Thursday, not Thirteen

Because there's been so much going on this week and I'm so sad I have decided not to do Thursday Thirteen this week and instead try the Scattergories meme to lighten my mood.

RULES: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made-up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What is your name: Zoey
4 letter word: Zoom (for Cha-Ching who's the fastest kitty in the west!)
vehicle: Nissan Z car

TV show: Zorro!
City: Zamora, CA
Boy name: Zeppo
Girl name: Zahara
Alcoholic drink: Zombie
Occupation: Zookeeper
Something you wear: zipper
Celebrity: Frank Zappa
Food: zucchini
Something found in a bathroom: zoo crew (it's a gathering place in the morning)
Reason for being late: Zipper stuck
Cartoon character: Zoidberg
Something you shout: Zoey! (as in Zoey get off that! Zoey don't do that! Zoey come inside!)

Whew! That was hard. I need a name that starts with something other than Z! Well, I'm tired and need a nap. Cha-Ching's been pestering me all day for information about how to talk to girls. Like I would know, it's been a long time since I thought about things like that... I think I need help on this subject.

Wordful Wednesday

It is with sad hearts that we bid goodbye to our dear friend Oscar. We loved reading about his antics and keeping up on Seanbean's progress. Of course, he was extra-special to us because he was our dear friends Suzanne, Ben Fuzz, and sweet Lucy-Furr's Daddy. We miss him already and know that he is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge with Suzanne to be reunited with his loving family at the right time. We send all our purrs and prayers to his family as they cope with their loss.

On a lighter note, Whew! It's been a busy week. On Sunday, Mommy and Daddy took Mommy's Daddy fishing. Well, it was supposed to be Mommy and Daddy but when they got to the lake, Daddy discovered that the wheel-bearing had gone out on the boat trailer. So he put the boat in the lake and Mommy and her Daddy fished while my Daddy went back to town to get a wheel bearing. Mommy had a great time (except for the guilt about having such a great time while Daddy was working on the trailer). When Daddy got back with the replacement part, he discovered it was the wrong size so he couldn't fix the trailer. They rented a moorage for the night and they would have to go back on Monday with the right size wheel-bearing to fix it.

On top of all that, they learned just how smart the furballs are, which was confirmed on Sunday. It all dates back to last Thursday when they discovered that the cat door to the backyard was unlocked when they were pretty sure they had locked it. They saw Chewie working on the lock and started to wonder if maybe a furball had unlocked it. Then on Friday, Mommy came home to find the furballs in the backyard courtesy of an unlocked cat door when she was POSITIVE it had been locked when she left. She and Daddy suspected that some furball, likely Chewie, had in fact figured out how to unlock the door. So she put her sewing machine case, a big, heavy luggage like container, in front of the locked kitty door. On Sunday night, they got home to discover the furballs out on the deck with the case moved out of the way and the kitty door unlocked. So Mommy got them all back inside, locked the kitty door and put the case on its side in front of the door, thinking that they wouldn't be able to move it without the help of the wheels on the case. Daddy came inside to clean the fish and watched Smoke move the case out of the way, unlock the kitty door and let himself out onto the deck - all in less than a minute and half! Daddy now has three bricks wedged in the kitty door to keep the furballs inside and is taking bets on how long before they figure out how to get around that.

But our story doesn't end there. On Monday when they finally got home with the boat, they opened the garage door. There's a different style kitty door in the door from the house to the garage. It's a chubby-kitty cat door for a certain Tuxie girl. Smoke! I'm not fat! I'm voluptuous. Anyhow, back to my story. The door is locked to allow us to get back into the house if we get locked in the garage, but won't allow us out into the garage. While they were prepping the boat to put back into its place on the pad beside the house, they noticed the furballs working the cat door trying to get out. Smoke was able to get the door open, but not open enough to get out before it would close again. Then back-up came in the form of Chewie! Smoke would open the door and Chewie would put her nose in the opening and open the door enough to sneak out. Daddy put her back in the house and got the video camera. Sure enough they did it again, all on tape. As soon as the beans figure out how to upload the stuff, they'll share their footage of these super-smart furballs, including the funny part where Smoke gets frustrated because he can't figure out how to get out the door by himself.

Anyhow, needless to say, its been a crazy week here and the beans refused to get on the Internet to let us blog. They claimed they were too busy on Sunday and Monday and last night they said they wanted to get sleep after two really busy and long days (oh and Daddy's work called at 4 a.m. because they couldn't get the door open and needed him to come down and open the door for them - so no one got much sleep that night at all but they did get to see the lunar eclipse). Mommy was so tired on Sunday that she fell asleep with an ice-cold can of pop resting on the sunburn she got on her chest from the slight v-neck in the shirt she was wearing. She woke up on Monday to the alarm blaring after only five hours of sleep to find the now-warm can still on her chest (sleeps like the dead she does!). So by Monday night when they didn't get home and to bed until late again, she was really tired with the 4 a.m. wake-up call (literally!). Last night she almost slept the clock around!

So finally they have let me back on to update you all on the progress of Cha-Ching's little crush. So far our fair maiden has returned Cha-Ching's star so it looks like he's making progress. Now if he could just get up the nerve to talk to her. I suggested that he get her some flowers to cheer her up over the bad news that's affecting her family (those were both hints if you didn't get my subtle clues). Mommy seemed to like these flowers when Daddy had them waiting in their hotel room on their first anniversary (they went to Disneyland); I wonder if Cha-Ching's crush would.

And last but not least, I, the beautiful Tuxie that I am, was the Tuxedo Gang Member of the Day on Monday. Too bad the beans didn't let me on the Internet to enjoy it, but I'll get my revenge on them for that. Perhaps I'll need a little snuggling this morning at, oh, let's say 3 a.m. That should do it! Ta-ta for now.

Featuring Mr. Cat, aka Snowball, aka Casper and Photohunters: Happy

This is Mr. Cat, also called Snowball and Casper. He is our cousin. He used to live at Auntie Kim's house in Texas, but two weeks ago he found a new home at Grandma and Grandpa's house. At first he wasn't too sure because G&G have a woofie, Rosie. Rosie and Mr. Cat are working out the terms of their new relationship.

So far, Mr. Cat is winning (he he he).

As for Photohunters today. The happiest time for any us is when we are snuggled up with Daddy, so here is Gandalf being very happy.

Finally, for those of you who have asked about Cha-Ching's little crush, he's finally done something proactive about it and sent her a Catster Star. For those of you who are really good sleuths, you might be able to figure it out. For the rest of you, hang on while he finds out if she's interested. Stay tuned...

Smoke: He he he... I'm taking over the blog to give you a hint. She's a sweet little girl who has an adorable older brother and was introduced to the blogging community old last month and is already a star (at least in Cha-Ching's eyes if not everyone else's too).

Smoke! You behave or I'll mention somethings about you that you would rather the whole world not know!

Thursday Thirteen

Now that Smoke, Chewie and Gandalf have just past the six-month milestone yesterday and Cha-Ching is only two days away, we present you thirteen things about getting older:

1. We can climb nine feet off the floor to the plant shelf dividing the living room and the dining room.

2. We can't get toys out from under the baker's rack anymore.

3. We can leap the fence in the backyard and visit the neighbors.

4. We can't sit on top of our tent anymore without it collapsing.

5. We don't have "accidents" in the middle of the night anymore.

6. We've learned that Zoey can open the back door when it's shut but not locked (Mommy and Daddy keep it locked all the times now).

7. We're pretty close to learning how to unlock the kitty door all by ourselves (even though Mommy and Daddy tell us to stop when we try).

8. We've got being underfoot down to a science.

9. Chewie can hunt and catch birds (and olives).

10. We don't have to go the vet every two weeks for shots anymore.

11. We don't have a cat nursery anymore.

12. We're alot faster (and smarter).

and 13. Chewie doesn't really fit in the basket in Mommy and Daddy's headboard anymore (but she thinks she does!).

Oh, and here's a secret. The furballs have been teasing Cha-Ching mercilessly about a certain young girl whose blog he's been secretly reading (and re-reading).

Wordless Wednesday - A well informed kitty

I know it's Wordless Wednesday, but I have to wish Tara a very happy first birthday!

Full of Beans?

Last night we were snuggled up watching tv and surfing blogs when the furballs burst into the room with a "toy." Now that's not unusual because they're always into everything and absolutely anything they can get their paws on is a toy. But this time we had to laugh. They had stolen a green bean that Mommy had picked from the garden and were carrying it around. You can see Smoke with it with Chewie looking on. I guess they needed more vegetables in their diet.

Seven Strange Things About.... Mommy

Mommy was tagged by Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats for the Seven Strange Things meme, so I'm dutifully handing over the blog to her today:

Hmmm I never thought about what might be strange about me so this is going to be interesting to do.

Strange thing number one: Until I married Matt, I never dated the same guy longer than three months. I guess honestly that's true even with Matt because we broke up right about the three month mark the first time we dated and were married before the three month mark the second time we dated. Hmmm, I just realized that three must be a magical number for me because Matt and I went out on our first official date (without Mike and Val, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) on March 3, 2003 and were married on the third day of the month.

Strange thing number two: I got married in one week. Matt was in the hospital and I walked into his room and asked me to marry me (we were already engaged) now instead of waiting. I suggested the hockey game the following Saturday. He agreed (well I have to admit he was drugged at the time) and so Val and I called everyone. The hockey team contacted us and offered to let us get married on the ice and, viola, one week later, Matt and I were married in front of over 3,000 people in the break between the first and second periods. It was Matt's first hockey game, a highly memorable game for all and couldn't have been more perfect if we had planned it for ages.

Strange thing number three: My toes are long enough I can play the piano with them, although not well.

Strange thing number four: I can sing the Oscar Mayer bologna song in Spanish.

Strange thing number five: Until I got married, I never had to share a room, apartment or house with anyone (well other than my parents and sister when I was growing up). It really is quite remarkable that Matt and I have made it this far considering I didn't know how to share and I waited so late in life to get married.

Strange thing number six: When I graduated from law school, my parents asked me what I wanted as a graduation gift. I told them that I wanted one last family vacation to Disneyland, which, of course, they gave me. So the day I graduated, my parents, sister and I piled into the car for our family vacation, but not before I yelled "I'm going to Disneyland" as I walked across the stage to get my diploma. The Dean even told me to say "hi" to Goofy for him. I made the news.

Strange thing number seven: I was running out of ideas when I asked Matt about what's strange about me. He said that I love him. I don't think that's strange at all. He's a heck of nice guy, who loves me with all his heart, puts up with all my fussiness, and treats me like a princess. What's not to love about that?

That was actually really hard because I'm a pretty normal girl, with only occasional bouts of quirks. Anyhow, I dare all of those reading this entry to give it a try. Tell us what is strange about you!

Chewie the Huntress

Today Mommy and Daddy were stunned when Chewie careened through the kitty door with a flapping birdie in her mouth. She only had it by the tail and it broke free after Chewie had taken only a few steps inside the door. While Mommy wondered how they were going to get it back outside, Daddy tracked it down to where it was hiding on top of a few books in the bookcase and was able to scoop it up quickly. Although it was scared, it seemed unharmed. Daddy released him back outside where the birdie quickly flew away. Chewie, exhausted from her hunting, took a brief nap and then resumed her post under the bird feeder. Mommy now fears that no birdie is safe in our backyard.

My twin or is that triplet?

Okay I was just looking at all the blogs today when I saw the challenge about finding my twin. Not much of challenge for me because my cousin DaisyMae Maus and I could be twins! Judge for yourself:

DaisyMae Maus:

Zoey:

But today I realized that there's a third cat out there that could be our triplet! Here's Boo of Manx Mnews:

Such gorgeous tuxies!

We're Back!

Whooo hooo hooo! We're back in business. Our favorite computer guy fixed everything and even made it way better too. Now Daddy can use his non-Vista-compatible programs too! That means he can load his Mastercook program and get cooking. Mommy's going to have to send him a great big thank you even though he says "no charge."

Lots and lots has happened while we were without the computer. Daddy's sister and her boys came for a visit from Texas. We had a ton of fun and Mom's got lots of pictures, but their all in her camera, which she left at Grandma and Grandpa's. We've gotten a lot bigger and even Cha-Ching too! We're finally done with all the vet visits for our shots too! Anyhow, Mom says I can get back to blogging but I have to keep in mind that she still has lots she needs to do (like can peaches, pick corn and green beans, make salsa, sew the curtains and sheers for the master bedroom, etc.) so I need to be mindful of her time, but I'm soooooo excited to get back out there and catch up on my friends. So I'll be seeing you real soon.

P.S. Mommy finally finished reading all seven of the Harry Potters. She really loved them.

Computer Woes Continue

Just a quick update to let you know that the harddrive is bad on our new computer. Our favorite techie has contacted HP to get the part for us but it looks like we won't have it until August 14 and our other computer doesn't want to "talk" to the wireless modem. Arggh! So we are stranded for a bit. We have family coming into town so I wasn't even going to be able to blog that we anyway. So here's to having paws crossed that we are back up and running around August 20th. Purrs to everyone. We miss you and can't wait to be back visiting with you all!