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.