Greco-Roman Wrestling The day begins with Precious Angel flexing her muscles and sprinting around the table at 6:15am. She then begins hurdling over the legs and then does a spring board onto the balance beam (the wicker laundry basket) followed by a head first dive into the litter box. Standing up and slowly shaking her head she becomes a target for her opponent, Pumpkin Spice also known as Pumpkin Noodles. Pumpkin slowly circles the laundry basket slinking close to the floor and keeping her eyes glued to her opponent. With a fell swoop she lands on top of Precious and pins her to the floor. Precious is down for a count of two before she takes her rear feet and upends Pumpkin. She then pins Pumpkin to the floor and holds her down to the count of three before they both spring apart and begin circling the mat(aka towel) and sizing up their opponent before the next take down. Precious lightly paws Pumkin's tale and then Pumpkin hunkers down and faster than a speeding bullet she lands on top of Precious and holds her for a count of five. Pumpkin is declared the winner and she leaps onto the nearest chair and then dives down on Precious' back and a new match ensues. This has become a normal morning adventure before they sit by the bed waiting for a response from me and declaring it is time for their morning feast. I have two spoiled to the core kittens who refuse to drink water from the tap. They sniff at it and then sit, stare acusingly at me and then sit near the counter where the Zepherhills water sits and refuse to take their eyse off the bottle until I pour water into their bowl at which point two heads begin lapping water like mad. The next move is to follow me into the kitchen and sit and watch until I open the Fancy Feast and then they beging dancing in circles when they hear the spoon banging against the plates. I place the plates on the floor and two flashes beging inhaling their food. Following their feast they take a few moments to groom their beautiful faces before they sit near my feet and watch every move. They are waiting for me to take the fishing pole out with their fake fish attached. Then it becomes gymnastic time as they stand on hind legs and bat at the fish, grab it and attempt to run before the elastic line reels them back in and finally they roll with the fish on the floor (by the way I had to purchase a second one so that they each have one). Pumpkin is the smart one. She has managed to free her fish twice now by chewing the rubber line into two pieces. Oh the terrorist. I was awoken in the wee hours of the morning yesterday when I heard a crash of stuff landing on the floor off of the table. I then felt a thud on the bed and finally on my head followed by a pat down massage of my fact. I had the television on and in the flickering light I slowly opened one eye and stared into the sweetest most innocent face you have ever seen. Precious stopped in mid-pat and became a still statue and while staring at me her eyes seemed to be saying I am not doing anything why are you looking at me and then she patted my cheek and her eyes seemed to say how can you sleep when something as cute as me wants to play. I just reached up, grabbed her and placed her next to me and slowly stroked her head as her eyes closed and her breathing became slow and regular. I shortly felt a second thud as Pumpkin jumped onto the bed and placed her little terror filled eyes under my hand. I slowly stroked her until she fell asleep with her head on Precious' stomach. They were still there when I awoke around 7. That is the first time tey have done that. I have misplaced the memory card to the camera after uploading images from a shoot and as soon as I locate it I will take pictures and post them. Thanks for the kind words as regards my writing *blushing* Pictures coming soon I hope. Linda

olychick - I sympathize with your grandson and his mom. My son is so "hardwired" for a dog but I'm not a fan of them. I am a cat person and we do have cats and he's ok with that. I know that when he moves out the first thing he will get is a dog. Those cat videos are so cute.

Sue, As long as they don't add, "Crazy" in front of "cat lady"....I am known as the cat lady in our neighborhood and I honestly think there might be a sign at the end of the street, "Home for Wayward Cat/kittens" and it's pointed right at my house.... My Dh, like your's, has put his foot down, softly...(He's almost as bad as me.) At one time, we had 2 feral mommas on the patio and each had had a litter of 6...When the kits started getting older the mothers tried taking them into the bushes, to teach them to live on their own...That's when we bundled up all the kittens, put them in our basement and would bring them out for feedings...We had to sit with them and as soon as they were done eating, back in the basement...There were times when momma would start through the yard, make a noise and all the babies would run after her...My DH would run with a big box and be scooping up kittens along the way...As soon as the kittens were weaned, we were able to get them adopted...It was like giving up my own kids and boy did I screen the new parents...We were able to get those 2 females spayed and they are still living on our patio....I loved having all those little ones and often would foster for one of our local no kill shelters. From fostering, I did keep 2 little girls and now when I mention fostering, DH gives me that look....But what a thrill, watching them grow.....I keep saying, if I ever win that lottery, I'll have the best shelter around.....See, how I can go on and on when it comes to talking about fur babies.......You should be around when I pull out the pictures....

Today I had the kitten out of her room while Maggie, the resident cat, was sleeping in her chair. When Maggie got up and started walking around I picked the kitten up so she wouldn’t run at Maggie and try to play. I went up to Maggie while holding the kitten and petted her - no hissing or growling. I did this a few times and made sure she could see the kitten who was just a couple feet away - no problem. So I put the kitten back in her room and gave Maggie her special treat and she went on about her business. I’m cautiously optimistic. Tomorrow will be a real test when they all ride in the car together to the lake cabin - kitten in her carrier. That has provoked a lot of growling and hissing in the past.