In The Family

Norma gets a bee in her bonnet every evening and needs/wants all my attention. She meows, squeals, and begs for a forehead rub. She won’t stop until I give her my attention. I’m OK with that. Alias has a similar routine. Must run in the family.
 

Crash

After working 60 hour work weeks for the past five weeks, our schedule returns to normal for the next couple of weeks. The evening work greatly disrupted our routines but for me, even more difficult were the weekends when I crashed and took long naps. Alias always joined me, napping on my legs. Kenta and Norma joined us once in a while. Whatever combinations, I loved spending time with my housemates. 
 

Alias Puddle

A couple of times a night, Alias will hop up on my lap. It’s like his bones go away and he’s a puddle. I rub his belly. This doesn’t last long however, five minutes tops before he squirms out of my lap and onto the floor.
 

Kenta Shrugged

Kenta didn’t see me round the corner of the house. So I stood outside at the front door until he noticed me. Took a while and when he did, I swear he shrugged. 
 

Norma Is Having None of It

The new toy lasted about 15 seconds before Norma decided to put an end to its shenanigans.

 

Me and My

Norma doesn’t think that looks like her normal shadow. 
 

Kitty Pile

The four of us spent a lot of the weekend napping together. It was a very good weekend.
 

Happy Easter

I won a big ass ham at work. Norma definitely checked it out.
 

Famished

This is Alias' 'I'm starving and don't think I'll last another 20 seconds' look.
 

Nobody's Fool

Seriously I don't know what was happening to their right to make them all look that way.
 

Diego-san Like

One of Norma’s many skills happens to be a skill Diego-San amazed me with throughout our time together. He had this uncanny ability to walk into a room, and notice something I had just brought in, or something that got moved in the room from one place to another. He’d immediately go and investigate these changes. Norma is showing the same skill. She has gotten to know many of the new members of my bobblehead collection.

Roar

Stretching out and doing his lion imitation.
 

Cheek to Cheek

Not all of us are so lucky to find a lifetime partner.
 

Routine

Alias has his routine. Part of it is claiming his favorite cat bed after his last meal of the day before Kenta does. Of course, if Kenta wants the bed he’ll lay on top of Alias until Alias gets up and goes somewhere else.
 

Blast from the Past

This may be the first time Mr. Max and I appear in this blog.

 

And All I Have is a Photograph…

I need my birth certificate for some paperwork I need to file. I remember a couple of years ago moving it out of a desk drawer to someplace safe. The only problem is now I don’t remember where that safe place is. But I did find a bunch of old photographs of Mr. Max, Diego-San, and Thompson (Theo came along in the digital age). 

I showed them to Alias, Norma and Kenta and explained who these three other cats were, each of their personalities and what I loved most about them. I’m not sure why, but it left me feeling good to share my memories of those who came before to my great current group of housemates.
 

Oldie but Goodie

Me: “Hey Kenta, is that a paw in your ear?” “Kenta: I’m sorry I can’t hear you because there’s a paw in my ear.”
 

Smothered

Kenya is smothering his brother with love. Alias actually tolerated this for a fairly long time…
 

Felt Spring Like

It got up to 50 degrees yesterday and it was a bright sunny day. The foot of snow we got over the weekend is melting away. I hope my housemates enjoyed some sun puddles. 
 

Look of Concern

I told Norma if she’s concerned about being shipped somewhere, maybe it would alleviate some of her anxiety by getting out of the box.
 

Snowman

I walked to work yesterday morning. On my way I saw the most impressive snowman I've ever seen. It was Shaquille O'Neal sized and made me smile.

Of course as it gets warmer, I fear I'll feel the same as Snoopy.

Blizzard

We got about a foot of snow over the weekend. All three napping on me didn’t exactly give me any more motivation to get out of bed and shovel.

Nature Norma

I have to drive by my house to turn into the alley where my garage is.Yesterday when I drove by I saw Norma sitting in the window. When I walked to my house I saw Norma still sitting in the window. I hated to tell her that they are forecasting two to three inches of snow on Saturday. There’s probably going to be some curse words if the sidewalk and driveway need to be shoveled. 
 

Unhappy

I got home 22 minutes late from work because of a meeting. I got a couple of glares from those not happy about my tardiness. Usually when I get home from work, they know they will be fed once I change my clothes and clean out the litter boxes. 
 

Safety

Kenta and Norma decided it’s probably just safer to sleep in their own beds. I don’t blame them. 

Flying Kitties

I wasn’t going to admit this but Sunday afternoon the four of us were napping together. Alias in his familiar spot, chin, resting on my knees, Kenta up against my left leg, Norma against my right. I was half asleep half awake, lucid dreaming. The dream turned into a nightmare with a mob chasing me. I leaped onto a building but had to pull my legs up hard. And unfortunately this led to three airborne cats. Thankfully, Alias for one, forgave me. He took the same position in the evening. 
 

Goofy on the Nip

All three partook which is unusual Usually Kenta doesn’t show much interest and Norma gets the goofiest. This time Kenta took the prize.
 

His Many Faces

 

Alias can say so much with the movement of his pupils.

My Pal

One of my very favorite moments of the day comes after Kenta finishes eating his dinner. Because he scarfs his food down faster and with more enthusiasm than I’ve ever seen in a cat, I have to make sure he doesn’t steal Norma or Alias’ dinners. (Alias is a very slow eater.) I used to carry Kenta upstairs to the living room couch hold him and stroke his soft fur. He would purr deeply. I’d eventually let him go and he’d race downstairs. I realized I didn’t know if Norma and Alias were actually done (Did I mention Alias is a very slow eater?)

So our routine has changed. Instead of carrying upstairs, he now follows me up the stairs knowing that he’ll get a treat. So I give him a treat, often Greenies because the vet said they might help keep his teeth cleaner. Or sometimes his hairball goop that he loves. I love that he matches my pace up the stairs even though he could race up them much faster than me. Instead, he runs up right next to me, foot after foot. He changes speeds if I slow down or speed up. He runs with a swagger, tail proudly swishing back and forth in the best Diego-San style ever. 

Long History

Just like Theo, and before him, Mr. Max, Norma loves to sit in my 50 year old clothes hamper.

The Life of a Cat

This is one of the last things I saw yesterday morning as I left the house for work. Sometimes, they make it very hard to leave for work…
 

Conquered

It took a little time, and almost squishing his sister, but Kenta finally conquered the laundry basket.
 

Belly Rubs and Favorite Faces

Every evening when I’m working on my computer, Alias will stand next to my chair, meow, and whether I want him to or not, hop up onto my lap, flip over exposing his belly for a belly rub. Sometimes this ends with the most fantastic face in the world.
 

Center of Attention

Kenta is exactly where he wants to be. 
 

Honey I’m Home

I saw Norma through the window when I got home from work yesterday. She didn’t see me even though I was jumping up and down and waving like a mad man. Or maybe she was just ignoring me.
 

Making Faces Contest

Norma sometimes wonders how she puts up with a couple of silly brothers. 
 

Curling

Curling season came to an end last night. Curling up together season continues. 
 

Questions

I recently realized Alias is my go to cat when it comes to asking questions throughout my day. They’re mostly questions he can’t answer because there is no answer. But I rarely if ever ask Kenta or Norma questions other than if they know how much I love them. Mushy stuff like that. I think Alias is my answer guy because when I ask him yet another inane question, he looks up at me sincerely and bellows out a reply. At least he is trying…
 

Our House Protector

Kenta going from stalking to lurking to staring.

 

Busy

I took an evening remote temporary job interrupting our house's normal routine. Norma does not approve of these 12 hour 'work' days.

In Control

Yes I’m underneath them, as they sit on my legs. They stayed there for hours making it very difficult to get anything done. And yes, Alias made me look up.
 

Sweep

We got clobbered in our curling match. I told Kenta I could had used him using his tail to sweep the ice. He wasn't interested.
 

Friday the 13th

Superstitious or not, they plan to snuggle together in order to stay safe.