Hidey Spot

Look what we I got yesterday! The man in the brown truck brought it. It was full of stuff, so Momma cleaned it out and got it all ready for me. I love it. Thanks, Momma!

Thursday Thirteen - Edition 14

13 Things That Should be on Momma’s Shopping List This Week

1. Kibble

2. Stinky Goodness, especially Cowboy Cookout - we just tried that this week and it is awesome!!!

3. Feather boa (preferably in purple)

4. Whirlybird Toy - we don't know what this is, but we want one!

5. Primo 'nip or a 'nip plant

6. A giant steak (or three!)

7. Vanilla ice cream and plain cones (Momma and Daddy like chocolate best, so we never get to share any ice cream with them. If Mom buys vanilla, then I bet we could have some.)

8. Ice cubes

9. Bird feeder for outside the front window

10. Harnesses and a stroller so we can go outside

11. 8' tall cat tree for the family room - the one with all the levels and all the great hidey spots

12. Cute outfits

13. A fishie or two in a bowl

Wet, White Paw Wednesday

These are my paws. They are white. One is soaking wet.




It was very hot yesterday and our air conditioning wasn't working. All of us Furry Kids were super hot. We weren't tearing around the house or playing Thundering Herd of Elephants or nothing. We were all laying on the kitchen floor, all stretched out like giant jungle cats (well, except for Titus, because he's a dawg.) Mom was afraid we were getting too hot, so she put ice cubes in our water dish. Me and Tazo had never seen ice cubes before. (Titus knows all about them - they're his favorite treat, but apparently he's been holding out on us. Grrrrr) Anyway, it turns out that ice cubes are super fun! They float around the bowl and you can practice your hunting skills on them. Ice cubes rock!!!

Check out my moves:





Tazo's not too sure about the cubes. Well, she was having an ok time until I shook my wet paw and sprayed her and Titus and Mom with water. None of them were too happy about that.



Mom was "laffin' and laffin'"* at my moves.

On the down side, I heard her tell Dad last night that she probably won't get us a pet fishie for our birthday next month. She seems to think a fishie in a bowl wouldn't be a good idea for our house. I don't know why. Just imagine how awesome my skills would be if I got to hunt play with a fishie. I might even graduate from being Assistant PBK (that's Professional Bug Killer) to a full blown PBK like Tazo.

~Earl Grey

PS - The repair dude came and fixed the air and we got to resume our game of Thundering Herd of Elephants. All is right with the world.


*Harris, Jeter. Home page. 23 June 2007. 24 June 2007. http://jeterharris.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Tail

Because I was so inspired by Jeter's posts last week about his brother Mickey's tail, I have decided to do an ode to my tail.
Without further ado, may I present to you.....

An Ode to My Tail
by Tazo Tea Gizmo

My name is Tazo
This is my tail.
It's stripey like a racoon's
Tho' it's good looks prevail.

It follows behind me
Wherever I roam,
It speaks for itself
So I'll end my poem.

This is my tail. It is stripey. I like it because it coordinates with my brothers' tails, yet is distinctly different. For example, Titus' tail is white and floofy. EG's is gray grey and has a knot in it because it got broken when we were babies. My tail combines the best of both worlds. It is gray grey with taupe-ish accents (because Earl Grey is not all gray, I mean grey, don't let him fool you. He even has :whispers: stripes. hee hee) and it has stripes of nice white furs in between. I think it is fancy. Momma likes it, too. Especially when Daddy's eating dinner and I swipe it over his plate. That always makes her giggle.

Love,
Tazo

Monday!

We don't have any new pictures to post today. Momma's been super busy taking care of some stuff around the house. Mainly cleaning up the laundry room. Which flooded. Twice. Because someone (or someones) keep pulling on the lint trap, which is connected to the hose, which goes in the laundry tub. When the hose comes out of the laundry tub, then all the water in the washing machine goes all over the floor. And down the hall. Then someone (or someones) get locked in the bedroom with me (grrrrrr) because Momma has to prop the back door open and she doesn't want someone (or someones) running outside. Just because I'm the big brother doesn't mean I should have to babysit. Grrrr.

She had a suspect the first time it happened. (And just for the record, it wasn't me because I don't even go in the laundry room.) A witness (Dad) reported seeing two out of three of The Furry Kids napping with him on the bed.

Then it happened again last night. Only this time, a witness (Dad again) cleared the first suspect. Suspect #1 was sleeping on the couch with Dad at the time of the incident.

So this is what Mom knows so far: 1) I had nothing to do with it. 2) One or both of the twins had something to do with it. 3) She's sick of cleaning up terrible floods in the laundry room, but at least the floor in there is super clean.

~Titus

Feets on Friday

Thursday Thirteen - Edition 13

Thirteen Things We Do Every Morning

1. 4:30 am to 4:45 am - Wake up and do our stretches and warm up.

2. 4:45 am to 5:00 am - WWE Cage Match on Momma and Daddy's bed - this includes putting the bitey on Momma's toes if they're uncovered. Titus acts as referee (which means he jumps around and rawrs).

3. 5:00 am to 5:32 am - Thundering Herd of Elephants (includes Titus - whose collar has tags that are sooooo noisy, heh heh) This also includes lots of jumping onto and off of the bed and putting the bitey on any available toes. Momma says, "Let's go night-night" and "It's sleepy time" over and over again.

4. 5:32 am - Momma lets Titus outside to do his stuff and we crouch by the door and try to run outside. It's super fun, especially because Momma hasn't had her coffee yet, so she's not on top of her game.

5. 5:32 am to 5:34 am - Follow Momma through the house to the kitchen and yell at her while she plugs in the coffee pot. She should feed us before she does anything. We have not had a snack since 1 am. We are starving. (Daddy started giving us a snack when we were little babies so that we would sleep through the night. We sleep through the night. 1 am to 4:45 am is sleeping through the night, right?)

6. 5:34 am to 5:36 am - Follow Momma back through the house to the food container, talking really, really loud. When she takes the lid off the container, jump up on the side and pretend you're going to get inside. This causes Momma to try to wrangle us out of the way with one hand, while trying to scoop up kibble with the other. (Remember, she's still pretty sleepy) When Momma pulls the full scoop of food out of the bag, paw at it (making sure to hook your claws over the side). This causes Momma to drop the kibble all over the floor. Score! (Momma has recently gotten wise to this trick and put a stop to it, so we have to work out another plan). Titus comes back in the house.

7. BREAKFAST!!!
5:37 am to 5:43 am - For the twins
5:37:00 am to 5:37:29 am - For Titus

8. 5:43 am to 6:17 am - More Thundering Herd of Elephants or paw at the only cabinet that doesn't have a stoopid baby lock on so that it makes a really loud, bang-y noise. This noise makes Momma really cranky since she still hasn't had any coffee yet. This is an especially important step on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, because Momma doesn't really have to be up that early, so she likes to nap on the couch for a while. Rousing games of Thundering Herd of Elephants or What's in the Cupboard keep her awake.

9. 6:17 am - Giggle while Momma devises a plan to keep us awake during our nap times. And try to sneak sips of coffee from Momma's mug while she's not looking. Soy cream is tasty.

10. 6:17 am to 7:47 am - Nap

11. 7:47 am to 7:51 am - Hide from Momma while she tries to do a headcount before she goes to work. This is super fun because she's usually in a hurry and she's trying to be quiet because Daddy's still sleeping. Giggle (and continue hiding) while she tries all the tricks that usually get us to come out from wherever we are. Refuse to come out of hiding.

12. 7:51 am to 7:53 am - Come out from our hidey spots so she can say goodbye to us. Refuse to give her a hug. She always tells us she'll see us later and then she tells each of us that she loves us very much.

13. 7:53 am to ??? (whenever Daddy gets up) Nap with Daddy

Wild Cat Wednesday

Don't I look ferocious?

Don't worry, though. I'm just yawning. Hee hee!

Toesday - Grey Tuxedo Edition

Movin' Slow and Mad at Momma Monday

Check out this guy! He was strolling across our front yard last night. He was the hugest turtle Momma had ever seen outside of a zoo. We think his name is George. We wanted to keep him so we could play with him, but Momma said we couldn't because she didn't know if turtles could still play if their tails fell off. She also didn't think he'd like to play WWE Cage Match or Thundering Herd of Elephants. We thought that at the very least we should have asked him. It's only polite.
Daddy really liked his feets, but we think he might need a manicure like Skeezix.

In other news, Daddy grilled steak last night for dinner. Me and Earl Grey have never had steak before (Titus always gets a bite when they have steak and I don't think it's fair). So I took it upon myself to sample it. First, I stole a piece off of Momma's plate. Momma grabbed it back, but I sort of got carried away and put the bitey on her. And it wasn't my usual lovey bitey. Then when Momma was wiping my spit off her fingers, I swooped in and stole a HUGE piece off Daddy's plate. And I ran! I ran into the laundry room and EG followed me. I growled and growled at him because I wanted to have a second to divide it up for us. But then Momma came running down the hall, so I ran into the bedroom and under the bed. EG followed again and I growled my big mean growl. As soon as Momma came in the bedroom, I took off down the hall again and ran into the bathroom. Momma followed me in there and shut the door. She tried to pull the steak out of my mouth, but I wasn't going to give it up without a fight. Unfortunately, she's had lots of experience pulling stuff out of Titus' mouth, so she did that crappy move she uses on him to make him let go of stuff. It stinks. So I had no choice, but to spit out the steak. The good thing is that Momma was so shocked by what I did that all she could do was laugh. So me and EG still didn't get any steak, but when I was cleaning up after all the excitement, I noticed that my whiskers tasted a little steak-y.

Love, Tazo

PS - Happy Belated Father's Day to all the Daddys, Food Dudes, Mr. Tasty Faces, and Awesome Mans. Hope you all had a great day!

Froot Bat Friday - Speckle-y Kitten Edition

Thursday Thirteen - Edition 12

(This is the very first picture that my Mom and Dad have of me - the lady I lived with at the time took it. I'm about 10 months old here.)

Thirteen Things About My First Five Days at My Forever Home

1. These people came to meet me on February 10, 2001. They were nice enough. Until they put a leash on me and put me in their car. I was askeered. The lady kept talking to me in a really nice voice and making sure I was comfortable and everything. I finally curled up on the backseat and went to sleep. (Day 1)

2. I got really scared and wouldn't come in the house. The lady hooked my leash in the house and left the back door open so I could go in the house if I chose to. While she ran to answer the phone, I slipped my collar and slipped through the fence and ran away. And didn't come back. (Day 1)

3. I ran and ran and ran away from the lady and dude who would become my Mom and Dad. Everytime they got within two feet of me, I took off. They followed me in the car for a while and at one point I was running over 20 mph. Even across a very busy street (twice) - which made the lady real askeered. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I REPEAT - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS!!! (Day 1)

4. I stayed out all night. The lady and the dude took turns staying up all night just in case I came back into the yard. (Day 1-2)

5. I continued to run and run and run all morning. The lady had a bunch of neighborhood kids helping her spot me, so she was never far away from me. (Day 2)

6. The lady called the lady that I used to live with and she came over and followed me for a couple of hours. Finally, I recognized her voice and jumped in her car. She drove me back to the new lady and the dude's house and hugged me goodbye and hugged the new lady because the dude told her how the lady had been up all night crying and worrying about me. She said she knew I was going to a good home if the lady was that upset. (Day 2)

7. I ate supper and took a nap while the lady and the dude finished blocking off all the spaces in the fence where I could get out. (Day 2)

8. I got a bath and got my paws cleaned up. They were pretty cut up from my night on the town. I was not sure that I was going to like these people. (Day 2)

9. I slept all day. Lots of kisses and ear scratches and treats from the people. I got a brand new collar and ID tag and bed. (Day 3)

10. I got to sniff Shadow (my new sister) and Jazzy (my grandma's dog) through a crack in the door. More ear scratches and treats. (Day 3)

11. I pooped in the basement. And the lady didn't yell or anything. I was pretty embarrassed, but she said it was ok because 1) I picked the basement, and 2) we didn't really have a schedule for me yet. Plus, I was eating new food and sometimes that upsets your tummy at first. (Day 3)

12. I had to go to the V-E-T. They poked me with needles and stuck a thermometer somewhere it didn't belong and gave me some shots. The lady made an appointment for my hooha-ectomy. It sucked. I sniffed Shadow and Jazzy through the door some more. (Day 4)

13. After the V-E-T called the lady and told her that I didn't have any weird diseases, I got to hang out with Shadow and Jazzy for a little while. It went really good. I acted a lot braver when I was with the other dogs. The lady was very happy. I decided that these people were ok, and I've been with them ever since. They're pretty cool. (Day 5)

Way Back Wednesday

This is us on our very first day at our forever home (10/8/2005). We were 10-1/2 weeks old. We spent a lot of time sleeping in the sink during our first couple of months. It was very comfy.

This is a picture of us a few months ago. We are about 1-1/2 years old here. And we're too big to fit in the sink now, so we took over Momma and Daddy's bed in the picture. It is much comfy-er.

Titus Tuesday

Before I found out that Momma didn't really forget about me and leave me outside for hours and hours and hours to fend for myself, I decided that I would do something that would really get her attention. So guess what I did? (Hint: this is something that I'm really good at!) I ate three Clif bars. Wrappers and all. Hahahahahaha! They were sooooo good. Except now I have a bit of a 'tocks problem. Again. So I can't even drop a dookie (hee hee - thanks, Skeezix) without Momma scoping it out and threatening to deliver samples to the V-E-T again. I think I might have a problem. Um, Jeter, not to rush you or anything, but how's that mantra coming? I really need some help with my indiscriminant eating.

In other news, Momma's eyes were leaking because she says just when she thinks she has us outsmarted, we find another way to get into stuff we're not supposed to have. I made sure that I gave her lots of hugs and made the twins promise not to put the bitey on her for the whole night. And guess what? They didn't. She even played rawr with me and the red dot game with the twins.

Suzanne

Rest in peace and love, sweet Suzanne. You are loved and missed.

Miffed at Momma Monday

I'm a little miffed at Mom. So miffed I don't even want to look at her. Yesterday, I rawr-ed and rawr-ed at her to tell her I needed to go outside. She let me outside. And then she forgot about me. For two hours! And that grey tuxedo wearing cat (you know who you are, EG!) who normally stands at the door and cries and cries and cries like a baby whenever I'm outside didn't even remind her I was out there. Grrrrr. And Daddy was asleep on the couch! Double Grrrr. I'm very disappointed in mom. This forgetting behavior is very unlike her. Usually, if she's not outside with me, she's peering out the window at me, so I never get any privacy. Hmmm, now that I think about it, I did get some alone time and got to soak up lots of sun and take a nap on the patio. So I guess that's not all bad.

Anyway, when she FINALLY remembered me, she let me in and made such a big fuss over me and gave me lots of treats, so I guess it all worked out. I kept giving her dirty looks all afternoon so I got more treats and lots of hugs and apologies. I guess I can forgive her. Sometime. Maybe tomorrow. Plus, she made me promise not to tell Daddy what she did because he tends to do stuff like forget to watch us and she always yells at him about it. So that secret should be good for some more treats. heh heh

Tell Momma Monday is suspended for this week because I'm mad and she needs to pay attention to me instead of asking everybody dumb questions about the twins.

The Furry Kids' Mom here: I didn't exactly forget about Titus yesterday. I *was* peering out the window at him every once in a while and he was having a good time sniffing around the yard and watching the birds and squirrels. Then he took a nap on the patio. He didn't seem overly excited to come inside, so he got to stay out. He did get extra treats and hugs - just because we really love him (and because he got his nails clipped).

Froot Bat Friday - Pink Piggy Edition

We think Titus' Special Happy Birthday Pink Piggy looks sort of froot-batty. Hee hee!

Thursday Thirteen - Edition 11

Daisy posted about a potentially embarrassing incident that happened to her recently. Titus started thinking about all the stuff that's been broken around the house in the last 20 months or so and thought it would be good for a Thursday Thirteen post.

Hey, Earl Grey! Didn't we come to live here about 20 months ago?

Anyway, we decided to do our TT this week on the stuff we've broken. It's pretty much about me and EG because Titus is a goody two shoes and never breaks stuff. He's just an "indiscriminant eater" :giggles:. That's what it says on his chart at the V-E-T. :giggles:

So, without further ado, we present to you our Thursday Thirteen:

Thirteen Things Around The House That Have Been Broken

1. First up, we have Titus' special Happy Birthday Piggy that Daddy bought for him. I pulled the ears off and then Titus went to town on the guts. Momma saved the ears for me because they are my favorite thing in the world (aside from jingle balls, of course).


2. Earl Grey broke Momma's collage picture frame. The one with all the pictures of us in it. She didn't get out the flashy box for that, though. She was too worried that we'd walk in the glass.

3. This is the laundry hamper. Or what's left of it. Wicker is pretty tasty. Who knew?

4. I broke one of our water dishes last week (see #11 of last week's TT). I was just trying to chase my jingle ball under the tray thing and I just happen to be a little floofier around the middle and the tray tipped over and, well, I don't want to talk about that any more.

5. I chewed through the cable and the power cord on the cable box.* We had to get a new cable box. We really need to get a new cable, too, because sometimes we don't get good reception on TV or um, internet service. That cuts into our blogging time.

6. This is the new flooring for the office. See the open box on the top of the pile? We opened that box all by ourselves. It was great! If you look closely at the smaller boxes underneath, you can see that they're kind of scratched up. A little. I use those to stretch out my back after a long day of napping. You know, dig in with your claws and then sort of hang there while you stretch out your back, and then draaaaaagggg your claws down the side of it. It's very relaxing. :whispers: I also use it as a scratching post. Pretty much every day when Momma gets home from work. And before meals.

7. This is the mousie that Momma and Daddy used to use. Notice how the pluggie thing that plugs into the back of the computer is missing? EG chomped the cord right in half while Momma was using the computer. It was fun listening to all the words that she said.


8. We broke Momma's very special Nightmare Before Christmas figurine when we were kicking her beloved Steve Yzerman bobble head off the mantle. It was very expensive and Daddy got it for her for her birthday last year. She was very sad that Jack Skellington took a tumble and his head fell off. We think it's pretty lucky that Jack Skellington sacrificed himself so that Yzerman could live. :shrugging:

9. This is the shade in Momma and Daddy's bedroom. We ripped it. It's just easier to look out the window now.


10. This is the cord from the DVD player.* Or maybe it was Daddy's PS2? (I chomped them both. It's hard to keep track of these things, you know.) Notice how one of the yellow plug things is missing? Yep, I chomped it right off. Whee!


11. We're very embarrassed about this one. Plus, it makes Momma very sad. Momma And Daddy had a dawg that went to the Bridge last year. We were investigating the ashes (which were on top of the dresser in the bedroom) and they accidently flew off the dresser and onto the floor and the box flipped open and the plastic bag came out and we love to chew plastic and well, we accidently scattered some of Shadow's ashes all over the bedroom floor. This did not make Momma all that happy. Needless to say, Shadow's ashes are now kept *in* the dresser and not *on* the dresser.

12. This is the floor tile that cracked the other day when we were flinging stuff out of the freezer. We were hoping that Daddy wouldn't notice because that sort of thing upsets him. Momma tried to help us by putting down a rug, but Daddy figured out something was wrong since he knows that Momma hates rugs. He didn't get too mad though. I guess we caught him in a good mood because he even laughed.


13. Lastly, Titus broke a nail. He doesn't remember how he did it, but it broke and his foot was hurty and bleedy and he was mad because Momma had to trim his nail and he hates that.

As you can probably tell, we like to keep busy. Every time something turns up broken, Daddy says, "My cats (meaning the ones from when he was little) never did anything like that." Momma, who never had kitties before, doesn't know what to think. Whenever she tells anyone about stuff we do, they just laugh and tell her that they've never heard of kitties doing that kind of stuff. Well, they never met us. Hahahahaha!

Ok, that was pretty embarrassing. I'm outta here.
Love,
Tazo




*Just so nobody worries about me or anything, I'm over my cord-chewing phase. That just happened while I was teething. And until Momma put habenero pepper sauce on all the cords.

Blogging for Peace

We snagged this one from The Cat Blogosphere.

Titus tried his paw at using MS Paint. We think he did a pretty good job. Go T!


Thank you, Skeezix, for writing those instructions to help us customize our globe. You rock!

White Dawg Wednesday

Here I am, guarding one of the squirt bottles that Mom and Dad use on the twins. This particular squirt bottle normally hangs out by the back door, so Mom and Dad can squirt EG when he tries to run outside. However, SOMEONE (who's gray grey) grabbed it and ran off down the hall. I made that kitty drop it and then I laid down for a snooze stood guard until Mom could put it back where it belongs. This guarding business gets really tiring sometimes. Whew!

Mom's Kind of Mad and Tell Momma Monday

This is just a taste of what we did over the weekend (no pun intended - heh heh). For some reason, I felt the need to check out the pocket of Mom's jammy bottoms. She wasn't pleased. She was also not pleased when we discovered a brand new cabinet to hide in. She was really not pleased because it's full of food. Heh heh. Oh, and the cabinet doors make a really loud and really cool noise when we play with them at 2 am. We also managed to open the freezer door and yank out some stuff (cracking one of the tiles on the kitchen floor - again, not real pleased). Unfortunately, we forgot to close the freezer door, so most of the stuff in the freezer melted. She was really not pleased. So now our kitchen is locked up like Fort Knox. Stupid baby locks. We're not babies. We're almost two. It sucks.

Titus' 'tocks test (heh heh) came out negative, though Mom and the V-E-T have no idea how that could be since they're so stinky. Heh heh. He still has to take his medicine for a few more days and see if things get better. We're crossing our paws that it works because his 'tocks reek and I'm not sure how much longer we can stand the stank.

Tazo here: Um, Earl Grey? You've been making fun of T's 'tocks for the last few days and writing about it on the internet, but you've neglected one 'tocks story. Namely, how you were fritzing around the house on Saturday night like you were on fire and as you zipped past Momma she noticed that you had, um, something hanging from YOUR 'tocks. And how her and Daddy had to corner you so he could hold you while she pulled the well, you know, from your 'tock fur. Um, yeah. I think you should quit picking on T.

PS - Mom's got a Tell Momma Monday question, too. For those of you who eat stinky goodness, how much do you get at one time? A little can? A big can?

EG and I split a 3 oz can every day for our afternoon snack(we get kibble for breakfast and then again for a bednight snack). Momma was going to feed us a whole 3 oz can EACH (and reduce the amount of kibble we get), but it looked like a lot of food and she didn't want us to yak from eating too much. So, what happens at your house?

Furry Kid Friday (V-E-T UPDATE below)

These are my furs. Aren't they great? During shedding season (I get two a year - spring and late summer), I lose my undercoat. This means that for me, my hair comes out in chunks. It also means a lot of brushing (yippee!) and lots of vacuuming (boo!) at our house. I shed so much that Mom doesn't even know if the twins shed because my furs just take over.

As you can see from the pictures of our carpet shown above, I work hard at leaving my furs all over the house. But then Mom comes along with the stupid vacuum and sucks up all my furs and I have to start over. It is very frustrating. I think everything looks much better when it's covered in my furs.

In other news, I have to go to the V-E-T today. I don't get to see my favorite V-E-T, Dr. C., but Mom tells me that Dr. P. took really good care of EG, so I'll like her (well, as much as I like any V-E-T). I'm due for my shots and heartworm test, but I'm still having a bit of a 'tock problem and Mom wants to get that checked out (which means she has to bring a "sample" heh heh from home). Wish me luck!

~Titus

UPDATE on the V-E-T visit: Dr. P says I probably have some sort of bacterial butt thing or parasite and that I probably got it from eating something extremely tasty gross outside (like a dead thing or rabbit poo - mmmmmm). My poo sample was soooo stinky that all the girls in the back were talking about it. It was very embarrassing. Dr. P is going to call Mom tomorrow with the results of my tests. I got some medicine to "calm my digestive tract" and Mom just has to keep an eye on me until we know for sure what's up with my 'tocks. I did not get any shots today (yay!!!) because Dr. P wanted to find out what was making my 'tocks so angry before I got my vaccinations. The bad news is that I have to go back and get them as soon as my 'tocks feel better.

I also met a very nice dawg at the V-E-T's office. Her name is Muffin. She is a white poodle with curly furs just like Dr. Daisy and my Mom. She is 16 years old. She wouldn't take her medicine today and wouldn't eat anything except half a popsicle, so her mom brought her in so the V-E-T could look at her. I've never had a popsicle before but I think I would like it. My Mom says she likes the orange ones best, but Dad says he likes red.

PS - Dr. Daisy, I did not rat you out (sorry Poi clan) to the V-E-T. Your medical license is safe. :)