Cat\’s Eye View

When I first moved in with Ma and Da, I used to be allowed to play in the room with the desk and all the windows.  It was a very fun place and I used to sit there on the desk when Ma was working.  But then Mr. Nick moved in and I wasn’t allowed in that room anymore.

For the last few days, Mr. Nick has been taunting me, leaving the room open and then telling me that I wasn’t allowed in still. That’s not very nice, is it?

Today after he left, my Ma said I could go in and look around. It still smells like Mr. Nick in there so I had to start making it kitty-scented.  I started with the low spots, the wall and the edge of the closet.

Tomorrow when Ma goes to work tomorrow, she said I can go back to sitting on the desk and cuddling in the cubbyhole. Then, all’s right with the world.

For the past few weeks, for the “holidays”, Ma and Da have had a ton of company. It’s been one guest after another and party, party, party.

Now, I am about to put my paw down.

Seriously, my bed has been moved, shuffled and scrunched. Dinner time has been variable based on the when the people are eating. Hello! Fish time is 6 p.m. not 7:45 or 5:25, though the later is more acceptable.

Last night, the people were here long after sleeping time, past the nightly rips and well into I should be stalking the house alone time. I think some of them left at like 3 a.m.! Can you imagine, interrupting my sleep for that long?  Kitty naps begin just after fish time, with a short break for play at 8, then put Ma to bed at 11, rips about 12:15 a.m. and the house to myself by about 2 a.m.

Technically, I’m watching over my people at that point. They let me sleep during the day and I watch them at night. I swear it’s like putting toddlers to bed. Last night, it was all “Happy New Year” and “Let’s play another game” and “Get me more wine.”

And, just before the yelling and kissing, they opened bottles that made bad noises and I had to hide from them…

So, I would officially like to say…”Thanks for visiting, now go away…”

Yesterday was the day for the annual kid’s fair in Anna and a special event for weiner dogs. Yup, the dauschunds and their kinfolk had weiner dog races at the park.

I can’t imagine anything more humiliating. the dogs got dressed up in COSTUMES and some of them ran around in circles to amuse the people. One poor dog was forced to wear fairy wings. Can you picture it?

I saw the pictures today in the paper and I must say, I felt sorry for the dogs. There were some cute puppy pictures, but too many of the poor little guys were wearing sweaters and cutesy clothes. It was 85 degrees for goodness sake. No dog needs a sweater over his fur coat in 85 degrees.

Still, the people seemed to have a good time and the dogs were raising money for charity. So I guess a little humility is a good thing–if you’re a dog!

Next month, my Ma, a bunch of people she knows, and about 899,985 other people are participating in the National Novel Writing in a month program.

It challenges writers to write 50,000 words of a brand new novel in one month. The idea is that a lot of writers (like Ma) revise and revise and never finish the book because they keep trying to make it perfect.

So the solution is to just write as fast as you can and worry about the tweaking and the editing later. It’s a really good idea.

And the program is free…

But the people who run it ahve to buy webspace and all those other administrative thingys that are needed to do something like this for almost a million people. that’s why Ma’s friend Michy made this little widget thingy. It helps people donate to the Office of Letters and Light, the parent company of the sponsors of the program.

But I can’t figure out how to make the widget work, so if you want to give go the Michy’s donation thing here.

People who wanna donate to make the program better can give if they want or just cheer on your favorite writer. I intend to curl up with my mousy, sacrifice some play time and yell, “Go, Ma!” Want to join me?

Remember, I’m a cat so these number things don’t mean a lot to me, but they seem important to people.

Love ya,

Rainy

As you all know, i had to go to the vet on Wednesday. Ma said it was time for my shots and after my shots, I’ve been feeling crummy. Happens every year for a day ro two. Ma says it will happen to her next week when she gets her flu shot.

So, I’ve been more snuggly than usual and stealing Ma’s seat whenever I can. She has this big soft pillow that my Auntie Dawnie made for us and it feels nice on my back when I’m chilly.

Last night, I found out that blankeys can be comfy too. Da noticed that I was curled up tight to the pillow (thanks Auntie Dawn!)  Auntie Dawn lives in Seattle and you can buy her nifty crafts here. She likes to crochet and sometiems lets me play with the yarn. She’s coming to visit me for Halloween.

Anyway, Da saw that I was cold and got me a blankey. It was soft and fuzzy too and kept me warm all night. So, happiness is a warm blankey!

Most people don’t know it, but we kitties ahve extraordinary senses of smell. Really, we could put a blood hound to shame if we were willing to actually do it on command. We’re not.

This morning, the house made weird noises and the outside was very loud and then Ma opened the windows. I like open windows, really I do, but you just have no idea how many smells there were today.

I could smell the rain…and the frightened birds and squirrels. They were mostly hiding from the loud. I wanted to hide under the bed during the loud, but Ma kept telling me that it was just the wind…Just the wind. What the hell does that mean?

Then, I could smell broken wood.  I think people may only understand this if they work outside a lot or maybe chop wood, but hardwood has a smell, kind of fresh and sweet when it breaks and I smelled a lot of it today. Next, I smelled the leaves. One of them even dared to attack my screen. I thought at first it was a big bug, so I hid from it.

I think the crickets might be planning their revenge. But then I hid beneath the window sill and snuck just one paw up to smack it away.

There was also a smell kind of like lightning, but it seemed more regualted, as though maybe it was coming from one of the wires bouncing around on the ground and then there was a hint of smoke, but not too much.

If I were every crazy enough to go into the big outside again, I think this is how it would smell…and it was so interesting…as long as I have a bed to hide under and the outside can only come in through the screen.

Humans are so weird, they get set in their ways and start thinking of everything as theirs.

Ma and Da each have their preferred seats in the living room and the place they usually sit at the dining room table. I have decided it’s time to upset the apple cart.

I, being a cat,c an make anything into a place to sleep. I have my big bed, whcih sits on the futon close to where
Ma works—so I can reach out and snuggle her if I want–my baskets on the trable (Ma tried once to have fruit in them. Ha! These are kitty baskets), my bench by the bedroom window, my cat tree, my little bed in the bedroom floor, my mat in the kitchen, my mat in the bathroom and of course my widnow sills. Oh yeah, and the mysterious blue chair kitty claims the blue chair in the dining room as her kitty cave.

So, when they are looking for me, Ma and Da go through a routine, checking all of those places and the basement in case I am off hunting. Today, I decided to steal Ma’s spot. She sits at one end of the futon all the time. That’s where the laptop lives…remind me to rant about laptops and big blue buttons later–so that’s where Ma is most of the time.

This morning she got up and I was in her spot. She scratched my ears and I said hi, a sort of breathless clicking noise made with an open mouth, and then snuggled down further to take a nap.

You have to udnerstand how much Ma likes routine to understand the significance of the moment. She changed her whole morning to accomodate me, but I finally decided to give her the futon back…it hurts my bum.

It’s not fair. Auntie Brenna is here today and that means I have to get my claws clipped.  It sucks rocks

Auntie Brenna is a nice person mostly, but she tries to steal my claws. I’m not sure why she takes them or what she does with them, but every three weeks or so she takes my claws.

Worse yet, she makes Ma hold me and no matter how much I whine and cry. I beg and plead and they tell me no. It’s not fair.

After I get my claws cut, I usually feel better and I can play with Ma and Da without them telling me “gentle Rainy.”

Every night, my Ma gives me “greenies”–a treat to brush my teeth.

And sometimes, I really like them, but some nights I am too full to brush my teeth. Ma tells me I ahve to eat my veggies and that they make my teeth healthy and strong, but I really want more fish…not the crunchy veggies.

So, how do I tell her that I don’t want to eat these anymore?  Any ideas?  I’ve been trying to figure out how to sneak them out to my union buddies outside. after all, they’re almost always hungry and well, I don’t want them, but its been so hot, like wish I could take my fur off hot, so Ma won’t open the door or windows for me. Said we need to conserve the ‘conditioning–I gotta say, the ‘conditioning is nice. It comes up from the bases in the floor and feels so good when it blows my fur around–it feels yummy. But I miss my window…

Have you ever tried to pick up something without thumbs?  Seriously, I use my claws and a kind of scooping motion to pick up food all the time. Then, I can lick it off my paw.

Today, however, not having a thumb is vexing me. Ma offered to share her banana chips and they smell so good! They crunch pretty good too. But when she put it on the edge of the table for me, I couldn’t stab it to pick it up.

I tried like five tiems and then had to throw it in the floor to pick it up. Do you want to eat off the floor?  I don’t.

But I couldn’t pick it up. I have the same problem with my vegetables. Ma says I have to eat my greenies cause they’re good for my teeth, but they squirm away when I try to lick them.  Do you think our people have these problems? no. they have thumbs and lips. Don’t even get me started about the lips.

What is that kissing thing they like to do? Why can’t they just lick things like a cat?

My people are so weird.