Happy New Year!

Okay, yeah, it's true - New Years Eve....  I'm here writing this blog post.  Yeah, yeah, I know. And now you know....I have no real life once the sun sets.

No, "she" won't let me out.  Claims it's safer inside or some other such nonsense.  Still even if I could go out on New Years Eve, I would still be here to wish you a new year filled with all the best of everything.

I would.

Really.

It's all possible under "post options".  Just set it to the correct time on New Years Eve.

But again, that's not the case.  I am here.  Pitiful. I know.  I don't suppose anyone brought me some warm milk to soak my pitiful whiskers in....just thought I'd ask.

Well then since no one is buying my pitifulness, maybe I could be productive with this time.  But I don't want to be toooo productive.  You know too much effort isn't good this late in the day.  Could ding a claw or bend a whisker you know.  Serious stuff.

But....some New Year's resolutions wouldn't be too bad or require much energy. Right???

Okay then, getting down to business....

Number One:   Loose some of that extra fluff.

Some of you have pointed out that I'm a bit fluffy around the middle.  Okay, point taken.  Not taken willingly, but taken none the less.

Today, as the Christmas tree was being down, it became an in-your-face-serious when I realized that I wasn't three and a half pounds anymore.

I mean you must know that I really wanted to be in that tree.

But if I had used the branches as steps like little Matilda demonstrated.....well let's just say the tree probably would not be looking very tree like next year.

But you know, I'm thinking about this and I realize I do not want to be three and a half pounds again.  I mean my paws probably weight that much.  Really.

Okay, maybe my paws AND my tail.  Three and a half pounds.  And if I only weighed three and half pounds I wouldn't be able to have the rest of me.  Doesn't make much sense does it? I mean where would all my food go? And don't go thinking I'm willing to give that up! Get real here okay???!

Mattie trying to eat the tree?!
She really is having way too much fun!

Hmmmm....scratch resolution number one.  Never mind.  Is wasn't realistic anyway. Really.

I mean who really wants to be able to climb the Christmas tree anyway???

I DO!!!! I wanna climb the Christmas tree!

Well heck!  What time is it?

Oh good, not quite midnight.  Gotta go.  The resolution project was over rated and exhausting.

Moving on to plan B..... I have a date with some catnip.  That will put it all in perspective.  Yep, by tomorrow morning I will have forgotten about this silly resolution stuff.  Good possibility, the only thing I'll be thinking about is how to get rid of the catnip hangover....

....that and hoping three and a half pound Mattie becomes too plump to get into the tree again next year.....

What about you?  Any new year's resolutions?  

Really?

Sure you don't want me to share some of my catnip with you?

Christmas Magic

Did you have a wonderful Christmas?!? Oh, I so hope that you did!  If you were good (at least for the week prior) I am certain that Santa Paws remembered you as a good child.

I must have been good too, because it was a magical day - the kind of magic that only good children get to experience.....maybe you got to experience it too.....

....we woke up to SNOW ON CHRISTMAS MORNING!?! How magical is that?!  I could hardly believe my eyes and thought momentarily that the large fluffy one was laying on me covering my eyes.  All that fur would most certainly have looked like a snow storm! But it wasn't her, it really was snow!

SNOW!!! Oh the joy!  But wait...."she" is still asleep.  Humfph!  Well I knew I'd filed my claws for something, but oh my whiskers...this was divine! So, ever so subtle was the paw....as I lay next to her pillow.....stretching and yawning....oops, sorry was that your face my paw and claw just collided with?!

Oops! So sorry.  But now that you're awake you might want to look outside....

Wide eyed in wonder but still not moving from the bed.  So I used my powerful feline mind telepathy and told "her" to go outside and play.  Dad must have intercepted the telepathic message because he rolled off the bed and with sleep in his eyes said he was going outside to take some photos.  And then he was gone, out the door, gee he didn't even brush his teeth or eat breakfast kind of gone.....

So I tried again.....'you want to go outside'.....and I stared at "her" hoping to make a more focused attempt at mental persuasion....and then....."she" sat up in bed.....Oh YES! Progress!

So I worked my powerful feline telepathic powers again.....'you want to go outside'.....'take some photos'.....'for my blog'.....oops......busted, "she's" on to me so I look away casually, feigning innocence naturally.

"She's" a little slower getting outside.  Not sure why "she" has to wash the face and brush the teeth, but "she" does. And I remain (almost) patient.  It is Christmas after all.  And we are supposed to be good and kind.  So pushing "her" out the door would not be considered good Christmas etiquette. Not sure, but didn't want to chance it.....

And grateful.  It is important to remember - be grateful! For all those things in life we get to experience and all the sights we get to see (that's correct I only watch the birds).

BE VERY GRATEFUL! For those who are patient AND grateful get CATNIP!

Yes, it's true, I had a motive to get them out of the house...
there was catnip under the tree that needed my undivided attention!

Here's hoping that you had a delightful Christmas filled

 with laughter, love and moments of pure bliss!

A Special Kind of Love

Christmas 1964. That was a long time ago, especially in cat years.  What’s a “long time ago”.  Well let’s see….I can tell time as in dinnertime, snacktime and bedtime….but calendar time?! Not so much.  And mix in some math needed for the cat year calculation to define a “long time ago”…

Okay, yes, I cheated.  I asked "her". 

So given that one cat year is about the equivalent of seven human years that would make a “long time ago” exactly  322 years ago!

See what I mean – Christmas 1964, a long time ago, at 322 years in the past, would be considered old. And anything from that time…. an antique. And guess who that is in the picture?!

Yep. It's "her".

And the sister.

And "the cat".

So that would make the three of them antiques! Well in cat years that is (as if there is anything other than cat years).

And old things, old junk and antiques? Ah yes, how I swoon over them - full of character, imperfections and signs of being loved and loving (as well as not telling where I sharpen my claws). 

“She” tells me that’s why “she” has such a love of the old and imperfect too (not the sharpening claws part). 

But don’t go all wide eyed and jumping to conclusions. I did not sharpen my claws on anyone or anything you see in the pictures.  Especially the old picture of "her" cat. Nope, it was way before my time. 

Nor have I had anything at all to do with the condition of “her” current sawdust and fluff critters. Nope. That’s how “she” bought them.  I know scary to think that someone would pay money for some of these.  My opinion? Purrsonally, I think “she” is still pining over the loss of “the cat”.

You see, "the cat" is no longer with us.  And you would think that someone would get over it after 322 years.  But it was love. Still is love. 

“The cat” was given to her when “she” was born as a gift.  And it had a little wind up music box that played Brahm’s Lullaby. (Do they even still make those windy up things?) Apparently the lullaby didn’t put “her” to sleep fast enough.   I’m told that “she” would lie in her crib and pull out the fur on the poor cat.  

One of "her" current favorites. Gee, wonder why?

After some time, obviously, the cat ended up with some bald spots.  Quite a few actually. Probably more bald than furry by the time crib sleeping was over.  “She” even told me, that if “she” really thinks about it, she can still feel that course weave where there was no longer any fur.  (Wanna tell me that’s not pining for a lost love?) But it didn’t matter that the cat was almost bald. Nope, not the least. 

“She” loved that cat until it departed to the landfill one day while “she” was in kindergarten.  I know. The horror. The trauma.  But how many well meaning Mom’s toss out blankies and old toys?! No doubt more than a few.  Don't be sad, it wasn’t really the end of “the cat”. 

No, “the cat” is still here.

He lives in “her” heart and in her memory.  And yes, “she” still loves him.  Even named the business after him and called it (appropriately), the tattered cat.

That love is the kind of love that is Christmas. 

The kind that is true and never fades.

I know it’s the kind of love “she” has for me.  But honestly, I still wouldn’t mind too much, if one morning I woke up and had a few less tufts of fur.

I wonder, did you have anything you loved as much in your childhood?

Let the reindeer games begin!

Santa Paw's favorite reindeer - Zoe, the large fluffy one

We're getting ready for Christmas!

And Santa Paws!

You do believe in Santa Paws don't you?

Certainly, you must.  I mean who else do you think leaves all those great presents under the tree?

No, no, not the random hacked up fur ball, I mean real presents.

For us. And you. And yes, even you!

Cat snacks, catnip mousies, warm fluffy blankets, dog bones and chew toys! Oh my whiskers are curling with excitement!

Crickett - watching and waiting for Santa Paws

Of course everyone will tell you that we have to be good.  Angelic. On our very best behavior. You know all the usual bribes - 'you better be good or Santa Paws won't bring you any presents'....and....'Santa Paws can see you and knows you missed the litter box on purpose'.

So be good?  Until Christmas morning?!?!

Don't panic.  I'm here to let you in on a little known secret.  No worries, you need only be very good for a short time.  Really. Not long at all.  C'mon, Santa is old and you've dealt with those ancient ones, right? Don't forget, anyone older than yourself....need a hint?  Look around the house.  I'll wait for you.  Go on...go take a look.

You didn't have to go far did you?  By definition there are probably a few old and oldER humans wandering around the house.  Yep, anyone at all older than yourself is old!

You may have found someone sitting reading a book or watching television.  Taking a bath or doing the laundry. Fixing dinner or maybe they are just standing.  You know that sudden stop thing that oldER people do.

They walk into a room and then stand there.

Just stand there.  I've seen cows who move more.  And you can tell that the thought process that brought them to that standing spot left kept on going without them to an undisclosed location.  So they stand there some more.  Eventually, it may return.  Maybe.

It's just something that happens when you get oldER.

So back to the point I was trying to make....think on this.....Santa has been around forever.  I mean really.  Ask the oldest purrson you know if they know about Santa.  Chances are even if they are 105, they know who Santa is.  How's that for forever?!?

Yes, Santa is old.  Probably ancient.  And I'm certain his memory on who was good and who was bad probably won't last beyond the end of this month.  I mean c'mon he's probably already exhausted cleaning out the reindeer stalls.  Heck, if it's like "hers", by the end of the day, her memory can usually be found at the bottom of no where land.  Last train. Last stop.  Train service resumes tomorrow at 11 a.m. After morning tea.

So I ask you, just how hard could it be to be purrfectly angelic?  For a short time?  Purrsonally, I can be a good boy for a day or maybe even a week.  But, here's the really good news...

Top secret stuff....you don't even have to be good until a week or two before Christmas.  That's right - you still have time for a few more 'bad boy' and 'no, no, no' days!  And that's just to be sure that Santa Paws will have forgotten that you ate your sis-fur's food before she did or any other happy day moment occurrence.

Matilda, four months old and dreaming of Santa Paws

Yes, this being good stuff is do-able.  Especially, now that you know all the details no one else bothered to tell you.  Yes, it's good to have friends in the know, isn't it?!