Author: Robyn

“Halp!”

©Forgotten Felines

“I need a name!”

Forgotten Felines is having a raffle to name this sweet boy – $5 buys you one chance, and you can buy as many chances as you’d like. Go here to read about him, and enter the raffle to name him!

I dropped Everett off bright and early yesterday morning. He was NOT a happy boy on the way to Petsmart, and he let me know repeatedly and at top volume just how not happy he was. When we got there, I let him out, and I let Lucy out to run around, so they could get reacquainted while I gave Harlan and Sally some snuggles. When I put Lucy and Everett back in the cage together, Everett was a bit hissy, but Lucy was pretty unfazed. I left a note on the cage asking the cleaners to give Everett some extra love, and left. When I came back a few hours later (I ran errands to Sam’s Club and Target since I was in the area), Everett was curled up in the bed, and Lucy was asleep nearby. I think he’ll be fine.

Charlie Peppers….

..is one stressed out boy.

And he’s not the only one around here. It’s a total stressapalooza around here these days. (That’s Corbie’s delightfully spotted caramel belleh, in case you didn’t know.)

I love how everyone else is finishing up their snack and checking to see if anyone else left some food behind, and Corbie’s all “I’ll be in my box.”

“I SAID GOOD DAY.”

“Sitting in boxes is the ONE THING I do for ME. All day long I do and do and DO for everyone else. I need some CORBIE time!”

Same box, different day. Note that Jake has his loony butt crammed into a tiny, flat box. Somehow, he makes it work.

Then Miz Poo and Patty Peppers had to come in and investigate, and Joe Bob stomped off in a huff.

Tommy and Chuckles get along quite well, thank you. Have you ever seen a happier little face?

Previously
2010: Why the fuck is Justin Bieber all over my radio, and how the hell does Fred always know that it’s him? Never mind. I don’t want to know.
2009: I am entirely VERY FUCKING TIRED of cats trying to put their assholes directly on my face.
2008: No entry.
2007: The woman did 9/10 of the work to be done, and I was NOT complaining.
2006: No entry.
2005: I think he might be half skunk.
2004: I do love, love, love the gmail!
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
1999: If you look closely at the picture, you’ll note that it’s very close to the color of bile.

Forgotten Felines is having a “Name that Cat!” raffle – go on over, read about the sweet (not) feral they rescued, and for $5 you can enter to name that cat!

I know how much y’all love to name cats, so here’s your chance to name that sweet boy!

Sherry reminded me in yesterday’s comments that I haven’t followed up on the Cat’s Pride Fresh and Light litter that I was trying out. It’s been, what, two or three weeks now? Something like that, and I have to say that I’m pretty impressed – not only is the litter low-dust, it also clumps well, and at this point, the litter box full of Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light still doesn’t stink.

I like all of those attributes of the litter, of course, and I also like the bonus feature, which is that it’s a lighter litter. While 20 pounds of litter is, of course, going to weigh 20 pounds*, a container of Cat’s Pride F&L that is the same size as a container of Fresh Step weighs less, but seems to last the same amount of time as far as I can tell. And my back likes having less weight to lift when it comes to the 40 bazillion containers of litter we use every month. (I know your next question is “How much litter DO you go through in a month, crazy lady?” and I have no idea. I’m not sure if I WANT to know, but I’ll see if I can’t manage to keep track through the month of December and get back to you on that.)

I don’t know what the secret ingredient is that makes the F&L do such a good job of holding down the stank (“Holdin’ Down the Stank” would be an excellent title for a country song), but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably activated carbon. The litter’s a bit darker than some other litters I’ve tried, and activated carbon holds down the stank fairly well, or so I’ve heard. It might be something else entirely, but that’s my guess.

So in conclusion, I’m planning to stick with the Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light. It’s a decent price, I can get it at Walmart (it’s not available at Publix just yet, but they carry other kinds of Cat’s Pride, so I expect the F&L will get there soon enough), and it works really well. I’ll supplement it with Cat Attract litter, and hopefully the cats won’t have an issue with it (the litter box with F&L in it certainly gets plenty of use!)

Edited to add: The Cat’s Pride Fresh & Light I tried and am recommending is the Fragrance-Free version. They also make a scented multi-cat version, but the problem with that is that (a) it’s scented and (b) I’ve read online that it doesn’t clump as well.

*I once belonged to a weight-loss mailing list, and there was this woman who was INSISTENT that 5 pounds of muscle weighs less than 5 pounds of fat. Which it DOES NOT – five pounds is five pounds, whether it’s five pounds of lead or five pounds of feathers or five pounds of marshmallows. FIVE POUNDS IS FIVE POUNDS. When I told her that I was pretty sure she meant that five pounds of muscle takes up less space than five pounds of fat, she called me an idiot and told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. It’s probably been seven years – if not more – since that happened, and I still kind of want to track her down and pop her in the face for being such a dumbass. Lucky for her I’M A LAYDEE.

I got an email from Cheryl, who asked:

I hope to solicit your cat wisdom. My husband and I have recently taken in an abandoned cat who had been living outside for about a month. She is a very timid little thing, but we are gradually making headway and she is learning to expect lots of love and belly rubs from us. However, as she was outside before we took her in (she had belonged to our next-door-neighbours and was outside a lot), she is starting to get very restless and begging to go back outside. We would rather that she remain an inside cat. We are pretty sure she would bolt if she got outside, and the yard is patrolled by her sworn enemies: the cats who live in the suite upstairs from us. We are concerned that the territory dispute would prevent her from recognizing our door as hers, and just bring discord to the established household.

This brings me to my question; do you have any ideas for making an outside cat more content to be an inside cat? She is about 3 years old, and probably needs a lot more to do than our 600 square foot home can easily give her. I have a Feliway plug in the house, but she still really wants to get out and go adventuring.

Does she have any place to climb? Cats really like vertical space, and the higher they can get, the happier they are. I’d recommend a tall cat tree, or a set of shelves with a platform that she can climb up to. Even a bookcase that has a chair next to it, so that she could jump up on top of the bookcase from the chair might work.

Also, if you don’t have a set play time with her every day, I’d suggest giving it a try for 15 minutes or half an hour (depending on her energy level). Use a laser light or a feather teaser or something similar to get her running and jumping and working off some of that energy.

One suggestion that I’m going to throw out there (though I’m sure that you’ve thought of it – and also, may not have room for it!) is adopting another cat so that she’ll have someone to play with, chase around, and cuddle with. Cats tend to be social creatures and that could stave off the boredom for her.

Mostly, I think what it’s going to take is time. Cats who have been outdoors have a tough time transitioning to being indoor-only cats, but it can be done, just hang in there with it.

If you guys have suggestions other than the ones I came up with, please feel free to share them!

Do you remember Bill? Of course you do! He was one of the True Blood 6 (the litter that brought a LOT of new people to Love & Hisses). He looked like this:

He was such a sweet boy (of course, all the True Bloods were, but Bill with his sweet, quiet ways just completely made us fall in love with him), and I was pleased to hear that he’d been adopted. I was even MORE pleased to hear that he’d been adopted by someone who was willing to update me regularly on how he and his sister Izzy are doing! I got an update email from Ann last week, and she said:

I am sitting down this afternoon to send you photos and update you on our WONDERFUL TWO YEARS with Bill… The official date is tomorrow but I’m starting early for his celebration!

Ann & BillCat

Thank YOU for the update, Ann! I can’t believe it’s been two years – it seems like it was just yesterday the True Bloods were running around freaking me out and making me worry that they were going to hurt their eyes after surgery. I’m so glad that that litter all found happy, loving homes!

Everett is off to PetSmart in a little while (when I take the kittens to PetSmart, I try to get there very early so that the kittens have time to get adjusted before adoption hours start. Everett will probably need a little time to get reacquainted with Lucy, too, with whom he’ll be sharing a cage.). We are going to miss having him around, because he’s the sweetest, most laid-back kitten. He’s just an awesome cat, and he supports my theory that all black cats are completely amazing!

I’m sure that Patty and Charlie will miss him, too, they love following him around and harassing him and playing with him. I’ve ordered Lisa (who’ll be doing adoptions tonight and Friday) to get those Peppers adopted STAT.

Poor Tommy. These little cats just can’t get enough of grabbing at his tail.

Then Everett’s all “LET ME SNIFF YOUR PAW.”

Chuckles. PLEASE. Am I going to have to get you a valium? Calm DOWN.

Corbie’s all “That’s MY spot for chillin’.”

Patty’s on the other couch, hanging out with Everett.

“Lady, why you all up in my face?”

Because you’re so CUTE, Miss Patty!

“That’s right, I AM! And don’t you forget it!”

Check out the big ol’ rabbit foot Charlie’s sporting.

All kidding aside, our boy Charlie? A very, very hard sleeper. I don’t think a nuclear bomb going off would budge this boy when he’s snoozing.

Snackin’ Time! There are 13 cats in this picture, click on the picture to go over to Flickr and see them all if you can’t see ’em here. The Peppers get to take part in Snackin’! Time! with the big cats. It’s a lot less hissy and smacky than you’d think.

Stinkerbelle used to take her snack on top of the refrigerator. She’s gotten bolder, though, and now she takes it down on the counter. I have no illusions that we’ll ever give her her snack on the floor, but this is an improvement. She seems to get bolder when the days get shorter, for some reason.

Newt fits pretty well in that basket, no?

Previously
2010: YOU ARE MY BACKUP, NOT MY MAIN SQUEEZE ANYMORE. YOU DONE DID IT TO YOURSELF WITH YOUR ROTTEN ATTITUDE, YOU FUCKER
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: And then last night I was informed that people would start showing up between 9 and 9:30 (for a meal that will take place at noon), so I spent two hours cleaning the house whilst shooting hate rays at Fred.
2006: Barium scars a motherfucker for life.
2005: But I could manage a paper cut/ in the name of love
2004: “Oh, my heart,” I moaned.
2003: This perpetually surprised look of Michael Jackson’s makes me laugh until I wheeze.
2002: “YES, JESUS CHRIST! I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE SUCH A FRIGGIN’ BIG DEAL!” I bellowed. “I NEEDED TO BE AT MY COMPUTER, BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE PHONE NUMBER WAS! JESUS!”
2001: No entry.
2000: I’ve visited Wal-Mart three times in the last five days. I think they’re about to name a parking space after me.
1999: F: In Michigan, you can take this bottle to the recycling center and get ten cents for it.

I finally got my new computer Friday (I don’t know why I thought it would be here Thursday – Amazon is amazing, but even they aren’t going to get my new computer to me in a day and a half, Prime membership or no), and I spent the weekend installing stuff I needed to install and beginning the long and arduous process of restoring stuff from my Carbonite backup.

It’s a pain to do all that, but my new computer runs a lot faster than the previous one, so it’s worth it.

You clean up real nice!

I know, right? Hee! Y’all are very good for my ego, you know that? Thank you!

Let us know how you like the Kindle Fire! I was thinking of getting one. Does it do everything a netbook does? I am assuming you get on line the same way in free wifi areas or your house wifi?

I’ve messed with the Kindle Fire a little bit, and while I like it a lot, I wouldn’t say that it’s a replacement for a netbook. For one, trying to type out an entry on that on-screen keyboard would drive me mad. For another, I find the games in the app store sadly lacking – no Snood, no Bookworm. I haven’t spent all that much time messing with it (the weekend was spent trying to get everything I needed installed on my desktop and getting all my documents and pictures restored), but so far I like it. I expect that I’ll use it mostly to watch TV shows (I’ve had a Prime Membership since about 10 seconds after they became available), catch up on my blog reading, and read books. I’ll try to remember to report back in a couple of weeks.

I will have to say that I really, really like the size. When I had the iPad, I felt like it was too big. I told Fred that what I really wanted was something bigger than my iPod Touch, but smaller than the iPad. The Kindle is the perfect size for me.

Was the kitten mentioned in “This date in 1999” Ms. Poo?

Yes, it was this time in 1999 when I first set eyes on Miz Poo, harassed Fred into agreeing to let me get her, decided I didn’t need to bring another kitten into the house (ha ha HA), then a couple of weeks later – the day before Thanksgiving – I took the spud out to lunch, and we decided to go visit the cats. To my utter shock, when I walked through the door Miz Poo (I think her name was “Tea”) was not only still there, she saw me and started howling at the top of her lungs. And that was all she wrote – she was ours. Well, mine.

Why didn’t you tell me that Plain-Jane started blogging again!

Because I like to keep all the good things to myself? I don’t know why I didn’t mention it – I think I just assume that y’all read blogs via Google Reader like I do, so when she started blogging again, it popped up in my (your) reader and you already knew about it.

In case you don’t, in fact, use Google Reader (or one of the 3,000 other readers out there) – Jane is blogging again! Yay!

By any chance at all is that sweater from Kohls? It looks EXACTLY like one I bought recently.

I do about 75% of my clothes shopping at Kohl’s (the other 25% is split between airport gift shops, Walmart, and shopping whilst on vacation), so yes – that sweater totally came from Kohl’s. (I am really very peeved at myself right now, though, because I HAD a large number of really nice sweaters, and I cannot find them anywhere. I’m guessing that I bagged them up to store them in the garage and accidentally thought they were to be donated at some point in the last year, and so donated them somewhere. I’m planning to check out the sweaters at the horribly-named Dress Barn later this week to find something to wear to Thanksgiving dinner.)

(I’ll admit I did not know who TERESA GIUDICE was. When you said she was your BFF I was like: “Why haven’t I heard of this woman before! I’ve read Bitchypoo since 2005 and even went back to the beginning and read every day since 1999. I thought I knew Bitchypoo!” Huff. But then I realized that your relationship with TERESA GIUDICE is like a delicate flower, that should be sheltered from the wind. Thank you for sharing it with us.)

Thank you for understanding. 😉

and

So, you have to tell me, is her hair real??? Her part looks to be an inch away from her scalp. We won’t bring up the lack of forehead.

I will tell you that to ME her hair looked real. I’m not a good judge of that sort of thing – it has to be really super over-the-top fake for me to even suspect that your hair isn’t real, and even then I might think that your hair is just weird rather than not being real. In person it looked real to me, and I didn’t actually notice the part, and as for the low hairline – it’s not as noticeable in person. Or maybe I was just too “OMG, (IN)FAMOUS PERSON, LOL!” to notice.

I feel like a dork – but it’s kind of weird seeing you out with other people. Like out and about IN PUBLIC. Your pics are usually just you. You like so much younger in these pictures than in any others. You should go out in public more often. 🙂

Are you trying to say that it’s almost like I’m a real person and not an imaginary figment of the internet and PhotoShop? 🙂

(I should totally go out in public more often!)

It’s AWESOME that you attended this event. Was it about cancer in general or breast cancer?

It was cancer in general.

My Kindle Fire shipped today!! Woooooo! But I have to wait ’til Christmas to get it *harumph* (I’m making my mom wait ’til Christmas to have her new Kindle, so I guess it’s only fair *pout*). And honestly? The ability to watch TV shows on it through Amazon Prime and Netflix is one of the #1 reasons I’m getting it. I *want* to be able to be lazy in bed and watch episode after episode of 30 Rock.

I have a piece of advice for you – the returns policy on Kindle Fire (as far as I can determine) is 30 days. When I realized that, I told the spud I was going to send hers out to her today, because what if she gets it, hates it, and then can’t return it? That would suck! So, sure, she won’t have it to open on Christmas day, but I’ve got a few other things to send her, so she’ll still have something (aside from what she gets from everyone else, of course).

Serious “climbing on my soapbox” moment here…

And if any wires get cracked, or the plug starts falling apart, or it’s damaged in any major way, please remove it from use. I’ve seen damage from “oh it’s just one crack in the heating wire, big deal”, too. SIGH.

Thank you, Foo – I had never considered the dangers of heating pads on older (ie, MIZ POO) cats. I have enough small cat-specific warming pads that I haven’t used heating pads in a couple of years, luckily.

So, would you recommend the cook books and if you only could get one, which would it be?

I’ve only leafed through them a few times, haven’t taken the time to seriously sit down and read them, but that said, if I could only get one, it would probably be Skinny Italian just because the recipes looked more appealing to me. That could change on a dime, though, so take that opinion with a grain of salt!

OMG, have you seen these? I love the Sand Box one!!!

LOVE it!!!

I used “fluff” instead of “fart” when TJ was little, mostly because he had an unstoppable need to yell at the top of his lungs, “MOMMY, I [whatever bodily function had just occurred] JUST NOW” in public, and he was a gassy little thing. A friend of mine said that her family had used “fluff” for as long as she could remember for exactly that purpose. Anyway, when he was about 3 we (me, him, and my parents) went out to breakfast one day and had a waitress who was trying to engage with TJ. He wanted pancakes, and she kept assuring him that he would really enjoy his delicious, fluffy pancakes. He wound up in tears, convinced that they were going to fart all over his food.

HEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Elayne, have I perhaps mentioned that you make me laugh out loud at least once a week?

Being the crazy cat ladies that we are, we are interested in getting shelving like yours for the kitties. We currently have the tall cat condo (as opposed to the middle or short sized ones of course) next to the ledge we discovered the girls like to climb upon. As you can see in this picture, it’s an awkward setup, for us. Plus, this condo is on it’s way out (limbs won’t tighten). So, barring the cats crashing each time they want up, what shelving would you recommend and/or where did you get yours? We want to put it on that wall all the way to the left there.

Jenn, when I originally read this (and responded to your comment via email), I thought you meant you were looking for shelving like ours – the “steps” up to the platforms in the kitchen and front room (and the platforms themselves) were made by Fred. But now I’m thinking that maybe you just meant that you were wondering where we got our cat trees? So I’ll tell you where we got our cat trees, and then I’ll tell you what I think you should do, and then I’ll let everyone else give you advice, too. Sound like a plan?

We’ve ordered almost all of our cat trees off of eBay. They’re inexpensive and they work out for a while, generally a couple of years, but as you’ve probably noticed, they eventually get kind of loose and shaky and can’t be tightened. I think we could make our own cat tree fairly easily (I’ve looked at other homemade cat trees online), but I can’t seem to get Fred interested in my schemes. The cat trees you buy in the pet stores (well, I can really only say PetSmart for sure, but I suspect it’s the same at Petco and Pet Depot, etc) are sturdier and last longer – but are oh-so-expensive. It’s a trade-off, really, you pay less for a decent cat tree, but it doesn’t last as long – so then you buy another cheap one, etc etc.

I have to say that the ledge between the dining room and kitchen? I LOVE it. I think it would be neat if there were a set of “steps” up that wall on the left that the cats could go up, and then across the ledge, then a smaller set of steps down the other side. Of course, I’m not sure if you actually want to attach anything to your wall or not, but that’s one thought. There are a lot of cat shelf options out there. I really like the look of the Cat Clouds shelves, though they are raaather expensive. You can poke around on Moderncat, too, they always have neat stuff to look at (again, kind of expensive, though).

Okay, this is where I throw it out to the rest of you – give Jenn advice on what YOU think she should do, and where she can get decent-looking shelving and/ or cat trees/ condos that look good but won’t break the bank!

What do you do yourself or recommend another person doing in regards to keeping your cats teeth clean? Do you honestly brush every single cats teeth in your household daily (including fosters?) Because that is what my vet has recommended in the past that we do for our cat and I’m just thinking “shyah right lady, I’d like to keep my face intact thank-you very much!” Or do you just rely on having a yearly professional teeth cleaning done for each cat? (I know they offer a free one with some pet insurance plans) I’m just curious what tips you have if any about this because I know that a cats dental health has a huge effect on how long they live and their quality of life. I have two cats and I just lost my 14yo cat this past Tuesday from an illness that blossomed from poor dental health that we were unfortunately unable to remedy before it was too late (we adopted her as an adult cat and by then the damage had apparently already been done) I’m worried for my other cat Thanks for any suggestions you or your readers may have for me 🙂

We rely on the yearly cleaning by the vet, because honestly if we were to brush our cats’ teeth every night (assuming they’d let us do that, and I can guarantee that old man Spanky would lose his MIND if we tried to brush his teeth), we’d be doing nothing but brushing cats’ teeth from dinner time to bed time. I’ve never brushed a cat’s teeth, and I don’t plan to start.

However, I’m throwing this out there – anyone got advice for how to keep your cat’s teeth clean? Leave it in the comments, and thank you!

In case you missed it over at the Love & Hisses Facebook page, Molly got adopted this weekend! Yay!

She’s going to a home with two older Challenger’s House cats (neither of whom were my fosters), and a five year old boy who was apparently quite taken with sweet miss Molly Peppers. I am so glad to hear that she’s going to have her very own servant to love her and snuggle with her and obey her every demand!

This means that (I think – I haven’t heard back from the shelter manager yet to be sure) Everett will most likely be going to Petsmart tomorrow to take Molly’s place and be reacquainted with Harlan, Sally, and Lucy.

Adoptions have been slow lately, which I suspect is due to the upcoming holiday. Maybe once Thanksgiving is over adoptions will pick up.

Maybe this “Black Friday” will be a lucky Friday for the remaining Peppers!

Chuckles loves him some Tommy.

Luckily…

…the feeling…

… is mutual!

Charlie spent all day Friday snoozing on this grocery bag. He loves Publix as much as I do, clearly.

Everett (and in the background, Spanky), after snack time.

I note that that little stub of a white whisker on the left isn’t growing back in any too quickly.

Tandem slurping.

Alice was MINDING HER OWN BUSINESS in the cat bed (one of many) on the table, and Fred put Charlie in there with her. She fumed for a moment, then turned and gave him A LOOK.

“What’s HER problem?”

I’m pretty sure this picture is slated to be the October picture for next year’s Love & Hisses calendar.

I actually bought this bed/ basket to put in the foster room. Laurie‘s always posting pictures of her fosters in this type of basket, and I love seeing them. Also, I had one similar to this several years ago, but eventually the kittens ripped a hole in the bottom and I lacked the skills to sew it back together, so out it went.

However, before I could get it upstairs to the foster room, it had to sit on the table for a couple of days (everything does ’til I get around to putting it away.) and in that time our two biggest cats, Elwood and Tommy, took turns sleeping in it. (That’s Elwood above.)

I’m thinking maybe I need to just buy another basket.

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: So I am peeved at you, Australians, and the only way I can see forgiving you this breach of friendship is if you send me a year’s supply of Tim Tams, immediately.
2007: Go, Super Shopper, go!
2006: Right. Because six is perfectly normal, but SEVEN would be lunacy.
2005: Every time I contemplate reading those books, I get a “Good god, I DON’T WANNA!” sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, which to me is a sign that, y’know, I DON’T WANNA and YOU CAN’T MAKE ME.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: Fuck him, too.
2001: It don’t get any better than that, nosir.
2000: I see enough nasty stuff in my life.
1999: No entry.

Okay, we were out late last night, so instead of doing a full-blown entry today, I’m just going to toss up some pictures of the event we attended Sunday night (which I stole from the web site of the radio station that sponsored the event) with captions, and I’ll do a full-blown recap on Thursday. I’m headed home in a few hours (this was, obviously, a very quick trip), and my flight up here to Pennsylvania went so well and smoothly that I’m 93.8% sure that I’ll end up spending the night in Dulles tonight. Dulles loves me dearly and always wants me to spend the night.

The event, by the way, was Knock Out Cancer, sponsored by Pittsburgh’s KISS 96.1.

Yes, I am dressed up (for me) and yes, I am wearing makeup. Try not to fall over from the shock.

My thoughtful look.

Me and my BFF Teresa Giudice (oh yeah, and Nance’s Mom Shirley.)

“THAT IS AN EXCELLENT POINT, TERESA GIUDICE. I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY.”

Shirley and I were the only ones in the VIP room that thought to bring books with us for signing. The other VIPs were like “That’s so smart! We should have done that!”

Supervising the signing of the books.

“That is not how you spell my name, Teresa Giudice, but that is A-OK!” (Yes, I spelled it for her. We are now such close friends that she can call me Robin instead of the correct Robyn, and it’s FINE.)

“HA HA HA I AM JUST STANDING HERE WITH MY BFF TERESA GIUDICE, YOU STAY OVER THERE, PEONS.”

Giving my BFF Teresa Giudice a loving look.

“I KNOW, RIGHT, TERESA GIUDICE? HA HA HA!”

::BLINDED BY THE BLING OF TERESA GIUDICE’S RING::

“YOU ARE SO RIGHT, TERESA GIUDICE. RIGHT ON, SISTER.”

::considering::

“I WONDER IF TERESA GIUDICE IS GOING TO GIVE ME A HUG?” (Oh yes, she did.)

Listening attentively.

“HA HA HA HA HA YOU SAID IT, SISTER! HA! HA! HA!” (slightly maniacal Robyn is slightly maniacal.)

More supervising of the signing, whilst touching my chin.

“MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH ME, TERESA GIUDICE, I AM SMILING AT YOU!”

And that’s it – though of course I have plenty of pictures of my own (from Nance’s camera, but pictures she’s gonna let me share ’cause she’s nice like that) that I’ll post on Thursday, along with details of the whole trip.

Wish me happy travels! (Now wish me happy travels FOR REAL. I don’t want to spend the night in Dulles, damnit.)

For those who asked:

Everett did not go to Petsmart on Friday with the rest of the Peppers because there were only two cages available, and three kittens of the Peppers’ size cannot fit in one cage. When one of the other Peppers is adopted, Everett will go to Petsmart to fill the space they left behind.

Try to relax, Chuckles.

Seriously.

You make me so tense.

Bug watchin’.

Patty was following Jake down the hall, trying to rub against him, and he stopped and turned around and looked at me, like “Make her stop.”

SPANKY!

“What you want?”
Nevermind. Go back to sleep.
“::sigh::”

Previously
2010: I did not smack her.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Happy vacuuming!
2006: When I thought of how crappy the doors would look, he gave me a long-suffering look and said in his “Look how patient and long-suffering I am” voice, “I’ll paint them.”
2005: “Fascinating.”
2004: All your frog are belong to us.
2003: No entry.
2002: I am freezing to death.
2001: I think I need to get a life…
2000: In other words, Robyn is a total spaz about her eyes, comprende?
1999: On the way into work, and the whole time I worked today, I reconsidered that reconsideration.

PS: I might be in Pennsylvania with you-know-who at the moment. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow – hopefully, with pictures!

I’m so glad that 11/11/11 is done and over with. That was too goddamn many ones for me, and I found it confusing.

THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID IT.

I didn’t make a wish at 11:11 either, because, well. I forgot. Or I totally would have wished for world peace or more kittens or a million dollars or for Amazon to send me my new Kindle Fire earlier instead of making me wait another THREE FUCKING DAYS.

(The spud is also getting a Kindle Fire, but hers is a Christmas present; I get to play with mine right away, HA.)

I don’t think I ever mentioned that I got an iPad at the beginning of the summer, did I? I got an iPad and it was really neat and I liked it, but I had two issues with it: (1) Doesn’t play Flash, and (2) It was so big and expensive that I about shit a brick every time I used it because I was terrified – TERRIFIED – that I would drop it. And that’s one expensive-ass piece of electronics to drop, no matter what kind of sturdy-ass protective case it’s got on it.

Because I was so worried that I’d drop it or scratch it (yes, I had a screen cover on it. DIDN’T MATTER. I was secretly calling it my TerrorPad by the end.), I was using my iPod Touch more often than I was using the iPad (I’d intended to sell the Touch on eBay after I got the iPad, but never did get around to it), and so in the end I sold the iPad on eBay (only really lost about $50 on the whole thing, which I consider not bad at all despite the fact that starving children in Africa could eat for a year off that $50, I KNOW, SHUT UP ).

And now I’m going to get the Kindle Fire because I like shiny new things and I have stars in my eyes for tablets, even though when it comes down to it, all I REALLY used my iPad for was watching TV shows I’d downloaded from iTunes (which I can do on my iPod Touch) and caught up on my blog reading and used the Kindle app to read books (which I can also do on my iPod Touch)(I have done woefully little reading of books in the last few months. I really need to get back to it – I think it’s been more than a month since I finished reading a book; I’ve been “reading” Queen of Bedlam for at least six weeks, and I don’t think I’m even 50 pages in.) I can do all that with the Kindle Fire, and it’s a whole lot less expensive than the iPad – and hopefully I’ll be a whole lot less terrified of dropping the damn thing.

We shall see.

Over the weekend, I did something I hadn’t done in probably six (possibly more) years: I drank me some alcohol. Not just alcohol – I wasn’t doing 100-proof shots or anything, for god’s sake, I have some class (no I don’t) – this Raspberry Sparkletini stuff is what I drank.

I have to tell you, I am not and have never been a wine drinker, but although this stuff smells like wine, it tasted really good, and after the slight buzz from the first glass wore off, I had A SECOND GLASS.

As I told Fred, I very well may become a social drinker.

(Not really; as much as I liked that stuff – and I did – I still preferred Diet Coke.)

People of Huntsville, I am seriously disappointed in you. Not a single Pepper was adopted over the weekend, are you BLIND?

Hmph to you, I say.

Molly, Sally, Lucy, and Harlan were less than pleased about going to Petsmart. To my surprise, Harlan was the biggest chicken about it, and Molly was the least freaked out; I would have expected the opposite, really.

Everett was confused about his siblings being gone (though he was more than willing to play with Charlie and Patty), and spent a good part of Friday walking around letting out the occasional “What is going ON?!” meow. I had hoped that at least one of his sisters or his brother would be adopted over the weekend and that he could rejoin the rest of his siblings at Petsmart, but no. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day when one (or more) Peppers finds a home. Fingers crossed!

(I have some Peppers Gang pics left over that I’ll share with you today and tomorrow.)

Sally watchin’ bugs.

Molly and Sally, the bug-watchin’ posse.

Molly, throwin’ me some attitude.

::thlurrp::

Apparently Sally heard a realllllly good joke.

Sooooo… is it just me or is Miz Poo SPOONING with Everett here? Next thing you know, she’s going to be HUGGING him!

Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Michael’s (crafty items with which to torture the cats)
2007: Amazing what a little maintenance will do, ain’t it?
2006: “I CUT THROUGH THE GODDAMN EXTENSION CORD AND THEN I MADE THE CHAIN COME OFF THE CHAINSAW!”
2005: Senator Stanley J. Boogerton.
2004: No entry.
2003: So I’m not reporting that. At all. Never happened!
2002: Riley’s response? “Nuh uh!”
2001: Dr. Phil looked at me judgmentally, and I began to babble.
2000: And I don’t even like cherry Poptarts!
1999: Fred has agreed to let me adopt the kitten!

2012 calendars. —————–>

After being lost in the AA baggage terminal for two months and finally found and taken to the vet, Jack the cat was unable to recover from his injuries and was euthanized on Sunday, poor guy. You can read more about him on the Facebook page that was started up soon after he was lost.

Please take a moment and go read and sign the petition over here, would you?

::CHOMP::

If you, by any chance, were ever concerned about what would happen if Harlan lost the use of his back legs – how would he get around?! – he would like to assure you that he’s got it figured out.

In case you missed it over on Facebook, the big Peppers will be going to Petsmart this weekend!

Well, most of the big Peppers will. Molly and Lucy will be sharing a cage, and Harlan and Sally will be sharing another. Everett will stay here for now, and when one of the others is adopted, he’ll go take their space. Depending on how adoptions go, I think Patty and Charlie might be going soon, too, I’m not sure. (Charlie and Patty are going for their neutering and spaying tomorrow and will pretty much be ready to go as soon as space opens up.)

The big Peppers have been here for three and a half months, can you believe that? They’ve come a long way, for sure.

Tommy looks pleased to have Charlie biting his tail, doesn’t he?

Charlie sure does like the big cats.

Molly, in one of the rare moments when she’s not rolling around on her back in front of me, demanding belly rubs.

Charlie is one happy boy.

Lucy shows off her pretty eyes. Couldn’t you just kiss her square on the mouth?

Smug Charlie, snuggled up with Sally.

‘Nother shot of the pretty, pretty Molly.

Harlan, doing his Corbie imitation.

Harlan and Patty.

In the evenings, when it gets dark, we call in the cats and shut the back door. Then everyone gets cat treats. The fosters have learned to partake of crunchy time. Note that four out of five big Peppers are present, both the little Peppers, Corbie, and Jake and Elwood. Sometimes Spanky comes in for a few crunchies, but this is the core group.

Note that Corbie and Harlan are practically nose-to-nose, for comparison purposes.

This makes me laugh, because Joe Bob’s all stretched out, chillin’, and Maxi’s out there acting like she wants to come in and is appalled that Joe Bob’s inside and she isn’t. But then OF COURSE I went over and opened the door and she gave me the Manson lamps and strolled away. I so hate it when cats do that.

Beautiful Miss Stinkerbelle from atop the kitchen cabinets.

Previously
2010: Links you should check out.
2009: We actually left the house after dark on Saturday AND I DO NOT KNOW HOW THE EARTH REMAINED ON ITS AXIS.
2008: No entry.
2007: Stupid bossy car.
2006: “Damn pansy-ass city folk.”
2005: as a customer and a HUMAN, I outrank the computer, and I’d like a little RESPECT, thank you.
2004: All this cleaning is making me lightheaded.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: Little things make me happy.
1999: Guest entry by Fred.