Tuxie Tuesday

I'm just chillaxing with my toys.  Mom keeps trying to get me to play and I keep ignoring her.  I do play while she is at work, some.  Most of the time most of my toys are still right where she tossed them before she went to work.  Mom guesses I spend most of the time she is gone just napping and eating.  Mom sneaked up on me while I was eating the treats I get in my little PTU for taking my morning pill and brushed the little bits out of my pantaloons.  Sneaky Mom!  I couldn't go forward to get away from her and I wouldn't back up into the brush.  I protested, but she did it anyway.

Karen Jo:  There is still a lot to do.  A friend of mine told me about a product called Earth Bath, which is a spray on foam for kitties with klingons.  I will be getting some tomorrow.

I don't think I am going to like this.  Mom had sushi again today and I wasn't in the least bit interested.  I didn't even go into the kitchen to see what she was eating.

Karen Jo:  I guess you don't smell food when I just take it out of the refrigerator.  It was just California roll, anyway, with fake crab.

Why would I want fake crab?

Karen Jo:  Fake crab is made out of real fish.

Fake fish made out of real fish?  Humans are really weird.  Bring on the chicken.

Karen Jo:  The chicken is coming up tomorrow.  I still haven't decided how I am going to cook it, but I don't think I will put it in the slow cooker after all.  I am thinking of making something Oriental out of some of it and just baking the rest of it.

I like baked chicken.  Mom has been petting me a whole lot when she goes to bed.  She even works out some of the fur tangles that are showing up on my chest.  I guess I am starting my Spring shed, just a little.  The vet said last year is what happens is that my undercoat starts to shed and gets stuck in my top coat. Every Thursday, Mom holds me down and furminates me as much as I will tolerate.  She got a huge handful of fur out the last two weeks.  I don't really like it, but Mom says it will save me from getting shaved.

Karen Jo:  I don't want to have to get you shaved again.  You always look and act so embarrassed about it.  I will do everything I can to keep that from happening again.

Windy Sunday

Mom took this picture the day after she put new nip on my scratcher.  I decided to use it for a pillow for my afternoon nap.  I will get some more new nip on my scratcher today.  Mom hasn't seen any nip plants for sale, but when she does, she will put it in a big planter in the living room that doesn't have a plant in it.  She will take the advice from Iza, Ayla and Marley to water it every time she does the laundry and we will see how long it lasts.  I am so glad to have a nip ball around again that I play with it every day.  Sometimes I play with it while Mom is here, so she can join in and sometimes I play with it while she is at work.  I even play with some of my other toys, too.

Mom, we finished the rib roast today.  What's next on the menu?

Karen Jo:  It's time for chicken again, but I haven't decided what to do with it yet.  Maybe I will do something in the crock pot.

You mean you are going to put chicken in the crock pot and leave it on all night, tantalizing my poor nose for hours on end?

Karen Jo:  That's a distinct possibility.

Don't be surprised if I get you up at oh-dark-thirty for breakfast then.

Karen Jo:  I won't.  I don't really mind getting up early to get your breakfast when you are really hungry.

What's all that noise been about all day?

Karen Jo:  We have been having a bit of a windstorm.  The gusts were supposed to get up to forty miles an hour and I believe it.  I had quite a tailwind coming home.

I hope you don't have any wind coming out of your tail.

Karen Jo:  Herman!  I finished up the lima beans with the roast and will switch to Brussels sprouts with the chicken.  Tomorrow is hamburger day, though.  Shall I have beans with it?

No!  It was funny when we got up this morning, though.

Karen Jo:  You mean when we both pooted at the same time as I was getting out of bed?  We looked at each other for a minute, then both abandoned the bedroom as quickly as possible.

That's what I meant.  I am glad that you finally got me some Feline Greenies again.

Karen Jo:  Just what you needed, more treats.  Ah, I love giving you treats after I get home from work and get out of my work clothes and into my PJs and start to relax.  You purr as I give them to you and sometimes you reach up and pat my face with your paw, as if to tell me how much you appreciate them.  I have some bad news for you.

What's that?

Karen Jo:  It's only two more weeks until your wellness exam.  You need to work on keeping your bum cleaner, or I am going to have to give you a good wash before you go.  How would you like to be dunked in the bathtub?

NO!!!  Anything but that.  I can't even stand the thought of being wet all over.  Let's take this by stages, shall we?

Karen Jo:  OK, I will try to get the smaller bits out with your brush, but I will need some cooperation from you, or I will have to hold you still while I do it.

Me, cooperate with a butt brushing?  Are you crazy?  I can see that this is going to be quite a project.

Caturday

Here I am showing off my magnificent tummy.  I had another bad fur day, as you can see.  Mom!  You made me miss your purr-formance review!

Karen Jo:  I know and I'm sorry.  I fell asleep watching TV again.  Can we just leave it that I'm a bad blogger, but a good Mom?  You have everything a kitty could want.

Not quite.  I never get to chase live mousies.

Karen Jo:  And you aren't going to, unless one is stupid enough to sneak into the house.  If one does, it's all yours.

You mean like when I first moved in?

Karen Jo:  Exactly.  Don't get your hopes up too high, though.  There has only been a mouse in this house twice during the last fifteen years.

Darn!  I have been getting some really good food.  Mom couldn't find lamb, but did find a rib roast.  I have been helping her eat it.  Mom also got me a new nip ball when she couldn't find my old one.  Then she did find the old one way under the couch.  Now I have two of them.

Karen Jo:  It was probably time for a new one, anyway.  It's been over a year since I bought you the first one.

Hmmm, so I get really good food and plenty of it, almost all the treats I can eat, lots and lots of toys, plenty of comfy beds to nap in, long petting sessions every night and the stuff I don't really care for, like medicine and brushing, to keep me healthy.  I guess we will leave your purr-formance review that you are a bad blogger but a good Mom.

Tuxie Tuesday

The sun coming in through the big windows is getting pretty warm these days, so I decided to take a snooze in the shade.  I appreciate all your comments about nip.  Most of the votes were for weekly or daily nip, so I will be getting my scratchers dusted with dried nip much more often.  I don't go crazy for nip, but I do enjoy it.  Mom is considering trying to grow me some nip indoors, but she has a brown thumb.  She forgets to water the houseplants so often that they are losing their leaves.

Guess what, kitties?  I don't like tuna sushi.  Mom pinched off a tiny piece of tuna for me and I sniffed it, licked it and walked away from it.  Mom worried just a tiny bit because I am not supposed to have raw food, but she wanted to give me a special treat and figured that a few tiny bites wouldn't hurt me.  She needn't have worried because I won't eat the stuff.  I got all the Friskies Natural Sensations treats I wanted tonight and I wanted a lot.

Karen Jo:  You like canned tuna (which you very seldom get any more) and you like tuna Stinky Goodness, so I thought you would like tuna sushi. Silly me.  At least I gave you lots and lots of petting last night, so you got the love part of the love and treats for Valentine's Day.  Yes, you got your regular treats, too, but I wanted something special for you.  I need to think of something to cook again, so maybe I will come up with something that you will like.  Maybe it's time for lamb again.  I love lamb and sometimes you do, too.

I played with a toy a bit today, as my Valentine's Day treat for my Mom.  She tossed me a furry mousie and I played with it for a while.  It made her happy.

Karen Jo:  Thank you, Herman.  It was a nice gift for me.

Happy Valentine's Day

I was keeping the bed warm, hoping Mom would come back, but she didn't.  She got up, got dressed and went to work anyway.  At least the red and white bedspread is appropriate for Valentine's Day.  I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day with lots of love and treats.  I will get something special.  Mom brought sushi home again and she says I can have some this time.

Karen Jo:  I really wanted the smoked eel, but all they had left that wasn't spicy was California roll or tuna cream cheese roll.  I like both, but I thought you might enjoy the tuna more, so I brought that one home.  It's funny.  I haven't had sushi for months, but now I am craving it and had some last week and now I'm having it two days in a row.  I am thinking I might have it once a week.  It's pretty healthy, especially if I buy the brown rice ones and I like it.

I am in favor of that, I think.  Since I haven't had any yet, I don't know if I approve of it or not.  Will you give me lots of love and treats today?

Karen Jo:  Of course, Herman.  I will give you all the treats you want after I get home from work and I will pet you as long as I can at bedtime.  Just remember that I eventually have to go to sleep.

If you napped like I do, you wouldn't need so much sleep at night.

Karen Jo:  That's true, but I have to go to work to bring home the green papers for your food, treats and litter.  Not to mention paying the bills for the heat and water.  If you want to keep the life to which you have become so accustomed, you have to let me sleep at night.

I have been pretty good about that.  I haven't gotten you up at oh-dark-thirty for breakfast more than once a week lately.

Karen Jo:  I appreciate that.  Lots of mornings you don't get me up at all.  You are content to wait until I have to get up to use the human litter box.

I am almost out of Stinky Goodness.

Karen Jo:  I noticed.  I will bring you home a couple of the twelve can boxes tomorrow.  It is already on my shopping list.  Is there anything else you want?

I haven't gotten any new toys since Christmas.

Karen Jo:  You scarcely play with the ones you have now.  Besides, you already have one of every kind they have at the stores in town.  I did get you a new toy bucket, so I don't have to put them in your cube any more.  Now you will have two toy buckets and I can move the toys from one to the other as I get them out for you to play with and put them away again.

I played with my Christmas star flashy ball this morning.  I haven't seen my nip ball in ages.

Karen Jo:  I tossed it into your cube the last time I vacuumed.  It's still in there somewhere.  I will find it eventually, as I get the other toys out.

I don't get enough nip.

Karen Jo:  I put new nip on your scratchers every month.  I feed you at least some nip treats every day.  Ask your friends if they think I should put new nip on the scratchers more often.  If they think so, then I will do it.  I really don't know how long it lasts.

OK, gang, let's have some opinions.  I think I should get new nip every week; Mom thinks once a month is enough.  How often do you get new nip?

Comeback Sunday

The weather has warmed up and we have been getting lots of sunshine, so I can enjoy my platform again.  Mom has been a REALLY bad blogger.

Karen Jo:  I am very sorry.  I could make a long list of minor complaints and sound very whiny, but basically, I just haven't felt up to blogging lately.  I really will do better.

Mom has been coming home from work and doing what she has to do, then going to bed instead of blogging.  On her days off when she could blog all evening, she just lies on her bed and falls asleep watching TV.

Karen Jo:  And who has been right beside me on the bed, demanding his petting sessions?

Me, of course.  I am not about to pass up an opportunity like that.  You don't always pet me enough, though.

Karen Jo:  You let me know about it Thursday night.  I petted you for almost an hour, but when I quit, you turned your head and gave me a baleful glare until I started petting you again.  I finally had to stop and go to sleep.    Friday night would  have been quite a sight for anyone looking.  You use your paws to push my hand around until I am petting just the right spot.  I tried to pet your chest, as you usually like and you pushed my hand down.  You were lying next to me, three-quarters on your back, head turned toward the TV, front paws folded against your chest, your near back leg sticking straight up in the air and your far back leg sprawled out to the side with me rubbing your lower belly.  I couldn't see it, but I bet you had that blissed-out look on your face that you get when you are really enjoying something.  It didn't last long, though.

I got sleepy and my back leg got tired, so I pushed you away.

Karen Jo:  You must have been really sleepy.  I tried petting your chest again and you pushed me away.

The food has been pretty good lately.  I wasn't really interested in the pork roast and only had one little bite.  I asked for treats again while the steak was cooking, but Mom only gave me one.  It was for the best.  I ate lots of little bites of steak.  It was worth waiting for.  Mom also had pasta and chicken with cream sauce and I got some of the pasta.  I didn't want the chicken, just the pasta.  I did want some of the chicken with cheese on it, though.  We had that yesterday and today.  Mom brought home sushi for tomorrow, but I don't think I am getting any.

Karen Jo:  I am trying something new called crunchy dragon roll.  I have to check to see if it has spicy sauce on it before I offer you any.  If it isn't spicy, you may have some.  I have never offered you sushi before, because I haven't been eating it much at all lately and the last time I had it, it was spicy.

Mom did remember to bring me home new litter and I got all fresh litter.  I jumped in as soon as she finished pouring it into the box.  Sometimes I sit and watch her scoop the box so I can use it as soon as she finishes.  I have been a good boy mostly about eating up my Stinky Goodness and Medley, so I am getting lots and lots of treats.  Mom brought home a new kind yesterday called Friskies Natural Sensations, salmon flavor.  I like them.

Karen Jo:  No surprise there.  The only thing you haven't been doing a lot of lately is playing with me.  All the extra snuggling has been great, though.  Now if only I could take care of your stinky bum.

Mom!  You are embarrassing me.

You are always getting little bits stuck in your pantaloons and you act like you are being murdered if I try to wash you.  You even give me the mancat fight yowl.

I hate being washed and you know it.  I eventually take care of matters.

Karen Jo:  Yes, you do, but it would be much faster if you would let me do it.

Never!

Brrr

You can't really see it, but I am really checking out a little black feather on the floor.  Mom found a couple of these and put them in with my toys.  I normally ignore them, but I got really interested this time.  Mom has been a bad blogger.

Karen Jo:  I had some rough days at work, then I was so tired I just couldn't get up the energy to blog.  I will try to do better.

I want to thank Sammy and Andy's Mom for my new header.  I think it's awesome.  Mom got it for me in an auction.

Mom has been tracking in some interesting water the last couple of days.

Karen Jo:  We got a little bit of snow from the big storm, but mostly it has just been really cold.  It's 16 below zero here now.  It was about zero when I went to work and the breeze just about froze my fingers through my gloves.  It was a lot colder when I walked home from work, but there was no breeze, so I didn't get as cold.  The ice in the birdbath is so hard that I can't get it out.  I'll bring it in the house and thaw it out tomorrow so the poor birdies can get some water.  The duct tape on the crack is holding so far.

I have been messing with Mom's mind again.  First I would tell her that I wanted to play, but I wouldn't play when she came to play with me.  Then I would tell her again that I wanted to play and I did play with her.  I just love keeping her guessing.  I am getting lots of treats again.

Karen Jo:  There have been no more barfing incidents and I fed you lots of treat for a long time before you barfed, so I figured that I might as well give you lots of treats because you enjoy them so much.

I tried to get Mom to stay home today, but it didn't work.  I hid from her.  When she was ready to go to work, she couldn't find me to pet me goodbye.  Unfortunately, she eventually found me in my mancat cave in my safe room, said goodbye and left.

Karen Jo:  You spooked me a little until I remembered that I had found you in your mancat cave once before and there you were.  I guess it's warm and quiet in there for your nap.

Mom hasn't been eating any good food lately.

Karen Jo:  I have been enjoying it.  I am all done with the stuff you don't like, so I am going to cook a pork loin and steak tomorrow.  I should have cooked the pork loin Tuesday, but the weather was so nasty that I didn't get to the store to buy it.  I got smart tonight and bought everything I needed before I came home.

Did you get me some new litter?

Karen Jo:  Rats!  I forgot the litter.  Maybe I will have to go to the store tomorrow after all.  I am not looking forward to it.  I have some other errands to do tomorrow, too.  I just hope that the wind doesn't blow.

Boy, am I glad that I am an inside kitty!