Bully puppies

Dad knows a lady who breeds and trains dogs (training ... doesn't that make you laugh?) and she just got a website up. They are cute bulldogs and pitbulls (as dogs go) and one just had a litter of bulldog puppies (and these really are cute.)

[I just saw the video ... those dogs are just silly with that rope!]

Shelving it

The best part of Mom getting a jump on packing is the empty bookshelf. We're all taking turns laying up in them. I'm watching TV with Dad in this picture.

Our new house

This is our new house! I just can't tell you how excited we are about moving in and exploring all the spaces and getting our cat hair everywhere! Look at all those windows we're going to get to sit in and look out...

Two Paws joins Blogathon

Aunt Cathy and Uncle Doug are participating in Blogathon 2006 with the Fresh Food, Fresh Blog blog, including two live video feeds. Two Paws, the cat, is manning the downstairs computer webcam. For fun, you can also participate in Webcam Bingo as you watch for specific people and actions on the blogs. Not a bad way to stay out of the heat.

Big surprise

Mom and Dad said they were getting us something -- something BIG! Well, last night they told us, but they said we won't get to see it for a month. The surprise ... are you ready ... it's a HOUSE! With four bedrooms so we don't have to share, and stairs to run up and down and a landing halfway up the stairs where we can sleep and trip people. We're excited, but I think Mom and Dad are just a little more excited than us. It's not far from our apartment, about five minutes or so, so we won't even have to endure a long car ride to get to our new home. We need to talk to Midnight (the Friendly Feral) and see if he'd like to live in our back yard. The other great thing is now we get to pack, which means boxes, boxes, boxes!

Hair ties

Although Dog Eat Doug is a comic featuring a dog, this strip captures a moment we can all relate too...

Things that go bump in the night

There are things that go bump in the night, creepy crawly things, like the monsters under the bed, or the ones in the closet or behind the shower curtain. Since Mom and Dad have us, we have chased all those monsters away, which means that we have to take over the bumps in the night. And Maggie and Huggy Bear were doing that overtime last night. Maggie discovered some tissue paper that didn't get put away and, while it would have made a fine bed if she ever laid down on it, she was content to crinkle it instead. That was 1:21 last night. Then it was the spring-back lid on Mom's bathroom trashcan -- Maggie again, pushing her paw into the lid and making it clap. You'd think she would have learned from a month or so ago when her paw got caught. So Dad put that in the closet. Then it was Huggy Bear's turn, first hunting a dime, then a pen, then finally finding a straw in Mom's trashcan and happily trotting off with it. At that point, I think Mom and Dad were considering inviting the creepy crawlies back.

Name Game

William has inspired me to catalog all the numerous names we get called. The list is extensive (and sometimes repetitive) so here goes...

Jasper
J-Purr McKitten-Cat
Jazz Cat
Jazz Man
Big Ol' Orange Cat
Big Boy
JC
Mouser

Josie
Jo Jo Monkey Bird
Jo Jo Monkey B
Jo Jo
Little Girl
Josie the Pussycat
Josie Posie (Pudding Pie)

Huggy Bear
HB
Huggy
Bear
HB Hufflepuff
Huggy Buggy
Huggy Buggy Bear
Buggy Bear
Baby Bear

Maggie
Mag Pie
Magnolia
Magnolia Brown
Maggy Baggy Bing Bong
Magster
Baby Girl
The Tiniest
Maggy Daggy

[Update: I can't believe I almost forgot these for Maggie: Mag-a-roni and Cheese and Magna-doodle]

Working for peanuts

Mom also recently received a birthday present from Aunt Kelli and it came with these great foam peanuts. Mom let Maggie play with one, but she immediately started to eat it, so it was taken away. Mom and Dad then folded the lid shut. But we're smarter than that. Huggy Bear used his girth to push down the lid and create an opening, then he'd shovel out peanuts for the rest of us. We can employ teamwork when necessary for the greater good.

The painted cat

Aunt Tiff gave this really cool painted glass window hanging to Mom for her birthday last month and I've just been a little lax about posting a picture. We don't have it in a window yet because we don't really have the right spot for it, but isn't it so cute? Looks like Josie... BTW, this was done by a local artist somewhere near Jasper, GA (I like the name of that town!).

Cat cam

Our Uncle Doug has a cat cam -- just ignore the human who is sometimes there, he's "working."

[Just a little update on the cat cam... a cat as an ergonomic desk support? Just so long as there is some petting involved, or stinky goodness.]

Dungeons & Kittens

Sammy over at Meezer Tails told of being trapped in the dungeon the other day and it reminded me of our friend's house. They were a three cat family and moved into a house whose previous owner also had cats. Their mud room stepped down from the kitchen two steps and had a coat closet at the bottom of the steps. The other owner had cut a small cat hole in the wall into the coat closet and kept their litter box in the closet. This was a neat idea, except you entered to the lovely scent of stinky box. So our friend's dad got creative and cut a second hole -- this one from the inside of the closet to the basement with a "cat walk" leading down to the litter box area. It was really neat and a creative way to make a litter area that works for us cats and our people. Plus they got to play in the basement whenever they wanted.

Maggie and the beach towels

OK ... maybe I'm a little jealous, but it is my closet and it's just not fair that Maggie can fit up there with the beach towels and I can't. Every time I try, I end up with a landslide of beach towels on my head.

Looking back

Dad went back into the archives today and was looking at some of the original posts (and commenters -- William, Timothy, Lynne, Poi Rats and Cats, Ginger were the first few) and it is just amazing to see how quickly time flies by. To look at some of those older photos and see how tiny Josie and Huggy Bear were and then to realize that, in our minds, that was just the other day but it really wasn't. It's these moments when you realize how much you appreciate what our blogs represent. Does anyone else dig through their archives often? If you don't, you should. It can be a lot of fun to read those old comments again.

Kitty quarantine

Dad has a patient who was offered a job in London, which is very exciting in itself, but she mentioned that if she takes the job, her two cats will have to spend six months in quarantine. Six months!?! Can you imagine being kennelled for six months? At least they would be together. But come on ... what's wrong with us? If you ask me, they're the dirty ones who could use a little locking up, not us cats. Look at all the baths we give ourselves ... you know we're clean! It's kitty prison without representation, if you ask me. On the other hand, she can bring them in through the Netherlands through a "backdoor" and they'll be OK'd to enter. It all just seems crazy...

Lame litter

We seem to have had a kitty litter failure ... Mom and Dad bought us new kitty litter the other day and it has been totally ineffective. This seems to happen every once in a while that the litter does little to fight the odor. We always use Tidy Cat (sometimes the red lid, sometimes the blue) and usually it works great. But every once in a while, it seems like we get a bad batch of litter that just missed something in the litter making process. We're just not sure what approach we should take ... try new litter or stick with Tidy Cat? Any suggestions?

Sharing the mouse

Sharing is caring ... Josie and Huggy Bear took a minute and shared the new rattle-mouse on the dirty towels. They're so sweet to share it like that.

Maggie's rose

In mid-spring, Mom and Dad went to a flower sale the botanical garden at the zoo was having. They went with nothing in particular in mind, but ended up coming home with a nahdful of plants: four ornamental peppers that ended up in one pot and are beautiful, an oriental lantern plant that has outgrown their expectations, and two roses. Their favorite is the one Maggie is sniffing ... it's called "Maggie Rose" and has just bloomed! This is why Maggie got a rare visit to the back porch. She checked out the rose, then got a little squirmy so she had to go back in, but it was so nice that she got to check out her rose. I'm holding out for an orange "Jasper Rose" but I may have to settle for some lantana. Really, we're just glad that the roses are surviving in all the heat and severe weather we've been having. But isn't she just so sweet? Hopefully this rose will end up a big blooming bush in our yard one day.

DIY Cat Perch

This guy made a two-level cat perch out of an old desk chair. That's creative, but I'm afraid my big butt would topple it over unless HB was on the seat as a counterweight.

Flea bath

The only thing worse than the indignity of getting a flea bath is the indignity of having fleas.

Last night, we all underwent flea treatment ... first we all took a Capstar tablet. I spit mine out first like in the cartoons, but eventually I agreed maybe it was for the best. Then we were all coralled into the bathroom as Mom and Dad watched for us to scratch off the fleas or for the fleas to fall off, which they did, and some big ones at that! After a while, the baths started, smallest to biggest. Maggie wasn't too bad, and Dad got almost the recommended five minutes of lather on her. (On a side note, five minutes? On a wet cat? What sadist wrote those instructions?) Josie was good too, not a cry out of her even when Dad rinsed her under running water. Huggy Bear was pretty vocal and uncooperative and his bath was quick as a result. I took from Huggy Bear's que and was also vocal. Since I was a kitten, I don't think I've ever been that wet. Mom and Dad kept trying to towel us off, but we just seemed to stay wet despite their best efforts.

Afterward, we were rewarded for our patience with some hairball treats (the Wiskas Temptations -- crunchy ones). Finally, just before bed, we got our Frontline treatment to make sure all this work wasn't for nothing. I just hope this does the trick because I really don't want to go through all this again in another three weeks.

I was so relaxed a second ago...

See this picture? This is me trying to play with the new "fish on the string" toy. I was about to get it real good. See the big orange blur on the right? That's me about a second after I was all relaxed and the picture was about to be taken. But then Maggie (blown/gray blur on left) pounced on in and this is the end result -- a big blur of "leave me alone" and what quickly became an empty spot of floor and a dangling fish. We really need to work on Maggie and sharing ...

Going for the string

Bill and Barbara are very thoughtful when invited for dinner. They usually bring a bottle of wine for Mom and Dad (more for Mom, really) but tonight they thought about us too. Since we're normally ostracized to the bathroom when company is here (more because Susan isn't good about shutting the back door, if you ask me -- and not because we try to invite ourselves to the meal) ... but because we're usually on the outside looking in, Bill and Barbara wanted to do something for us and brought us a bunch of toys from Target's "One Spot" tonight! Our favorite is the fish hanging from the string like a fishing line. Dad stuck it under the microwave so that we can continue to play with it after Dad's arm got tired. Huggy Bear and Maggie were working together to get the string. HB held the fish in place while Maggie went after the string. I give it a day...

Big helpers

Mom and Dad are getting ready for company to come over for dinner -- Susan and John are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary with Mom and Dad and Tish, Bill and Barbara. Look how helpful Maggie and Huggy Bear are being. They're all laid out on the table to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Also, after Dad went and "de-catted" all the chairs, Maggie and Huggy worked overtime to put the "cat" back on all the chairs. They're so thoughtful.