Sleepy Things, Silly Things

Stygia: First, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite spots in the house: my chair. It's in a corner, I get a good view, and it's close to a baseboard heater, so I was cozy all winter long! Another great thing about my spot is that there is a mirror on the wall right beside the chair, so no matter what way I face, I can get a 360-degree view of whatever might be coming my way (Abby!). The comfy red cushion is mine, and covered generously in my own lovely fur.


Now I need to tell you something about my silly sister, Abby. Ms. C was printing photos to send to her grandma, and for whatever reason, Abby just loves that printer. The very sound of the printer printing causes her to approach, and she will crawl all over it, waiting for paper to come out. After Ms. C made a copy of her resume, Abby hopped right up on to the scanner/copier part of the printer, and Ms. C pressed the SCAN button! I would never think of doing anything so . . . so unseemly!

Preparations.....

Stygia: Shhhh . . . tomorrow is a very important day in the life of Abby Normal, so we are getting our beauty rest. I even let her rest her head really close to my paws. Anyway, don't tell her, but we're going to be having a party for her and you are ALL invited!!

Abby: Beauty rest? Hah! You knew that wouldn't last:

What we've been doing . . .

Stygia: Our mom has been neglecting our blog, but she has not been neglecting us! In my case, this may be a little unfortunate, because yesterday she took me to the VET! That's why I am hiding in this shoe. Please don't worry about me, it was my first vet visit since I've made my new home, and it was just for check up and basic vaccines. I am healthy! I weigh 10.9 pounds, so I have not gained any more weight since Ms. C put us on a feeding schedule.

Here I am demonstrating my "Sphynx" method of play. What I am doing is sitting with my paws on my favorite toy, pretending not to notice that it is there. Pretty soon, though, I will let myself get very excited about it, and act surprised to find it there! This is a really fun game. Another way of playing this game is to sit right down with the toy underneath my back legs. When it's time to get surprised and excited, then you can start bunnykicking right away! Try this!

I also like to request playtime with Abby. It made me pretty sad when I came home from the vet last evening, and she hissed at me right away. She told me that I smelled funny, and she ran away. She told me she was sure I worked for that vet now, and that she knew I was going to "fix" her again. I played it cool as I could, and this morning it paid off. I was relaxing in the sun, and she came by and gave me a really thorough between-the-ears bath!

Abby: While Ms. C was taking a break and being lazy, guess what? I did a lot of that too! I have my own personal chair right next to hers (which I am allowed to scratch as much as I like!), and I sleep in it too. If you look carefully, you can see that I am licking my nose:

Ms. C placed a plush snake on the lamp next to her desk. Of course, I had to check that out, too. Wouldn't you?

Ms. C says she refuses to decorate anything for Christmas yet because not only is it not even Thanksgiving yet, but her birthday (which is on the last day of the month) must pass before the decorating can begin. We are wondering if Christmas means she is going to put cat toys up all over the house? Is it true?!

A Moment of Silence

We observed a moment of silence in honor of today:

I am in the chair and Stygia is safely curled on the cat condo.

So many people's lives were changed seven years ago. Unexpectedly, indescribably. Ours too.

(semi) Easy on Sunday

I've taken it about as easy as I can. I mean, I did have to play. It's an important part of my job as a cat, after all. These mice must be kept under control and brought to locations of my choosing!


And now for the easier part. Ms. C says when I sleep like this, it does not make it easier for her, but it is very nice for me, and she says I am welcome to use her as a pillow any time.

She is very kind!

Caturday Award & Catnip

First of all, I would like to thank both the awesome cats of The catsp and Sen-Chan of The Poupounette for honoring me with this Arte & Pico award!

About the award:

This award was created to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a special honor. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to 5 others.

Rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogger community, regardless of language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. To show these rules.

Thank you so much for this honor! In return, I would like to tag Catzee, Texas, Nixon, Jake, and Jojo!

***

And now, on to the Caturday activities. What should I do first--play or sleep? Well, you may know (or not) that Ms. C was a little bit disappointed that I had no interest in catnip. Some cats don't, but today I discovered its joys!

I wrestled with my mouse, clasping it and rubbing it all over my face. I rolled. I even made my little furrymouse go airborne:


It was exhausting, and blissfully I discover a new and comfy way to rest my ears during my nap. We are going to be lazy today, and I hope you shall too!

So much to say-- Birthdays, sleep, and more!

Today is an extremely important day! It is my pal Sen-Chan's first birthday! He is one of the luckiest cats I know; he has a terrific mom and brother. I introduced them before on my blog, but if you have not yet seen him at his own blog, please stop on by and give him your best wishes, and some chicken too!

Happy Birthday my friend! *chases her own tail in excitement*

***

Now my mom would like to share one of my oddities with you. I often sleep with my eyes open. Sleeping with eyes open does not seem to confer any special benefits to me, the sleeper. No movement in the waking world will catch my attention. Here I am in action:

Ms. C decided to capture it in video, as well. It's not the most action-packed film, but it delivers what's promised: a cat (ME) sleeping with her eyes open:

Thank you for watching it. I know it wasn't the most exciting. Since you were so patient, here is a gratuitous picture of my lovable fangs:

***

Last but not least, black-cat extraordinaire Mickey challenged us with the cold-box meme. The instructions are:

Show us a photo of the front of your Cold Box and tell us about at least one thing on it and one thing you keep inside of it! Tag your friends and remember to stay COOL!

My family just moved recently, so the cold-box is still a work-in-progress:

Ms. C has marked the important things of note:

1. A greeting card featuring Sen-Chan and Tom! The card is of course wonderful, but what Ms. C loved even more was that the French stamps themselves featured actual pictures of Sen-Chan and Tom! She collects stamps and thinks customized stamps of these important things is really super cool.
2. A drawing by her nephew. He sent her this one over a year ago when she was not feeling well. Sweet!
3. Another drawing by her nephew. This one is called "Elephants" !!

What's inside? Well, I think it's very important to note that my stinky-goodness tuna is in there. Almost every time Ms. C goes to the kitchen, I follow her hopefully, wishing that it would be tuna time. She gives me a small bite 3 times a day: once at lunch when she eats, once at dinner when everyone eats, and later after my foul medicine.

For this meme I am going to tag Texas and Oliver! Tell us about your cold-boxes.

***

PS. I just learned it is also Percy's birthday, over at Jan's Funny Farm! Wish him a happy birthday too.

Exhausted!

It's been a long day.

Ms. C took me to the vet today for a follow-up. I am doing a lot better, not sneezing nearly as much, but I refuse--do you hear me?--I REFUSE to take any pills, which are not for my sneezing but for my supposed parasites. I would rather resist, twist, close up my little throat, and run around foaming at the mouth. Ms. C has mentioned something about "fish flavored suspension" but as long as she is not talking about "pills," then I am not concerned.

At the vet, of course I have to go through more than my share of exhausting experiences. There were DOGS in the waiting room. They rudely took my temperature in my ear again, weighed me (I am not 5.9 pounds!), looked in my mouth and ears, rubbed my belly when I did not want it to be rubbed, and worst of all, they covered me with a towel and gave me a horrible shot! I don't have Leukemia, so I don't see why they have to shoot me about it! I was angry. I bit Ms. C to let her know that her patting wasn't going to comfort me (but not hard, just a warning!). I hissed when they gave me that shot, and I kept hissing till I got back into my carrier and crouched for safety in the back of it.

As soon as I got home, I had to trot around and inspect everything. I even got back into my carrier, but I came right back out and expected to be fed. Luckily, they were very understanding. So I am sure you can completely understand my exhaustion:

A Cat's Guide to Sleep, Vol. 1

Sleep is a very important part of each and every day in a cat's life. This is something every cat knows from birth. The highest feline achievers are also champions of sleep, and it's also a great bonding activity. I have a few favorite ways to sleep, the most incredible of which Ms. C says is the twisty position:

You need to be able to accomplish a spinal-180 in order to do it. If you are not sure what that is, then take another glance at which direction my feet are going (front vs. back feet), or just ask your local feline. Following that, I often stand up, stretch, and sleep in the other direction for awhile:

And then back again. I'm really asleep now, very deep:

Here is a close up, I don't want you to miss a single important aspect of this position:

Just to make sure you really understand how deep a sleep can be accomplished in these ways, check out this video:

And finally, I often switch to the table in between Ms. C's and Mr. R's desk:


I really need to have the proper energy always ready in order to ambush Ms. C on the stairs, or to have a proper bout of the midnight crazies. Practicing these important elements of my days is the surest way to become an expert!

Kill, Recharge, Repeat

I have been performing my job well, Ms. C says. Of course I have! She is pleased that I finally made use of my litterbox, but I have much more important things to attend to. Like killing the paper grocery-bag from both inside and outside, with the help of my little fuzzy mouse.

The bag must be landed on, bitten, whapped (several times each) and once it's thoroughly intimidated, I take my little mouse inside and go crazy in there to complete the task. Once that has been accomplished, well, I need to recharge for my next round. I even fall asleep in the bag. You never know, it could become unruly and I need to be right there when it happens.

Favorite Hangout

It is my prerogative as a cat to have favorite hangouts. Of course, the couch is one, and the fuzzy square of fabric Ms. C put in the window for me is really nice. But today, I have developed a new one:

Mr. R and his chair make up one of the most comfy places in the world to roll, relax, and sleep! I like being in his lap, squishing myself and squirming to get behind him, but probably best of all, I like sleeping on -- er, I mean, keeping a lookout from -- his shoulder!

Mr. R and I are both very pleased with this cooperative situation. It is really quite a privilege for him, too. I've spent a little time with Ms. C in her chair, but her chair does not have a high back, which serves as the perfect lookout, and she does not have a fuzzy blanket in her lap like Mr. R does. I really like him and his chair!