Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Breaking News Story!!


Yes, it's true!  The cats are still sleeping on the bed!!  Well, except for emo kitty, who is still emo.  Zaphy has been spending all of his time on the landing in front of the door to Jennifer's room.  His head resting on the top stair, waiting for her to come back from her father's house.  "Where is my girl??  I can't meow in front of her door in the morning, pleading for her to let me in so that I may lay on top of her and clean her ears if she is not here!!  Oh wooooooeeeeee is meeeeeeeee!!"  The other cats think he is silly and spend their time as always.  Thomas started out on the other side of Dale, then on the top of Dale's head, moved in between us, and ended up on my body pillow.  He stayed there for the rest of the night, even though I got up twice.  Thomas loooooves me!  ::grin::



this graphic just got changed to make sure that it fits well on the t-shirts
more of the graphics in the shop will be changed as well! 


Right now Star is sitting beside my chair so I should probably see what he wants.  ::pause::  Ah, a cuddle and after some "Show me!" it turned out that the food bowls need renewing from the Big Bowl™.  Of course, he couldn't eat from any of the bowls but his bowl.  You know that multiple cats in a household establish a hierarchy.  In this house it goes, Thomas/Mr. Kitten with Thomas usually winning the staring/pushing/height contest, Zaphoid, and Star.  Although I should say that I have occasional staring contest with the alpha cats so that they know who is the real Alpha Kat in the house!!

My husband's Christmas present shirt came today.  This is a Good Thing since he can go show it off to his brother.  ::weg::  I may have to get him the coffee cup for his birthday which comes up next month... muahahahahahahaha!  I made the icon for this a little larger so that you can see the "dictionary entry" on the graphic.


 this link goes to the page that has both the cat and the plain graphic




Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Habari Gani? (a little late!) Happy Kwanaa!!


Clothing Section!

Unfortunately I was bad and forgot to wish everyone Happy Kwanzaa on Saturday!  Mea culpa!!  I'm having my left knee replaced on January 4th and we've been figuring out how to reconfigure the bedroom.  The cats have been putting in their two cents, especially since this will probably mean moving their window seat which is currently in one of the bedroom windows!  Oh no!!  ::grin::  But because I failed to do that, I have slashed everything in the Winter Holiday sections!!  Shirts, cards, mugs, mousepads, magnets, and tons of other cool items that you can pick up now and save for next year!  Well, actually you can get New Year's items as well so those can be used right now!!  (Did you miss getting out Winter Holiday cards??  I know certain family members who are sending out New Year's cards instead!)

Last night the most amazing thing happened!  Normally when Star is sleeping on my body pillow and Thomas appears, Star will move down to the end of the bed.  This is normal since Thomas is Top Cat™ in the house.  But last night... last night... Star was sleeping on my body pillow, curled up against me, and I woke up as Thomas crept up onto my shoulder and curled up there.  I couldn't believe it!!  I very carefully went back to sleep, doing my best not to move.  I take this as a good sign.  I've been working hard to make sure that these two boys know that I love them both equally
  

Now if I can just get Mr. Kitten (at 15.5#) to keep off of my legs!!  ::sigh::  He wants to hit the end of the bed and pounce! onto my ankles and galumph! up my legs either to flop! on my shins or thighs.  If his target is my thighs, he inevitably hits my knees.  This is not a Good Thing™.  But there is a reason that one of his aliases is Flop Cat.  He will flop onto you like a rug, his arms spread out about you.  He is such a silly cat.  Mr. Kitten is also fascinated with water.  It doesn't matter if you are taking a shower or a bath.  If he can finagle getting into the bathroom, there he will be, on the side of the tub peering in... "Hmmmm, what is this stuff?  It's quite interesting!"

If I can find a laptop in my price range, blogs should continue on a regular basis.  Otherwise, they may be sporadic, since I'll have to pry netbooks & laptops out of other household members cold, cold hands!!  I'd better get going on my bedroom now... the cats are ready for us to get busy!

Oh and the Emo Kitty is still emo.



Saturday, December 26, 2009

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...

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Happy Christmas Eve!!

The cats and my family and I have been quite busy with our holiday preparations!!  I've had all four of our Tims in bed with me every night, although they've been taking turns.  Thomas has been doing more of a 'peeking in' of late.  Zaphoid, being emo, stays at the foot of the bed; trying to steal the small wedge pillow I have so that he can lay his head on it.  This morning I found it on the floor where it evidently got knocked out of the bed last night during our struggle for control.  Mister Kitten (yes!  Oberon has finally decided on his name!) and Star take turns laying on my body pillow.  Star gets the first half of the night and Mister Kitten gets the second half of the night.

I'm not sure which cat it was who tried to kick me out of bed last night (I woke up at 3 am on the very edge of the bed!), but I suspect Mister Kitten who is now up to 15.5 pounds!!  He is sitting on the top of the small scratching post right now trying to look innocent.  ::grin::

Dale, Jennifer, Corwyn, Sir Thomas of Snuggle, Zaphoid Beeblebrox, StarWalker BitCat the Computer Kitty, Mister Kitten, and I all wish you a Safe and Happy Christmas Eve.  May any of you traveling do so in safety.


 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Holiday SALE!!!

Yes, that's right, the store is having a Holiday Sale!!  From now until December 24th!!  Come and get some great deals on original cat drawings on a variety of gifts & cards for cat lovers at reduced prices.  Whoot!  Shopping!!

Friday, December 11, 2009

A Tumult of Teenagers

I'm not sure exactly how many young women from JCL will be invading my house tonight.  They are working on a project for Latin class on the founding of Rome.  Fortunately for my son, he'll be going to his father's house.  Star is laying on my lap at the moment, supervising the blogging, and keeping me from cleaning the office.  This is probably to do with him supervising my cleaning out of the van.  Three small trash bags of trash, two large bags going into the house of things that should have been brought in much earlier.  But now everything is back where it should be.

It's been cold lately and all of the cats have been staying with us at night.  I started out the night with Thomas on my feet and Star on my chest.  However, when I turned to my side, Star freaked out and went over to hang out with Kitten on the other side of Dale.  Thomas has been trying to play a dominance game and I've been having to explain to him that "No, Mommy is the dominant cat in the house, not you".  We've been having a lot of staring contests lately along with a few nose bops.

I'm going to see if I can finish putting up the New Year's kitties while Star is sitting on my lap and then make some more tea and get started on this... mess.


Monday, December 7, 2009

What? What??

So this morning my mom and I were talking about the two New Year's cats that I'm gong to be putting up, a blank and an invitation.  While we were talking she happened to mention that while she really really liked the cards that she'd ordered, what she actually wanted was to have the message on the inside to say "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year".  She did suppose that I could do that, could I?  ::rolls eyes::  Now it says on the front page that I have no problem changing things if someone wants/needs that, right??

So now there is a What? What?? E that says Merry Christmas and Happy New Year... for my mom.  My weekends and part of my upcoming weeks will be full.  (Gee, can't imagine why at Holiday time!!).  I'm going to be invaded by a gaggle of Latin student girls Friday or Saturday as they put together a Saturnalia project that is due the following Monday.  Primarily costumes as I understand it and as I did somewhere between 25 and 30odd plays for my dad when he taught AP History & Drama before he retired, heh, guess who will be stuck helping them out?  ::grin::  I don't mind.  While my primary interest in historical costume is medieval, I'm familiar with most periods of historical costume, I've been doing it since I developed an interest when I was 11.

The cats prefer to stay on my side of the bed when they can.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we have one of those two sided mattress pads?  The control thing doesn't work on my husband's side (which bothers him not at all) but my side... well... "Ah'm a del-ah-cate fl-aour of tha South"... I have to stay warm.  It automatically turns off after awhile but still.... ::grin::


Friday, December 4, 2009

New Cards in Kats Kards

I've put in some more pet sitters thank you cards as well as some more miss you cards.  I think that's all... now off to look for Christmas'y gloves & a scarf for my son!!


Son in Concert

My son, who is in both the non-audition choir as well as the audition choir at his middle school, was in a concert last night.  It was to honor those who passed away in the last year.  We had a tornado this year which hit about two blocks away from us.  Some of the children in the group lost friends.  I remember my children getting off of the bus after the first ride and telling me the names of the kids who were no longer on their bus, the houses hit.  There was one house where a mother, her husband, and their six month old baby were all lost.  The entire house was gone.  There is still a memorial there.

On the Christmas tree at the memorial there were ornaments with the names of everyone whose name was called out.  I was talking to the director as one of the children came up so excited that he got the ornament with his best friends name on it.  Life and death.

He will also be at the Christmas Tree lighting tonight.  Life and death.  I think the cats understood.  They all snuggled up to us last night.


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Surrounded by Cats... or We Need a Bigger Bed

All four cats slept with use last night.  I think the only reason that Sir Thomas of Snuggle deigned to join us was the fact that I had doctored him and gave him Greenies.  Yes, it was Greenie night at our house yesterday.  I had stopped by one of the Major Pet Store™ to buy a mondo bag of Iams® so, of course, had to pick up Greenies.

You see, while one can buy crunchy kitty treats at the grocery, unless they have Greenies... well, it's just not the same.  I also picked up mite medicine for Kitten (the only one with mites), ::sigh::, this results in a major struggle that ends in the realization by the 15 pound baby (largest cat in the house) that he is Getting the Meds No Matter What™.  So both ears got drops & rubs and he got Greenies for being a Good Boy™, along with pettings and murmurs of comfort. 

At that point, every other cat in the house (except Thomas who is above such things) came racing into the bedroom.  Greenies?  Greenies??  I've been Good, really I have.  I should get Greenies.  Moooooo-oooooom!!  Give me some Greenies!!  So, being the sucker I am...

Later, I noticed that Thomas had a small sore on his shoulder.  Time for an antibiotic... and you guessed it, Greenies.  Ergo, we ended up with all of the cats on the bed.  Kitten on the body pillow by my husband, Thomas between us, Zaphoid at the end of the bed.  Star was at my feet for a bit but ended up on the floor rather than come snuggle with me.  I think he feels that it isn't his place when Thomas is there.  I need to teach him that this isn't the case.  He is the smallest cat and thus low 'man' on the totem pole.  ::sigh::


Sunday, November 29, 2009

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.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Why do I do this to myself??



I guess because my brother David's band The Coolin' System is on there... but I went and joined MySpace.  Well, not me... although, evidently I did at some point, but I don't remember it.  But anyway, the store did, or I should say, Kat's Kats has a MySpace now.  Is that right??  Ah grammar... it begins to evolve, it does...






Cafepress is extending it through the weekend...



which makes me wish I had $75!!!  If you're going to be buying gifts, cards, etc (it doesn't have to be from one store is my understanding... just total $75 in your cart before taxes if applicable... use 75WKND and they'll take off  the shipping, which is a Good Thing™!!  I've been busy trying to put the gym bags and the other new bag into all of the shops.  ::floor:crash::  I've also fixed one of the sections which has a mistake which my 13 yo son pointed out to me ::head:palm::  It's now fixed and it's time for me to eat lunch and maybe take a nap.  Later!!




Friday, November 27, 2009

Black Friday on Cafepress???

Well, sort of... if you were planning on spending $75 or more TODAY, FRIDAY 27TH ONLY on CafePress, then you can get free shipping by using the gift code TGIF75.  I don't know about you, but hey!  The shipping on $75 worth of merch can save me a lot of money!  More later, probably, but I've got to go get dressed, sneak turkey to cats, and start making Christmas presents for my family!


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Turkey Day

My husband is making his family's infamous mushroom dish... mushrooms, onions, butter, and a bottle of sherry (with a bit of Lowry's Seasoning Salt, Garlic, & Black Pepper for seasoning).  Both of my children are still asleep.  They'll be spending the weekend with us because their step-mother has the flu.  I hope she gets better soonest but the nurse agreed it would be best for the kids to not be exposed even if they'd had flu shots!



So we'll all be viciously forced to eat two Thanksgiving meals.  ::hand to forehead::  First my mother's yummy dinner and then the groaning board at my husband's clan's supper.  Oh woe is us!  ::snicker::  The cats are hoping that we'll be bringing back kitty bags for them.  ::grin::  As for them, they are starting to practice their Christmas cuteness.  That is, when they are actually in the house.  Pillows and clean clothes being the places of choice... of course!!


 
 
Safe journeys and have a good day!


Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Shhhhhh, we're sleeeeepin!

Well, at least I am... and my daughter has had control of the computer all day doing schoolwork.  My husband just got back with new food for the Big Bowl™ which will make the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde extremely happy.  We were down to the emergency emergency food.  Scaaaaaaaary!!  The 15 pound Kitten was especially worried.

But now we can all rest easy.  I believe the dryer is done which means that Zaphoid and Kitten (we think he's decided that he doesn't like Oberon) can fight over who get to sleep in it should it not be put up in a timely manner!!




We and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde wish any and everyone traveling and/or celebrating Thanksgiving a safe and happy holiday!!  The human caretakers will be forced to eat two (count 'em two) Thanksgiving meals tomorrow.  Ah the sorrow of it all!  ::hand to forehead::

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Today I am but a servant...

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde is paying absolutely no attention to me at all today.  Well, except should their water or food need refilling.  Ah well.  Last night I was treated to some lovely views of Zaphoid and later Zaphoid and Thomas.  You see, my husband put out a packing blanket in hopes that my son would put leaves on it and carry them out to the street.  He left it on the porch in disarray.  So at various times, when I stepped out onto the porch I found 'da boys' curled up on the blanket.  ::grin::  They didn't want to come in, they were having too much fun lounging gracefully on the blanket.


Monday, November 23, 2009

The Commodore Cats Fight

The Commodore Cats have been fighting over who gets the right to sit/sleep on my lap lately.  While Star has the seniority, Kitten aka Oberon aka the Cat with the Identity Crisis outweighs him by five pounds and a massive attitude.  ::shakes head::  However, this competition only lasts until my husband lays down on the bed.  Then... suddenly!... there is a Kitten worshiping him, purring up a storm, staring up at him as though he were the only human in the universe.

While he is doing this, normally being  a flop cat with his front paws either up on Dale's chest or hugging him, my husband is petting him and saying, "You know I don't like cats.  I don't know why you're up here.  I don't much like cats at all."  It rather reminds me of one of my favorite books as a small child - Go Away Dog by Joan L Nodset.  I read that book over and over.

At any rate, I'm almost out of treats and it will be awhile before I can afford to get some more, so I can't work on getting the two troublemakers to behave right now.  Zaphoid is continuing his "oooooh!  No one looooooves me!!  Peeeeet mmmmeeeeeee neeeeoooooowwwww!" routine.  Thomas is playing it cool.  He's rarely seen except to complain about food being needed in the small bowls or to let me know that Timmy's in the Well™ (iow a cat wants to come in).  He'll stare at you through the door and the minute you open it walk away.  You start to call him and sure enough, another cat comes sauntering along, wanting out.  ::rolls eyes::  Silly boy. 


 

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Whew!

I have just finished splitting off the black & white graphics from the color graphics in Winter Holiday Clothing, Winter Holiday Gifts, and Winter Holiday Cards.  I hope that this will make download time for people to look at things much easier.  (You can all blame my mom for this one... we were on the phone and...)  I have been duly supervised by Star who thinks I've been working too hard.  In fact, at one point he climbed up onto my armrest, licked my left hand for about two minutes, looked at me when that didn't work, went down to my lap (of course, you realize he's purring the entire time) and curled about for a bit, looked up over the desk top and checked out the odds of being able to a) take over command of either the keyboard or the mouse b) lay his head down on my wrist to keep it from moving or c) just outright take control of the entire desk without being thrown into the Bastille.  Evidently he didn't think much of his chances today because he flowed up onto the other armrest, paused to stroke his head against my neck and then stood for a bit on the back of the chair before wandering about to do Important Cat Things That Shalt Not Be Revealed To The Hands That Feed Us™.  Now he's curled up in the chair beside me... sound asleep... doing his job.

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.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Ahhhhhhh! My favorite place to sleep.

Kitten has found his favorite place to sleep.  He can be found there 90% of the time now... except when he's either laying on Dale's side of the bed or glomming onto whomever is laying on Dale's side of the bed.  Where, you ask?  Come, now.  Surely you've guessed by now!  'Tis the bathroom sink!!


Thursday, November 19, 2009

An Itty Bitty Rant

I can not fathom people who treat animals in any way other than companions.  Granted, one must be careful around wild animals.  But domesticated animals, dogs, cats, etc.  I just don't get it.  People who dump kittens on the side of the road.  Ones who dump two unspayed females out because the woman got pregnant.  We didn't find out about that one until the kittens were born.  In fact, one of the kittens ended up breaking his hip and even though we really couldn't afford it, Christopher became my first cat as an adult (my first husband let me have gerbils but no cats).  He lived to be 16 and died of kidney failure.  I've rescued a number of other cats since then, and every single one of them, if they weren't already, was neutered or spayed.  Yes, Tims and Princesses in my house... no Toms & Queens.







I just wish that people who did abandoned or otherwise hurt animals could be subjected to the same treatment they gave the animals.  Then maybe they'd understand why so many people think it's cruel.  Okay... done ranting for the day.



Oberon or Kitten??

While we've been calling the 15 pound, 3 year old 'kitten' Oberon, he still hasn't really responded to it.  I was beginning to think that he was deaf.  Seriously, no response from this cat no matter what you called him.  Not on Mommy Brown's Table™, not trying to get him to come in, not trying to get him to get out of the sink so you can wash your hands, and so on and so on and, well you see the dilemma.  Oddly enough, for the last few nights I've been able to get him to come dashing in (there being no other way to get inside other than using his Amazing SuperSonic Powers™) by calling "Kitten!  Come on in Kitten!" and such.  ::shakes head::  After three years, we may have finally hit on a name he will respond to, rather than being the Cat with the Identity Crisis™.

He has also taken to sleeping with my husband.  Very sweetly.  Enough so that you tend to look around for a camera.  Yes, Kodak moments.  ::suppresses laughter::  Mind you, while Kitten is doing this, my husband is petting him and saying things like, "I don't want cats." "I don't like cats." "You are nuisance." "I don't like you much, I don't know why you're here." and "You know I never wanted any cats at all." (I had five cats when we got married, he had one).  But my husband sounds just like my Daddy used to sound.  He would be all grumpy sounding, going on about how the cats weren't worth feeding, they never did any work around the house, they couldn't fetch slippers etc... but then you'd catch him petting the cats saying, "You know I don' t like you very much, right?"  And the cats keep on purring.




.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Give Us Food or We'll Eat Your Toes

I came into the kitchen this morning to find Oberon in such a state that I feared for my toes.  No, really.  You may not know this, but when cat bowls are completely empty, cats will eat your toes.  So when you come upon a member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde in the kitchen prancing about and saying, "Feed me neow or I'll eat your toes!", it behooves one to check the cat bowls immediately!

Thus, I rushed (okay, I went as fast as I could given two bum knees) over to the Big Bowl™ and the cat bowls (one for each member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde).  It was just as Oberon had said.  The bowls were empty.  Obviously the cats were going to starve to death and we would be subjected to having our toes eaten.  Ergo, I opened up the Big Bowl™ and began filling the cat bowls with the supervision of Oberon.  He was well pleased and our toes were saved... at least until the next time the bowls are empty.


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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.

Monday, November 16, 2009

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.


Sunday, November 15, 2009

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!



Saturday, November 14, 2009

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.



Friday, November 13, 2009

Cold, it is.... Doctor Cats Remain... Vigilent!

I was replying to something just before starting this and Star gave me one of Those Looks.  Even though you see him, you could feel it... attacking your brain.  Suddenly!  He jumped up on the back of the computer chair (which is a Very Good Place Indeed) where I assumed he would do his usual thing of plumping the top just right;  settling himself in suchaway that he could play with pen or pencil, or mayhap take a stab at any moving hair, and God forfend that anyone should disturb his writer at her work!!

But no, no.  Alack and alas it was not to be.  Star managed to turn around on top of the edge of the table.  then he slithered politely and smelling faintly of vanilla* down my side and into my lap.  ::sigh::  Well, I'll have to go now, a post that should have take me about 5 minutes has taken

One collapse coming up.....

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Meh... meh... and oh yeah, meh

My husband has had a cold for the last three days. Today he was finally able to get up, perkily I might add, and go into work. I, on the other hand, after sleeping for the last day and a half, woke up coughing. I can not breathe. No, I take that back. I can not breathe well. You don't want the details. Just send me Puffs+ with lotion (sorry, I don't use anything else... it's my sensitive Kat nose and all), homemade chicken soup with garlic (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm garlic), and cats.


My daughter's chem study partner just got here which is a Good Thing™, maybe this means I won't have to keep getting up to let cat in and out again.  OTOH maybe they're doing it to make sure that I'm getting lots of fluids.  hmmmmmmmmm  You never know with my cats.  It was so funny earlier today.  Zaphy has this... Thing... about sitting at the door rather like Oliver from Oliver's Twist.  Being an Emo Kitty, he's most excellent about sitting up and peering through the door, going, "Please Mum, if you'd only let me in and feed me a crumb or two of cat food.  I'd be most grateful mum, surely I would."  Riiiiiiiight.

So today, I walk by as I'm going back from the kitchen to the bedroom and I see... Star.  Star is sitting next to Zaphy.  Both of them going, "Please Mum, if you could just spare a crumb or two of cat food.  We're awful starving, mum, that we are.  And it's dreadful cold out here mum.  A bite and a bit of rest in front of a fire would indeed be a blessing from heaven as it twere mum."  I am such a sucker.  As bad as I felt.  I stopped and let them in... and like superheros they sped off to the kitchen therein to gobble down at least half a cup of catfood... if not more.  ::shakes head::  Now to go lay down and see if my nurse cat is going to continue to be Oberon (who has actually been nice and not gotten on any part of my body that hurts at the moment... heh).


Sunday, November 8, 2009

An Interesting Night Turns into...

...an interesting day... of course!!  It all started with Oberon shoving me out of bed.  No, really!!  I woke up halfway off of the side of the bed.  Lo and behold, Oberon, who had been shoving on me all night long, had decided that my side of the bed was ever so much better than just sleeping in between my husband and me.  Harumph!

Mind you, this young man has been biting everyone in the house lately and acting like a rebellious teenager.  All he needs is a leather jacket & cap.  No, really!!!!!  But now, here he sits, having jumped into my lap and purring.  Uh-huh.  Like I don't know that he really plotting something... something evile.



Anyway, after that, I took my daughter shopping at a thrift store that is right around the corner.  They were having a bag sale.  Stuff the bag with all the clothes under $10 for $15.99.  heh heh heh  We got a lot of cool things but I made the mistake of not using my chair so I ended up paying for it later.  Oh well, the bad side meant that I missed seeing my brother's band The Coolin' System at The Basement in Nashville.  meh.  On the Good Side, I started on a Gray Cat graphic that I absolutely adore.  heh.  So you get to see it before I put it up on the shop...