Spring

Spring is in the air. The sun has been shining for a few days, the temperature creeping up a little further each day, and the bird songs are returning. I fired up the grill yesterday and cooked some chicken for dinner, the smell of fire cooked meat tantalizing my nose.

While it was cooking I sat on the warm wood of the deck steps, surrounded by snow piles. The sun heated my skin, no jacket was needed, the first for the year. My two cats wandered out to join me in my basking and we listened to the birds and watched them flitter from tree to tree. The dog was lying in the snow happily chewing on a bone while the sun warmed his back.

I would have been disappointed when the chicken was done if I had not been so hungry, as it ended my first glimpse of spring. But it is on its way and there will be more to see tomorrow.

The Fireworks and the Russian

I had a dream where I woke up wrapped in a cushy comforter outside and there were fireworks going off. There was also some large Russian guy keeping an eye on me. I don’t remember the rest of the dream, just that feeling of awe at seeing the fireworks while being warm and cozy. What the fireworks and Russian guy have to do with it is beyond me.

It doesn’t surprise me that I dream of sleep, I am good at it. One of my favorite things is lazing in bed wrapped in a soft, puffy comforter. I like to do this on weekends instead of jumping out of bed, these are the times I am most content. I think I picked it up from my cats as they are usually right there to join me after they have had their breakfast. I like to watch my cats sleep and wonder how they can get comfortable just about anywhere they lay down. Sometimes watching them makes me tired like they cast a sleep spell when they snooze.

Back to the dream, the Russian guy still has me confused. I only know he was Russian is because of his accent, but I don’t remember what he said. The fireworks were amazing, coming from all sides. It was like I was somewhere in the middle of three different places shooting them off.

The whole thing was like remembering a small part of some weird movie that you find during the day on TV, something that you only see bits and pieces of so you are never really able to put the story together, then you keep waiting for it to come back on so you can watch the whole thing but it never shows up again. So I am stuck wondering what happened, why I can only remember that one little segment, and who is the Russian guy?

Loving My Pets

Yes, I am still alive. Time slipped away from me and into other issues of life. Hubby went back to work today, yah! Of course that means it is cold and snowy now, boo! Still no word from the college program people, but they suspect that it will be soon.

Thanksgiving we hosted my family and provided a tasty turkey dinner. We ate too much and felt sleepy afterwards proving the meal successful. If we fed our enemies turkey dinners during war it would probably make them a lot easier to find, they would all be napping.

Samson loves snow. I find it odd that I wound up with a dog who loves snow when I despise it. He relishes in grabbing pine cones off the snow laden limbs and tossing them about so he can stick his whole head in the snow to search for it. Samson also enjoys rolling on his back in an area that has been freshly shoveled or even on ice patches, haven’t figured that one out yet.

Samson has also been trying new food. For some reason I started researching pet food and realized that I wasn’t actually feeding him good food, although I thought it was pretty good. This led to more research on how to read labels and ingredient descriptions and reviews, etc. So the search began for better food for Samson and the kitties. We visited three pet stores and wrote down what they carried and the price, allowing me to do a spreadsheet on Excel. With the spreadsheet we picked eight brands and compared top 10 ingredients, cost, protein percentage, fat percentage, and calorie count. We found that some of the premium dry foods cost the same as some supermarket foods, crazy.

Another thing I discovered is most of the premium foods have websites and if you email them and request a sample of their food they will happily send some. Taste of the Wild blew me away by sending six sample bags (three different flavors) for the dog and two for the cats. I was only turned down by two brands that said they guarantee their food and if your pet didn’t eat it you could return the bag. So if you are shopping for a new pet foods don’t be afraid to ask for samples. Also ask at the pet stores, a store we visited gave us some samples that the company sent them.

The only downside to new food for Samson has been his gas problem, which has been very unpleasant, but I believe it will end when his tummy adjusts. Until then we are trying a little yogurt and pure pumpkin to help with digestion. The cats have taken to some new food very well and Squeaky has been acting like a kitten again, all playful and feisty, and we are still in the switching process. They had a lot of food left so we are stretching the mixing process.

I would like to end this with a website I found very helpful in my research, I thank them for their time and effort in providing the information.
www.petfoodratings.net

A Cat's Life

Today was actually quite boring so I decided to give the cat lovers a few cat facts from my cat encyclopedia. (did I say cat enough?) Enjoy.

*The original ‘black panther’ is the black form of the leopard. Melanism is most common in leopards, so they were once thought of as a separate species – the panther.

*Contrary to popular belief, cats cannot see in total darkness, but in dim light their vision is about half as good as that of a clear sighted human.

*Another distinct feature of the cat’s eye is the haw, a third eyelid arranged to flick diagonally across the cornea. This flicks continually when the eyes are open, but if a cat is seriously ill it will show ‘haws up’, that is with the haws immobile across the corneas.

*The cat’s brain weighs less than 1 oz, but the proportion of brain weight to body weight is larger than in most mammals other than apes and humans.

*Scratching objects serves to sharpen claws because cats’ claws are able to shed layers leaving them with new needle-pointed tips.

*Due to the cat’s reluctance to be trained in any way, the Romans used the image of a cat as a symbol for freedom at the feet of the goddess of liberty.

*The Egyptian cat god Aelurus was so feared by worshippers that anyone who killed a cat was punished by death.

*Cheese used to be sold in Cheshire (England) molded into the shape of a grinning cat as a joke to ward off hungry mice, hence the origin of 'The Cheshire Cat'.

Squeaky and the Grill

Squeaky is sitting on the desk in front of me as I write this. She watches my fingers as they type, probably wondering what I am saying with them, not that she can read. She turned her head to the screen and is now watching the words form letter by letter, maybe she can read. Sometimes Squeaky likes to type but her spelling is awful so we just stick to me typing.

I did some yoga and walked Samson this morning. I also cleaned up the kitchen and balanced the checkbook. Samson and I took the recycling to the recycle center, one of his favorite things. While I am unloading stuff into the small holes of the recycling bins he sniffs his way around all the smells of the place. He gets this free reign because nobody is usually there, it is way off the road, and he does not run away. He’s a good boy.

I was going to grill burgers and potato mess this evening for dinner, being so pleasant out, but the gas tank gave its last breath while pre-heating. Frustrated I had to put the foil wrapped potato mess in the oven and throw the burgers in a frying pan. Oven cooked potato mess does not even compare to grilled potato mess, but we made do.

Hubby and I are tied again in the football pool; tonight’s game outcome will decide the winner. We made pizza yesterday and it turned out pretty good. Nothing fancy, but instead of using prepackaged pizza sauce I made my own with fresh tomatoes and herbs, definitely the way to go. Hopefully tonight I can do a victory dance while he plans next Sunday’s meal, go Broncos!

Squeaky is informing me that I have other things to do, like pet her and play spin the cat, so I shall say adieu for now

Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many different ailments, but I have never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.
- Joseph Wood Krutch

Waiting With Kitty

I danced the dance of true love
I cried the sorrow of heartache
I laughed the joy of life
I lived beyond the moment

That popped in to my head earlier today, no idea what brought it on, but I like it.

I met with my advisor today. After handing in the rest of what is required I am officially on the waiting list for January. Unfortunately they have no set time when they pick from the list; it could be in two weeks or two months. So now I wait, with bated breath, on pins and needles, for that one exact moment, when I learn if I am good enough for them, or will I be rejected and cast aside like a bad tomato, splattering my rotted insides as I land......... Sorry, got carried away in the moment.

I played spin the cat earlier with Squeaky. We have an extra office chair that swivels and she likes to lay in it and get spun while trying to grab your hands.
I don’t spin her fast or constantly, but she really does enjoy it and gets all playful and feisty. Now she is curled up and sleeping in the same chair. Oh, lest we forget the simple enjoyments of life.

Sweet dreams kitty.

Powers of Persuasion

How come I wasn’t born with super powers? They don’t have to be super, mediocre would be acceptable. I don’t need to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but some super strength when doing snow removal would be handy. Flying would be nice, much cheaper than an airplane. Telekinesis would be great if you could do all the housework with your mind, especially the toilets.

The only extraordinary power I have is my ability to sleep. That is not saying I am lazy, I just enjoy getting my 8 hours of sleep a night. My theory is that my cats have slowly been brainwashing me over the years. They are the real professionals when it comes to sleeping, but I guess that is why they call them ‘cat naps’. Simply watching my cats sleep makes me yawn, they have that much power. Lately I think they are doing the same to the dog. He is currently spread eagle on his back and snoring.

So, while my cats slowly take over the house I will sleep and dream happy thoughts. The rain finally stopped for a couple days, that is a happy thought, but I will still dream of having gills.

Gills and Nachos

I think I might grow gills. Sounds strange but it may be possible with the constant rain that has been going on for days. Having gills would be the greatest, none of that restraining scuba equipment and time limits. Why didn't Daryl Hannah have gills in the movie Splash? Were they hidden under her hair? Did Tom Hanks grow them at the end so he could stay in the water and be with her? Kevin Costner had them in the movie Waterworld. The movie was bad but the idea of having gills was pretty cool.

I had lunch with my sister and niece today, they don't have gills either. My sister offered to buy my lunch if I went and hung out with them and as she seldom offers this I ventured into the cold rain and joined them. We went to a place called La Senorita, faux Mexican cuisine, but darn tasty anyway. The three of us split a grande plate of nachos with all the fixings. Not having any money to eat out anymore this was a treat for me.

The rest of the day was full of non-accomplishments. I had heartburn and indigestion walking hand in hand through my intestinal tract. I watched some bad TV, went through the college papers again, and annoyed the cats a bit. (I like to do that once in awhile for all the times they wake me up in the middle of the night, keeps us even.) Now I think I shall go read and appreciate the classic writings, or it will put me to sleep.

I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat. - Edgar Allan Poe