Happy to have them back

The happiest part of a Happy Thanksgiving for us is when Mom and Dad come back home. Mom and Dad traveled up to Richmond, Va, to visit Dad's grandmother, who is 96 years old. Most of Dad's family converged on Richmond from Cincinnati, Knoxville and London, England so Dad's mother and father, sister and her husband (and dog), brother and his wife and 3/5 of their kids, and his cousin who lives in England now were all there. They had a really nice visit, and got to see Nanny's new place. At 96 she just moved from independent living to assisted living in her retirement community, and even then the people at the retirement community were resistant because "there's nothing wrong with you." She has balance issues when standing, but is otherwise healthy, and there's little more you could ask for than that.


Here's Dad with his grandmother.

Homecomings are wonderful things because we get to put our stink back on Mom and Dad.


Josie wasted no time claiming Dad's lap. Of course, Mom and Dad were also happy to be back in their own space and catching up on TV shows.


My favorite spot is between Mom and Dad's pillows with my head resting on Mom's pillow. They travel with their pillows so it was nice to have these back.


I even let Maggie curl up near me. She was tucked right against Dad in this picture.


Mom and Dad brought back some doughnuts from Dixie Doughnuts in the Carytown district in Richmond. This one was our favorite because it looked like a cat. Unfortunately we didn't get to eat any of them.


Huggy Bear was happy to have Mom and Dad home. He worries a lot about them, so once they were home he could relax in a ray of sun that was hitting the cat bed.


Also, there was a scary clown...

One of those days

Mom and Dad are both having one of those days where they probably should just go back home and not be around people and just pet cats all day. We're all OK with that, except that they both have "very important things to do" today.


So I'm posting this picture of Maggie sitting on a stool in the middle of the kitchen to help remind Mom and Dad that we are here, looking cute, and ready to de-stress them whenever they get a chance to escape the real world and come back home.

Stay home!

Just for the record, I wish that Mom and Dad could stay home all the time. We want them to snuggle against. We love our couches and blankets and sunny spots on the beds, but we prefer Mom and Dad. I wish they didn't have to work. On the plus side, it is supposed to be up in the mid-70s this weekend, so hopefully we'll have open windows.

The theatre has stolen Mom and Dad

Mom runs a local community theatre, and is producing Cinderella that opens on Friday. This is very exciting for Mom and Dad (Dad's running their mics), but it's not too exciting for us. Mom and Dad are getting home too late, and too tired, to give us proper attention. I can't wait until Saturday so we can snuggle with them and make them stay in bed.

Making up Mom and Dad time

Mom and Dad has been so busy lately that on Sunday they spent most of the day home with us making up for lost time. I don't like when they are away doing other stuff, but I really like when they make up for it.

Spelling Bee

Mom is producing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Workshop Theatre in town here, and it opens on Friday, which means that she is very distracted and getting home very late. We're a little spoiled by the week before when she was sick and home all day, and now she's getting home at 11:00 or later. That's just not fair! And to make matters worse, there are some excellent pictures of us on the camera just sitting there, cluttered among pictures of actors spelling and dancing and singing. But after this weekend we hope things get back to normal. I heard Mom say this morning that Saturday will be all about us (and maybe some football).

Willy Wonka

Mom and Dad have been very busy doing projects for the play Willy Wonka that is opening tomorrow at Mom's theatre (OK, it's not HER theatre, she just spends most of her life there or talking about it). They were in the garage a lot lately painting stuff, which meant that we couldn't be in the garage. To make matters worse, when Dad was outside he thought he saw a flea on his arm (it is that time of year) so it looks like we will be barred from the garage for a little bit. Probably a good thing since it's been in the 100s this week. But after this weekend we should get Mom and Dad back, which makes us very happy.

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?

Mom and Dad in Toledo, Ohio

Mom and Dad are in Toledo, Ohio. Unfortunately it's not to visit our cool cat friends from Ohio. Mom's father needed quadruple bypass surgery (on Mom's birthday of all days) so Thursday Mom and Dad drove about 11 hours to be up there. Please keep him in your prayers. His recovery is going well so far.

Hanging with Aunt Tiff

Mom and Dad went over to Sunset Beach (in North Carolina, not the soap opera) to catch up with some old old friends. Thankfully we have Aunt Tiff to tuck us in, open the door to the garage and give us treats. But Mom and Dad will be back Saturday night, hopefully with pictures of seagulls and beach life. (Rumor has it they are cavorting around with four dogs at the beach, so they better bring us something good back if we are expected to tolerate that kind of behavior.)

Missing Mom and Dad on this Mancat Monday

Mom and Dad had to hit the road on a grand tour of the southeast for two nephews' high school graduations. Mom and Dad are very proud of Tommy and Aaron for graduating high school and moving on to college. We are being understanding kittens with Mom and Dad gone and Aunt Tish is checking in on us and giving us treats and attention.


Since Mom is gone, I'm taking this opportunity to hit the books. I'm just sitting on this book right now. Maybe I'll take a nap first, then do some reading. Or maybe just nap.