Happy New Year

This is my "Don't bug me; I'm chillaxing" pose. I did an even better one on my platform, but the light from the window was too bright, even taking the picture from the side, and it came out too dark to really see me. My Mom wanted to put a New Year's hat on me, but she couldn't find one. Hahaha! I win. I hope that everyone has a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. This year is certainly going to be better for me than last year. I have a great forever home with a Mom who is spoiling me rotten. I love it. I even got New Year's presents. My Mom went to physical therapy today and dropped by the pet supply store on the way home. She brought me a drinking fountain and an nip banana. I have ignored the nip banana so far, but I love the drinking fountain. I watched Mom's every move as she put it together and even drank out of it as soon as she put the water in. It wasn't even running yet. Once it got running, I checked it out, but didn't drink out of it. About an hour later, Mom saw me taking a long drink and wanted to take a picture, but I was done by the time she got the camera. Unfortunately, she also got me a PTU. I ran as soon as I saw it. Mom put it down on the floor and opened the door and put a towel inside and even put Temptations inside. I wasn't falling for that. I wouldn't go anywhere near it until she opened both doors and I knew that I could escape before she could shut both of them. Then I stretched inside and ate the Temptations, leaving my rear end sticking outside, so she couldn't close the door on me. I know what PTUs are for and I don't want to go. Although, I must admit that the last time I was in one, I ended up here and that was a good thing.

Play time is back! My Mom can get down on the floor and play with me again. We had lots of fun this morning. We played until I lost interest instead of just playing until she got achy. We played three different times today. I also got lots of cuddle time, because she had to rest a bit this afternoon. I have decided that Da Bird is fun to catch and put the bitey on. I don't play with it like most cats. I like to play lying down. I lie down on my back and Mom swings the feathers right over my head. I bat them, catch them and bite them. If she swings the feathers high, I just lie there and watch them. I played with my wand mousie, too. I like it when Mom moves the mousie along the floor until it gets close to me. Then I grab it and bite it.

Happy New Year everyone!

Catching Up

I have now claimed all the furniture in the big room as MINE. Here I am napping on the couch. See how my fur sticks out? Mom has really looked at my fur and her theory is that I always look like I am having a bad fur day because my fur has just a tiny bit of curl in it. It is especially noticeable in my chest and tummy fur. She was brushing me the other day and noticed that my back fur got wavy after brushing. The little bit of curl means that my fur doesn't like to lie flat and smooth.

My Mom is feeling better and doesn't get very hurty much any more.

Karen Jo: I still have a low grade ache most of the time, but the big pain spikes when I move in certain ways has almost disappeared. Yay for physical therapy and exercises! I even got down on my hands and knees to retrieve Herman's ball and played with him for a little bit while I was down there. Getting up again wasn't nearly as painful as I had feared, so maybe our regular play times may be back soon.

I am getting more playful again. I wasn't playing much when Mom was so hurty. I think I picked up on her feeling bad and it made me feel a bit bad, too. Now things are better and I am having more fun. I am scarfing up the food, but I still love keeping my Mom guessing. She gave me some turkey and skin in my bowl and I didn't eat it. I kept staring at her and meowing while she was eating her turkey, though, so she gave me some turkey skin and a tiny bit of gravy on a people plate and I ate it right up.

Karen Jo: I sometimes give Herman treats on saucers, which I never use for food. I always use the Sanitize cycle on the dishwasher anyway.

I love it when my Mom decides to spend the evening sitting up on her bed and watching TV. I snuggle right up to her side and get lots of petting.

Karen Jo: We have been having very cold weather and I have been pretty achy, which is why I haven't been blogging since Christmas. Hopefully, the ache will continue to diminish and I can get back to a more normal blogging schedule.

Merry Christmas, Part 2

Here I am with all the toys that I got from my woofy cousins in Michigan. I was so excited that I didn't know what to play with first. I got a ball that rattles and a ball that jingles and three sparkle balls. I got three big mousies and a crackle frog and a nip fishie and a nip pillow and a nip mousie and an octopus and a stocking with a bell on it and a feather-butt mousie; just all kinds of neat toys. My Mom got me a wand toy with a mousie on it and a flat cardboard scratcher. I haven't scratched on it, but I sure have been enjoying the catnip on it. Guess what? My Mom got out Da Bird and I'm not afraid of it any more. I batted it and caught it and chomped on the feathers. I played with the rattle ball and the jingle ball for quite a while. Please ignore the ribbons stuck to my fur. Mom threw everything on the floor when she opened the presents and I was rolling around playing and they got stuck to my fur. Sometimes Mom calls me Electric Cat because of all the static electricity I build up rolling around on the carpet.

For lunch Mom shared a can of tuna with me. I haven't had tuna in ages.

Karen Jo: That's because the last time I gave you tuna, you barfed.

I didn't barf this time, so can I have some more?

Karen Jo: You can have a little every once in a while.

I hope everyone is having as much fun today as I am.

Merry Christmas

Zoolatry made this really nice Christmas picture for me. Isn't it great? I want to wish all my friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate. My Mom is slowly getting better and I hope we can get back to a more normal blogging schedule. She has to watch it, because sitting in the computer chair with her hands on the keyboard for too long gives her an an owie. I still don't get much play time, but today she found a wand toy that I actually like. It has a little mousie on the end. She looked for a new end for Da Bird, but all the store had was feathers, but then she found this one. The wand is shorter, so it doesn't bounce around as much and it isn't scary when it comes back toward me. We played with it for quite a while. She was going to buy me a drinking fountain for Christmas, but the lady in front of her bought the last one. I will get one soon.

Thanks for your suggestions that I play with Mom on the bed, but when I get up on the bed with her, all I want is cuddles. I used to get up on her right side, as that has the most room, but she had to use her owie arm to pet me and I wasn't getting as much petting as I wanted, so I persuaded her to scootch over more toward the middle of the bed, so I can get on her good side and I now get all the petting I want. I just push her hand away with my paws when I have had enough and want to snooze. I found out that I like to cuddle up to her side and rest my head on her arm and have her pet my chest and upper tummy. I didn't used to like having my tummy petted, but I like it now, as long as she doesn't get too close to my back legs. I purr and purr and purr next to her. Arms make very good pillows. I have also found out that I like to be brushed, but Mom has to brush my tummy while I am standing up. I refuse to lie down on my back and let her brush my tummy.

I eat a lot now and have gained some weight. I even have a little bitty furchin. Mom tickles it sometimes, but then I have to put the bitey on her. I never bite hard, so everything is OK. I am learning not to use my claws when I play with her hand.

Today I did something new. There were lots of birdies at the feeder and I lashed my tail and chittered at them a little. Before I have just watched them. Thank goodness Mom is well enough now to go out and fill up the feeder, so I can watch them again.

I hope that all of you get lots of play time, cuddles, petting and family time during the holidays.

Getting Better

No picture today as my Mom hasn't been taking pictures lately. As a matter of fact, she hasn't been doing much of anything lately. She fell down on the floor a squillion naps ago and made lots of loud OW! noises then she went to bed and hardly got up until yesterday. She doesn't get down on the floor with me and play at all. I really miss my playtime, but at least tonight she gave me some chick-hen.

Karen Jo: I am sorry about your play time, Herman, but I fell against the bathtub and cracked two ribs the evening of December 8th. I asked my physical therapist about getting down on the floor with you and she said, "Definitely not!" I did roll your ball around for you a little bit this afternoon, but I had to stop after just a little while because I can't bend down much. At least I can get up more and have much less pain. I will try to figure out some way of playing with you, because I can tell how much you miss it.

Storm

We are having a really big snowstorm. Mom took both a still picture and a few seconds of video of what was going on at our house about noon today. She thinks that the still came out better.


I sat on my platform and watched it come down. I even watched my Mom go out in this and fill up the bird feeder. I think she's a bit nuts, but the birds put on a good show after they got fed. I didn't even want to play I was so engrossed. I finally told her that I wanted to play this afternoon when she was getting her coat to go to work. I missed out on my afternoon play time and I was unhappy about that, but this was just so much more interesting.

Karen Jo: It's still coming down. I got some snow in my boots coming home from work and the top of my boot is 8 1/2 inches high. I was going to snap a picture of what the same scene looked like when I got home, but I would have had to take off and put on my boots again and I was just too tired. I will show you another picture tomorrow.

I didn't even want to play with my Mom when she got home. She was really surprised. Once she feeds me and gets into her PJs we usually play like mad for a half hour or so. She took a picture with the flash of me just lying there looking at her, but the camera was pointed at the lamp as well as me and you can't even see me. I finally decided I wanted to play about an hour later.

Karen Jo: I need some suggestions on how to play with Herman. We just do the same old things day after day and I am afraid I am beginning to bore him. We play bat the ball back and forth and I toss him rattle mousies or other toys. I bounce his balls for him and sometimes he just ignores them. Da Bird scares him and I haven't found a smaller lure for it yet. He likes to play with my hand, but he uses his claws frequently and it hurts. He likes the laser dot, but gets frustrated with it. I give him a treat when he bites at it, but he still walks away from it after a while.

Award

I got my very first award from Tygana at One Cat's Nip. Thank you so much. Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the Kreativ Blogger picture onto your blog.
   
2. Thank the person who gave you the award and post a link to their blog.
   
3. Write 7 things about yourself we do not know.
   
4. Choose 7 other bloggers to award.
   
5. Links to those 7 other bloggers.
   
6. Notify your 7 bloggers.

Seven things you don't know about me:
1. I have one pink paw pad. The others are all gray.
2. The bump underneath my chin has almost gone away. Mom thinks I must have scratched myself or something and it's just a little scab.
3. My eyes are green/gold with a little hazel brown mixed in.
4. I turned 2 1/2 on Sunday.
5. I sometimes stick my nose in my Mom's dinner and she doesn't get mad.
6. Mom put a blanket for me up on top if the file cabinet in case I wanted to get up high and I have never gone up there.
7. I never crawl under a blanket or anything else to get warm.

Now for the hard part, finding seven other kitties who don't already have this award.

Cubby and Clifford at Friends Furever, because it is their birthday.
Cheysuli, because I think she needs cheering up a little.
Loki, because he's just so cool.
Chairman Mao, because they need some encouragement to blog more.
Roxy, because we both like to jump up on the table.
Mickey, because we mancats have to stick together.
Angel and Kirby, because they are such good friends.

Easy on Sunday

Mom took another bad video of me, but she put it up anyway. I was playing like mad with my squeaky mouse when she got the camera out, but as soon as she started the video recording, I stopped and just looked at her. As soon as she put the camera away, I started playing again. I like to keep her guessing. Last night, I sat quietly on the bed and watched her blog. As soon as she said, "It's bedtime, Herman," I took off like a wild kitty and wanted to play. She went to bed and I went into the living room and knocked over the bowls of rattle mousies and scattered them all over and played with all my toys. I went in to her bed just before she fell asleep, though. Today I didn't want to play before she went to work, but we sure played a lot when she got home. We played and I got so many scritches and pettings that she had hardly any time left to blog. She also said something about having a very busy day at work and being tired, so this is a short post. See you again tomorrow.

Thank You, Grrreta

Remember yesterday when I told you about my clumsy Mom kicking me?  Well, today when she got dressed, she put those big clumsy feet into huge, clompy things.  I was terrified.  I ran away whenever I saw her coming.  I wouldn't even come out of hiding for my chick-hen.

Karen Jo:  Those are my new work boots, Herman.  I am sorry that they scared you so much.  From now on when I am going to wear them to work, I will not put them on until I am ready to go.  It's too bad that you were so afraid, because a package from Grrreta came for you.  It had all this neat stuff in it.

Temptations?  There were Temptations in the package?  I didn't see them when I came out to check what you left on the floor.

Karen Jo:  I left all the toys out, but put the Temptations and the laser pointer away, because I didn't want you opening the Temptations by yourself and eating yourself sick  I gave you some when you were done playing.

I found the toys and played with a rattle mousie and a Wooly Bully while you were gone. We had lots more fun after you got home and took off those scary clompy things.  I played and played and played, especially with this mousie:

It squeaks when I bat it around and pick it up.  I batted it and bit it and chewed on it and had so much fun with it. Thank you so much Grrreta.  There are lots of toys I haven't even played with yet and I love the fancy bowls to eat my Fancy Feast from.  They are full of rattle mousies in the picture.

Bad Mommy

Mom took this picture of me while I was playing with the paper she left on the floor.  It's not too great, but you can see my ear tuft.  My Mom must be the laziest, clumsiest Mom in the whole world.  She didn't even take any pictures today.  All she did was run noisy machines all day and lie around doing nothing.  She even kicked me three times today.  Three times!  Sheesh!  You would think that she would know that I'm here by now.

Karen Jo:  I'm so very sorry, Herman.  I didn't mean to hit you with my legs or feet at all.  I just haven't mastered the "check where the kitty is before moving your feet" way of walking yet.  I did the laundry and cooked and fed the birds and brought in the trash bins from the curb and that's all I did, beside playing with you and giving you lots and lots of scritches.  I'm still feeling just a little tired from getting over my cold.  I meant to take some pictures, but the light never seemed right with the snow coming down.

At least I got lots of play time and scritches.  I didn't eat nearly as much today as I did yesterday and I slept a lot, too.  Mom thought I should be interested in the snow, but I wasn't. Why should I care about snow?  I'm not going out there.  Mom seemed to be awfully interested in a certain place under my chin while she was giving me scritches.  I let her scritch it and feel it, but I wouldn't let her look at it.

Karen Jo:  I felt a little bump and what feels like a scab, Herman.  I was just trying to figure out what it is.  I am going to keep feeling it and if it gets bigger, you might have to go to the v-e-t.

Nooo!

Mom's All Well

Here I am in my round bed by the heat vent.  This is where I usually sleep during the daytime, especially if there isn't a nice sunspot somewhere.  My Mom got all over her cold, but getting rid of the last of it made her really tired, so she wouldn't blog for me for a couple of days.  She is all better now and we have been getting in a lot of good play time.

Here are all my toys in my new toy bucket.  Also my Mom's big feet.  Mom noticed that I wasn't playing much and would only pay attention to a toy for a very little time with the toys spread out all over the floor.  She put all my toys in this bucket and only got out one to three at a time and now I am playing all over the place.  She tips it over on its side for me when she goes to work or to sleep, so I can pull out the toys I want.  I can fish out the soft toys with it upright, but I couldn't get my little plastic balls out and they are my favorite.  Mom hunted and hunted and only found three of the plastic balls that I hid, so she got me four more.  We will see how long they last.  Tuesday Mom let a strange lady into the house.  She had these scary metal things and one of  her legs was in some kind of shell.  I was a bit afraid of her at first, but when she sat down and put down those metal things, I came over to see her.  She gave me some nice scritches and some treats, so I think she's OK.  I tried to bite her toes, but I couldn't quite get to them in the shell.  When she got those metal things to stand up, I hid under the couch and didn't come out until she was gone again.  We ran out of turkey, so I am getting chicken for my lunch treat again.  I am eating more.  I am eating my Stinky Goodness right up almost as soon as Mom gives it to me.  She doesn't want me to get hungry, I am getting two whole cans today.  I will get the second half of the second can at bedtime.  I like it here.

Mancat Monday

This is another picture of me enjoying my sunspot the other day.  Mom didn't take any pictures of me today.  Some white stuff fell out of the sky and it was pretty dark all day long.  We had some good playtime last night and tonight, but Mom didn't play with me at all before she went to work.

Karen Jo: I'm sorry, Herman.  I know that you were asking me for playtime, but I was busy with my chores.  By the time I got done, you were all curled up in your bed by the heat vent.  I will try harder to pay attention to when you want to play.  By the way, what happened to all your little plastic balls?  I didn't see any of them tonight.

I'll never tell.  Hahaha!  Buy me some new ones.

Karen Jo: I will if I can't find the eight I already bought you.

Nothing much else has been happening.  We have settled down into a routine and it mostly works for both of us.  Mom's cold is getting better, but it isn't gone yet, so she's going to bed early again.  See you tomorrow.

Sunspot

Here I am enjoying a nice sunspot while Mom rested on the couch Friday.  She played with me a little bit, but mostly she just rested.  That's why we didn't blog yesterday.  That cold is making her very tired and she wanted to rest as much as possible before going back to work on Saturday.  Mom says that she is sure that it is a cold and not an allergy to me because it is making her so tired.  She also doesn't have the other allergy symptoms that she usually gets.  She brought me home some of the furry mice that Gracie recommended and I like them.  I have toys scattered all over the living room floor now.  Friday a lady that I never saw before came to the door and gave my Mom a bag.  I smelled something wonderful and started meowing and meowing.  It was TURKEY!  I wouldn't leave Mom alone for a second until she gave me some.  I gobbled it down and asked for some more and she gave me some more.  We had it again for lunch on Saturday.  I want it every day.

Karen Jo:  I will give you some every day until we eat it all, Herman.

Will you get some more after that?

Karen Jo:  If I can find some turkey legs or hindquarters, we will have it fairly often, Herman.  I like turkey, too.

I also showed Mom that I can drink out of the faucet. She was washing my Stinky Goodness dish and I jumped right up on the sink and started lapping the water.  She was surprised, but let me drink until I had enough.  Now I jump up every time she turns on the water and she lets me drink my fill. We had some nice play time Saturday night after she got back from work.

Karen Jo:  I am not so drippy and sneezy as I was, but fighting off the cold is really sapping my energy.  I will try to blog a bit, if I am feeling up to it, but I need to go to bed much earlier than I usually do, to try to regain my strength, so I will be doing very little visiting and maybe not much blogging until I get well again.

Boring Day

This is the first picture I took of Herman with the flash.  I took it just after the not so hot video I put up yesterday, just in case the video didn't work at all.

Mom, you hardly played with me at all today.

Karen Jo:  I know, Herman, and I'm sorry.  I slept later than usual, then I had to do the laundry.  I tried to play with you after lunch, but you were too sleepy.

You went back to your room and closed the door.

Karen Jo:  Yes, Herman.  I got all drippy and sneezy and I don't want you to catch my cold.  I came out for dinner and let you lick some sour cream and butter.

I liked that.  You did play with me after dinner for a long time.

Karen Jo:  I really enjoyed that.  We played and cuddled for almost 45 minutes.

Then you went away again.

Karen Jo: I'm sorry, Herman, but I got all drippy and sneezy again.  Maybe I will be better tomorrow and we can have more cuddle and play time.

I would like that.  Will you let me sleep with you tonight?

Karen Jo: Of course.  I love it when you sleep with me.  I can turn away from you if I get sneezy again in the night.

Happy Thanksgiving

Herman and I have lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, most of all for each other. Herman is also thankful that he got package to day from LC, Ayla and Iza. He got new toys today, even though I didn't go out.
He got rattly mice, some foam balls and some Friskies treats. He loves them all. He wanted to get at the rattly mice even before I opened the package for him. When I pulled the first one out of the package, he grabbed it out of my hand and started playing with it. Later I got out the foam balls for him and I took a video of him playing with one of them. Please excuse the shots of the floor while I batted it back to him.


Mom, this is my blog and I want to tell all my friends what I am thankful for. I am most thankful for my new forever home. I was so sad in my room all by myself that I had given up playing and even looking out the window. My foster lady was very worried about me. Then Karen Jo came along and wanted me and I wanted her, too. Now we are very happy together. I am thankful for all the delicious noms that I get all the time. I am thankful for all the wonderful toys I now have to play with. I play more every day. I am thankful for my platform where I can bask in the sunspots and watch the birdies. I am thankful that I can sleep with my Mom every night. I am thankful for wonderful organizations like Friends of the Shelter, who saved me from being put to sleep as soon as I was diagnosed with FeLV and FIV. Oh, I am just thankful for everything in my new life. I hope that all of my new friends on the internet have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Taking It Easy

Ann, Zoey and Maggy sent this lovely portrait of Herman to us. They also sent us a great Christmas picture which we will be using later. I am really sorry that Herman and I haven't been keeping up with our visiting. I have been working late because this is a really busy time of year at the store and I haven't been feeling so great. It turns out that I was coming down with a cold. It's nothing much, but it is making me feel tired and the constant nose dripping is annoying.

Hey, Mom, you brought me some great little mousies and some more balls home tonight, but you didn't play with me like you always do.

Karen Jo: I'm sorry, Herman, but I just didn't have the energy tonight. I'll make it up to you tomorrow.

But you just play with me for a little while and then you leave.

Karen Jo: I have three days off for Thanksgiving, Herman, so I will have lots of time to play with you.

Yay! That sounds great to me. Will we be having something yummy for Thanksgiving?

Karen Jo: I'll be having roast beef and baked potato and salad and you will be having chicken with broth.

I have decided that roast beef is yucky, so I'm glad that you have chicken for me.

Karen Jo: I know. You didn't eat any of it the last time I gave you some. It's too bad you didn't think to teleport it over to Roxy before it got all dried up.

I am glad that you brought me some more balls to play with. Most of the ones I had disappeared.

Karen Jo: I noticed that. Only the purple one with pink spots was left. Is that because it is your favorite?

Sheesh, Mom, that one was left because I only play with it when I can't find the others. What happened to the other ones?

Karen Jo: I don't know, Herman. I suspect that you chased them under the dishwasher or the refrigerator. I will look for them sometime soon.

Will you get me some mousies like the ones that Gracie likes?

Karen Jo: Yes, Herman. I have seen them at the store, but I am staying in for the next three days, so it will be a while before you get any more new toys.

Aw, shoot. I love getting new toys, even the lame ones like you brought home last night. I didn't even play with them much.

Karen Jo: But this morning you discovered that the fuzzy weasel has a rattle inside and then you liked it.

Yeah, I guess it's not so lame after all. Hey, I like the snuggle you put in the chair. It was just right for my nap this afternoon.

Karen Jo: That makes me happy, Herman. I got that snuggle in an auction. I think DKM made it to help raise money for Lilly Lu, Iris and MuShue after the fire. I know that it is called The Lilly Lu. I was hoping even then that I would have a kitty some day who would enjoy it. I hope that you will nap on it again when I have time to take a picture.

You know I don't pose for the camera, but maybe it will happen.

Tuesday, Toesday

Mom just loves my toehawks, so I let her snap this picture. We found a new game to play today. She rolls a ball to me and I bat it back to her. We can do this for a while, then I get excited and start batting it all over the room. Then that dratted ball goes somewhere I can't get to it anymore, but Mom gets it for me and we play the game some more, until I get tired of it and just lie down to rest.

Mom has been lifting me up to my platform when she hears the birdies, but today I showed her that I can get up there all by myself. This made her very happy for some reason.

Karen Jo: It made me happy because I now know that you realize that the platform is yours and you can do whatever you want with it. I do wish you would scratch on it instead of on the carpet and couch, though.

Aw, I don't do that much scratching, anyway.

Karen Jo: That's true.

I do like the nip you put all over it. Maybe I will scratch on it some. Those were pretty lame toys you brought me home tonight.

Karen Jo: They were the only type in the store that I hadn't bought you yet. They are round and fuzzy. You didn't have any fuzzy toys before.

I don't know if I like them. I totally ignored them when you gave them to me.

Karen Jo: We'll see if you play with them tonight. At least you had lots more fun with the red bug.

Mom was mean to me last night. We were getting ready for bed and she was giving me my scritches and she suddenly flipped the covers over on me.

Karen Jo: You left out the part where you scratched my hand again. I am sorry that flipping the corner of the covers over you startled you so much. I thought it would be fun for you.

It scared the heck out of me. I ran away and didn't come back until you were asleep. At least you don't do weird stuff to me while you are sleeping.

Karen Jo: I won't ever do that to you again, Herman. I do like it when you sleep with me.

Gracie wrote this very nice poem for Herman and me:

Herman & Karen Jo

My name is Herman and I always wanted a good home
Unfortunately, I was neglected and left all alone to roam.

Through adoption Karen came to meet me
She had a can of tuna she gave to me while on the floor on her knees.

Now all my dreams have come true
I have a forever home, love, mom, and a blog that I can come and visit you.

Thank you very much, Gracie. We really appreciate it.

Playing Around

Haha! My Mom thought she was going to get a little video of me playing with my big mousie, but she forgot how close it was to time for my afternoon nap. I was getting sleepy and didn't play very long. You can also see my nip ham. Mom has never seen me play with it, but it keeps moving around. I really like all my toys now. Hey, Mom, you didn't bring me any new toys last night or tonight.

Karen Jo: Oh, yes I did, Herman. Remember those four balls you batted around last night? You were too busy grooming yourself to notice when I dropped them on the floor last night.

Three balls, Mom. I only played with three balls. One was purple with pink spots. What kind of toy is that for a mancat?

Karen Jo: They came in a package all together, Herman. To get the white, red and blue balls I had to get the purple one, too. Besides I noticed that you played with the purple one while I was at work.

Well, it's boring here without you. I had to do something besides sleep. You didn't bring me anything tonight.

Karen Jo: Remember that red spot that you chased all around tonight after you had your dinner? I brought that home.

You mean you are responsible for the invasion of the red bug? Grrrr! I can see it, but I can't smell it or catch it or even bite it. I finally gave up trying.

Karen Jo: But you sure had fun trying. I haven't seen you play that long with anything before.

I had fun with foods today, too. Before Mom even changed her furs this morning she went to the room with the slick floor and got a BIG piece of meat out of the cold box. It smelled so yummy that I jumped up and tried to lick it, but Mom caught me and put me back on the floor. Then she put it into a silver thing and put it all in another box that got hot. Pretty soon the whole room smelled really good. After a long time, she took the silver thing out of the hot box and put the meat on a wooden thing. It smelled so good that I jumped up and tried to lick it again, but Mom caught me again and put me back on the floor. Then she cut a piece off of it and put it on one of her food dishes and I tried once more to lick it, but she is too fast for me. Then she cut up a piece and put it on one of my food dishes and put it on the floor for me. I ate one piece and walked away. Then I meowed and meowed and meowed for my chick-hen. She got out my chick-hen and put that on my food dish, too. I ate some chick-hen, but that other stuff was yucky.

Karen Jo: Right, Herman. That was roast beef I gave you first. If you thought it was so yucky, why was it mostly gone when I got back from work?

I got hungry and I have to eat something.

Karen Jo: Like you didn't have Stinky Goodness and crunchies out the whole time.

I ate most of my Stinky Goodness, too.

Karen Jo: I think you just found a way to get roast beef and chicken, too.

Hahaha!

Happy Paws

This is what I do when my Mom gets down on the floor with me and gives me pets and scritches. She wanted to catch me fully on my back making happy paws in the air, but I never stay that way long. You can see my curled paw here, though. I just love it when she gives me scritches, but sometimes she tries to take her hand away too soon and I grab her hand and give her a small bitey. Sometimes she says, "Ouch!", but mostly she just goes back to giving me scritches. I have learned some of her routine. Just before she goes to bed she checks my food dishes, gives me a few scritches, cleans out my litterbox then says, "Herman, it's bedtime!" Last night I beat her to the bed and made her get in around me. Hee-hee! I slept curled up behind her knees last night. Also on her feet. I just love that soft blanket that she keeps over her feet.

I haven't been paying much attention to my platform, so this morning when she heard the birdies outside, she lifted me up on the platform and gave me a treat. Then I watched the birdies for a while before I hopped down again. Then we played on the floor until it was time for lunch. We both got yummy chick-hen. After lunch, Mom got out that fevvers on a string thing again. I batted it a bit and it did that scary jumpy thing again. I ran and hid behind a box and watched it for a while, but didn't come out to play any more. Early this afternoon she lifted me up to my platform again and gave me head scritches. Then I saw the biggest black bird I have ever seen.

Karen Jo: It was a raven, Herman. I wanted you to see it.

I watched it until it flew away. Then I kept watching out the window for a while. This platform gets the nicest sunspot. I just lay down and enjoyed it. My Mom went away for a while then she came back and reached for that thing she puts on when she is going to leave me. I jumped down and twined around her ankles and asked her nicely not to go away, but she did anyway.

Karen Jo: I have to go to work, Herman. I would rather stay home with you, but I have to get the green papers to buy us food and toys for you.

I guess I can live with it. Tonight I ran to the door to meet Mom when she came home. She had to be very careful opening the door to keep me inside. I just wanted to greet her. She got me my dinner and gave me some scritches, then she went and sat by my platform and made some funny scratching noises on it. I went to the platform and jumped up in the little box nearest her and made some biscuits and she gave me a Temptation. I liked that and wanted another one. She made some more scratchy noises and I scratched a tiny bit on the post and she gave me another Temptation. I am not sure what is going on, but I like it.

Floof and Fun

Hi, I'm Herman. I thought I would show off a bit of my tummy floof for you. I'm not sure that I've found my "voice" yet, so how I write may change in time. My Mom is trying to learn how to take pictures of me, but she's not very good yet. Can you see my gold eyes? She is good at spoiling me. I have found out that I don't even have to wake her up for breakfast any more. She always sees to it that I have plenty of food out. This is a good thing because I nibble all day and part of the night. Today I discovered that I like cold macaroni and cheese. My Mom put the cold container out on counter and went to get a plate. I hopped up and started sniffing it, so she gave me some. She left me for a while this afternoon and when she got back, she had a big box with her. This is what was in it:
I snoopervised while she started putting it together, but that got boring after a while, so I took a nap in my bed by the hot air vent while she finished it. I have sniffed it and rubbed up against it, but not gotten on it or scratched on it yet. Well, just a tiny scratch on the bottom white part.

Karen Jo: This was most frustrating to put together as the directions and photos of what it's supposed to look like do not match. There is supposed to be a third ramp, but there is a gap of about an inch between the bracket and the hole the bolt is supposed to go in. I guess I could get a really long bolt, but it doesn't seem worth the bother.

I have also discovered that my Mom will share the big sleeping place with me. When she got in last night I jumped up and went to see her. She had this funny square thing in her hands, but I got in front of it and demanded attention. Pretty soon she turned off the light and we went to sleep. There is this really soft blanket over her feet and I slept there some, but mostly I slept up beside her shoulder. I didn't stay there all night, as there are interesting things to do in the night-time, like bat all my toys around, snack and take care of kitty business, but I was there when she woke up. She seemed really happy about this for some reason.

Later she got out a long stick and got my mousie out from under where it had disappeared. I was so happy that I batted it all around the slick floor. Then she started carrying things out the door. I got really interested in the fresh air coming in from under the second door, but Mom didn't seem to like that. Do you know what she did to me? She picked me up and carried me back into the really big room where I like to hang out. A big mancat like me, being carried. Oh, the indignity of it all! I really squirmed, but she wouldn't let go until she put me down.

After she ate, she got out the feathers on a string thing again. So far it hasn't seemed very interesting to me, but this time I discovered that if I tried, I could catch it. I can also make the feathers bounce around if I bat them. I was having fun until I swatted it hard. It went way up then came down again, right at me. I got spooked and ran away.

My foster lady came to see me today. I still don't like her much. She sat down on the floor with me and I let her pet me a little, but not much. She wiggled my kicker toy at me and I showed her how I play with it. She was really happy about that. She brought me my old bed. I sniffed it and I have stuck my head in it, but I think I like my new one better. Yawn, talking about beds makes me feel sleepy. I think it's nap time again.