It's Me And Only Me

On the socialization front, I'm afraid it's me and only me for Gabriel and Princess. (Oh, that's right: Mom is actually talking now! :))

I had a random man come in the other day for the cable (another yet 'cable guy') and they disappeared before he even came into the house. I am a little puzzled at just how un-social they really are with anyone else coming into the house... The man was around in and out of the house for a couple of hours, part of the time on top of the roof and yet they would not come out. I started looking for them after he left and found them both huddled again in a really tight space between the couch in the rec room downstairs and the wall! ... That's a really tight space.. And there they were, on top of one another, simulating ... basically, what they went through at some point between their rescue and foster home. They were on top of each other when I found them even, in the display cage at Petco. And now they are going back to this behavior..

I had to move the couch to give them breathing room ... and they slowly came out again, cautious and hesitant, reconnecting with me. Now I've got to wonder: how long is this gonna go on for before they get over it. Or will they. Will they ever get over the trauma they must have experienced at kittenhood.. They are definitely not responding well to male presence, let's put it this way. I think it's because it was probably a male who busted into the house and took them away, perhaps an animal control type of person.

There is a silver lining to this story though. That night I discovered Gabriel sleeping inside of the open vet carrier. We had to borrow it from them and I had left it open. He made peace with it and decided to sleep there for the night even though it was a demonized item to him just days ago...


* (Oh, and by the way: Princess is still afraid of the sound of a scrunchy bag... For those of you who have been following the Princess Diaries for the last few years, you might remember that she had that fear for a really long time, the sound of bag scrunching would send her flying away. Unfortunately, this is a carry-over... She still runs at the sound; not Gabriel though.)

Mom Ain't Feelin' Goood

Mom opened the door this mornin' and Pipi and Ah could tell immediately she wasn't feeling' right. Ah mean, for one thang, she didn't greet us laike she usually does. Anywah, Ah let the day go bah, thanking she was gone and Ah waus downstairs virtual-stalking our neighbor chipmunk when Ah realized that mom waus still here. Ah went up the stairs slowly and stretched mah neck to see from behand the railing - yep, she's still here, how strange... She was on that thang again, that weird box thang on top of the table, giving it awl her attention [laptop]. Ah never laiked her doin' this anywah.. So Ah jump on the table thang and stick my nose to hers momentarily, or tryin' to.. Stick my nose in the direction of this weird thang that takes awl her attention... and generally try to figure how's she doin, walking awl over thangs next to her face.

Ah guess mom didn't laike that too much and put me down the floor in short order, doin' mand ya her shrill yell at me. Okay, Ah get it - Ah scrambled over a few feet away halfway to the stairs and looked back at her... Aw no.. she ain't feelin' good, Ah can teelll. Ah followed her upstairs theen ... tried to get close to her again in that little room of her where Ah laike to have mah mornin' time with her [bathroom] but she closed the door on me.

That's okay... Ah'll just lay bah the door, right up against the whole door, and wait patiently until she opens it.


[Mom's got an increasingly bad 'cold' and going to the doctor... And mom's worried now about her darlings being cared for in case she's hospitalized or whatever... ]

The Day of Horror

That day began just as faane as any awther day.. Mom went downstairs and Pipi and Ah just thought she was gonna go out the door, like she usually does. But then she took Pipi and put 'er in the box [carrier]. It was the same one Ah was in a while ago. This did NAWT bode well... Naw-naw.. This should not be happenin', not with mom anywah. Next thang Ah knew, mom came at me, cawling me bah mah name, beckoning to me. Aw-naw! Ah decided Ah was gonna fight this with all mah might. Ah knew what she was trying' to do. She was tryin' to put me in that other box Ah could see standin' there, next to Pipi's!! Aw-MAH-GOD!!

Ah gave it mah awl, is what Ah could do. At one point, Ah used both mah front paws against mom's legs as support to just... resist awl Ah could from gettin' into that box. Ah pushed and pushed back when Ah was put at its openin', let me tell ya. And then mom somehow took it, made it change shape, grabbed me and threw me in upside down... Naw, that wasn't elegant.. getting thrown in laike that... Aw-NAW!

Ah could feel me moving with it and Ah let out a scream [a heart-wrenching, please-don't-do-this-to-me scream, I might add... ] Mom tried to tell me it waws "okay" and awl... But Ah just wasn't buying it.. And Pipi started in on her too, Ah could hear her even though Ah couldn't see her. "Please, mom! Please! Don't let us go! Please!! Not again!"

Next thang we knew, we are at the place Ah was at bafawre... "the doctor's"... Mom kept tellin' us that. The box opened and Ah see Pipi comin' right over to me; we huddled together as tight as we could. "Pipi, honey... What are we gonna DO?!!" We huddled together deep into that box, not knowing what they were gonna do to us. Ah waws beginnin' to lose faith in mom because she was right there while awl this was happenin... She could she the terror in mah eyes..

Well... Then Ah guess "the doctor" came in and did thangs.. around us and awl.. And mom kept hugging me, tellin' me it was awl "okay"... They were tawlking about me, sometin' about how big Ah waws and other thangs Ah did nawt understand. Then "the doctor" had me up close to her and Ah waws patient with her... She waws awlright, Ah guess - Ah could put up with that. But oops! Somethin' got into my butt and Ah didn't quite laike that, Ah might say.

"It's okay, Gabriel.. It's the doctor! ... That's what the doctor does", mom said. "... Well, that's not what the doctor does all the time, thank god.. ", said "the doctor".

Awl in awl, Ah guess it waws "okay"... Pipi and Ah got back into our boxes. Well, Ah told her Ah wanted to go into hers this time and so we swapped. And then mom took us home ... we didn't feel the need to make a 'peep' on the way back. Except to hiss at some strange cat whaile we were waiting [for mom to pay the $427.00 tab...].

:))

Need Some Interpretation

Gabriel here, y'awl. As you awl know bah now, I do take a lot of my cues from Pipi. She is the one who knows a lot of thangs about the house and mom and so Ah'm resigned to that faact. Ah waws from the very beginning, actually. Pipi pretty much had to lead me through everythin' when we got here.

So, mom began to do something different the other naight. As Ah was lounging on the floor close to Pipi, she came over to me and started rubbing mah belly with her foot ... sayin' "Belly, belly! You got a big belly, don't you?? Belly, belly!!" Ah could tell bah her voice she was laike... makin' fun of me a little biiit. So Ah quickly got up, irritated, and shifted position tryin' to avoid her.

But mom continued to poke me with her foot, repeating "belly, belly!!". She hadn't done anythang laike that bafawre. Ah was at a loss. Ah swiped at her foot a couple of times, trying to get 'er to leave me alone. Didn't work.

Ah looked over at Pipi, stretching mah neck in her direction: "Pipi, honey?? Can you help out here? What do Ah do? "

Pipi seemed to thank it was awl gooood... And so, Ah took her cue -as usual- and just layed there, takin' it, until mom decided she had enough fun with me and mah belly.

The Rev. F. Reed Brown Session

Today, was the day of my impromptu appointment with the Reverend Reed Brown in Arlington.

I got this appointment quite suddenly last Friday, as some of you know. This is a man who is so good at what he does as a spiritual counselor for over 20 years, that he literally has a two-month waiting period before anyone can go see him. People from other states will make the trek to see him. He is our own local John Edward, would be one way to put it. I have gone to him about five times since 1984.

But let's just cut to the chase, shall we? Last Friday, while driving to work, I started thinking and wondering about Princess I again... I began to second-guess myself, thought about something she did and it brought tears to my eyes. The next thought was to call the Rev. Brown and check up on my name's order in the waiting list. I got that urge to call while zipping down the Toll road at a high speed, no less. And I was told that she in fact just had a cancellation a minute or two before I called. So she gave me the appointment for today.

Within the first couple of minutes of the session, Rev. Brown suddenly switched subjects and said this (and thank god I have it on tape): "Do you like cats? Because I sense that there is a cat... a cat who reincarnated and I think this has already happened... a cat who has come back as another cat. "

At that point, I couldn't contain myself anymore... I just let out a burst of joy, a "yeeessss!!! "

I mean, like I didn't know... But this should serve as a reminder to all of us: Trust your gut instinct. Do not second-guess yourself.

And you know what? The reincarnation of Princess Greer has now been certified.


:)) !!!

Mah Take of Thangs

Awl Ah can say, as Gabriel here, eas that Ah'm pretty much resigned to it that Pipi here is gonna act a little off-kilter every once in a while and Ah just have to learn to cope with it.

Laike tawday, she started rolling again and I just went to her and licked her head a little bit to make her feel better. But Ah just stand there and oversee her naw, you know? Ah can't do much more and Ah've accepted that fact. But Ah wanna make sure she's awlright though, know what Ah mean? So Ah'm constantly watching her.

Ah try to get creative now and then... Laike just a few minutes ago? I tried another move on her, Ah put one paw on end of her back and the other paw down close to her tail, and just nipped her a little bit in the middle of her spine... thought maybe she might laike that.

... And then Ah heard mom go: "She's not a HOT DOG !!"

A Second Cycle of Confusion

"Pipi" is going through a second heat cycle as of today and although we're all lucky she's not an obnoxiously vocal cat, I worry about how they're going to go about it. Her personal style is to roll on the floor in this out-of-control kind of way, scratching the carpet, twisting, and turning. At which point Gabriel notices her behavior and runs across the room to her, trying to step up to the plate. He stadles her, gets her by the scruff for a moment, then he'll bite her on the back, and sometimes it seems to me at least, that he hurts her in the process because she'll squeal or hiss at him. But that's where it ends of course... The last hiss I heard, I had to get up from the table and investigate, at which point they stopped grappling with each other. Poor Princess crawled over to me and I tried to make her feel "okay", stroking her and holding her.

They've calmed down right now, hopefully for the night. The cost of neutering a cat is proving rather prohibitive, and I had to make a choice. I at least had to take care of Gabriel first, being that he was the most immediate concern, seeing how aggressive he was getting with her; thankfully, the aggression has dissipated even though he does try to go through the motions when he sees her in heat, it's all relatively lame at this point.. (His neutering cost me upwards of $400.00...)

The Obligatory Swipe

Ah'm Gabriel here and y'awl know bah naw just how Ah am: Ah laike to keep everybody happy. There was a thyme, a whaile back, when Ah was still a small kitten? When Ah waus playin kinda hard with Pipi. In fact, she and Ah had a score to settle. And so, Ah was awl absorbed into that fight, when mom decided to try to destract me with our favorite toy thang - the string on a stick [fishing pole]. That thang, mand you, gets me awl excited especially when Ah waus a kitten. And so, she stuck the thang right on mah nose, practically, whaile Ah settling this score with Pipi.

You know whaat? Ah wasn't gonna let that take mah focus away. Without a second glance, Ah just took one swipe at the string thang with mah right paw, whaile keeping mah main attention on Pipi.

... Ah can multi-task even when Ah'm mad, and still keep mom happy. Besides: that thang ended up takin' some of mah frustrations away.

It's All About Me

Mom came back later today bringing a bunch of stuff with her as she walked in. There was new stuff, different shapes, not the usual scrunchy bags I like so much putting my nose in. She like, brought in this big round thing that she then hovered over and somehow made it change shape into a square. And then she plopped it over the floor nearby where Gabriel and I eat. Oh, this was nice! I could tell this was all for me, so I wasted no time going over to it and plopping myself right down on it. Mmm... yep, it's pretty soft. But, hey - wait a minute, hmm.. let me just go over to the other one, the one that's been there all the time... I kinda like that one a little better.

Of course, Gabriel wasted no time being a copy-cat.. he just went over there where I vacated my seat and plopped right down on the same spot, that boy. I tell you, he doesn't have a mind of his own, he's such a ... follower. Anyway, we both liked this new soft cover... It's all ours, I know it, I mean it was pretty obvious to me from the start.

And then she brought this other thing, totally different, it goes upward, four different sticks all around, and has a flat base where I can lay on it and look up and see the top of it. It called to me, what can I say. After taking possession of the.. 'area rug', I had to go over to this thing and lay inside it, twist and turn, and make sure I was well familiar with it. I mean, why would she bring it in here if she didn't want me to crawl all over it?

[That'd be a small marble-top stand... and an area rug in the kitchen.]

Synchronized Leggin'

I watched mom this afternoon enter this area in her other room where I see her get drenched by a lot of water; but I can never get to her because there's this see-through thing blocking me. I can see her but I can't touch her. But now, she was half-way in there, she had one leg in and one leg out and she was bending over her leg. I walked into this picture and stood there trying to figure out what she was doing. Then I noticed she had some thing in her hand, some little thing that I would love to snatch away if she's not looking. Anyway, she kept moving this thing up and down her leg, I mean ... back and forth, this way and that.

I followed closely trying to understand what she was doing; I had never seen her do that before. Hmm, .. here's one way - up with that thing, and then down, and then up again ... and I'm going into a trance now watching her, she's really into this and so am I - I'm following right along keeping pace with each stroke on her leg by lifting my paw and swinging it back and forth against thin air.

She turned around and looked at me while my paw was in mid-air. I lifted my face and looked back at her: "Am I doing it right ? What is that?? "

[Princess saw me dry-shaving my legs by the open shower door and decided to start mirroring my movement with her paw.]

:))))

I Thought I Had The Drill

Mom told me she was going "bye bye" earlier today as she was walking out of her room. I was up there with her, paying her company with Gabriel. So that got my attention and I began to follow her down the stairs. I got ahead of her, sure that she was gonna go for that big bag that's sitting against a chair on the floor. So, with aplomb, I hopped over to it and marked it with my nose for good measure knowing full well she's gonna pick it up before she really goes "bye bye". I know what's involved in these things, trust me.

But she kept going. She actually passed by the bag and kept going down the stairs ! I stood there in disbelief, looking at her.. But mom? You're not all ready yet, are you?

Well, she kept walking, telling me she was really going; I was a little stunned and confused and I kinda .. just stood there staring at her. Hmm.... Oh, well.

[Princess is used to seeing me pick up the laptop bag most mornings before heading out to work... ]

:))

Dots! Dots Where They Don't Belong!

Ah'm Gabriel here, and Ah have a thang about little dawt circles... "dots" they call'em.. Ah keep fanding dots where they don't belawng.. And they're driving mah crazy!...

Laike there's a dot on the big whate box [refrigerator], and Ah've been attacking that dot ever since Ah can remember...since Ah first came to the house as a lil' kitten. Ah laike, out of the blue-style, just jump on it awn and awn.. And Pipi thanks Ah'm crazy and loses her patience and attacks me to get me to stop the insanity.

But then Ah notice another dawt, 'er .. "dot"! And this thayme, it's awn the floor, on this piece of wood [railing base] and it's driving me crazy awl over again. Jump! Ah go, right awn it.. Dot! Dot! What's it doin here? Laike that? Out of nowhere?

Ahhh! Ah can't stand it Ah tell you. I run the other way laike a maniac but then something keeps pulling me back to the dot, and Ah attack it again!

.... If Ah fand another dot, Ah'll scream...

The Mutual Admiration Society

Well... I guess it's gonna have to be a "society" of just three in this case.

I mean, I'm still gushing about how these cats have bonded so much with me. I really don't take it for granted. Every day, they'll do something that shows how close they feel to me.. Like when I came home the other day - I put the wet food out for them, as usual, and I know that they always crave wet food and want to eat it right away. But after a couple of minutes, they had barely started to eat, when I disappeared upstairs to change and refresh. Next thing I knew, they abandoned their feast and came up to find me . Even as I go about my daily routine, these seemingly little acts are not lost on me... "Look at that", I thought to myself. They would rather skip their tasty dinner just so they can be close to me.

And then tonight... Gabriel was laying down next to my leg by the laptop bag. I reached out with my foot to stroke his belly and he started licking my foot... They never miss an opportunity to lick me or 'cat-kiss' me.

I guess 'momma' love is just more important than plain food in the larger scheme of things.
(And, it doesn't hurt that they have an all-you-can-eat buffet of dry food all day long either.. !

:))

The Duckling Brigade

Yep, you got it: I was confronted by the ... duckling brigade.

I was walking towards the small pond by the Countryside office buildings yesterday when I noticed momma and poppa Canadian geese and their seven teenage ducklings. Well, they're "teenagers" because they are no longer in their fuzzy yellow cover, they are grown almost as big as adults but still in that awkward stage bearing still a fuzzy coat. Cars had to stop for them as they started to cross the small street, moving away from the pond toward the parking lot. What a sight... until one of the cars managed to corale them back to their natural habitat. So I crossed over toward the pond, keeping a safe distance from the brood. Then I decided to just stop and watch them from a few feet away. Apparently, that was giving off a cue... because the entire duckling brood began to waddle over to me . They seemed somehow all hopeful and excited, lifting their wings up as they stradled toward me. My god, was I popular. They came to just a few inches of me.

"Sorry!!.. I don't have any food! ", I chippered... On cue, momma and poppa goose ushered them all away in one clean sweep. They just all changed direction as soon as the adults made a move toward them.

... And off they went into the water.