Mischief!!!

In my attempt to fill you all in on the past year, I must start with the biggies.

Mischief is a biggy. Adopted in January, he has become a fast friend to his sister Jingle and it just adorable altogether. As Jingle has grown up and now has her own bed at night, Mischief can't sleep without holding Mommy's hand (Seriously. He literally puts his paw in my hand when he sleeps).

He's soft, all white (albino actually) which gives him the wonky one green one blue eye and makes him half deaf. Now, the eyes are awesome, see for yourself.... That's not photo shop baby!

He's super cuddly, mostly comatose and happy just to be close to you without being needy. He's sleeping at my feet right now, randomly nibbling a toe here or there.

He just turned one in June and was rescued off the side of the road by a friend. She took him in as a barn cat and although he loved to swing from her horses tail, she knew he was too special to stay a barn cat. Knowing we had four others already she suggested I take him in. Without seeing him I said "okay" thinking I'm dead meat when the parents find out. But one look at him and we all melted. His hearing loss causes him to have this quiet little squeak of a voice which is completely adorable and at a year old, he's about the same size as Jingle, small and cute.

So now I have two babies, one gorgeous little angel who will always be a mommy's girl, and a cuddly little boy who looks like a cross between a Q-tip and pocket lint.

Gotta love cats!

Woohoo!

Wow, what a week!

Okay, so first! I GOT THE JOB IN OTTAWA!!!!

Yeah me!

Then, the week gets a little hard, because I left Jingle to vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few weeks so that was hard. But, apparently she's having loads of fun and settling in nicely.

Then, last night, in class, I was voted by the class as the breakthrough presentation of the night!

Yeah me!

So just to explain the last one a little bit more, each week we vote on two people to gain recognition. First is the person to most effectively communicate. The second is breakthrough (which basically means, who stepped out of their comfort zone and bring the whole class with them). Last nights assignments were all based on enthusiam. We had to present two things where we used a great deal of enthusiams, to the point of exaggeration. Apparently I did well.

And as for the job, I'm very excited. It's a good job, position created for me (not one they had) and it's regular hours, steady pay, a nice change.

So there's my weekly WOOHOO!!!!

I've lost my mind!

Or maybe I finally found it! Not sure which.

But, I've gone and done it either way.

"WTF IS SHE TALKING ABOUT???"

Okay, okay, I'll explain! Yeesh people!

What have I done? I've quit my job. And I'm moving.

You all know work has been rough lately. Not bad really, just that things aren't growing as fast as we all thought and I'm working too much. After a few months of not sleeping, working through most nights to get things done, and not making what everyone anticipated, I finally had a breakdown. I felt awful, tired, depressed, wipped out. I felt like, well, kinda like this....

So I quit! Done, bye bye, so long. And I really have no idea what I'll do next for a job, but I don't really care. I know I'm good at my craft, my family is supportive, I'm not worried.

So, to top it off, I'm moving, with Jingle. I'm uprooting my little girl and taking her away. We're heading to Merrickville. Invading Mom and Dad's basement, moving it all. Now, most parents would be all "crap, the kids are moving back in" but not our parents. In fact, it was their suggestion and seeing them doing so much better, I realized it might just be what I need to turn things around. Jingle will have her best friend back (Peewee) and Holly might get a break. And, since we're going to be in the basement, Jingle can learn a new skill too. Don't get me started, I'm trying not to think about it.

Plus, I'll have my best friends back. Dad with his great music, always ready for a good time. Mom with her calm demeanor, who loves to curl up on a couch and relax or read (usually with a Sudoku book in her hands). Not mention.... HOME COOKED MEALS!!!!!

And I've already told Chantelle and Adam and they seem excited. Chantelle knows how wonderful our parents are and knows I'll love being close to them again. And Adam would be supportive of anything really. He just loves us all, no matter what!

So, here's the official notice! Christmas will be at my place this year in London (you'll have to excuse the boxes because we're moving right afterwards) and it will be fun. Then off to a new life, a new start, dragging little Jingle with me. We have some resumes out in the Ottawa area now, I know something great will turn up. Just wish us luck! Cheers!

Halloween!

So Halloween is approaching and because many of the people in our night class, including the instructors, are parents, it was decided that we would take the night off and finish the class a week later in December.

So, now I have a free night to spend with the kittens! Question is, what are we going to do? How do you make Halloween fun for cats?

Usually, on Halloween, I curl up with all the snacks you shouldn't eat (you know, that spare bag of candy you picked up for the "trick or treaters" in case you didn't have enough with the first 8000 chocolate bars you bought). I pull out a case of pop, not caring about sugar or calories. I grab my favorite quilt, my best horror movies and I enjoy a night of fear.

But see, Peewee doesn't seem to like horror movies. Jingle doesn't really either but as long as she can hide under the quilt in my lap, she's happy.



So, with only two weeks to go, I need some advice. Enjoy my horror night and scare the crap out of the cats? Or enjoy a night of Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life and Harry Potter and please the "kids"?

Any suggestions?

Jingle and Peewee, part 2...

"Oh where, or where has my sanity gone. Oh where, oh where can it be?"

Oh, what an eventful few days. So lets start with the first night, with Peewee sorting through my fruit bowl at 3am. The ensuing conversation with our father....

"Don't worry honey, Peewee hates bananas, he's just curious."
"Okay Dad, I'll take your word for it."

The next night, I hear Peewee on the counter again in the middle of the night. I ignore it, trusting my father. I wake up the next morning to find a mangled, chewed banana on my kitchen floor. Poor banana. What a brutal death.

Then, there's Jingle, all snuggled up on her pillow at night. Peewee decides "I'm going to curl up the cute chicks on the bed, maybe get a scratch. There's half a bed for me anyway, Jingle only takes up one pillow and that silly human who always kisses me only takes the other half of the bed." So instead of sleeping alone in the living room, he decides to join. He barely lands on the bed and Jingle, only lifting her head up, starts hissing like mad. Peewee promptly turns and runs to the condo in the living room with his tail between his legs. Poor Peewee.

Then, Jingle decides she's going to put yet more toys in the water bowl (after it's 5th cleaning for the day) and this time, instead of just drinking around them like he always does, Peewee puts his paw on the side of the bowl and tips it over to release the toys from their watery grave, then tips the bowl back over to take a drink, forgetting that the water drained with the toys. Poor Me.

I came home from work yesterday and stepped in the door and promptly kicked a decorative tin. The same decorative tins that reside on the top of my kitchen cupboards. Fearing the worst, I step over the tin and head to the kitchen and low and behold, there's three more tins on the floor/counter/sink. Complete with fresh new Peewee dents. Poor tins.

So tonight I come home after my class. It's 10:45pm, I'm exhausted, hungry, and ready for bed. I walk in and find Peewee waiting for me, meowing for a scratch or hug or any kind of attention. Letting me know that after having a mother who stays at home most of the time, it is entirely not okay for me to be gone for 15 hours. Just as I lean down to pet him, Jingle comes bounding around the corner and racing down the hall to greet her mommy and when she gets about 4 feet away from us, Peewee whips around a lets our a hiss that clearly said "Buzz off, she's mine right now." After a moment of shock, Jingle hisses back and stalks away to the bedroom. Poor Jingle.

But now, it's 1am, and I have watched the cats play together, each come up in turns for scratches and rubs on the couch while I chill a little before bed, and kiss each other on the noses. And you know what? All that stuff above? I wouldn't change any of it for the world. That's the stuff that keeps cat lovers on their toes, that makes our pets our kids, family, not just animals.

So bring it on you two! What new event am I going to celebrate and laugh over next time?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

So, Jingle and I had company this weekend. Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma to Jingle) came for the weekend and brought Peewee and Holly. It was so wonderful to have them. They arrived late on Friday and we immediately cracked open the beer and rum. On Saturday, mom and I did some running around, Dad has his own running around to do. Then they left to have dinner with their friends John and Karen to celebrate John's 60th birthday. While they were gone, I had grand plans to watch a great Disney movie that the three "kids" would enjoy but by the time I got halfway through my own dinner, with one cat beside me on the couch sleeping, another on the top of the couch sleeping and yet another in the cat condo, you guessed it, sleeping, I lasted all of another 5 minutes before the infectious sleep took over and before I knew it, the parents were back and the cats hadn't moved. But, you know what? A wonderful nap with the cats was more than needed and totally enjoyable. Even if I couldn't move after being squished onto one half of the couch. Someone please explain to me why a tiny 7lbs cat needs a whole half of a couch to sleep when she fits into a cereal box!

So the parents returned and with mom's help, we fixed a treat for lunch the next day. Since we couldn't be together for Thanksgiving and I knew they wanted to hit the road fairly early so they wouldn't be back too late, I planned a thanksgiving dinner for lunch. A wonderful boiled ham with carrots and potatoes, slow cooked in the crock pot. And I got an Apple Pie and Pumpkin pie for desert. Although the parental units seemed to enjoy it, it delayed their leave as the meal seemed to cause them to both need a nap. But it was worth it.

So they leave, to head to TO to see my sister and her husband, and I turn around to find.... Peewee! They left him behind! So Jingle and I have a new roommate for the next month until we meet again for my birthday!

Okay, okay, we planned it ahead of time, they didn't forget their cat. Everyone needs a little Peewee company every once in a while so we all decided that Peewee would come stay at the resort for a while. Give me some extra company, play with Jingle, get a little break from Holly (okay, give Holly a break from him really). So after a day on our own, I was anticipating broken dishes, half eaten fruit, books on the floor, anything that Peewee could "explore" and get into. Thus, the humour of Peewee. So I come home from work and low and behold........... nothing. Jingle is still asleep on top of the fireplace, and Peewee is still asleep in the condo. Yeesh. I guess the weekend really wore them out. And instead of two cats coming to greet me at the door, I get half open eyes and a look from each saying "Oh, it's you" before promptly returning to sleep.

I'm not worried though. I think after a few days here, the two will get their energy back, start fighting and playing. Go back to pushing each other around for the softest warmest spot on the bed.

So welcome to our home Peewee. Now, the only thing to figure out, is how to keep you around another month until Christmas. But I promise you we'll have fun. Jingle, don't bite Peewee's ear. Peewee! That teacup isn't a toy! Jingle, jumping on Peewee isn't very nice. Peewee, don't eat the bananas!

You know what, I better go sort this out. Cheers!

We need more time!!!

Phew! As if Jingle and I weren't busy enough with work. Now, we have more work and a weekly night class too! So this means that we have basically no time to blog.

But, we'll try to catch everyone up.

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to anyone I didn't talk to this weekend.

So yes, work has been crazy, still haven't had a holiday, but hopefully soon I will. But it hasn't been too bad. Work is good. Just need to keep plugging.

And I've started the Dale Carnegie course too. It's a leadership and management course. For the post part, the course is about communication. So each week, we do a series of small speeches and presentations. Not nescessarily about work, just in general. It's a really great course and I'm loving it. Each week the trainers really force you out of your comfort zone. But everyone is very encouraging and so you can't help but feel safe. You know that no matter what, you're not going to be judged and so you feel safe to say anything. So it has been wonderful.

And talk about small world too. Not only is there a wonder girl in the class who happened to attend St. Mary's school with Chantelle and I, who I haven't seen since grade 8 (she was a year behind me), but I found out there is a young man there too who is a friend of Tyler's, my cousin and another man my age who is best friends with Val's brother! I was a little scared at first knowing that these people knew me and considering how open we need to be in the course, but like the others, they are wonderful and completely non-judgmental.

And Jingle of course has been wonderful as always. She is still using the pillow on the bed as her new home, spending most of her nap time and the night there. It's still sweet but I'm still occassionally waking up to find she's turned around and I'm nose to butt with her. And other times, she decides she wants to get closer and move to my pillow and lay against my face. This is usually promptly followed by me waking up in a panic because I'm suffocating. But she means well. But in short. Just is just as happy and bubbly as ever. What a godsend in these stressful times.

So that's us, not really a whole lot to report and we've just been busy, but that is us nonetheless.

Hope everyone else is doing well. It looks like you all have been busy too. Chantelle, I love the new website, I'll get on to post a comment soon.

Love you all!

Jingle, again...

Okay, I think we've left the birthday wishes up long enough, I'm sure my father has seen it by now, so now, back to blogging.

So Jingle has a new thing for sleeping lately. It appears that the bed is just now enough for her for sleeping. Now, she has decided that she needs to sleep on the pillow. It's quite cute actually, and quite nice to wake up with her adorable face and loving eyes right in my face (unless she's facing the other way, then I wake up really quickly). Only problem... the pillow is starting to get a permanent groove in it that I can't seem to fluff out, and now I need to wash my sheets every day or so. It was fine when it was just me on the sheets, I don't shed much, but now, after a day, I have one very furry pillowcase and some slightly ruffled sheets. There goes my hydro bill. Cold Water Tide, here we come, save the day!

Again, its actually quite cute, but before, I at least had hope that Jingle would settle for sleeping between me and my yet-unmet-future-husband. Now that she needs a whole pillow to herself, I'm either going to need a Kingsize bed with lots of pillows, or I'm going to be sleeping alone for the rest of my life.

Someone said to me the other day, "why did you ever let her on the bed, now she'll never leave and she'll control the bed". Well, to that person, all I can say is, even though I may gripe a little about Jingle's control over the bed, I couldn't imagine it any other way. It just wouldn't be the same if she slept in the living room all night long.

So there is my new little Jingle thing. Man, do I love that cat!

Happy Birthday to Granpa!!

So mommy has gone to bed and I finally get another chance to write my own blog. Today was grandpa's (mommy's Dad's) birthday! I got a chance to wish him a happy birthday on the phone yesterday as mommy called him, but I wanted to officially put it in writing.

So happy birthday Grandpa, I hope Holly and Peewee spoiled you on your special day!

And here's to many more birthdays!

Love you,
And mommy loves you too, but she's asleep right now and can't say that for herself.

Jingle

Jingle has a crush!

It appears that CGI technology in movies has become too real as Jingle now officially has a crush on CGI movie character.

We decided that it would be nice to watch a no brainer movie and decided on the new release, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. The movie itself is cute enough. Cheesy, but cute. With Garfield being the only CGI character and all other humans and animals being real, it's fun to watch the cat's antics. And I've always liked the big orange cat. Well, Jingle was completely captivated by the movie and everytime Garfield appeared onscreen, Jingle would meow. Paw the screen and roll over on her belly. And she only did this for Garfield.

So I can only assume, that my little girl is growing up, and has a crush. Ain't that cute....

So if the real Garfield is out there somewhere reading this, I think I have a fan over here that would love to meet you! Bring Odie if you wish.

Catnip marinated Watermelon Gum anyone?

Mmm, sounds yummy.

Yep! You guessed it, Jingle is at it again! So I've been working some long hours lately (well, longer than normal) and it appears my little girl is getting restless having her mommy gone for so long. So after a day in Windsor, with four hours of driving, dinner being a few hours late and totally wiped out from the 35 degree day, I come home to this....



Doesn't that look delicious! So what do we have here in Jingle's infamous water bowl? Well, a pink tennis ball with a bell inside, a pink catnip mouse which started to disolve in the water, and a full pack of Excel Fuse watermelon gum. Yummy. And just in case any of you are thinking of a home experiment, let me just tell you now that those crazy packs of gum are not water proof. So I wound up with 12 pieces of soggy catnip infused gum, which promptly went in the garbage.


I'm completely at my wits end now. I just cannot figure out the fascination she has with putting 'stuff' in her water bowl! Is it constant accidents? She just happens to loose grip on her toys as she walks past her water? Does she just like playing in water? What is it!?!?!?


So I throw the gum out, put the toys on the counter to dry, clean the water bowl, fill it with fresh cold water, go to the bedroom to change and come back out to the ball and mouse promptly back in the water bowl. Yeesh!


So after repeating the above steps again (minus the gum removal) I called Jingle's grandmother in complete frustration to request help. Her suggestion? Leave some water in the bathtub and put some toys in it. If she just likes to play with toys in water, maybe she'll leave her water alone then! So, I will sadly try this, and see if it makes any difference. So if you come and visit and use the bathroom, don't bother asking why there are cat toys in the bathtub, okay?

I've been told... yeesh!

Believe or don't believe me but I swear this 100% true. I told you already of Jingle's weekend antics and I let it be known that she was bad. Apparently Jingle didn't appreciate that because I came home to a pretty clear message from her today. Very amused, slightly terrified, and loving my cat more then ever, she found a way to get her point across. I've been slowly reading "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul" since Christmas. Reading a story here and there. I keep the book on my nightstand. I came home today to find the book on the floor and open to a page. At first I thought "she's at it again" but as I picked up the book I noticed the page it was open to. A story I hadn't read yet. I'm going to share it with and you tell me if it's coincidence or not. I'm thinking not.

The Cat's Bill of Rights by Michael Ruemmler

I am the cat, and I have certain inalienable rights"
I have the right to walk over your face anytime I wish, day or night.
I have the right to observe and comment on any and all bathroom behavior. Further, I have the right to be highly offended by any closed door.
I have the right to smell your shoes to determine if you have been fraternizing or cavorting or frolicking with any highly questionable animals.
I have the right to assist in any food preparation, cooking, cleaning or eating event that may occur in the home.
I have the right to wake you at three in the morning if I find my food dish is not to my satisfaction.
I have the right to tip over any water container I deem unsuitable for consumption.
I have the right to curse at squirrels and birds that may dare pass my windows.
I have the right to inspect any grocery items that come into my home. Further, I have the right to inhabit any paper bag or cardboard box that you bring home for as long as I wish.
I have the right to nap at any time and place I darn well please, without the distraction of being called or moved just because you want to sit down, wash your hands or use your computer keyboard.
I have the right to sleep on top of any appliance that is warm.
I have the right to assist in any changing of bed linens and to chase the phantom creatures that hide beneath the sheets.
I have the right to look aloof when scolded for mistaking your toes for on those pesky phantom creatures that hide beneath the sheets.
I have the right to kill paper towel rolls that otherwise might sneak up on at night.
I have the right to your complete attention anytime you sit down to read or work.
And, finally, I have the right to be loved, petted, pampered and entertained, for, as you know, the best things in life... purr.
And, should you err in your ways, I will graciously forgive. After all, you are only human, but I love you anyway.

Signed,
The Cat

So like I said, I've been told. Freaky or what. I actually feel guilty now for trying to scold Jingle! I think my cat is smarter than me. Any advice?

That little stinker....

Okay, this actually happened Friday night and Saturday but I figured I better take some time to relax before I told you about this.

So my little stinker of a roommate, yes Jingle, decided on Friday night, in the middle of the night, that after successfully soaking her furball in her water for a while, she was going to bring the dripping toy onto the bed and drop it on mommy's face. FREAKIN' HEART ATTACK!!!!!

A sopping wet furry ball, in your face, in the middle of the night, in a deep sleep. Nice.... And even after throwing the ball on the floor many times afterwards, she kept bringing it back up on the bed so that my morning, I had many little wet spots on my bed. Lovely....

Oh, but the antics didn't stop there! On Saturday I went to have a picnic with my grandparents. I left my purse at home, and just grabbed my wallet. In my purse was my very expensive bluetooth headset. I come home and my very expensive bluetooth headset is in Jingle's water bowl. So that means that she dug into my purse, found the device, pulled it out (which could not have been easy) then carry it across the kitchen to her water bowl. Smart cat. Thankfully after its swim the device is working properly but Jingle is still grounded!

Is this what my parents went through? Sweet innocent kids one day, little pains the next?

Wrapping Presents with a Cat

I got this email from my uncle Denis and laughed like crazy. The whole time I was reading I was thinking "that's my Jingle" but more so, this is such a Peewee thing to do. I can vouch for this as Peewee and Holly were my houseguests during the Christmas Season last year, the time when we all do the most wrapping at once. My wrapping paper will never be the same. So enjoy everyone, and remember your little furballs as you read!

Wrapping Presents with a Cat:

1. Clear large space on table for wrapping present.

2. Go to closet and collect bag in which present is contained, and shut door.

3. Open door and remove cat from closet.

4. Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper.

5. Go back and remove cat from cupboard.

6. Go to drawer, and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc. . .

7. Lay out presents and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed.

8. Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit and collect string.

9. Remove present from bag.

10. Remove cat from bag.

11. Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present.

12. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size.

13. Try and smooth out paper, realize cat is underneath and remove cat.

14. Cut the paper to size, keeping the cutting line straight.

15. Throw away first sheet as cat chased the scissors, and tore the paper.

16. Cut second sheet of paper to size - by putting cat in the bag the present came in.

17. Place present on paper.

18. Lift up edges of paper to seal in present. Wonder why edges don't reach. Realize cat is between present and paper. Remove cat.

19. Place object on paper, to hold in place while tearing transparent sticky tape.

20. Spend 20 minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape from cat with pair of nail scissors.

21. Seal paper with sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible.

22. Look for roll of ribbon. Chase cat down hall in order to retrieve ribbon.

23. Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two-directional turn.

24. Re-roll ribbon and remove paper, which is now torn due to cat's enthusiastic ribbon chase.

25. Repeat steps 17-24 until you reach last sheet of paper.

26. Decide to skip steps 17-21 in order to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that is the right size for sheet of paper.

27. Put present in box, and tie down with string.

28. Remove string, open box and remove cat.

29. Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for locked room.

30. Once inside lockable room, lock door and start to relay out paper and materials.

31. Remove cat from box, unlock door, put cat outside door, close and relock.

32. Repeat previous step as often as is necessary (until you can hear cat from outside door)

33. Lay out last sheet of paper. (This will be difficult in the small area of the toilet, but do your best)

34. Discover cat has already torn paper. Unlock door go out and hunt through various cupboards, looking for sheet of last year's paper. Remember that you haven't got any left because cat helped with this last year as well.

35. Return to lockable room, lock door, and sit on toilet and try to make torn sheet of paper look presentable.

36. Seal box, wrap with paper and repair by very carefully sealing with sticky tape. Tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst areas.

37. Label. Sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulate yourself on completing a difficult job.

38. Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed cat.

39. Spend 15 minutes looking for cat until coming to obvious conclusion.

40. Unwrap present, untie box and remove cat.

41. Go to store and buy a gift bag.

My Fridge!

So Chantelle did a post on her blog showcasing her fridge and invited others do the same. First of all, I want to vouch for Chantelle in confirming that her fridge really is that organized, she didn't alter anything for her post!

So I am finally getting a chance to respond and show my totally non-interesting fridge to you all. I would have done this sooner but in my computer and blogging ignorance, I first had to figure out if I had a program to edit photos, then had to figure out how to edit photos. They don't look as cool as Chantelle's wonderful photo editing, but in my defence, I'm not a photographer like her and Adam, I'm not married to a web designer who gets paid to work with photos online, and I'm a complete goof when it comes to things like this. So forgive the basic appearance and hopefully, enjoy!

Not being quite as organized on my fridge as Chantelle and Adam, my content spans to the side of fridge also so let's start there!

1. Certificate for Adam's Web Design services that I won at their Stag & Doe last year. I was promised that I could exchange it for a photo session with Jingle since I no longer need a website so I keep it there to remind myself to bug Adam about it (Sorry Adam).

2. Ticket for the Lion's club car raffle that my Grandfather bought me. The draw was three months ago, I didn't win, and I also have my parent's ticket there too. I keep forgetting to give it to them. Not really sure why they are still there actually.

3. Brochure and magnet for Body Dynamics, Sarah Zadorsky's Massage Therapy business. I keep the brochure up as a wish list for future visits (she's really incredible!!) and the magnet so I can easily rattle the number off to others or have guests see it and hopefully call her. That's me, always networking!

4. Take out menu for my favorite Chinese food place. I soooo love Paul and Yu's!!! Almond Soo Guy all the way baby!!

5. Notice on recycling rules in building. This was sitting on the counter the day I moved in. I don't think I've ever read it and also don't really know why I have it on my fridge. Maybe I should just throw that one out, eh?

6. Checklist for available "Company's Coming" Cookbooks. Again, don't really know why it's there, or why I bothered to even start checking it off. I really could care less about it. But it's there nonetheless.

And my very random magnets are holding everything up. There's everything from a Cactus to wolves to E.T. to a dog that's looks like Taco (our family dog as kids) up there. There was also a beer stein magnet that mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago. I can't imagine using anything else because they all came from Mom when I first moved out. She cleaned off all the magnets from her fridge and sent them down to St. Catharines saying that "everyone needs magnets on their fridge". And even though most are chipped from Jingle pawing them off and they don't match anything at all, I just can't imagine using anything else. I'm a sentimental sap!

So now, the front of the fridge!

1. 1-800-you-got-junk magnetic pen that I keep handy for grocery lists. I love that pen. And so does Jingle as it is often found under the fridge.

2. Grocery list pad that resembles Jingle. I got the pad from Melissa almost two years ago and it's still got a lot of paper on it. I will be so sad when it runs out.

3. Random magnetic from Mom that somehow got on the front of the fridge (must have walked over from the side of the fridge). I haven't figured out yet what is missing because that magnet was holding something in place but Chantelle's rules were to not alter anything on the fridge so there it is!

4. Picture card from my Cousins wedding in 2006. The wedding was the same time as Chantelle and Adam's and I just received the beautiful picture so it will be showcased for a while until it goes in an album.

5. Sixth and Elm magnets!!!!! I'll admit that I never actually reference the calender magnet but it's so freakin' cool that it's staying right where it is.

6. Whiteboard magnet for jotting reminders. I got this from a client, they advertise with them. It's a handy little thing but for the last five months it has said "Sat - 1pm". It's in my hand writing but I have no clue what Saturday it was supposed to be for or what was to happen at 1pm. I decided not to erase it in case I remembered so it hasn't been used for a while.

7. JINGLE PICTURES!!! Lots and lots of Jingle pics. From Polaroids to my favorite picture that Chantelle took. It's just great to look at them everyday.

8. Sixth and Elm original creation magnets (plug to Chantelle). Following in Mom's footsteps of providing magnets to a first time apartment dweller, Chantelle made me a set of my very own magnets and I love them. They are these adorable tiles with inspirational words on them and my favorite of them all is holding my favorite Jingle picture. Great story really. Chantelle was trying to think of words for the magnets and had one left. Out of ideas, she turned to her friend Colin who was visiting (and is one of the funniest people I know, just love that guy) and said "Colin, I need an encouraging word..." He shrugs and says, "I don't know... 'duck'!". And low and behold, along with "Love", "See", "Laugh" and "Fly" I have a "Duck" magnet. It's the best!

Items not shown: Anything that Jingle has knocked off the fridge, from notices to menus to magnets that I either can't find or didn't notice missing.

So there's my wacky fridge you all! Enjoy and let Chantelle and I know if you decide to join the craziness on your own website!

I think she's obsessed!

Oh boy, what to do now. She's obsessed, I know she is! And if I can't do anything about it, I won't get the attention I so rightly deserve!

I guess I should explain. You see, mommy finally got the last audio book for Harry Potter so she now has the whole collection in the books and audio books. She also has all the movies that are out too and their soundtracks. Now don't get me wrong, I like the stories and the movies. For a long time, I made mommy watch the movies everynight while she tried to fall asleep. But sometimes you just need a break!

So now that she has her collection complete, I am constantly hearing a man read the stories through the stereo. And often, Mommy has the book out and is following along! She listened to the Deathly Hallows twice through before she started again from book one and is working her way up. She listens to the book, reads along, then watches the movie! She even takes the audio books with her and listens to them in her car while she runs around the city. And if it's not the books, it's the movie soundtracks!

I still get a lot of attention. She lets me curl up on her stomach while she listens and I get scratches, hugs and kisses. But I'm worried that if she doesn't cure this obsession soon, I may be forgotten!

I'll have to amuse myself! Help!

Why I love my mommy...

So I thought it was time to write a blog again because I haven't blogged much lately. Well, mainly because it's mommy that goes out and does things, I am just a cat afterall. New exciting things don't happen everyday for me, but that's how I like it. Just me and mom in our quiet lives.

So we had a great weekend, mommy worked at home a lot but we still had plenty of time to relax together and bond. As you can see from the fact that our movie list grew by about 10 this weekend, knocking the movies we just saw two days ago off the list. But that's what we like to do.

So anyways, why I love my mommy....

All the mushy reasons exist of course, but I think one of the greatest things is that with mommy, I can do no wrong. And today, I thought I would just really test my limits earning me a whole bunch of hugs and laughing from mommy.

It started with a 3am toe licking session. Mommy is sooooo not a morning person so every once in a while I decide to disturbe her sleep with a cold nose in her ear, a nip on her hand, etc. So at 3am, I started licking her toes. That was fun. Whatever dream she was having was totally gone. So after her mild heart attack and nearly kicking me in the head from shear reflex action, she grabbed me, hugged me, called me a stinker and went back to bed.

Then, at 7am, I brought her my favorite toy. But I thought it would be better if I instead of leaving it beside her, I just dropped it right on her face (hee hee, what a riot). Another hug and exhausted laugh and she decided it was too early to wake up on a holiday monday.

At 8:45 I decided that was enough sleeping (who cares if we stayed up until 2am watching movies, I can sleep all day if I want) so I just sat in the doorway and cried like something was wrong until mommy woke up startled and came running out of the bedroom. After looking around to see what happened to cause me to cry so loud and seeing nothing out of place, she flopped on the couch and I immediately jumped up for a rub. Clueing in, mommy again laughed, ruffled my fur and hugged me.

Now, any normal human would be furious by now over these antics and any normal cat would be in deep doo doo, but not me, and not my mommy.

So the day rolls on and mommy decides to check her email. Wanting attention from her and not caring about her mail, I decide to jump up on her lap and proceed to drop myself on her computer. Aparently that was a bad idea because pressing all the keys at once caused something crazy to happen and it froze the whole computer up. It took an hour for some scan thingy to run when she restarted it. But, I wasn't in trouble, she just pulled the "stinker" comment out and hugged me.

So then she decided that it was time to relax and watch tv. So I proceed to use mommy as a cushion to watch tv with her. Since she wasn't petting me enough, I decided to climb up on her chest and put my nose to hers until I was satisfied and causing her to not be able to see the television. Again, a laugh from mommy and a great hug. Then she had to run to the washroom but I wasn't done getting a rub so I followed her and was right up on her lap. Then back to the couch for more rubs. And finally, to bed, where it's now common practice for mommy not to be able to go to sleep until I get enough love from her.

So you see, I'm spoiled and I know it. I can do anything to command attention from mommy whenever I want it and never get into trouble. And that's one of the many reasons why I love mommy.

Good night everyone! *Meow*

What Mommy doesn't know...

Okay you all, shhhh, don't mention this to Mom.

I like that she thinks so highly of me but the way she boasts, really! I just need to set the record straight with you all, but let Mommy have her glory, okay?

Mommy is partially right in the fact that I don't get into a whole lot when she's not here because it's more fun to have her watch me and giggle and laugh and try to scold but just laugh more. She thinks it's so cute and it is not as fun when no one is watching.

I learned that if I did something wrong in front of her, she usually just thinks it's cute and that's that. If I did the same thing while she was gone, she'd be pretty mad when she got home.

But, here is my little secret. You know Uncle Chuki? From Toronto? Well, he spends hours upon hours watching my Aunty Chantelle make crafts and trinkets and things like that and while watching her, has figured out a lot about basic repair. I have broken things here and there but Uncle Chuki talked me through the fixes and repairs and so far, everything is holding up well and obviously Mommy hasn't noticed that they were broken. Oh, and no one pick up her Gollum statue if you visit, it may crumble in your hands.

So, you see, I'm not puuuurfect. I'm a curious, young, energetic cat, who like all kids, sometimes does something bad and tries to hide it from their parent(s).

I think it's not all that different then a story Mommy once told me about her and her sister, a little argument, a foot in some drywall and about a gallon of putty.

Why I trust my cat

So, you see, there are reasons why I don't worry about Jingle being alone.

I know, I know, my family is thinking "what are you talking about?! You go nuts everytime you leave her!"

Well, this is true, but it's not because I don't trust her. I just can't stand to be away from her. I'd never leave the house if I didn't have to because I love how she is just always there, always loving, always cuddly.

But anyways, my point. I had a point, really!

Things have been really crazy lately. Work is long hours (mostly because some of the others are on holidays so I have some covering to do, and July is bad because of quarterly reports needed) and it's meant late nights, an average of 4 hours sleep each night for the past two weeks and a good dose of stress. Not complaining!!!! It's temporary! This business always has those periods and it happens about every three months.

Well, I'm slowly loosing my mind a little and last night I finally got to sleep at about 2:30am and had to leave the house at 7am to get to Windsor. I wasn't thinking last night or this morning and when I came home, I realized that I not only left the patio door open all night and all day (don't worry, I'm on the 11th floor, not like someone is going to get in) but I also left a glass of water on the table, my half eaten dinner on the counter along with the rest of the supper dishes, piles of papers loose in the office and living room and an unmade bed with fresh clothes on it.

I'm not a slob, I was working and these things were at the back of my mind. Never got to them before exhaustion hit.

So after a full day on her own, with an abundance of things to get into (or out of in the case of the patio door), guess what my little girl got into today....

Zip, Zero, Natta!!! If I'm home working Jingle will consider every paper pile a toy but if I'm not here to watch her, she won't touch it.

She loves to push or pull things off the coffee table in front of me, including glasses of water sometimes, but when I leave, everything stays the way I left it.

I can leave food out (accidentally leave it out, again, not a slob) and she will not touch it.

I can leave clean clothes on the bed and she just simply sleeps around them and doesn't touch them.

What she does play with is her own toys, her own water, her own food.

So I have absolutely no reason to not trust my cat. I don't know for sure if she only does the kitten thing when I'm around for attention or because she just believes that it's okay as long as I'm here, I just know that my belongings are always safe when I'm not here.

And just so you know, Jingle has never hurt, damaged or destroyed anything I own, ever, while I'm away since the day I brought her home. Gee, she really is a great cat.

I'm not in, leave a message please!

This is what you'll hear if you try to call me, or email me, or anything really all weekend.

You see, Santa just delivered my copy of the final Harry Potter book. That's not figurative either, it really was Santa. Big guy, round tummy, white beard, rosy cheeks and jolly smile. Kinda freaky! Santa in a Canada Post uniform.

So all my work is shoved in a corner, screw it, I can do it Monday. Jingle is curled up on the couch waiting, and we're going to dive in and not come up for air until the end.

So you may not get me all weekend but leave a message, and when we recover from the excitement, we'll get back to you!!!

Let's go Jingle!!!! And don't forget to order the Pizza either, I'm not stopping to make dinner today!