Happy Birthday, Finny!

Finnegan is one year old today! As you can see, life hasn't always been kind to him, but he's in deep clover now that he lives with us. His turn-ons include eating bugs, chasing golf balls through the house, tromping on his brothers and sleeping on top of daddy. Turn-offs include excessive petting when he'd rather be playing, taking medicine and the vacuum cleaner.

Video Break

You just really need to watch this...

Caturday - the home improvement edition

Movin' furnitchur. Ur doin it wrong.

Beautiful Cat Needs Great Home

If anyone knows anybody in the Spacecoast area of Florida who might be interested in a great cat, email me.

Max, the cat you've seen many times on my Caturday posts, needs a wonderful home to adopt him.

Here's the story: he was originally meant for my niece but after going to live with her, it seemed she was allergic to him, so he came to live with us and did fine until we adopted two new cats, Jack and Finn. They wanted to be friends with him, but he wasn't having it. So, he went back to live with my sister-in-law and niece, but this time it turned out my SIL was the one who was really allergic to him. (My niece had something else going on.)

He came back to us and now clearly needs to be an only cat. He's sweet as can be with Hotrod and me, but bring another cat into the picture and he gets super freaked out. We're heartbroken we can't keep him. He's a great companion, very affectionate and loves to play. He just can't abide other cats. I have no idea how he would respond to a dog, but he did live just fine with some birds.

If you know anyone who might be interested, leave me a note in the comments and we'll talk. I'd love for him to go to someone we know or to a home that came highly recommended.

More of the same

I'm over at the Fictionistas today talking about my new cats. Again. Deal.

It's official. We are the crazy cat people.

We now have two new additions to our family.

Meet 7 month old Jack, the most lovable, rambunctious orange menace ever to prowl a house.) He's already cleared half the stuff off my desk with one jump and this morning decided that the cursor on the screen must be killed. Oh Jack, you are too much!

And 6 month old Finnegan. Finn is a wee thing, barely 3 pounds if I had to guess. He's had a bad start in life and only has one eye, but boy, is he affectionate! He has decided Hotrod is the best cat bed ever and laid on his lap during the entire Viking/Saints game. That wasn't enough bonding time, however, so Finn then slept at Hotrod's feet all night, occasionally drifting into the space between us to be petted.
Ah, life is good.

Caturday!

What "want" looks like.

Caturday!

Proof that cats can sleep anywhere.

An Open Letter To Pets

Dear Dogs and Cats,

The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain
your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food.
Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a
claim for its becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically
pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack.
Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because
I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about
this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your
comfort, however.. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they
sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched
out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails
straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize
space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some
miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not
necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under
the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door
I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline
attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog
or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the
front door:

TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:
(1) They live here. You don't.
(2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.
That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who
are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
(1) eat less,
(2) don't ask for money all the time,
(3) are easier to train,
(4) normally come when called,
(5) never ask to drive the car,
(6) don't smoke or drink,
(7) don't want to wear your clothes,
(8) don't have to buy the latest fashions,
(9) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and
(10) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children ...

Happy Labor Day!

On this Labor Day, I'll be...wait for it...laboring. On my book. Because I need to make up some ground. How that's going to go with Hotrod home, I'm not so sure. I'm hoping he'll go golfing.

What are you doing this Labor Day?

Can I go back to bed yet?

I spent half an hour this morning chasing Max, our youngest cat, around outside in my pajamas (braless) and socks - which were soaked through the first moment I stepped onto the grass.

Apparently, he pushed through a part of the screen in the lanai and decided to spend his morning chewing through the landscaping. Baaaaad kitty.

I had to slide the safety door over the cat door because as soon as I brought him back in, he immediately escaped out to the lanai and did it again.

Now he's crying at the sliding doors and looking at me like I am The Worst Mother ever.

I need a nap. It's not even 8 am.

You're In, You're Out. You're In, You're Out. You're In...

We recently installed a pet door panel (and by we, I mean Hotrod) in one of our sets of sliding doors. This was done in hopes that we would no longer be forced to get out of bed because of the crying/meowing/wrestling/carrying on that occurs when the hellions want out at 3 AM. (And so you know, this only gets them onto the fully screened lanai, not the actual great outdoors.)

So far, this door has been met with a great deal of "meh." I thought Sam had figured it out, and I think he has for the most part, he still occassionally goes to the slider and cries. Max has learned to come in, but can't get that the door will also let him out. *sigh* And Scooter, the cat who taught himself to flush the toilet so he could watch the water go down, doesn't seem to get the door at all.

Anyone have any ideas how I might speed up this learning curve? I'd love some training ideas.

Taking It Slow

It's been raining a lot here lately. Heavy, drowning rains accompanied by lightning and wake-the-dead thunder. The kind of storms that cause your electricity to flicker and your hair to stand on end.

Fun, fun stuff.

So the pool is rather full and the cats seem less than enthusiastic about trying the new cat door Hotrod installed for them so they can go out on the lanai anytime they want without one of us having to get up and open the slider for them.

As for me, I'm going to veg on the couch and read the last few pages of Roxanne St. Claire's Then You Hide. Are you reading this series? It's THE AWESOME. Seriously, get out there and treat yourself to some hot, hot Bullet Catchers today.

My Lolcats

moar funny pictures

Go vote for Scooter and Max's bad behavior here!

An Open Letter To My Cat

Dear Sam,

First of all, you know Mama loves you. This is why I think we need to discuss a few things about your behavior.

1. There is no need to sit on my nightstand and stare down at me when I'm waking up. I realize you're concerned that I may forget I have cats and that they need to be feed, but I assure you, I will not. The loud yowling that commences upon your seeing my eyes open is also not necessary.

2. Neither is swatting my legs. My routine has been the same every morning for years. When I get up, I visit the litter box and brush my teeth. Nothing you do will cause me to feed you first. Not the crying, not the ankle biting, not even sleeping in my sink. I am capable of using a different sink to brush my teeth.

3. However, if you took more than one bite of your food before walking away I might be convinced you were actually hungry.

Other things that will henceforth be considered inappropriate behavior:

* Amusing yourself throughout the night by "cleaning" off my nightstand. I do not appreciate finding such things as my chapstick, hand lotion, hair scrunchy and latest book shoved onto the floor in the morning.

* Licking the lotion off my arm while I am trying to sleep.

* Sleeping on my keyboard. Yes, I know it's warm, but we live in Florida. This is not your only option for warmth.

* Sleeping in the clean clothes basket. While I suspect this is something your grandmother taught you as a way to instill in me the need to fold things straight from the dryer, it's not working. Just stop. Your father doesn't like that much cat hair on his underwear.

* Using a litterbox nugget as a toy. Please do not pretend you are a poor homeless dumpster cat who has to play with whatever he can find. This house is lousy with real cat toys purchased with good money. Play with one those.

* Bringing lizards/frogs/palmetto bugs/spiders into the house. The house is not the natural environment of these creatures and if you continue to bring them inside, the house will not be your natural environment for much longer either.

* Insisting on sharing the lounge chair with me when I am covered in bronzing oil and trying to get some sun. Oil and cat hair will never be a good combo. Bronzing oil is not, no matter how much you want it to be, edible.

Thank you for listening. I feel like our relationship can only improve from here.

Much love,

Your mother

The Good Life

This is why you don't walk away from your lounge at Chez Painter. You go in to get a bevie and next thing you know, your seat is taken. Rotten beasties. Look at them, acting like they've been there the whole time. They think those lounges (we have two) are theirs. I have to clean the cat hair off before I sit down! Hence the towel.

And how was your weekend?

Spa Day Emergency

If you woke up looking like this, you'd need a spa day too. Not that I look quite like this in the AM, but I'm headed to the spa today anyway. The spa is about 50 yards from the ocean. Hotrod is getting a little something done, too, but I'm in for 3 treatments in total, including a massage. Just thinking about it makes me purr.

For those of you playing along with the home game, this isn't one of my kittens. This sweet face belongs to Natasha, who owns another writer friend of mine (Carrie) - and if that pic doesn't make you giggle, you might want to check your pulse.

Addictions

I have a very addictive personality. I know that about myself. I become addicted to things easily. For example, I had to uninstall Sims from my computer because I played it constantly. Five to six hours straight at times. Finally, I came to my senses, said enough is enough and uninstalled it. That's really the best way for me - cold turkey. There are some addictions I have no intention of giving up, however.

1. Shopping - Love it. Even if I don't buy anything, I love to see what's new.
2. Shoes - A subset of shopping really, but it's enough of an addiction that it deserves mentioning.
3. My cats - I adore them. I'm addicted to taking pictures of them, addicted to their silliness, their cuteness, the need to groom them like I'm their birth mother.
4. Reading - I would quite often rather read than write. It's true. Reading is an escape and one I crave.
5. Food - Okay, this is one I could do without. It's a constant battle. Why could I be addicted to working out? I know, I know, everything in moderation.
6. The Internet - Good or bad, depending on how you look at it. I love web surfing! This is probably why I'm not addicted to exercise. lol

What are you addicted to?

Dinner, Anyone?

In my defense, I had not been in the kitchen in some time when I walked in and found this beast on my range. I think Scooter has some secret weird desire to become dinner. Besides laying on the range, he also cries to get into the oven. We have a double oven, you can see it there on the side. He'll sit in front of the bottom one, pawing at it and mewling until you open the door and let him get in.

I love my furbaby, even if he is a little mental. And if you come for dinner, I promise to clean.

Mostly.

S'up

What are you working on in your writing life? Or are you between projects and just whiling away the hours with a good book?

I'm in the throes of some minor revisions. I hope to have them done by the end of the week or middle of next, then they'll need to be proofed. Beyond that, there is one thing hanging over me like a big red and green cloud.

Christmas shopping.

It must be done - actually, it must be finished. I have a few things, but I need to finish soon since we're driving up to my folks this year. I have to have everything for Hotrod's side delivered early and everything for my side ready to go for the trip.

A trip that will include our three furry beasts. Yes, that's right, the kittens are coming with us. My parents have room for them and it's better than leaving them home. Besides all my usual cat sitters are going to be away too.

Should be interesting. I promise to take pics.