2002-10-21

here, I anagrammed “My Fat Ass” and came up with “Fay Masts”, which is the name I’m going to use if I ever have to travel incognito. Like I’d ever really have to travel incognito. * * * I’ve seen this several times before, but it always manages to get me teary-eyed. Thanks to reader Sandy for the link. * * * Fred’s day to feed and poop-scoop at the pet store is Monday mornings, and more often than not, I go along to help him. (The fact that I get out of bed an hour and a half earlier than usual should tell you how much I love these cats!) I help out mostly by filling the food and water bowls, snuggling with the kitties and trying to stay out of the way. Thus far, there’s always been an empty cage, which is where we put the cats while we clean and straighten their cages, but today was a full house, with a few new cats. One of them, in a cage with a couple of other kittens, was an absolute dead ringer for Fancypants. It was stunning, this kitten looked EXACTLY like Fancypants, from the fluffy, swishy tail to the green eyes. I brought the camera with me, but Fred has claimed the pictures for an entry of his own. When that’s up, I’ll link to it. I’m a little surprised that they’ve got black cats – three of them that I can think of – up for adoption so close to Halloween. I’ve always heard that shelters won’t adopt out black cats during the second half of October. I’d hate to see anything happen to my little snugglepuss, Austin. Man, what an adorable little kitten he is. * * * We went to Fred’s mother and stepfather’s house on Saturday. They’ve sold their house and are buying a house near us (they’re not buying the house because it’s near us, but because of the general location. I think.), and since they’re moving into a smaller house, they need to get rid of some stuff. They offered us a secretary that (I think) belonged to Fred’s grandmother, and also a table that Fred’s grandfather built. We took the table with us on Saturday and put it in the guest bedroom. It’s a pretty nice table, and we had talked about putting it by the front door, but Tubby likes to lay on the table that’s already there, and this table is a tad rickety, so we put it where Tubby couldn’t get to it. We’re going to go back and get the secretary some other time – though soon, I guess, because they’re closing on the house November 15th. While we were there, I think Fred’s mother offered us about everything in the house. They gave us some skewers, which rocked, because we’d been talking about buying some so we could grill shrimp. Fred’s mother offered us a chair that belonged to his grandmother, and I was tempted to take it, because we’re selling the wardrobe in the corner of the computer room, and I’d like to have a chair there where I could sit and read. The thing that I dislike about the downstairs of our house is that if you want to sit and read, you have to sit in the living room because there’s nowhere else to sit. And if someone wants to watch the television in there, it can get a tad distracting. I’d like to have a chair in the computer room to retreat to when need be. In the end, we didn’t take Fred’s grandmother’s chair, because the fabric is cream-colored, and I’m afraid that the cats would mess it up pretty quickly. But don’t think I wasn’t tempted! * * * Speaking of cats, I glanced at the cat door earlier to see a mostly black cat with splotches of white sniffing around the cat door. I had to stare for a moment to be sure he wasn’t one of ours, and when I’d determined that he wasn’t, I walked over to scare him away. I’m thinking that one of the things I don’t need is a strange cat running around the house while I’m off running errands. As I walked toward him, he looked curiously up at me, in a friendly matter. “Go on, kitty. You don’t live here!” I said. As if he was going to say to himself “By god, she’s RIGHT! I do not, in fact, reside here. What on earth was I thinking?” and run off. He did not. Finally, I bent down and smacked at the plastic flap of the cat door. He ran a short distance away and then turned to see what I was going to do next. Fred (I’d been talking to him on the phone when I spotted the cat) suggested I use the can of air to scare him off. The can of air always works when one of our kitties gets out of line or we need to break up a fight. I stepped outside and shot the can of air in his direction. He ran to the fence, and climbed to the top, then sat there and stared at me. “Kitty, go! Go!” I said, spraying more air at him. Finally, when I took a couple of steps toward him, he took off. Cats just seem to be drawn to our house. * * * I bought some fake flowers when I was at Michael’s earlier. Aren’t they adorable? I don’t know how long they’ll last in this house, because we’re on a getting-rid-of-stuff spree, but for now just seeing them makes me smile. Whether Fred thinks fake flowers are cheesy or not. So there. * * * Look kind of guilty, don’t they?]]>