Footprints on the Moon

I’m sorry, but do you live here? That’s the question I was asking myself earlier this week. If you read my photo blog, you saw that I had a clogged tub, and called maintenance out to fix it. They started on Monday, and came back to fix the job on Tuesday. And left me wondering if it might have been done differently had it not been my uncle. On Monday, I had a funeral to attend, so I left work early, stopped off at home for lunch on my way, and discovered that my bathtub had been taken apart, the pieces put in a bowl I had sitting near the tub, and there was a leaf in the toilet. Um… okay. Come to find out, my uncle was in the process of working on my tub when he found out he had 20 minutes before he was “supposed” to be at the funeral home.

So my tub stayed torn apart Monday night, and he came out to finish it on Tuesday. It’s the subtle differences that left me wondering, with the whole “do you live here” question. Moved washcloths, the “dirt” (chemical residue) left in the bottom of the tub, but most importantly the cats. Now, that statement might leave you confused, so let me explain. When I got home on Tuesday, the cats greeted me in the living room, then ran back to the bathroom and meowed. Usually that means “Where have you bee? The bowl is empty, feed us, we’re starved!” So I glance in and their bowl is full. I told them such and ignored them. Later, they keep repeating this. Sitting near the bowls and talking to me. Finally I look closer. Yes, their bowl is full, but not with the food that I feed them. My uncle fed my cats. It would be weird in and of itself, but here’s the really strange part– he didn’t get the food from inside my apartment. Where I keep the cat food is probably not in a very intuitive place, so it’s quite likely he looked around, and didn’t find it. But there was a sample bag of cat food (which just so happens to be the same kind that he DID put in the bowl) in the bathroom, and he didn’t use that either.

So best I can figure is that he went home and got food to feed my cats. Which of course they didn’t want because they were like, what the heck is this?? It was just very strange to me. I appreciate him feeding them if they were hungry, but he’s got my phone number– he could’ve called and asked me where their food was! And then I couldn’t help but wonder… does he feed other people’s cats too? Or just mine? Maybe I’ll have to ask him next time I see him.

Oh those kitties of mine are in sooo much trouble. As if there aren’t enough lighting issues in this apartment already, they had to go and break my floor lamp. No, it didn’t cost a lot of money. Yes, it was a piece of crap anyways. That’s not that point. Currently, the only light in my bedroom is a desk lamp clipped to my headboard. I was planning on moving my floor lamp into the bedroom to have a real light in there, but not anymore! It’s one of those deals that come in a box and you screw together. Now it won’t screw in at the base, so it’s sitting at about a 45 degree angle at the moment. Not very practical! Having cats is like having toddlers– you can’t have anything nice.

I was just mentioning to Loretta the other day that I needed to blog about my kitties more often. After all, they are completely spoiled, and demand my attention pretty much all night long.

This is my little girl, Lucy. Short for Lucy-fer. Okay, not really, but she is rotten as all get out. I would like to show you exhibit A.

This is my nightstand. Obviously, you can tell by looking at it that it’s just a cheap piece of furniture, but that’s not the point. The bed frame that she scratches isn’t, and neither is my other night stand. At some point I’m going to have decent furniture, and that’s unacceptable.
She’s also teaching her brother bad things. Every morning, about 15 minutes before the alarm goes off, if not earlier, she starts in on the scratching of the nightstand. So this morning, I’m hearing the scratching, and it just won’t stop so I’m yelling at her. The alarm went off eventually and I turned the light on, only to discover that Lucy was sleeping at the end of the bed. Pudge had been scratching the nightstand. I’d never seen him do that before!! NOT GOOD! I don’t need TWO furniture scratchers!

Any ideas as to how I might change this naughty behavior?

I’ve already decided that I’m staying home tonight!! From last Thursday through today I’ve basically been at home to sleep and change. It’s showing in the messiness of my apartment and in the behavior of my cats. I got home yesterday, and they’d gotten a cushion off the couch!! That’s only one of the many, many messes they’ve managed to make while I haven’t been home. Not to mention that I’m just simply tired of being on the run all the time. Sometimes you just need a day to sit and decompress (and clean up!). Besides, the kitties could use my attention. Pudge has been permagluing himself to my side everytime I’m somewhere he can get to me.
Erica and Steve *might* be coming over for dinner, but that’s still a big if. I’m going to get the stuff for dinner on my way home from work because I’ve got to run to the store and get cat food anyways. The bowl is probably already empty and the kitties will tell everyone I never feed them.

I’ve got a full house, er, apartment today!! Had a full one last night too. Erica’s gas got shut off, and they can’t get it turned back on until tomorrow, so they obviously couldn’t stay at their house with a 5 1/2 month old baby and no heat!! I offered to let them stay with me because I have a couch with a pullout bed, and an air mattress. They were going to go to her grandma’s and she only has a recliner and a loveseat. No way! It was a little weird this morning because I couldn’t have my usual routine with two people and a baby sleeping in my living room. So it took me a little longer to get my head out of a fog this morning!

My poor kitties. They don’t know what to do with themselves. They’re used to it just being me, and here last night they show up with a bunch of stuff, including a jumper for the baby. Lucy eventually came out, but Pudge won’t. He got so far under my bed that all I could see was his eyeballs. I couldn’t have gotten him out if I needed too!! I think that’s mostly because Steve was there… he’s getting used to Erica. I’ve talked to Erica a couple of times today… she said he’s still hiding in my room, but sometimes on top of the bed instead of underneath it. Lucy has reclaimed her spots in the living room with an attitude of “hey, I live here, I’ll be out here if I want to!” She’s also very interested in the baby. She keeps going up and sniffing him.

I probably won’t be online much tonight because of my house guests. We’ll see! I made jello poke cake last night, so I’m looking forward to getting off work in fifteen minutes and going home and trying it. I’ve never made it before, so we’ll see if I managed to mess up practically the simplest dessert ever.

Everyone who sees Lucy says “Awww…. look at that face!” She just looks so sweet! People just don’t believe me when I try to tell them how rotten she is. Her “grandma” (my mom) always says, “No, she’s so innocent!” Well, sorry Mom, today I caught some of her rotten-ness on film.
Sorry it’s so dark, you can’t exactly tell the cat to do it over again. At the beginning, you can hear me laugh at her for falling off the chair.

I stopped there because she got the box open and was licking the cheese off of a Cheez-It at that point. This is a new change for her… last week she was digging in my box of Lucky Charms.

I don’t want my baby girl to feel left out! I have TWO kitties, and my Lucy has been getting bigger too. She’s much daintier than Pudge is, but she’s still not the tiny baby she was when I got her. I got a before and after picture… it’s not quite as “the same” as Pudge’s before and after, but it’s the same kitty, and the same window, so I think you’ll get the idea.

Here’s a picture of Lucy that was taken on August 3, 2006. She was three months old…

And now here’s the picture I took of my little girl earlier this afternoon.

She’s obviously not in the same position, and she was closer to the camera, but I think you get the idea. She wasn’t cooperating with her photoshoot– she wanted to be a centimeter away from the camera lens, so I got plenty of pictures of her eyeball! She’s the baby that everyone thinks is so sweet, and innocent. Don’t let that kitten face fool you– she’s rotten!

Let’s play a little game shall we? Ha, kidding… I took a picture yesterday that I want to share with you, but in order for you to really appreciate it, you have to first see an older picture.

This is a picture of my cat, Pudge, on September 4, 2006. I remember thinking how cute he was curled up in the sink, and how big he was getting!

Cute huh? Now… you can really appreciate the picture I took last night. This is the same cat, same sink.

OMG! He’s huge!! When did my tiny baby get so BIG?!

I’ve posted several times about the naughty things my kitties do, but I really feel bad for my mom. She’s got one of those sectional sofas and three dogs. At first glance, you might not understand what those two facts have to do with each other. Well… during the time that her husband was in the hospital, her three dogs destroyed not one, but two, of the cushions that go on the back of her couch. I’m not talking about accent cushions, either– these cushions provide the back you lean against on the couch! The worst part is that they custom ordered the couch, so they can’t exactly just call up and get new cushions. They’ll have to custom order those as well. Her husband just spent about two months in the hospital, I’m sure they can afford that! Needless to say, she called me that night and offered me three dogs.

I love my cats, but there are just some times that I want to tell them to go buy some funeral insurance. Like when I’m working on cleaning up my apartment and they (by they, of course, I mean Lucy) decide to climb in the newly filled trashcan, and knock it over. Excuse me? I just put all the stuff in there, and not so that you could take it right back out!! Or just when you get sound asleep and they (by they, of course, I mean Pudge) decide that your head is the best spot for them to lay down and get comfy. These cats are beyond spoiled and rotten.