Resolutions

I asked the boyz to give me one resolution each by noon. Since none of them completed the assignment I decided to come up with a resolution for each boy to work on over the next year.

For Theo: Learn the line between playing and pestering.

For Diego-san: Learn that it isn't necessary to misbehave to get my attention (no more sofa scratching, TV wire tangling, kitchen sink dirty dish licking).

For Thompson: Learn that breaking the routine/schedule once in a while isn't going to mean the end of the world.

And to be fair... for David: Eat more waffles. (I've been on a Eggo kick the past few weeks.)

The Last Sunday of 2007

I was a bum today. I had a bunch of things I needed to get done- a load of wash, a grocery store run, cleaning the house, etc., and I didn't get a thing done. I felt like Diego-san looks in this picture- content just to lie around and watch football.

The Look

I don't think the boyz are sure that I'm home for good. Every time I leave the house I get all three looking up at me with big eyes as if they are concerned I'll be gone for awhile. Believe me I'm quite happy to spend time with the fellas.

Top 6 2007 Movies

Disregard Wednesday's post, after I went and saw Juno today, the boyz and I agreed on our favorite six movies of the year. Since I saw I'm Not There and Juno in a theater the boyz didn't actually get to see those two movies but they trust me. We couldn't do a top five list because Thompson was being stubborn.

1) Juno

2) The Simpsons Movie

3) The Lives of Others

4) Once

5) I'm Not There

6) Black Snake Moan

The Difference Between Cats and Dogs

My dog sitting duties came to an end today. I had a nice time with Torii and Kurbie.

How is it that the general belief has come to be that dogs will eat anything and cats are finicky? This wasn't the case in my running back and forth between homes. Meal times were an adventure as Kurbie all but refused to eat. I had to coach him to eat each and every morsel of food by praising Torii for eating his own meal. Of course Kurbie wasn't so picky every time he was given a treat- a milk bone. And when I got home to my boyz all they wanted to do was eat. They made sure I was aware of that with their each and every move...

So Long Dr. Nick

Kurbie, Torii, and I watched The Simpsons Movie. I've watched the TV show since it started all those years ago on the Tracey Ullman Show. Still I gotta say I was surprised that I enjoyed the movie so much. I think it is my favorite movie from 2007. There were several laugh out loud moments...

An Encore Card

Cats and Dogs

My dog sittin duties began yesterday. And a worse day could not have been chosen weather wise. The storm started with freezing rain that coated the streets with ice. Then the snow came and strong winds. It would have been the perfect day to stay indoors.

M-, Kurbie, and Torii live about 40 minutes from my house. That is on a good day. Yesterday it took me well over an hour of white knuckled driving to get out there. Always amazes me how people who seemingly have lived here for a while can't seem to deal with bad driving conditions. In two separate instances the car in front of me spun out because they were going much too fast. Luckily in both cases I left enough room to be able to react and avoid a collision.

The plan today is to go back to M-'s right after work, then drive out to my house to spend some time and feed my boyz, and then go back to M-'s for the night. The forecast is for more snow.....

Ready Set Go

The gifts are bought, the presents wrapped, everything is ready to go for Xmas Day. That is for my human friends and family. I haven't gotten anything for the boyz yet but their Xmas will have to be delayed anyway as I won't be home most of the next few dayz...

The Star

Finished putting together the Xmas DVD I give to my family with pictures of the boyz set to music. Halfway through the year when I first started putting this year's DVD together I had more pictures of Thompson and Diego then I did of Theo. Well things more than evened out- Theo is the definite star of the DVD. He's a photogenic lil fella.

A Work in Progress

For Christmas I'm going to be housesitting my friend M-'s two dogs Kurbie and Torii. So I'll be doing a lot of running back and forth between two houses of cats and dogs... In preparation I thought this was appropriate.

I'm Not There

After trying for a month to see it, I finally made it to Todd Haynes' film I'm Not There yesterday. Being a Bob Dylan fan I quite enjoyed how the film incorporated many of the things Dylan has said and done over the years into this web of loosely connected versions of different actors (and actress) playing different versions of Bob. It worked like the best Dylan songs work- the sum is greater than the parts and individual scenes (and lyrics) might not make a whole lot of sense but by the end a definite mood and feeling is evocatively established.

Cate Blanchett as the strung out and headed for a crash mid-1960's Jude Quinn was my favorite Bob.

A worthwhile movie to see...

The Rest of the Story

The first time I met Thompson and Diego-san was at their foster home. I had read their bios on the web site of the shelter they were both brought to.

Diego-san had been described as ultra friendly. Thompson's description mostly had to do with how well he got along with his pal Diego.

When I met them Diego lived up to his billing by greeting me and all but climbing up on me and jumping in my arms. Thompson stayed his distance, checking out how I reacted to Diego. Their reactions are similar to how they still greet strange visitors to the house.

After a while Thompson did hobble over although it was Diego that demanded all the attention. The next visit was at Petco where they both were part of an adoption show at the store. I didn't get to spend much time with them as Diego was basking in all the attention he was being given by all the people stopping by. I visited them one more time at their foster home but truthfully my mind was made up during the first visit just by watching Thompson.

The boyz surprised me the first night at their new house. Diego seemed completely lost and he immediately ran downstairs and hid out of sight somewhere in the basement. Thompson went from room to room thoroughly checking out his new home. He spent a lot of time with me, seemingly happy that he was the one getting all the attention as his buddy remained unsure of what to make of the situation. I woke up that first night to see Diego standing at the side of my bed looking at me. When I reached down to pet him he ran away. It took him a few days to do the house exploration thing and he hasn't looked back since. Thompson and I really bonded that first night and I have remained forever thankful that of the several cats I did look at during the adoption process, I ended up with these two boyz....

Last Late Night

Had a meeting that went until 12:48 a.m. and thus I didn't get home until around 2 a.m.

The boyz, of course, were none too pleased. I tried to feed them and fall quickly asleep but Theo was having none of that choosing to wrestle first Thompson, and then Diego right on my bed.

Hopefully that is the last late night meeting of 2007.

Survivor China Finale

Hope I'm not the only one disappointed in the winner of Survivor China. It's really not necessary to do the lying Todd did in order to win. Previous winners like Ethan, Tina, and Yul have all played much more honest games. Honest.

I did end up liking Courtney a lot even though she gave us all the finger on the reunion show. The boyz didn't like the finale because they expected to be fed when the show began and had to wait the entire three hours. Diego was shooting me daggers throughout the show...

The Heating Bill

One of the advantages of having others in the house with fur is that because you also live with a fella who refuses turn up the heat during cold cold weather because he is too damn cheap, there are others to huddle with for a little warmth.

Xmas?

I've never felt more away from the Christmas spirit than ever before... What's up with that? Hopefully seeing Theo's endless energy will snap me to the right frame of mind real quick...

Survivor... Again

Saw that one coming. The whole episode seemed to be to try and show that Peih Gee maybe could do the impossible and survive another day.

Nope.

Sniff...

My Dream

I had a bizarre dream last night. I was out somewhere I didn't recognize and I had Theo with me. He wasn't in his carrier nor was he on a leash so I had to hold him in my arms.

There was a weather report of incoming severe weather so I started heading home. A very short time later it started to pour and with the rain came football sized hail. I quickly sought shelter underneath the big metal canopy that covers the pumps at gas stations.

Theo of course was a tad squirmy and became even more frightened at the sound of the hail hitting the metal above. I was strugging keeping him in my arms afraid he'd get loose and dash away in the rain. I was trying to figure out what I should do. That's when I woke up to find Diego-san sound asleep, snoring, and resting between my arm and my chest with most of his body snuggled up in my armpit area.

Hmmmmm.

Family Meeting

The best way for me to call a family meeting, a house summit, is to turn on the faucet in the bathroom and all three boyz will come charging into the room from wherever in the house they previously were...

Wrappers

This was sent to me by Theo's foster mom. It's 100 percent accurate for the wrapping activity that goes on in my household...

WRAPPING PRESENTS ~ with a cat. . .

1. Clear large space on table for wrapping present.
2. Go to wardrobe and collect bag in which present is contained, and close door.
3. Open door and remove cat from wardrobe.
4. Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper.
5. Go back and remove cat from cupboard.
6. Go to drawer and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc.
7. Lay out present and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed.
8. Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit, and collect string.
9. Remove present from bag.
10. Remove cat from bag.
11. Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present.
12. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size.
13. Cut the paper to size, trying to keep the cutting line straight.
14. Throw away first sheet because cat tried to chase the scissors and tore the paper.
15. Cut second sheet of paper to size by putting cat in the bag the present came out of.
16. Place present on cut-to-size paper.
17. Lift up edges of paper to seal in present, wonder why edges now don't reach, and find cat between present and paper. Remove cat and retry.
18. Place object on paper, to hold in place, while cutting transparent sticky tape.
19. Spend next 20 minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape from cat with pair of nail scissors.
20. Seal paper down with transparent sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible.
21. Look for roll of ribbon; chase cat down hall and retrieve ribbon.
22. Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two-directional turn.
23. Re-roll up ribbon and remove paper that is now torn, due to cat's enthusiasm in chasing ribbon end.
24. Repeat steps 12-22 until down to last sheet of paper.
25. Decide to skip steps 12-16 in order to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that you know is right size for sheet of paper.
26. Put present in box, and tie down with string.
27. Remove string, open box and remove cat.
28. Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for lockable room.
29. Once inside room, lock door and start to re-lay out packing materials.
30. Remove cat from box, unlock door, put cat outside door, close door and re-lock.
31. Lay out last sheet of paper. (Admittedly this is difficult in the small area of the toilet, but try your best!)
32. Seal box, wrap with paper and start repairs by very carefully sealing down tears with transparent sticky tape. Now tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst affected areas.
33. Label, then sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulating yourself on making good of a bad job.
34. Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed cat.
35. Spend next 15 minutes looking for cat, before coming to obvious conclusion.
36. Unwrap present, untie box and remove cat.
37. Retrieve all discarded sheets of wrapping paper, feed cat and retire to lockable room for last attempt, making certain you are alone and the door is locked.
38. At time of handing over present, smile sweetly at receiver's face, as they try and hide their contempt at being handed such a badly wrapped present.
39. Swear to yourself that next year, you will get the store to wrap the darn thing for you.

Shorthanded

We won our curling match yesterday despite playing with only three players (a team is usually made up of four players).

One advantage of playing shorthanded was two of us threw three rocks per end as opposed to the usual two. One of the hardest parts about trying to get better at a sport that I've only played for the past three years is I only get to play once a week. I throw twelve rocks in our games and it's hard to develop any consistency throwing twelve rocks a week. Thus it was a little bit easier establishing a consistent form yesterday by throwing 18 rocks in the match.

Not that this is an Thompson analogy about how being shorthanded can sometimes work to one's advantage...

Past Life

Thompson spent the first part of his life living in a park. Some woman fed him regularly and she was the one who became concerned when he didn't come around only to find him caught in an animal trap.

He remains a window gazer and when he spends hours looking out the windows I wonder if he misses his outdoor adventures. I have a feeling when the weather turns cold and snowy like it is now- he's kinda glad he's on this side of the glass.

Greevy

S.C.

Did Denise do the right thing on Survivor: China last night? Probably so.

While it's always a good idea to do what you have to do to move up in the order (going with Peigh Gee and Erik gave her a chance at third place, staying with Amanda, Todd, and Courtney gave her a chance at fourth place), neither choice offered much of a better chance to finish in the top two. And to turn on her alliance would have likely guaranteed votes against her by the jury should she make the final two.

That said, sad to see Erik go. Seemed like an affable chap.

Go Peigh Gee.

One Trick Pony

Theo's a persistent lil fella. He is sure to remind me when it is approaching what he considers to be meal time. If I'm lying or sitting down he'll jump up on me and do the kitty kneading thingie. If I make any movement he'll peep his lil peep of a meow. If I do start walking to the kitchen he'll tear in front of me to be the first in line. Most of all he'll look up at me with the big eyes of his as if to say, "don't you understand what I'm asking for here? What else can I do?" All these behaviors continue until I do actually feed him. It's hard to not admire so much determination...

Remind Me

Somebody please remind me why I live in Minnesota? There was a snowstorm that started in the morning and continued into the afternoon. Rush hour was a disaster. It took me three and a half (bleeping) hours to drive 14 miles.

And then I had to shovel my sidewalk and driveway.

At least the boyz remained calm.

Trickery

Since Diego-san appears to be smarter than your average cat (and bear for that matter) I've decided I'm going to see if he can learn how to "sit" and "shake hands" upon request. I may have to get a bag of these Temptations that seem to be all the rage for bribery/treats. I'm betting he can learn, it's a matter of his pride about doing tricks on command.

Winter

Got our first major snowstorm of the season over the weekend. Ended up with about five inches of snow. The boyz watched me struggle to get my snowblower working. Thankfully I don't think they could hear some of the choice words that were being used.

The weather made it feel a bit more like curling season not that my team took note. We lost our second consecutive really bad loss- 9-4.

Fun Fun Fun

One of my household jobs of course is to entertain the boyz. So when I got home from work I decided to end all my sentences with an "oh."

So it was "how's it going guys-oh?" and "Did you have a good day-oh?" "Are you hungry-oh?"

I was starting to annoy even myself when I got to telling the boyz what I was having for dinner. "I'm having spaghetti-oh" I said cracking myself up.

Survivor... I Don't Even Know Her

Thompson has lost his interest in watching Survivor with me. Last night Diego-san took his place lying on my arm the entire show.

I'm now rooting for Amanda. It's rare when a player in an alliance realizes strategically that breaking the alliance sooner rather than later is often the best way to proceed. Amanda was very smart in figuring out she needed to get rid of James, and that she executed the strategic move successfully - including telling my gal Peigh Gee to keep her flap shut- shows she is a player.

Bye bye James.

The Wave

Riled Up

Theo was driving Diego-san absolutely bonkers last night, continually chasing him all over the house until a pointed hiss put a temporary stop to the madness.

When I got home there were some construction trucks (and people) working on the street in front of my house. I had noticed signs put up the day before telling people not to park on the street. I'm guessing the construction work went on all day and might have been kinda noisy and house shakin'.

This might have been a reason for Theo's extra energy.

Brrrrrrr

The car thermometer indicated it was seven degrees out on my way to work this morning.

Last night the wind was howling and the wind chill factor must have been about a gazillion below. I didn't get up from underneath my covers to confirm that. Today is the perfect sleep by a heating vent type of day for those in the house who aren't breadwinners.

Yay!

Bucky the betafish, who keeps me company at work, survived the four day weekend with no food. I was a little worried about him all weekend long. It seemed a bit much to make a 40 minute drive to feed him.

I actually had some pretty bizarre dreams over the weekend about his fate- the worst being I got to work and he was being attacked by all these tiny lil parasite fish. Thank goodness when I got into my office he greeted me by wiggling back and forth as soon as I turned on the light.

TP

Someone (some hoodlum, ner do well, delinquent) toilet papered the yard across the street from me. Thompson spent most of the morning looking out the living room picture window particularly fascinated by the streams of white hanging down from the trees.

Cat Man

Had dinner with my nephew and niece-in-law. They have two cats, Arthur and Abby. After dinner I went over to A-'s house to feed her three cats, Marabou, Marcel, and Bud. So counting the boyz I spent the day with eight different cats. T'was a nice day.

Diego-san Maeda-san

Diego was named by his foster family. The girl in the family named him after Diego Rivera. Rivera's wife, Frida Kahlo, has an exhibit being displayed in town. I'm trying to find time to go over and see it. Today I found an advertisement for the exhibit in one of our local weekly newsmagazines and Frida's self portrait is featured in the ad. Check out the cat...

Thanksgiving 2007

Some things I'm thankful for:

A) Thompson's ever determined, I'll deal with whatever comes my way spirit;

B) Diego-san's stubborn personality that is tempered by his snuggleability;

C) Theo's sweet spacey disposition;

D) Thompson's grunt;

E) Theo's peep;

F) Diego's roar;

G) Diego's love of being combed;

H) Theo's love of being picked up and having his neck scratched;

I) Thompson's love of a face rub;

That the boyz are all healthy and seemingly happy.

Gobble Gobble

Me and the boyz plan to spend Thanksgiving determining how many White Castle hamburgers one can eat before getting sick. Should be spectacular fun!

Sighhhhhhh

Another late night meeting meant that it was one of those nights when I got home I just fed the boyz and went straight to bed.

It must have been a long day for Diego-san because when he crawled underneath the covers with me and I scratched his belly, he let out this massive sigh/groan. I could entirely relate.

The Squirrel

Theo's not much of a window watcher. He rarely sits on the strategically placed boxes, furniture and tables that I have set up under most of my house's windows. Sometimes I wonder if he is even aware that the world extends beyond the house's walls.

Yesterday afternoon he was perched on the kitchen table looking out into the backyard. I saw his head and eyes darting from location to location and looked out to see he was carefully watching a squirrel. His tail began to swish back and forth on the table. Moments later he was chasing Diego-san all over the house either out of displaced frustration or thinking that Diego, with his ever impressive tail, was a giant squirrel.

Bad Boy

I hollered at Diego-san for stealing some of Theo's dinner. I chased him away and a couple of minutes later when I returned Diego again was sitting at Theo's dish while Theo innocently watched his meal disappear.

This time I really hollered at Diego who flew to the basement. He knew he was in trouble because he didn't even come upstairs for his nightly combing instead deciding it better to sleep downstairs on the couch. I eventually went over to him to let him know I wasn't still angry and eventually he joined the rest of us upstairs...

Spittin' on a Bumble Bee

Post-Survivor

Once again Thompson and I tried to figure out who was going to be voted off Survivor last night prior to Tribal Council. Thank the lord Peigh Gee won immunity...

If I were there (other than make mooney faces at P.G.) I would have voted for James. Right now he's pretty much guaranteed a spot in the final four given that he has two immunity idols. And given his physical strengths he's a huge favorite to make it to the final two. The tribe had the right idea last week (both Jean Robert and Todd came up with the same idea individually) the only way to eliminate James is to blindside him and the chance to do so is quickly slipping away.

I was sad to see Frosty go but I think strategically that made a lot of sense given his performance in challenges and that he seemed a likeable sort.

Thompson was more interested in the fact James wolfed down seven hamburgers...

Thelonious Dribble Maeda

He peeps, he squeaks, he squeals. Then he runs full speed here to there and back. Oh Thelonious, I wish I knew what goes through that cute lil head of yours. You're still very much a mystery much like the jazz musician you were named after....

Teamwork

Last night I came home and saw a pair of eyes staring out the kitchen window watching a rabbit in the backyard.

When I approached the house the eyes looked up and at me. It was Diego-san and I swear he did a double take when he saw me as if to say, "Oh did you know there's a rabbit trespassing in our yard?"

Back to Work

Back to work. The boyz all gave me the 'do u really have to go?' look this morning. I gave them the 'only if you want a continuous supply of food' look right back.

Favorite Lickers

Diego-san loves to lick the mesh of my backpack. Theo loves to lick my legs after I take a shower. Thompson loves to lick the condensation off the toilet bowl after I take a shower. My favorite liquor? Whiskey-water.

Independence Proven

With my extended absences from the house the past couple of weeks I expected to spend a lot of time with the boyz this weekend. Today I watched TV downstairs while all three boyz slept upstairs. Theo eventually did meander down to join me. I guess they were trying to give me a message.

B-Day

How I spent my birthday:

* Took the day off from work after a long hour work week- made even longer that yesterday morning I went out to start my car and it wouldn't start

* Bought a car battery from AAA

* Had a cup of coffee with my friend M-

* Thought about going to the Apple Store to spend my $100 in store credit I got for being among the first to buy an iPhone, but didn't have anything in particular I wanted to buy so I didn't go...

* Took a nap with Theo

* Had dinner with my dad

* Watched the movie Dreamland with the boys

Roar

Another late night at the office and at the writing class I'm taking. That makes three late home arrivals in a row. (And tomorrow's threatening to make it four in a row...)

I find Diego's reaction- expression of displeasure- kinda amusing. He'll roar at me complete with the lion's circular head movement and then I'll pat him on the top of the head. He'll then follow me around until I sit down and he'll hop up on my lap and demand attention.

He's a very aggressive affection seeker.