Kittenz II Cats

Nothing says Christmas like dressing your cats up like tiny little members of the world's furriest boy band. I only have a few items left on my Holiday Spirit Quest and last night I took care of #7- Have the cats sporting their holiday ties at least once this holiday season. That means that I only have to watch a cheesy holiday movie (one of which is sitting on my bedroom DVR) and stuff a stocking (or two) which I (or Santa) will do tonight. I have to say that I still love doing these spirit items. Mostly because if I didn't, I wouldn't try at all to get into the holiday mood, and what fun is that?

So, today we also went to use the last of our flexible healthcare spending for the year and got glasses and contacts, as well as eye exams. This has become somewhat of a Christmas Eve tradition. We get exams, Chef gets glasses, we wait for the glasses by walking across the street to the mall. We did all that today PLUS had a delicious lunch at PF Chang's. It's not quite opening presents with the family, but it's not bad at all.

In the mean time, here are pictures of the furry family of boy band members (and Mila) in their holiday attire. Enjoy!

Attila looking dapper in his plaid tie.

Genghis and Khubla wondering how they could've worn the same outfit.

The closest I could get to having all three in the picture at once.

Genghis kinda likes his tie.

Genghis and his half-brother Attila looking very much like they are ready for their holiday choir concert.

Genghis and Khubla waiting for their cue to sing.

The best one of Khubla by himself

.

Mila did not like her holiday fur collar AT ALL.

This was the most she would do with it. I can't blame her. It had bells so she couldn't hide at all from the other cats. 

Working My Way Through My List

Genghis looks so scholarly with his tie on.
Yes, I did go crazy. 

Slowly but surely I'm trying to get my holiday spirit together. Maybe it will come out a little bit more after the next couple of days when I have drinks with a friend, our company holiday party and another holiday party thrown by some other friends all in succession.

In the mean time, I may not have blogged in the last week, but that's not because I haven't been working on my Holiday Spirit Quest. I've actually gone through quite a bit of it and figure now's the time for a good ole recap through photos (and some commentary). So here goes:

3. Dress a cat in something holiday.
This is Genghis's turn in the holiday tie. He didn't love it nearly as much as I did.

 

Mila had a cute little white fur muff with a bow and jingle bells.
 However, the jingle bells were popular with the other cats who began chasing her more than normal. 

12. Make gingerbread men/ women.
AND
21. Buy a new Christmas decoration. (The plate under the cookies is cutely festive)
I didn't make women not because I'm a misogynist but because I'm too cheap to buy the other cookie cutter.

Proof that I made them myself and didn't just decorate them. 

6. Sing a Christmas carol at the top of my lungs.

AND 

16.  Listen to Christmas music for one week's worth of commutes.

I didn't exactly sing "Baby, I'ts Cold Outside" at the top of my lungs (It was "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"), but I only had a screenshot of my holiday Pandora.

I've also taken care of :

7. Donate to charity.

I've almost got all of my shopping done and shipped, plus I wrapped everything that I shipped myself, so feel confident that those will get done. I am also on target to see ICE at Santa Monica, visit a beach, drink a holiday latte, and make my mom's zucchini bread this weekend.

Tonight I'm going to drink a holiday libation with a friend and hopefully finish my holiday nails. 

My big question is: What do I craft???

Warning: Video of Ferocious Cat Killing a Horse

Chef took this video of Genghis playing with the stuffed horse I got last year for opening an account at Wells Fargo. I think it's adorable, and almost as good as "The Avengers" plus it's way shorter. Happy Sunday!

Most Adorable Post of the Week

Aren't they adorable? That's Genghis and Khubla curled up together. Chef sent me those with the words to the "My Buddy" doll theme song. Super cute.

And because our cats can't just eat their carb-loaded kibble, we took a trip to Lowe's down the street and pretended we were all domestic. Or at least I pretended. Chef is decidedly more domestic than I am. We got some cat grass, catnip, sage and parsley (all cat appropriate) and put them in a planter. The planter sits on the floor and now they have a little cat salad in between feedings. Mila promptly ate some grass and barfed it back up. Awesome. She's since learned to keep it down. Khubla is a big fan.

Enjoy these cute cat pics!

Genghis on the left, Khubla on the right

                                   

                                          From left to right: Parsley, Sage, Cat grass and catnip

Because We Can: Cat Breading

Genghis and his Bread helmet

There's a trend on the Internets (yes, I meant Internets) now where people are putting slices of bread on their cats heads. Why? Who knows or cares. If Anne Geddes can make all those horrible pictures of babies popular for no reason, why can't these pictures of felines with no fear of Atkins be just as popular?But I threw the question out as to who of our cats would be the first and Chef quickly and definitively answered: Genghis.

He tried with a piece of regular bread but as Genghis is not a regular cat, it did not work. His dome was way too large. So instead, Chef made him a helmet from Italian bread. I was super impressed with the cuts for the ears. Very nice.

Helmet or yarmulke? 

After he sent me the picture, Chef replied with "You'll need to buy a large loaf of bread if you want to continue this insanity."

Well, I'm heading to the grocery store because I DO want to continue this insanity. And apparently others do too. Check out the Facebook page with more than 9000 fans. Hilarious.

Chef has the brilliant idea of trying to construct bread armor for our cats, which makes sense  because we only wanted to get a Pixie Bob because we wanted a battle cat. So really this is just an end to our original quest. Normally, I'd be against anything that wastes delicious carbs like this, but this time I'm all in. I'm on board.

Now if we can get Mila's little furry face in a piece of wheat bread. . .

Nice Things About Vacations

Being lazy like Genghis

I'm off of work this week and trying to take full advantage of my time away to recharge. Errands and running are being kept to a minimum and it's been awesome. Here are some of my favorite things about being off of work:

• Extra Chef time (and time with the kitties)
• Could go and get my brakes fixed without stressing about conference calls or being on time for meetings
• Email is optional
• Can respond quickly to moves on Words with Friends games
• Ice skating at 2 p.m. on a Friday? Sure!
• When I see 5 a.m. on the clock, I just roll over and go back to sleep.
• I can take naps every day at 3 p.m. (if I wanna)
• I can clean the interior of my car and dust my house and clean my cabinets and organize my shoes without thinking I should be lounging in my free time
• I can read all I want
• I can even read trashy magazines all I want
• I haven't driven as many miles in the last 5 days as I do on one day just getting to work
• Thus I have 80 percent of the gas left in the tank I filled on Saturday
• Football is on nearly 24-7
• Writing feels like a daily necessity and not a habit I'm trying to form
• I can go shopping on "off" hours (if there is such a thing in LA)
• I get to see and soak in the sun

What have you done with your time off?

You Say You Want a Revolution

Okay, maybe I don't need a revolution. Maybe it's an attitude adjustment. Or "I say I need a inspiration". What can you give me?

I need to regain my focus, motivation, whatever it is that makes me care about my eating and exercise. My weight loss has been stagnant in the last two months and it's 100 percent my fault. I used travel as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted. I mean, how often could I have a Philly cheesesteak in Philadelphia? I had to take advantage, right?

And to make things worse, I have still been getting up at 5 a.m. every morning to get on the elliptical and make things happen. Why is that worse? Because I've been getting up so early and wasting my efforts. That just makes me mad. I'm an idiot.

On the other hand, the working out probably prevented me from gaining more weight than I probably should have. But it's awash and basically spent 8 weeks losing 2 pounds. Not cool.

So I'm going to be bold and say that I want to get back to the weight I was at at my lowest and I want to do it before the end of July. That's about a pound a week, which isn't all that ambitious. But at least it's a goal.

The cravings must be a household thing because Genghis is now begging for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies when Chef eats them. Carb cravings are a family trait for sure!

Guess Who's Going on a Diet?

Nope, not me. Well, of course I'm trying to watch what I eat, but the real one going on a diet is Genghis. We took our little buddy to the vet yesterday because he had been scratching excessively at one of his ears. And as the vet tech tried to pull Genghis out of the carrier and struggled mightily, it was time to realize that Genghis is overweight. Don't get me wrong. He's a very muscular cat, but he's still a cat. And at nearly 20 lbs, he's put on a little too much weight.

During the exam we found out that his ear scratching was a bacterial infection. It was a little gross and a little reminiscent of my childhood when the vet pulled out the ear scope and it was covered in waxy build-up. I had an ailment as a kid that made my ears produce more wax than an average person. So I had to have my ears cleaned a LOT when I was younger. It sucked and I could relate to Genghis. Luckily, he just have to undergo some daily ear washings and drops for the next couple of weeks.

Of course, that will seem like nothing compared to his diet. Since we can't really just change Genghis's eating habits without affecting the other cats, things are a little hairy. Instead of the normal free feeding (leaving the food out all day), we are leaving the food out for an hour two times a day. When we picked up the bowls last night, there were quite a few meows of protest. In fact, the cats were more rambunctious and louder than normal last night.

I'm hoping that a week or so of the new routine will have Genghis looking a little more fit and the other cats not so whiny. Every single one of them has followed me around the apartment at one point today and looked up at me and Meowed as loud as possible. I'm not one who can talk with animals, but I'm fairly certain each one was saying "where the f*&k is our food?".

Vacation Day Eight: Rest and Recovery

Some of you out there might've noticed that vacation day seven did not get chronicled. Frankly, that was poor planning on my part. Yesterday was Chef's birthday and we while we had done the eating celebration at Ruth's Chris, we did the drinking celebration at The Patterson House last night. We left earlier than I anticipated and therefore didn't get a blog entry off before the celebrating began.

And the celebrating was nice. We got to taste the spring menu of cocktails (the favorite of the ones I sampled was the Hush and Wonder--fruity but delicious) before they change it up for the summer. Chef had a drink that was also delicious and the best way to describe it was like drinking liquid cinnamon teddy grahams. I only got a taste, but it was one of the best drinks I've ever had.

We had taken a cab there, but decided to walk home--I had missed boot camp for his birthday so it was probably a good idea to get some exercise. However, about halfway home (it's only a little over a mile), we were regretting the decision. I need another pedicure because my feet are now once again crusty. It was hot last night.

It was a great celebration and a great way to cap off a week of being off. The dread for Monday's barrage of things to do is slowly creeping in. But for today, I am being productive in a domestic sense. I did the grocery shopping and have four loads of laundry in various stages.

I also am soaking up the last moments of cat snuggling. Particularly with Attila. He's my snuggle buddy normally, but we've had more time this week. I think he's going to take it hard when I go back to work. Or maybe I'm just pretending he'd take it hard to feel better about the fact that Genghis adores Chef so much.

So back to laundry. . .

Vacation Day Six: A Little Stir Crazy

The furthest I went outside my apartment today was three feet out the door to admire the rain. And now that it's 8 p.m. and there's nothing on TV until Tosh.0 returns at 9:30 tonight (yay!!), I'm a little stir crazy.

Today in the house Chef and I bathed all the cats. We do that about once every six months just to keep them from smelling too much like cat. Or in Genghis's case, like trail mix for some reason. They all took it better than normal except for Khubla who went nuts. That was dangerous because he still has all his claws plus some extras. Once he got burritoed in a towel, he was fine.

After cat bathing time, I made black bean burgers. It was my first attempt and not too bad. I tried to model them off of the black bean veggie sliders at Ruby Tuesday, except normal sized and without barbecue sauce. I used black beans, brown rice, egg beater, salsa, cumin, garlic, onion powder and bread crumbs (when the rice was not dry enough to make the mixture stick). Pattied those bad boys out and then after cooking in the Foreman grill for 5 minutes, melted a piece of provolone on it, added the Healthy Life low cal white bread bun and some ketchup and was good to go. The nice thing about black bean burgers is that the main ingredients cost about $2 for 4 patties. Not too shabby. Although next time I will probably add more spices and maybe try the barbecue sauce.

The rest of the day was spent in leisure with some occasional email checking when I got bored or felt the compulsion (which truly is a sickness that I need to work on). Chef made pot roast and chipolte mashed sweet potatoes with broccoli for dinner. As usual, it was delicious.

Tomorrow is Chef's actual birthday. I'm planning on going to boot camp, and then coming home to get dolled up and head to the Patterson House for some drinks with my newly 29 year old (as of tomorrow) honey. While it's not another delicious filet, it is some delicious handmade cocktails. I haven't been to the Patterson House since the winter and am hoping the new spring/summer menu is out. Mmmmm.

Until tomorrow. . .

Day Three - A Test and Triumph

Is it weird or self-fulfilling prophecy that I'm writing more in my blog about writing more in my life? Either way, I'm doing both. And today was the biggest test of the three days. I had to get up before the sun to get the writing and the running in. But I did it. And I still outlasted Chef, who is asleep on the couch as I type.

Of course, he has to be asleep on the couch to allow me to watch "Glee". He thinks it's funny, but hates the singing, which is kind of the whole thing. I mean it is based on a singing group of teens. But who doesn't love Jane Lynch? I also love the dimwitted blonge cheerleader. She has great one-liners. This week's fave "I think my cat is reading my diary."

My cat doesn't read my diary because it's online and Genghis's lack of opposable thumbs make navigating the web difficult. Turning pages aren't even an option. Oh. And he's a feline.

My Turn to Wax Poetic About Cats

I was going to write about a different type of cat (a Tiger), but I looked at the calendar (which I SWORE was my nephew's birthday when in actuality it was yesterday--good thing the present was there on time) and realized today was a different kind of cat's day. Actually, it was two cats' day. One year ago today Chef and I adopted Mila and Attila.

It was kind of a fluke. I was on craigslist posting volunteer opportunities when I decided to check out the pet section. We had gotten Genghis a few months before and noticed his kitten tendencies were getting a little out of hand. "He's got only-kitten disease," we decided and were on the lookout for another kitten. The catch was that we had bought Genghis because we wanted a specific breed (the pixie bob). We didn't want to just get any old cat, but another pixie bob. And we didn't want to pay for another kitten that close to Christmas.

Well low and behold, I typed in "pixie bob" in the search area and came up with a hit. Someone in Columbia was giving away two pixie bobs to a good home because of allergies. It's a long story, but we ended up with them both. And soon Oliver and Olivia became Attila and Mila. I have typed in "pixie bob" randomly ever since and have yet to ever get a hit.

They were both so scared that they spent the first few days hiding behind the toilet. Mila then hid behind the headboard for a few more days. It took a good 3 months for them to warm up to us, but now it's all over. Attila flips on his back at the sight of us coming near in preparation for the belly rub he longs to get. And Mila just waits for one of us to lay on the couch so that she can hop on our chest and knead us with her little paws.

So far it has easily been my second best and luckiest find on the internet. The first, of course, being Chef.

How to Clean Up Cat Vomit

This is something Chef and I became experts on as two of the little angels were heaving like Linda Blair in The Exorcist this weekend. Nothing to worry about, but definitely little pools of vomit joy to clean up.

This was the first time that I regreted having more than one animal. Mostly because as soon as one was making that nasal wretching noise (cat owners, you know what I'm talking about) and we ran to try and pick him up to place the feline on a hard surface, then the other one would start wretching too.

Chef got the brunt of the vomiting clean up duty. Genghis and Attila were the infected kitties. So, we kept the clean up to a science:

1. Wet down spot


2. Mop up excess vomit


3. Spray with Complete Stain & Odor remover


4. Comment on how Complete only works about 75% of what I need it to do, making it really 75% and not nearly COMPLETE


5. Towel up wet spot


6. Repeat in 6-8 hours


7. Be thankful that the other two cats aren't sick


8. Wonder if the full body cat vomit spasm has pulled any of their kitty muscles

We've been vomit-free for almost 24 hours. Keep your fingers crossed!

Good Thing I Was Already Wet

There are many things about Chef that I love. His ability to find nearly any TV show that I want to watch. The way he texts me and offers to cook dinner on a regularly basis. His ability to make me laugh at myself and others.

But he also has a habit of trying to make me cold. I'm not exactly sure why he does this other than his desire to watch me scream or wiggle in discomfort and surprise. But he does it. Whether it's with a cold coke can to the back, leg or any other available, exposed piece of skin or turning the shower knob to cold while I'm enjoying hot water. He does it.

Last night I knew he wanted to mess with me, so I thought I'd play it safe and lock the door to the bathroom while I took a shower. I highly underestimated his desire to get me. I turned off the water, got my towel, let Shower Buddy (aka Genghis) out of the bathroom, and when I opened the door, I got a bucket full of cold water thrown on me.

Keep in mind that he had to climb onto the outside bathroom counter and perch while I toweled off. Waiting like a little monkey, he then doused me with what was not a bucket, but our coffee maker's water resevoir. Lying in wait, plotting revenge, and terrorizing those who get in his way. I'm glad he loves me or I'd be in serious trouble.

I Thought We Got Cats. . .Not Dogs

Yup. It's going to be a quick cat blog. Mostly because one of our cats started doing something disturbing that had me thinking about all of our cats. We started with Genghis and soon enough all the cats were exhibiting dog-like behavior. Maybe all cats have similar traits, but I have yet to hear of it. Here goes:

• Genghis recognizes his name and comes when called.
  
• If Chef pats his legs, Genghis comes bounding across the room and hops into his lap to be pet.
  
• When you rub the couch or bed in a circular motion with your hand, Attila hops up and flops on his side. If you don't immediately start petting him, he then flips on his back and puts his paws in the air--like he's a true player.
• Lastly, because I know this list is getting boring. There's the issue of feminine hygiene products. Attila has an affinity for them. At first he just went into the trash and picked out whatever he could. Tampon, wrapper, pad, it didn't matter to him. So I started throwing them away in trash containers that were too high for him to stick his little snout into. Then he started going into my purse. It wasn't until all I saw was a tail sticking out of my bag that I realized he was digging in for my mobile stash of tampons. I zipped it up, but apparently I wasn't consistent because yesterday morning I woke up to a completely unwrapped unused tampon that had been carried through the house like a trophy. Maybe the string makes him think it's a mouse. Wait, he does that with pads too. Never mind. We're thinking of getting Attila counseling.
  

I Don't Shower Alone Anymore

About two months ago, I got a Shower Buddy. I didn't know that I wanted one. Most showers are built for one because adding more than one would require another to stand in the cold by themselves and hope that the other tires of the massive amounts of hot water hitting them. Not that I know from experience. I'm just surmising from my single-serve shower time.

Nonetheless, I've gained a Shower Buddy. He's compact, furry and slightly horrified at the idea of getting wet, so really he's the perfect partner. I call him Doodles, which is short for Genghidoodle which is a bastardization of his given name: Genghis. As soon as he hears the water turn on, he does his little cat scamper from anywhere else in the apartment and jump between the fabric and plastic shower curtains.

Then Genghis goes to town. He sits on the tub ledge and proceeds to swat the liner curtain until he can get a mouthful. That's his time to sharpen his little kitten teeth and puncture holes in the liner. Then Genghis waits for the water to hit and tries to drink from the newly formed holes. The first time he did this, it was cute. It lost it's cuteness when he was pinning the shower curtain against my (or Chef's) leg and sinking his teeth into curtain and flesh.

It regained its cuteness when he corrected the biting behavior. However, now the curtain liner feels like a Braille version of Tale of Two Cities. I'm fairly certain I felt "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." the other day when I was wiping it down.

So it comes down to whether it's more cute to have a Shower Buddy or a fully functioning, non-leaking liner. And the winner is. . .

Shower Buddy, you're the one. You make Showers lots of fun. . .

Thirsty Thursday Musings

It's Thirsty Thursday because I'm so frickin' busy that I need a beer to get through the work day. However, instead of driving myself to drink, I've decided to blog out some thoughts and then work out. Oh, I miss the calories-be-damned cocktail binges.

• Our cat Genghis likes to sit between the shower curtain and shower liner when Chef or I are taking a shower and bite at the water droplets pelting him through the liner. I commented that I think he would like to kill water if he could figure out a plan of attack without getting wet. Here was Chef's strategy for GenghisOnly 2 weeks left in Chef and I's Biggest Loser contest. We weighed in this morning and he lost 5.3 lbs. I lost 3.1 lbs, but as of today, I'm leading. Of course, I had to start going to the gym every night for extra cardio, but I'm in it to win it!
• I got to hold a precious one day old baby this week. He was adorable and I liked holding him, but it just made me realize that my biological clock still hasn't started ticking.
• Conference calls that are just a run down of report outs are a waste of time. Have an agenda with stuff on it, people!
  

Things I'll never . .

As I've aged, I think I'm coming to the point in my life where I give up on the silly notions or unrealistic ideals that I had as a kid. It got me thinking this morning about things I'll never be or do. While some people say "never say never," I've decided to take a stand.

I'll never. . .

• have an ass like Beyonce. It's Kansas flatlands in my pants, but I can make the flatlands more muscularly toned.
• be the early girl. I'm nearly always on time or late, unless it's for a movie, show or something that starts regardless of my schedule.
• have the type of body where I can eat anything I want and not gain weight.
  
• be able to turn away from a Colts game. No use in trying to get my attention.
• want to live in Indiana again for a long period of my life. It is fantastic to visit and I might end up eating my words some day, but I realize that I can find a home wherever I land.
• doubt the leaping abilities of Genghis, because every time I do, he exceeds my expectations.
• be able to work in healthcare industry on the caregiving side. It's too stressful and I know my heart couldn't take it.
  

Perhaps more later, but this is enough for tonight.

The Girls are Coming!

My girls are coming into town this weekend and I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Since I've last seen some of them in person, they've birthed a child, moved and gotten married. And I've been the horrible friend that's sat back and congratulated them from afar. Well, no more. They're coming down here to wreak some havoc and I'm ready.

Well, not quite ready. Chef has graciously agreed to prepare a lovely meal for us all and we have yet to determine the final menu. So I need to go shopping for the ingredients. And of course there is the issue of cat litter. While we will be using the LitterKwitter to toilet train the cats, we have yet to use it with all three cats. So despite vacuuming twice a week, we have 12 paws that carry the litter outside the box and into the immediate bathroom area. Two seconds after we vacuum, dustbuster or use the broom, one of the three (usually Genghis) goes in to do business.

But aside from the litter issue and grocery shopping, I am mentally ready to hang out with my best chick friends for a while.

The Theme of My Time Off

I am lucky enough to work for an organization that allows us to take some strategic time off during the holidays and end up with two weeks off. To say that I needed the time off is an understatement as I haven't had any real time off in quite some time. Too long as my mental health was starting to deteriorate because of it.

Nonetheless, I've enjoyed lounging around, making a few day trips but ending up back in my bed, playing with the kitties and the like. However, if there was one complaint that I can make, it's that my time off has taken on a certain theme. That theme being: bodily fluids.

It started with sweat as I was working out and utilizing our Wii fit. Sweat I can handle. Sweat is good. But when it escalated to vomit, I was beginning to get upset. I was sick for four days. I'd try to eat and end up feeling like I was going to die. Not a great way to end up.

The next fluid was the sort that might be too unsavory to go in detail in on the blog, but let's just say it also required a lot of bathroom trips.

Within a few days it wasn't just me, but everyone was getting into the action. One of our cats, Mila, is having a hard time adjusting to the new living situation. Chef and I believe that she was the "top dog" so to speak in her last home and is having a hard time dealing with Genghis. So she's decided to forgo using her litter box and instead use the area right outside of Genghis's litter box or Chef's backpack (Genghis's favorite napping space). Every morning we wake to a new little surprise. It's like having a puppy.

So for all the time off and lounging, I've also been cleaning up, clearing out and basically dealing with a lot of crap--literally and figuratively. If I wanted to clean up this much, I would've have kids and not cats. But I digress.

Here's to hoping for a less liquid new year.