We Blame Corwyn!! (and a new graphic)

 "I was not the one who made mom sick!"

 "Well, it sure wasn't me!  I was here in Jennifer's bed!"

 "Why are you looking at ME??"

 "Tell them Zaphy, it was actually Corwyn!"

This is a brand-new graphic.  Mom still hasn't taken down the
Winter stuff.  We would like to know if you would buy stuff
with this graphic on it.  If so, we will put it in our store.

PS Tomorrow is Audrey's first GOTCHA DAY!!  That's right, it's one year since she came to join the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde!

Twas the Second Day of Christmas...

"We got mom a new camera for Christmas!!"

 "We got two new fun toys in our stocking, greenies,

four cans of gooshy food, AND our Feeders bought

us a new toy with a scratchy thing in the middle

and a baaaaall!!  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

 "Actually the toy with the feathers is mine!

Mine, mine, mine, mine, MINE!!

muahahahahahahahaha!!

I have already carried it down the hall several times.

MY TOY!!"

"We're making mom rest up from going to her

family's Christmas & daddy's family's Christmas!

They were gone ALL day!!  We starveded to death!!"

 "We had a white Christmas!!  Mom says that there

hasn't been a white Christmas around here since 1993!!

That was the same year that Jennifer was born!"

"We were going to wish you Merry Christmas but..."

"PS Jennifer & Corwyn have gone to their dad's house until

January 2nd.  They both got our calendar!  Mom got the other one.

Everycat... ummm... we mean everyfeeder... got something from our store!"

Our Kids Are Having Midterms Today...

Both kids were upset because they didn't have school yesterday.  Why??  Because yesterday was the first day of midterms.  If things had gone as planned they would have had three half days of midterms on Tuesday through Thursday.  But because of the snow day they have to make up the exam from yesterday today.  Poor poor kids.  In other news, I managed to get permission from Da Boys to work on the shop.  New items are going in and once they're all fixed I'm hoping I'll have enough 'good' time that they'll let me start putting in some new graphics starting with New Years Eve.  They are very picky about how much time I am allowed to spend on the computer.  If I'm pushing myself too hard a member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde will come lay on my hand or start getting in between myself and my laptop so that I am forced to put it up.

 "Ahem.  I believe it is too cold out here, even for cats."

 "Mom is starting get a little worried.  She says I'm starting to look like an old Tim.  Me?  I'm curled up at the end of mom's bed.  I want Jennifer to put the waterbed up in her room.  Waterbeds are warm."

 "Ha!!  If I lay on things then mom can't use them!!  What do you mean this isn't the mouse?"

 "Let me innn!  Let me innnnn!  Timmy's in the well and it's tooooo coooold outside!!"

"This is one of the sections we let mom work on the new items last night.  We know what phone covers are but what is a yoga mat??"

No Thomas, You Have to Wait...

When it's treat time every cat in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde knows.  Now Thomas is the dominant cat in the pride.  So naturally he thinks that a) he should get treats first and b) he should mug me.  I find this behavior unacceptable because a) it's not always his turn to get treats first and b) he needs to learn not to put his face in my face when it's treat time.  Thus, I have been teaching Thomas not to do this.  How, you ask?  muahahahahahahahahahaha!

When each of da boys comes up to get treats, if they get too close, they get one of two commands.  Either, "sit" or "wait".  If Thomas doesn't "wait" then a) he gets shoved back and his nose tapped and b) he has to wait until everyone else gets treats.  Thomas doesn't like this.  Too bad, so sad.  Should it happen that Thomas is the only cat in the room and he is getting treats he still gets the "wait" command.  I also use "back" or "sit".  Da boys are quite smart and 'speak' quite a bit of English.

For instance, if they start yelling at us, we look at them and say, "show me".  They immediately go either to their food bowls, to the door, or wrap themselves around our legs (the latter meaning "pick me up neow and love on me!!"  Thus Thomas is getting "wait" when he's mugging me for treats.  He's starting to get the picture.  No treats unless you behave.  Everyone else has already caught on.  Mister Stubborn may take awhile.

Maybe I should switch to German.  No one else in the family uses it but I have a tendency to shake my finger at da boys and say "tu das nicht!"  It's amazing how well they understand me when I talk to them in German!  I don't remember much of it even though I minored in it in college (and two & a half years in high school!) but I have enough to let them know what for!!

BTW I'm still waiting for the router!  And I had to go buy a coaxial cable yesterday because a mysterious person managed to tear apart the one connecting my modem to my cable.  ::narrows eyes::  The Shadow knows who did it.

large mug... once I get the laptop back online I'm thinking about changing the shop

around so that the mugs & such are in one section, shirts in another, etc.

but I'll need names for the sections... suggestions??

It's waaaaaaaay too late...

So why am I up??  Because when I checked my google stats there were referrals from Dr. Grumpy's blog.  Now, I didn't actually bounce up and down and go running up and down the block screaming at the top of my lungs about it because:

a. It would make my legs hurt.
b. The weather wasn't the world's best.
c. I had absolutely no idea how that happened.
d. I'm just not that kind of person.
e. All of the above.

But you have to understand that Dr. Grumpy's blog is one that was called to my attention by one of my very dearest friends (waves at Heather) who has even now decided to go back to school to see if she has what it takes to become a doctor herself.  I know that she already has both the empathy and the cutting wit (we've gotten drunk together at medieval events) so what she's got to figure out is if she can take the intense study and hours.  This blog kicks butt and takes name.  If you haven't read it yet, you should.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.  ::hums tunelessly::

Back yet??  Okay.  At any rate, all day this graphic has been rattling around in my head.  Although actually I would be more accurate in saying 'again', since I've had this idea before, but it was Winter Holiday time and I couldn't manage it then.  Family graphic interruptus and I stopped to work on the graphic below.  I'm in the middle of reorganizing the shop & putting up a new section for folx having babies.  No one ever writes, no one calls, no one comes to visit on Easter ::wipes tear::  well, the cats are always wanting food from the Big Bowl... but truthfully, keep an eye out and let me know what you think of how the categories are looking and if anything has been taken off that makes you go, "NoooOOOooo!  I was planning to get that when my paycheck comes in!!"  Vielen Dank!

 

White T-shirt (more items available!)

Whoot!  I can now take PayPal!!

Merry Christmas!!!

[clothes in the shop]

So yesterday we all went to my mom's house for Christmas.  Our family tradition is to have Christmas Breakfast.  We usually manage to get started some time between 12:30 and 1:00 pm.  Well, first everyone has to do "Santa" (that's us and Christie & Garrett** right now... the ones with kids... okay, mine are teenagers but we all still hang stockings) and everyone else just has to wake up or start cooking for a gazillion people.  Well, it may not be a gazillion... it just feels like it with all of us gathered around the three card tables in the living room pigging out (no, really we do) on (skip down to the next paragraph if you're vegan!) scrambled eggs, hash browns mmmmm, bacon, sausage, country ham, and the only reason for Christmas Breakfast... biscuits.

"Biscuits?", you say, "why biscuits??"  Because, all through the year, anyone who travels must (yes, it is indeed imperative) collect a jam or jelly or other fruit product which may be spread upon biscuits (yes, biscuits!), hot steamy luscious biscuits, fresh from the oven (or microwave where they've been reheated... we eat a LOT of biscuits!) and spread with a heart-healthy margerine... mmmmmmm and then topped with jam or jelly or other fruit product (or just topped... depending on what you want, we're not picky here).

Then it's off to present opening.  My mother and father have been writing Interesting Labels™ back and forth to each other for as long as they've been married now (goodness... 37 years now!).  Things like "To Mrs. Lincoln From: Mr. Booth, with apologies for spoiling the play" (my dad's a historian)  This year my mother was given two of her own books.  Inside each was a typed note and a gift card.  One note was from an environmental group praising her for saving trees and the other was from Al Gore.  My family has a wicked sense of humor.

My mother's cat (actually my brother's cat but she lives at my mother's house) Miss Kitty, did not make an appearance.  She is Very Shy and is, indeed, the cat upon which my Shy Cat was modeled.

Miss Kitty normally hangs out on a pillow behind a comfy chair in the living room in front of a wall heater.  Alas and Alack!!  Yesterday, the comfy chair was back against the heater and the pillow was gone!!  But all was well for Miss Kitty!  She has a good retreat for when there are ::shudder:: Strangers in the house.  In the basement is a gas fireplace where Miss Kitty can hang out on a pillow.

Now Miss Kitty has always been shy.  A mother cat was living in the basement of a school where my mother was teaching.  There have been generations of cats living there.  Miss Kitty was born in June and came to live with my parents & my brother David in August.  She has health issues now so has to endure more vet visits than most cats must.  But at the age of 17 that isn't too bad.  Miss Kitty is a beautiful black and white long-hair.

So children the moral of the story is

Rescue, if you can, in some way; but Always remember to neuter & spay!!

(No, really, not trying to push anything but if you do get a cat or dog, it's the most important thing you can do.  We once had a cat of ours get out of the house, because he didn't like the roommate's new cat I think, and he never came home.  One of the first things I said when I realized he wasn't coming home was, "Gee, I'm glad he's neutered!")

                                                                                     

**This site contains adult language!  Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson!!

PS we're running a sale through the end of the year!!  Grab up stuff for next year or things for birthdays!! pass it on...

Sleep would be nice...

Yesterday my husband and children did yard work.  As a result, the cats went... elsewhere.  Elsewhere was somewhere unknown to us all.  In fact, they didn't come in until I was going to bed.  I had become rather worried that I would have no cats sleeping with me at all.  However, first Star, then the 15 pound Kitten, then Zaphoid came in to share the bed with us.  I'm afraid that sleep still eluded me and made getting to church... difficult.

Right now, I have Kitten laying on my lap, sleeping & purring.  Normally this job is taken up by Star.  I'm not sure why Kitten chose this particular place to sleep.  Eventually he Will Have To Move™.  Let's face it, 15 pounds of cat on your thighs for any length of time just doesn't do.  ::shakes head::   Now I just wonder where Thomas has been keeping himself.

I was a sleeping Kat...

but it's not my fault!  No, really!  The kitten made me do it!  On the other hand, I did manage to get up a few more items in the Winter Holiday section.  (I know I know, but these were actually already made!).  At any rate... I couldn't help myself... first of all, I made some changes to one of the sleeping cats... here are the old version and the new version side by side...

Or as side by side as I can make them, not being the world's best blogger (hey!  I've not been doing it that long, give me a break!  ummmm, take that back... breaks hurt).  Anyway, I managed to get that up without... toooo... many problems.  Then I threw up (no not that kind, altlhough I was a bit quesy last night but that might just have been the cookies from the cookie dough drive at my son's school having arrived ::innocently staring at the ceiling::) this one:

but evidently only got it put up into the clothing section because my mom called me about a horrendously critical error in the card section.  You see, she's been looking at the cards because she'd actually been thinking about getting  What? What?? cat for her holiday cards.  Hey, if I had the money I'd get him in a shirt!  (I don't do cards... I've only managed it about three Christmases... bad me!  no biscuit!).  So it turned out that the product description of D didn't match the interior... ooops!  I need to go check something... brb!  ::sigh::  I was right.  You see, I changed one of the inside greetings on one of the cats I added this morning so I needed to fix the product description.  What was the cat??  Oh.... yeah... here you go...

                                                                 

 While the link in the graphic is to the gift section, just so you know, the interior greetings of the cards are in the same green font.  The one that I haven't put up yet is this one...

                                                                  

 Now I just need to find out if there is a slow page load problem and how to best fix that.  ::sigh::  And there the problem is finding guinea pigs... ummm... I mean volunteers to assist me in the project.  ::rocks back and forth whilst humming tunelessly::  I wonder if I can manage to get cafepress to let me break these down into color & b/w sections.  Part of my problem right now is that making sections is a FITB because you can only have so many.  meh.

Picking Out a Holiday Shirt... oh the agony!! Star! come help!

Now you see, I have a very limited budget.  Make that a very limited budget.  So if I'm going to get myself one of my own holiday shirt designs I really should only get one.  Here in lies my dilemma.

Dilemma the first... do I get a long sleeve shirt or a sweatshirt?

Dilemma the second... which one do I pick????  I mean, after all, I made these.  They're my babies!  I created them for several reasons.  One, some of them were designed because I had never seen anything out and about for that holiday.  Two, you just don't see a lot of cat holiday designs... well, you can find some, but I've had a hard time finding ones I really like.  Yes, I admit it... they came out of sheer selfishness.  Third, having had friends drag me into CafePress in the first place... and it's all their fault... ::sigh::  Hi!  My name is Kat and I'm addicted to creating cat designs for a CafePress shop!

Anyway... the agony of the choice, which honestly could be helped by Star.  He's been trying to get up on the computer desk again.  I'm not sure if it's because he wants to contact someone on Facebook or wanting me to get off and go lay down so he can have a better lap.  Where were we?  Oh yeah!  Which design to pick.  These are the ones that I like... the hard part is deciding what to get... ::sigh:: 

and then I also like...

What's a woman to do??  I mean really!  Heaven knows that I need new holiday shirts... but... there's no money in the budget.  ::sigh::  ::big deep sigh::  There must be a way... ::narrows eyes::  Let's see... penny and penny saved up shall make many... hmmmmmmm.....  Oh!  And I even had other designs put back that I didn't put into the store!!!  Yes, it's true... I keep coming up with cats.  ::lowers head::  Put on the cuffs occifer... I'm guilty.

Changing of the Cat Guard... II

It's a beautiful fall day.  The leaves are falling.  The sun is shining.  The door is revolving.

You guessed it, once again, it's Changing of the Cat Guard Day.

Food... filling the Big Bowl™ followed by delivering the brown bag

First, my husband brought in the bag of cat food from the car.  None of the cats were around so it didn't get torn open, which is what normally happens.  First, I filled the Emergency Cat Food Container™.  This is a small plastic container with a tight lid that holds about two days worth of food (We buy Iams because it lasts long for us than the other brands... well Science Diet is good too but I digress).  We do this because we know that once the emergency food is opened and poured into the Big Bowl™, it is time to buy more cat food.

After that was done, I filled all of the bowls with the last of the cat food in the Big Bowl™.  Trust me, there's a reason for this.  This leaves the Big Bowl™ empty.  heh heh heh.  Then I fill up the Big Bowl™  with the fresh food.  I make a crater in the center of the food, pour the old cat food into it, and then stir it all up with the scoop.  muahahahahahahahahahaha!  Because when you do that, they think that all of the food coming out of the Big Bowl™ is fresh.  Fresh is goooooooood.

Then I got started on some bags for church.  I was too exhausted to make Eucharist, but today was the day for us to turn in our food bags so I wanted to make sure I got by there to drop off our bag of food.  I also had a bag of colored pencils and some arts & crafts things which might help for the Craft fair next week (Gee!  I'd better get busy!) and then go to the littles classes.  I also passed out a bunch of my cards.  I really really really really need to get some sales  from the shop.  ::sigh::  But the cool thing was that when I went to see our Priest (he was the last person I spoke to) he felt it was a fortuitous meeting.  It seems that St. Paul's Episcopal in Murfreesboro, TN is working on it's own CafePress Shop! (yes, I'll be nice and let you know when it's up and running!)  At any rate, I'm exhausted again so I'd better go lay down before Star comes up and forces me to go to bed!!  Now I just have to figure out what to read!

Yea, verily, yea... the tissues floweth like water...

My son is at his father's house, after bemoaning the fact that he doesn't have a "cat of his own".  The cat that was his, Quigley the Demon Dust Bunny Hunter, passed away this year.  Unfortunately we just can't afford another cat (affording these four is going to be iffy until the store takes off given my day job situation).  This morning the heart of my heart went to a friend's house to help them put in new attic stairs (yay insulation & ease of getting up & down!).  This is a pay back because they helped us do the same last year.  It's amazing how much those winter heating bills go down when you have a good seal around the attic stairs!  You can also con... uh... I mean... get the kids to go up to get things down a lot easier if they are in great shape and lock so they won't do anything funny until it's time to make them go back up!

In the meantime, my daughter had $40 which her father had given her to go shopping.  A local thrift store was running a "Pick Your Sale" Sale.  She chose the stuff a bag with clothes under $10 for $15.99.  I have to say that after shopping with my daughter (17 in Aug) that she not only has good taste (even if some of it isn't mine), but she is very generous.  She got several shirts for her stepsister "Little Jen" (yes, her father's second wife's daughter is also named Jennifer!  she's 10 ergo...) that are sooooo cute!  She got two shirts for someone for me to give them for Christmas (knowing what my budget is... not going to be) and two pairs of sweats & three shirts for me.  She's just so sweet, "After all Mom, I've gotten in everything I want, so long as they fit, no problem!"  Still... I don't think she realizes how many kids would still have a problem with it!

So, now my daughter and I are watching Criminal Minds whilst Oberon tries to see if he can keep Jennifer on my bed by glomming onto her feet.  At least he's being nicer than he used to be!!  Even with me, he's behaving nicer.  He got up onto my knees ACK! and as I started moving my knees up, he actually started moving himself down onto my calves!  Sooooo sweet!

I'm still debating which one of these I like better... I've got them linked to the gift section but I'm actually thinking of seeing if I can get someone in my family to pick up something for me to wear next year for the holidays.

Whoooot!!

Whoot!! I just finished putting in my last item in my Winter Holidays section. ::collapse:: So now I've got all of the cards, clothing, & gifts for everything from Christmas to Hannukah to Kwanzaa to Solstice to Festivas!  Yaaaaaaay!  Hey, does this mean I get to go eat Halloween chocolate??

Ummmm, I got distracted...

I've gotten in all of the inside/cat cards but I've got to actually make some more Winter Holiday Cat things.  OTOH I really really really (no, really!) need to do some sewing while I've got a break from my day job (where I actually had 6 things to do... whoot!).  So I'm going to sew for a bit, rest for a bit, then make more Holiday Cats.  Then I'll fall over and curl into a little ball.  No, really.

Thomas is the cat in charge of the Office/Sewing Room at the moment.  I expect more cats to come in as soon as fabric begins to be handled.

And now for the substitute...

My clone.. uh.. um... I mean my daughter... is going to do a wonderful thing and keep working on Santa Knows Address?? for me.  I love her.  Oh and she's helpful as well.  I'm just wondering if she's going to keep reading fanfic while doing it.  hrrrrrmmmmmmmmm.

Hah! okay, maybe hah!

OMG!  It's already 3 pm!!  Eeeeek!  I've got sewing to do for a historical reenactment tomorrow.  Much later period than I normally do (I do 12th C), it's for a celebration of the county I live in and my husband will conduct the musicians whilst I dress backstage.  heh.  I pulled costumes for the writer yesterday from my own closet and got to see the enthusiasm I haven't seen in a number of years.  I really haven't done theatrical costuming since my dad retired from teaching.  I used to do the costuming for his HS plays (he taught Drama and AP History).

I have managed to get in Habari Gani! (with our new Kufi Cat... whoot!) and get started on Here's hoping Santa knows your address as well as I do (so, of course, I started with Santa Cat... heh heh heh).  I got two graphics from my day job (whoot!) so that was good.  I'll see if I can't finish up this newest section before signing off for the day.

Second wind? Naaaaah

Not tonight anyway... I was lucky as it was to even get in what I managed.  Howsoever!  I finally managed to get in the first section in a new section called More Holiday Cards.  Right now, the only thing up in it is the Hebrew Version of Happy Hanukkah.  In this new section, each section will consist of a greeting and then within the section you pick which of the cats you would like.  For this particular section I created a new cat... meet Kippah Cat!!  Now I just need to get some sleeeeeeeep.  I am starting to feel better though.  ::crosses fingers::

More Holiday to go in...

I've got to see if I can get in the other five Winter Holidays graphics today and get started on Hanukkah.  Once those are in, I'll start on Christmas and then Kwanzaa.  Wheeeee!  I just talked to the test write I work with for my day job... I'll probably get a couple of graphics today.  ::crossing fingers::  Oh cool!  He just said I'd have one in five minutes!  Navy shower!!

First scared me, then scared the cat...

I have done all I can for today.  And just as I was working on the last set of cards, suddenly my keyboard wasn't working!  Oh no!!  Okay, I thought my keyboard wasn't working.  I tried it over in my composer and it worked find.  Hrmmmmm.  But it wasn't working where I needed it in my store.  This was bad.  This was beyond bad.  This was... dump dump duuuuum!... ssssserious bad.

So I pulled out the big guns.  Yes, I was worried enough.  Tired enough.  Not Thinking Enough™... that I pulled out the compressed air.  Now, mind you, Star is ensconced not more than 20" (for all the engineers out there, yes, I measured... yes, I'm like that) from the keyboard at the time.  This was Bad.  Very Bad.  Really Really Really... BAD.  Of course, I put my hand between the keyboard and Star.  But nothing, and I mean nothing, gets a cat like the sound of something spraying.  It sparks Terror in the hearts of cats.  Don't ask me, I don't get it either and I've been living with them for 48 years now.

So he goes supersonic speed OFF of the chair, hitting the corner of the doorway to the hallway...at approximately 16" off of the floor for a loss of 2" from the height of the chair (yes, I measured again).  I'll bet you anything I'm going to have to track down more treats.  Now if I can just remember where I left them.

Storewise, I'm getting of the 'puter but I did manage to get three sections started with three graphics in each one.  Each section will carry the same graphics but each sections will have different items.  For example, if you go to Winter Holidays, you'll see three gateways... each one leads to a different type of product stock (does that make sense?  I'm exhausted at this point!)  sooooooo...

Winter Clothing has your shirts, sweatshirts, kid & baby shirts
Winter Gifts has mugs, mousepads, aprons, coasters, ornaments yada yada yada
Winter Cards has cards with the first set being blank and then A-D each having a different message inside.  Oh! and two postcard types... vertical & horizontal

Now this is just the general "Season's Greetings", "Happy Holiday" section.  I'm also planning "Hanukkah", "Christmas", and "Kwanzaa" sections.  Christmas will probably be the largest simply because I have so many Santa kitties ready... there are at least two very evile ones asking Santa... no no... not gonna tell ya!

So... something to leave you with?  Hmmmmm.... Oh yes!!  From the Medical Expressions section... which I will work on sometime... as I will with all of the sections... but this is one that I came up with when I looked into my morning med box which has fiber pills, fish oil, glucosamine, vitamin, magnesium (prescribed), plus all the other prescribed meds I have to take ::sigh::  I said something about this to someone else later and they said "That would make a great shirt!  I want one!!" so what could I do??

BTW Never, ever, ever take medication that hasn't been prescribed for you.  It can KILL.

(moi?  mince words?  naaaaaaaaaah)

Have a good night/day!

Saturday Plans....

I have gotten some Holiday items ready to go in finally!  However I'm going to be at any SCA event today with my teens (and my daughter's bff) so I've got to go get ready to leave.  I am determined to get them in tomorrow!!  I realized that I need to put in some different styles of address cards in the store as well.  Any suggestions??  Hope everyone has a good day/night!