Speed Racer

When Theo plays superhero he doesn't pretend to be Supercat or Batcat or Spidercat or Iron Cat. Nope he pretends to be Flash and often it seems like he doesn't need to pretend much...

The Cost of Diego-san

Last fall, Diego-san developed a new hobby: ripping holes in most of my window screens. Well I finally got around to bringing a few of my screens to my neighborhood hardware store to get them repaired. Riley and Tiki left a suggestion on a previous posting alerting me to a pet proof screen so I had the hardware store install(?) that.

So far so good. I opened the windows a bit this evening and Diego-san sat up against the new screening but didn't try to rip holes in it.

Cost for the new screening for five screens? $133.16. Ouch.

Temptations Update

The boyz are gaining fondness for Temptations. While they don't clamor for them any more than they did for their old brand of treats, they certainly are woofing them down faster and faster when I give them some. Thompson in particular seems to think they are mighty tasty...

My Ferdinand

As far as I know, Theo has never really been outside. He's not much of a window cat. Yesterday I caught him watching a bird who was sitting peacefully in our front yard. Theo's look suggested he was not thinking of the bird as prey but as a chirpy little toy. I truly believe if I let Theo outside, he'd be like Ferdinand the bull- perfectly content just to smell the flowers when he really should be stalking a meal. It's probably a good thing he's an indoor cat and he has a box of toys and a dinner dish that is filled three times daily.

Back from Cut Bank, MT

My friend M- called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in taking a trip on an Amtrak. We looked around and determined a jaunt to Cut Bank, Montana was in our price range and distance (we wanted to get back in time not to miss any time at work).

It was a fun trip. Traveling by train is a very good way to see the country. We played a lot of Yahtzee and dominoes and watched a lot of movies. Of course the boyz were none too pleased to spend Memorial Day weekend alone but even Diego-san has somewhat forgiven me.

Again!

All Alone...

We Are...

We Win

My softball team won its first game of the season 17-15 over the dreaded team from Minnesota Public Radio. I took a ground ball off the knee and when I got home it was pretty sore so I was hobbling around pretty good. I told the boyz what happened and if they could speak English I'm sure they would have told me it is better to field the ball with my glove than it is my knee.

Drained

For the past month or so I've noticed that the upstairs bathroom sink is extremely slow to drain. The same problem exists in my main level bathroom sink only the drainage in that sink has been a problem for well over a year. Since both sinks eventually do drain and since my home repair skills are limited to knowing how to change my furnace filter, I just kind of resigned myself to living with slow draining sinks. I was even able to talk myself into believing that this minor inconvenience has always been there and dreams of water flowing freely down the drain was just a part of my imagination.

Last night I finally decided to investigate the matter. I unscrewed the water stopper so I could have a better look down the drain. I had a pair of tweezers and I reached down to see what I could grab. To my surprise there was a ton of hair clogging the sink. I do not have very long hair and I don't wash my hair in the sink so it kind of surprised me to find so much hair. Then it dawned on me... those are the sinks the boyz like to drink water from and since the boyz's hair is everywhere in the house, it should have come as no surprise to find cat hair in the drain. The telltale sign was much of it was the length of Diego's fur which tends to be longer than my own hair.

I grabbed as much as I could with the tweezers but the water still didn't drain very well. So I got a chopstick and pushed the remaining clumps down as far as I could. Sure enough puddles of water do not form every time I turn on my faucets anymore.

Mission accomplished.

Surprise

Over the weekend I was invited to an engagement party. The bride-to-be is the boyz regular sitter, the person who comes over to feed them when I'm negligent in my duties and am away from home. She also happens to be Diego-san's favorite person in the world.

For awhile there she and I discussed maybe getting a restraining order against Diego because every time she visits he all but mugs her (with affection).

The party was at a nice pasta bar near the University of Minnesota. The groom-to-be stepped up to the mike when the band was between songs and thanked us all for coming noting how nice it was for so many friends and family to be gathered. He began to joke about the wedding date because it wasn't announced and then decided he should wait until his bride-to-be (who was nowhere in sight) was around so they could announce the date together. He went to look for her and when they returned they were all decked out in wedding clothes. They brought out a justice of the peace and were married. It was quite the surprise and kinda cool.

Of course I was a bit reluctant to tell Diego-san what happened.

PSSSST: He'll find out this weekend when she comes over to feed the fellas...Pssst.

All The Rage

Despite the fact I own an iPhone, a Mini Cooper, and a scooter, I don't consider myself to be a hip trendy consumer. I generally don't know what is in style or in fashion. I don't go for whatever is the latest rage just because it is the latest rage..

Ever since I started reading other cat related blogs I've learned that the fashionable treats to give to kitties are Temptations. Up until now I have not broken down and gotten some for the boyz. Their treat is Max Cat gourmet kitty treats that promises to help against tartar buildup. I originally started them on those specific treats in honor of the original kitty of the house, the late great Mr. Max. The boyz definitely enjoy the treats more than their normal food. They get treats whenever I treat myself to a latte from the coffee place across the street. Well I ran out of Max Cat gourmet kitty treats and I didn't have time to run up to the pet store so I ran to the closer Target store. There I didn't find the normal treats but did see Temptations.

So I bought some.

This morning was the first time the boyz got to try Temptations and there were mixed results. Theo and Thompson ate the treats but not with the normal enthusiasm they show toward their regular brand. Diego-san played with his treats and seemed reluctant to even give them a try. When Theo finished his treats and headed over for Diego's, that is when Diego decided he'd better eat the Temptations.

Everything I've read indicates this stuff is like candy for kitties so we'll see how enthusiastic the boyz are next time around.

Cleaning Frenzy

One of my all time favorite TV shows is The Simpsons. One of my favorite bits on the show is when Homer sees the latest infomercial and decides he absolutely has to have the product, that it will solve a problem he didn't even know existed. It's one of my favorite bits because I share Homer's affliction. As I'm channel surfing and I run across an infomercial undoubtedly there is a good chance my credit card will soon have a new charge.

This has been especially dangerous the past few months as I decided I'm not going to just give in on the war against cat hair. So I've purchased just about every miracle floor cleaning device that has appeared on my TV screen. The Swivel Sweeper works well but clogs up with the boyz fur pretty quickly. The Shark Sweeper is much more powerful than the Swivel Sweeper and actually works well on not only my rugs, but my upstairs carpet. The problem with the Shark Sweeper is it is too big to get underneath a couple of my couches and doesn't do well in corners. My latest purchase is the Shark Steamer. I tried it today on my kitchen floor and unfortunately it didn't seem to leave it as sparkly as seen on TV.

Daddy's Home... Time to Scratch

Diego-san and Thompson have developed this habit over the years of greeting me at the door when I come home at night, getting a pat on the rump or head, and then immediately heading to different scratching posts to sharpen their claws. I'm not entirely sure what this is about but I'm guessing they must mostly sleep when I'm not there and I wake them up with my arrival. So a good stretch is therefore in order...

Black and White

Theo has two gears: restless and resting. I admire that.

The Charmer

I recently read a response to a posting about black cats on the Feline Rescue blog that got me thinking. (Feline Rescue is the shelter I adopted all three of my boyz from.)

I responded to the post mentioning how lucky I was to find Diego-san. Katie mentioned that she almost adopted Diego before I did but settled on another cat. That got me thinking how truly fortunate I was to find both Diego and Thompson and later Theo. All three have added so much to my life that it is impossible to think what my life would've been like had we not found each other. I remember before I decided to adopt Thompson and Diego that I visited them at a showing at the local Petco store. I had almost made up my mind at that point, but didn't want to make too hasty a decision because quite frankly I was still mourning the loss of their predecessor (and my good buddy), Mr. Max.

When I got to Petco I wasn't even able to spend time with Diego and Thompson because a lot of people were visiting them. I noticed most people were paying far more attention to Diego and he was soaking it all in. I was impressed by how social he was but my decision was made because I knew the shelter wanted the two adopted together and I truly wanted to be the one to give Thompson a good home. After I got back home I immediately called the person in charge of adoption and committed to the two. I've never regretted that decision. Diego-san and I have had our moments over the last five years mainly related to who is in charge, but by the end of the day he is the one that makes sure I know he greatly appreciates his home.

Ants Update

The boyz' Aunt Eunice was over... oh wait, that's not what I meant...

I've only seen a few individual ants in the kitchen the past few days so hopefully the weekend infestation was just a one time thing. Of course I probably just jinxed myself...

Stress Free

Didn't take Thompson long to feel that things are back to normal and we all can get back to our routines.

We Got Ants

Each of the boyz has a chore they've been assigned to earn their keep in the house. This started when Theo developed the habit of pulling all my towels down from the towel racks onto the floor. Rather than scold him I told him I didn't mind him doing that as long as by the time I got home he hung the towels back up on the racks. For the most part the problem has gone away and I still profusely thank Theo for doing his job every day when I get home from work.

Thompson's chore is to make sure none of the boyz throws up on my carpet or rugs. It's OK if they throw up on the kitchen or bathroom tile, or on the basement cement floor or even on my wood floors. Those are much easier to clean then my carpet and rugs. For the most part Thompson has done an effective job supervising this activity.

Diego's job relates to his ability to spot bugs. He is responsible to make sure the house is bug free. Again he does a good job at spotting the bugs but I mostly have to be the one to remove them from the house.

During the dozen years I've lived in my house I haven't seen many ants get inside. When I came home Friday afternoon I noticed a string of ants crawling around my kitchen sink. I got rid of any I saw but the next day when I got home there were ants crawling around the crumbs of cat food near the boyz dinner dishes. My theory of course is that Diego deliberately shirked his duties as revenge for me leaving him alone for a period of time, once again. Thankfully it seems like (hopefully) it was a temporary infestation because I haven't seen many ants in the house the past couple of days...

I Heart Amanda

Back home. Boyz were glad to see me. Diego-san oscillated between trying to punish me for my unexcused absence (he wouldn't be in the same room as me) and being extra vocal and clingy (when we were in the same room he wanted my undivided attention).

Scooted to the cemetery to visit my mom. I can't believe it's been almost nine years since she died. She never got to meet the boyz but she was a good grandma to the late great Mr. Max.

Then at night Thompson, Theo, and I watched the season finale of Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites. This season got much better as it went on but we were all pretty disappointed that Amanda lost to Parvati. Finishing second in the last two seasons of the show Amanda has proven she just isn't very good at the jury part of the game...

P.S. Diego-san showed who would win a game of Survivor in our house. He organized a walk out at bedtime. I was getting ready for bed and just as we got to the time when the boyz usually claim their spots for the night he walked by Thompson, looked at him and then the two of them went downstairs to join Theo. It's like they had a meeting when I wasn't here and this was what was agreed upon...

Happy Mother's Day

Kurbie and Torii are anxiously awaiting their Momma's return home today...

Unusual Alliance

Came home to the sight of Theo and Diego-san sitting next to each other. Maybe the moon is also made of cheese.

Meowless Friday

House Meeting

To be fair, I conducted a house meeting with mandatory attendance before I left the boyz this morning. I announced my planned schedule and when I will and will not be around. All three boyz looked at me as if I had finally completely lost it, but that's OK. I get that look every now and again. I left out three meals worth of food before I left and asked Diego-san and Thompson to make sure Theo gets his fair share.

SHHHHHH

Don't tell the boyz but I have dog/house sitting duties again this week. M- finished off her finance degree and is going to the graduation ceremony. So I agreed to watch Kurbie and Torii again. This means I'll be running back and forth between her house and mine. Not an easy trek. And my guyzos have to spend the next few nights by themselves. Shhh...

Memoir Meme

Chica and Pumuckl tagged Theo for a memoir meme. Here are the rules:

1. Write your own six-word memoir
2. Post on your blog, and add a picture, if you'd like
3. Link to the one who sent it to you
4. Tag at least five (or less!) more blogs
5. Let the tagged blogs know by leaving a comment

Here is Theo's memoir:

What good is life without play?



Theo thanks Chica and Pumuckl for playing with him and would like to tag Moki and Orange Boy and anyone else who'd like to play...

Failure

I have failed Thompson. I still haven't gotten around to fixing all the screens that Diego-san has torn holes in so even with the weather warming up, I can't open my windows.

Thompson is my window boy and he sees the sunshine and knows after the long winter this is the time of year he usually gets to finally breathe in the fresh air. He looks at me with his sad eyes and I'll be the first to admit I've been derelict in my homeowner duties.

Eight Belles

I've enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby ever since I was a little kid. The first Derby I remember watching was in 1973 when Secretariat won by about fifty lengths.

I really had hoped to take a tour of Churchill Downs early in the spring when I was in Louisville. Unfortunately i didn't have time. I particularly wanted to see the new statue of Barbaro the horse that was euthanized after an unsuccessful attempt at fixing a broken leg suffered at the Preakness.

Yesterday the boyz and I settled in to watch this year's Derby and I was saddened by yet another devastating injury. Eight Belles, the only filly in the race, broke both of her front ankles at the finish line and was immediately euthanized on the track. I think my sympathy for the horses has only increased after adopting two boys who suffered leg injuries themselves. What a sad day.

My Sentiments Exactly

SFF

So I got home and prepared myself for my special time with Theo. I went to the kitchen table and started opening up the day's mail. Theo hopped up on the table and rubbed up against me. He climbed up on me trying to rub his head into my face. I bent down to kiss him on the top of the head and noticed the smell of... strawberries?

Actually I identified the smell as strawberry lotion so he must have slept on an article of clothing or something that had some lotion on it. Suffice it to say for at least one evening, Theo was probably the best smelling kitty in all the upper Midwest.

The Ever Defiant One

Diego-san and I had another minor skirmish last night. Instead of supervising the entire dinner time I stepped out of the room for a moment and when I returned, Diego had nudged Theo away from his dish and was beginning to munch down his second dinner. So I hollered at him and he ran down to the basement meowing/muttering all the way down.

He wasn't down there long however when he came running back up the stairs. His next move surprised even me. As he was running by Theo's dinner dish, he turned his head, stopped, and ate a couple morsels before continuing on into the living room. Um, I think that may have been a symbolic middle finger gesture directed at me.