Mom and Dad are home!

Mom and Dad made it home after their long trek to Ohio, then down to Mississippi and back home. They were helping Mom's Dad move so it wasn't really a vacation for them, even though they were away. We're so happy to have them home. Now it's time to catch up on the snuggling.

Are you home yet?

I'm bored. Mom and Dad have been gone, but should be home soon. At least Aunt Tiff has been coming by and checking on us.

In the meantime, I just have this silliness to watch:


Maggie loves a nip cigar!

We're not up to anything ... really.

Just because Mom and Dad are away, it's not fair to assume we're plotting anything. Can't three cats huddle together and not be up to something?

On the lookout

Last weekend was very nice and warm. We had the windows open and really soaked up some sun. And you know what that meant -- window patrol. Maggie was very watchful of the children across the street and their little dog. You can never be too careful when it comes to sticky people, even when they're not even in your house. This coming weekend isn't going to be as warm, which I guess is OK because Mom and Dad have a trip to go on anyway, so the windows wouldn't be opened if we wanted to.

Wordless Wednesday

Last whine about change

You know for some of us, change doesn't come easy. A while back Blogger made some template changes that allowed some more, easier user controls for the templates and the addition of gadgets like the followers badge. The issue that I had when I changed was I lost my old comments. The older Blogger template had added comments a few years earlier, but that was after I started using Haloscan. So I decided to forego the gadgets and keep the old comments. Until Haloscan changed and I learned they would charge to host comments. I could have kept the old template with my stat tracker and added Blogger comments, but decided that, since I'm already changing, I'd rather have access to gadget like the followers in the sidebar. That really has more value than some abstract stats anyway. It really is interesting to see how the entire blogging scene has evolved over the last five-and-a-half years. And although I was a little fussy earlier, I'm excited now, and look forward to seeing how things will look in another five years.

My stats

I know the stats aren't that big a deal, but I thought they were fun to sometimes look at. Over the years, here what I compiled up to today:

I average 40 visits a day, with my highest day being 136 on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. My average week was 276 visits, and my highest week was 877 on the ninth week of 2006. I average 1205 visits a month and my highest month was 2461 in August 2008. Most cats visits between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and the most common day is Wednesday (but just barely edging Tuesday by 54 visits). I've had 78343 visits to the blog.

Now I'll see if I can reload the tracker ... see if you can teach an old blog new tricks.

OK, I made the switch

OK ... I made the big switch from the old template to the new and improved template. It makes me very nervous. I lost ALL my old comments because of what appears to be a very silly move by the people hosting my comments. It almost feels like I'm starting from scratch. Weird.

I just realized I lost my stat tracker too. I know they'd wanted me to upgrade, but I would have lost five years worth of stats. Bittersweet. (Hey, Blogger, why don't you track my stats?)

Tuxie Tuesday

Mom and Dad picked up some new chairs for the parlor the other day. It was during the one snowfall we've had in Columbia in the past five years.


Josie approves of the new chairs. She thinks this would be a great place to curl up with a good book (or with Mom while she reads a good book). I tried the chairs out, too, but this is a Tuxie post and I'll save my picture for tomorrow.

As for the comments issue, it looks like I'll be switching over to Blogger's comments soon and dropping the old Haloscan. Like Max and Abby said, why pay for something that we can get free. Especially when the paid product doesn't look all that great. It's definitely more complicated. I made a comment on my own blog, logged in and everything, and it showed me as Guest. What the fluff? I must have deleted the email telling how to back up my old comments, but I'll set Dad on the task of doing that. Thanks for your patients during the transition.

New comment box

Well, it looks like Haloscan upgraded the comment box and I'm just not too sure how I like it. This really puts me at a decision. See, back when I first started this blog Blogger didn't have comments built in (imagine that!) -- so you had to use another comment source. Haloscan was a great, free comment host. I tried to upgrade to the new Blogger template a while back, but couldn't get Haloscan to work with it and reverted back to the old template (same look, fewer features). The real issue is that, if I switch over, I lose all my old comments. I like to be able to go back and read the old comments, especially at the very beginning when cats with blogs was a fledgling thing and I was just meeting people (before there was a Cat Blogosphere to bring us all together). What to do, what to do? I the meantime, please tolerate the new comment window, and remember to do the drop-down and sign in so I see a name, and not Guest. Thanks!

Open windows

Really enjoying having the windows open today. We've been doing some serious patrolling this afternoon. We've got some pictures that are going to be uploaded tonight, so I'll have some better posts again soon (and hopefully a chance to visit my friends).

Mom still mending

Mom is still on the mend, but feeling much better since she is home with us and getting proper cat care. She's been taking pictures of us tending to her, and snuggling, and doing all the important things cats need to do to help moms heal, but she hasn't had the energy to upload them yet. Hopefully this weekend. Thanks again for all the concern and purrs.

Mom is home

Mom had an infection that was worse than she imagined, and ended up in the hospital for a few days, but thankfully she is home now. Thank you all for all of your healing purrs! She was so happy to know that the Cat Blogosphere was purring for her. It really helped lift her up. But thankfully she is home now and we'll be purring next to her while she rests. Thanks again for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers these last few days.

Mom is sick

Please purr for my Mom today. She is sick and feeling very bad, and she is very sad about being sick. But Aunt Tiffy is a nurse and is taking extra good care of her.

Drunken robins

Dad had us all excited because he was telling us about how this time of year the robins come and eat the berries off the tree out back of his office and during the day he can see the robins swarming around like a bunch of staggering college students. He said he was going to bring us pictures of the birds (since we really didn't want to get in the car to go see them, as tempting as that may be). But it seems they've already eaten all the berries, or the cold front has scared them away. So I am just left to my imagination. Maybe Mom and Dad will put birdseed in the bird feeder out back this year for us.

Wordless Wednesday

Mancat Monday

Huggy Bear and I were very mancatly on Sunday and watched a good bit of the Super Bowl with Mom and Dad. Their team lost, which made them sad. So we've been snuggling with them to make them feel better. Sometimes snuggling is part of being a mancat, too.

Thankful Thursday

Thank you all for your healing purrs ... Mom is feeling better and back at work today. She really wanted to play sick and stay home one more day, but she was feeling too good, and her new work computer was delivered while she was out. So she is very excited about getting a computer that is new and functional (and not a click, wait, go get a drink, wait some more, yea the program loaded computer).


Maggie wasn't the only one keeping Mom company in bed while she was feeling ill. Here's Josie cuddled up at the foot of the bed. I was on Dad's side of the bed and on his pillow and Huggy Bear was guarding the underneath of the bed so monsters can't move in there.

Wordless Wednesday

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OK, not completely wordless. Mom's feeling a little yucky, so we're staying in bed with her helping her feel better. It started yesterday and she started to feel good yesterday afternoon, then last night started to crash again so she's home again today. We're sorry she's ill, but happy she's home.

Maggie Monday

Mom and Dad had a lazy Saturday, catching up on a lot of TV on a cold, rainy day. Maggie saw this as a great opportunity to catch up on her snuggle time. She spent the whole time snuggled with Mom, pressed up right against her leg.