... it can be fixed) and several more balls have come down. They even caught Josie (aka Little Miss Perfect) on the stairs reaching out trying the smack a ball, then later lying under the tree batting another ornament. Martha Stewart talked on one of her shows about how to keep pets from the trees, then added that she has a tree just for her pets that they can play in. I like that idea. Maybe after the holidays Dad will set the tree up in the bonus room just for us to climb in.

[Update: Here are some of the pet Christmas suggestions from Martha's show...]

Watch those plants?

We eat plants. We're cats and that's what we do. It's fun, it tastes good, and once you devour one, Mom and Dad always seem to bring another in. But Mom bought a really pretty Poinsettia for Christmas and then started to worry about toxicity and our appetites. So she found a website that lists toxic plants. Of course, there are varying degrees of toxicity, but it's always safe to err on the side of caution, right? Just at a glance, I see two or three we've had in our house. No bad results so far, thank goodness, but you know Mom'll be more wary in the future when she looks at plants for the house.

Another blog

I just recently found the Pet Prayer & Praise blog. It's such a nice and thoughtful blog. I can't imagine the effort that goes into the upkeep of that one and the Cat Blogosphere blog.

Garage nap

With Mom and Dad doing all kinds of painting in the house, we've all been able to enjoy some serious garage time. Josie and I have our favorite box perches. You can't tell in this picture, but we're almost seven feet up!

Maggie vs. paper towels

Dad had turned his back on Maggie and the paper towels and it seemed there was a disagreement because before you knew it Maggie had put the bite all over this roll of paper towels. She almost had the whole thing shredded. That, and getting paint on her paws, is how she likes to help Dad paint.