It All Came to A Halt

As the Princess of the house, I'm sure you all know by now: I don't miss a thing. And so, when Googie and I were chasing each other last night down the stairs and across the dining room, as I fled through under the table trying to figure out my next move to upstage that boy, I suddenly came to a halt and froze. Googie noticed my stare at mom. She had her hands in her bag and was making the dreaded clinky-clink sound. Oh-my-god, she was reaching for the [alarm remote] thingy again!

I quickly stopped in my tracks and curled up, staring right at her from across the room. But I noticed Googie didn't seem to mind. He actually just slowed down in front of me, and walked hesitantly toward her. Huh. Then he just stood there, just looking.

"Nobody's coming! It's okay", mom said. So he didn't bolt. Well, I guess neither did I now.

But it did cramp our chase to a halt !

[YES, 'Virginia', you CAN train your cats - in just two tries, if you're lucky. ]

:)

Not All A Bed of Roses

Or a bowl-of-cherries. Life that is, with Princess. She may have returned,* but we are picking up where we ... started, way back when in fact. The first few weeks were unbelievable of course, seeing that she understood all the phrases and responded amazingly to them, like jumping up the stairs as soon as she heard "time for beddie bye" the very first time when I brought her. But she is a rascal, just like she was in her first kittenhood. Our love-fest is sometimes punctuated by chasings, faux-hissings on my part, intense eyeball-to-eyeball starings (upon which she scurries off apparently scared to death by my stare), and more shenanigans... She leaves no stone unturned in this house... Everything she hasn't done before, she is doing now.. Fortunately, now that's she's reached her first year she is no longer climbing the fake fig tree maniacally, I've noticed that much. Nor the upholstered dining chairs. We have to start at the beginning, again, and she hasn't learned yet not to walk all over me when I'm sleeping. So, I mean, hey - just because your cat may want to reincarnate? That doesn't mean she's gonna be all-wise instantly, the next time around. Granted, yes - she'll understand those special phrases immediately. But she'll still act like a spoiled kitten. Like a very aggressive, spoiled kitten. If there is one thing different this time, it's that she is much more aggressive maybe because she's with a mate she feels she has to overpower. After all, he did start to follow her and everything she did ever since they arrived...


* (For those of you who are not-so-much metaphysically inclined, I, in my heart and mind have observed it and feel it to be true - and so does F. Reed Brown, the best psychic in the area for the last 30 years who told me straight up about her being back, not even knowing there was even a cat in my life.)

All Spread Out and Nowhere To Go

Hah, y'awl, it's Gabriel here. Well, Ah tell ya: Ah had me a real awkward moment there earlier 'dis eevening. You see, Ah laike to do thangs mah way. And so, when Ah feel it's thaime? Ah just deeg in mah claws wherever Ah may be. Well, Ah know mom doesn't laike that but Pipi on the uther hand doesn't even want me to use her clawing thangs.

So, here Ah was, beesy digging in. Ah happened to be bah the bottom of the stairs, you see and Ah thank that's a good place as any for some clawing.

Until Ah saw mom comin' down.

Aw, naw! Aw-dang! NOW? In the middle of mah clawing? And Ah can't even de-claw at that point, Ah'm stuck with one paw awl the way to mah left, anothar paw awwl the way to mah right... and Ah'm lying there, pretty much "spread-Eagle" one maight put it... While mom's now standing over me, trying to get down that last step. Holly-molly.

Ah finally managed to disengage mahself and scurried outta there on the double.

[Unfortunately, no video was taken... I just wasn't expecting that one... :) ]

A Subtle Message, Indeed

You know, sometimes even I miss things with the cats. :)
Like yesterday when I came home. I noticed Gabriel did something unusual during our -very- usual routine when I come home. I mean, he's always by my side with Princess in the kitchen. But this time, I saw him go all the way to the entrance door, peering out the glass panel. I actually did think about it and wondered if there was something out there but chose to put it off. He stood there by the door looking out and then back to me.

This morning as I'm starting to drive out, I noticed a UPS package left by the door... He actually tried to tell me something was out there (but I was too lazy to investigate).

I tell ya, cats have a very subtle way of communicating, and if you don't pay close attention? You're bound to miss it.

My Daily Cat Massages

Well... I make up for all my stealing and dismantling actually. I give mom daily cat massages. As soon as I see her plop down on the bed, I hop on and take the liberty of walking all over her, literally. I know I can. She lets me all the time. Even though I get chased a lot too, I'm not afraid, you know? So, I start giving her massages on her belly.

When I get a little tired? I stop to take a breather, and then I hear her begging me for more. So I come back and go back at it again. I mean she asks, you know? I can't very well just walk away...

[Video-accompanied - 2 videos ]

Tings I Like to Dismantle

Princess here. Yeah, my skills go far and beyond anyone's imagination.

Here's the quick rundown: (I don't have time to waste nowadays) I look for tings to take apart. Tings that are my size, you know, like when I can handle them with both one or both of my paws. My latest discoveries include one of the Bose speakers - I actually succeeded taking off that small thingy behind them, I really don't know what it was there for to begin with. It's like the cap on the bottles. I also like to come away with the kitchen sink stopper even though it's kinda bigger than my mouth can really hold - I still take it out and drop it on the floor. Until mom made it disappear.

I also like to dismantle tings off of the feared vacuum. I took the brush out of it. I keep my game near my scratching post, that one anyway. Mom hasn't dared take that away from me. And did I mention the water bottle caps? Yep, they've disappeared too nowadays... the whole bottle that is. And of course, I never miss the chance to swipe mom's barettes - if I can.

[This cat needs a lot of help. ]

[New klepto video-accompanied.]