Blackmailed by Santa!

We mentioned few days ago that we were working on a new blog post, but it has taken a bit to come to terms with everything and get it all out as we worked through this recent turn of events...a kind of betrayal actually...

We have been blackmailed by Santa!!!

Mom came home a few days ago and after getting the mail, and was not so happy with us for some reason.  We greeted her as normal, did her a favor and let her touch us for a minute, then scampered out into the garage to sniff her tires to see where she had been that day, as usual.  After she finished going through the mail, she called us back into the house, and you know how it is when you hear,

"Girls - I need to talk with you both - NOW!!"

We ran back in like the obedient babies we are, but were soon ready to run back out into the garage and hide!

She began by telling us what good girls we are and how much she loves us, then told us how much she depends on us to do the right thing whether she's here or not.  She then began showing us pictures, some of which were taken while she was here, and some were not.  We haven't figured that out though, because we don't know how SHE didn't see what was going on if she's so all-knowing - like she thinks she is - and don't tell that we said that - we'd REALLY be in trouble then!!  Maybe she has cameras installed around here somewhere - we need to look into that!

Anyway, after our lecture, she let us know that Santa had been paying visits and sent her proof of what he'd caught us doing, both good and bad!  Uh oh - pretty sure bad outweighs good most of the time!  Here's what she showed us:

Here we are trying to check out the washing machine - while it's filling up with water!

Good thing Roxie was in a helping mood this day!

Yeah, well...it happens!

"Santa looks kinda like he can't believe this - like I'm
 doing something wrong!  Actually, he (and Mom!!) should
be glad I was looking after my dental health!"

"Glad we helped mom get stuff for
trick-or-treaters together that time!"

Always fascinated with the washer!  

"Good kitty!  Trying to read about Feuding Felines.
I got BIG points for this one!"

"Whew - another helpful moment, helping Mom
change bed linens!"

"Josie had no words or explanation for why
he caught her up on the shelf in mom's closet!
We'll say this was a 'not good' moment!"

"OOPS!!  Should have believed mom when she said
Santa was watching!"

"I have no defense!"

"WELLL - we just wanted some fresh air!!"

"Finally - caught doing something right!
Helping put away groceries!  (Actually, I
was looking to see if anything was for me,
but if this helps me get points with Santa,
I'm all about it!)"

'"Yep - good kitty again - helping Mom count ticket
money from the ladies luncheon last year!"

"Ummmm - I can explain!"

"It just felt good in there - and who knew
SANTA would be in there??"  

"YAY!  Caught doing another good thing -
helping mom with luncheon seating!"

"Wellll - I just love heights!"

"Yeah, I can't believe it, either - trust me!"

 Actually, she had a few more, but you get the jest of what has been going on!  We are trying a little harder to be on the straight and narrow from now until December, just in case we have more surprise visits!

"Rest assured, we understand and KNOW 

what list we want to be on from now until

the end of the year!!"

You might want to warn your pets - SANTA IS REAL (!!!), and if they don't believe it, you can show them this blog post as proof!

...and for my next trick...

Hey!  Josie here!  

Mom has had SOOOOOOOOO many people asking what Roxie and I have been up to lately, so while we were trying to think of something fun to blog about, I thought I'd show everyone my newest trick!  Mom was so surprised to come home the other day and see that I'd figured out how to open the drawers and cabinets in her - ummmm - in OUR - bathroom - so I thought, in case there are any other kitties out there who might want something new to try - I'd show everybody how I did that!  

Here's what mom came home to the other day that she couldn't believe! 

HA!  Meow!!  It was so funny seeing her reaction that I made a note to self that I needed to do this again one day, so the other day, she came home and I'd been trying to clean out the drawers in her bathroom!  I was just getting started when I realized I don't have thumbs and would make a real mess, so I just left the drawer open and showed mom what a mess we have to deal with when she got home!

She had a little talk with me and told me she REALLY wanted to know how I got so smart to figure out how to do all this, so I just decided I'd show her.  She can only understand so much of 'meow' talk!  So here I am opening the drawer and plotting my plan:

(Snicker, snicker - MEOW!!!)

I told Mom to watch closely.  I wasn't going to do everything did the other day, but here's basically how it happened!

The only thing I did different the other day is that I kinda got stuck, so I pushed out the top drawer trying to get out, but that didn't work, so I rolled out of the middle drawer into the cabinet beneath the sink and tumbled out through the vanity doors, of course, dragging some of mom's saline and stuff behind me!  I was hoping to hide that part, but again, the no thumbs thing was a bit of a hindrance.  I swear, I could almost be a furry person if I just had thumbs!

So that's how it's done!  I was really just looking for some soap, but wound up having a lot more fun than I thought I would!  Unfortunately, Mom did mention that she might look into child-proof locks, so I need to just lay low for a while and hope she'll forget about that!

Show this to all the kitties you know and tell them this will be a great surprise for THEIR mom, too!

We'll be thinking of something else to blog about so it won't be so long next time.  I looked today when I started posting this and saw that we haven't posted on our blog since last JULY!  Now that's just ridiculous!

I'm off to look for more entertainment!  We'll post again soon!  And Roxie says "Hi" to everyone!

Meow!!

Thank Heaven for Nine Lives!!

In our safe, protected, well cared for lives, we don't think there has been a time when we have been more thankful to have nine lives, as everyone knows we cats have!  Mom told us not to blog about this, but we just can't help ourselves, so we hope she doesn't find out, but here goes!

Yesterday morning, Roxie kept bothering Mom and kept wanting to play all night long.  Finally about 4:30 am, Mom decided to turn off the alarm and open the door into the garage so she/we could go out there and play for a while.  She's a cool mom like that!  Anyway, when she turned the alarm off, she noticed that the key pad said '13 Batt' or something like that.  She looked to see what zone that was, and it was the smoke alarm in the hallway.  She went to the hallway, looked up, and saw the light was blinking red.  Last time this happened, Mom didn't have any batteries at all, so she was sure to have enough on hand if this happened again!  She went to the drawer in the kitchen, got out two batteries, and took them back to her bedroom, thinking that she'd wait until her alarm went off at 6:30 to worry about it since it wasn't beeping or anything yet.

Well, soon enough, we'd been in the garage for two hours (!!) - and that time sure flew by!  When Mom got up, she came looking for us, and Josie, like ALWAYS, was over by the big garage door hunkered down like she was looking for something.  Neither me nor Mom can figure out what she'd doing when she does that, but there must be something there!

Anyway, Mom came out into the garage and got her ladder to so she could reach the fire alarm.  She tells us she's short, but she looks pretty tall to us!!  Of course, we scattered when we saw that ladder because it was really spooky looking!  We didn't really see allll of what happened because we were just peeking around corners, but after all was said and done, Mom filled us in on the story:

She brought that ladder in, put it up in the hallway, then took the smoke alarm off to change the batteries.  Now remember, these batteries were still in the package.  She put those in, then pushed the self-test button.  NOTHING HAPPENED, and the light was still flashing red.  Mom wasn't too excited about that because batteries are not cheap, but she got down and went to get two more batteries.  She put THOSE in the smoke alarm - NOTHING HAPPENED, and the light was still flashing red.  By this time, Mom was about fed up with that problem, but she got two MORE batteries and hooked those up.  She pushed the self-test button - and NOTHING HAPPENED - for a minute anyway, then all of the sudden, everything starts going 'WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP!'  It sounded like it was coming from everywhere!!

Now we were hiding and only peeking to see what was going on, but we did look out just in time to see Mom come off that ladder about two rungs at a time trying to get to the alarm to cancel it.  Actually, it was kinda funny to see, but we'd never tell her that.  She had to cancel it twice to be sure it went through okay.

Whew!!

After all of that excitement, Mom asked if we were ready for breakfast, so we scampered back into the kitchen like good kitties!  She always gives us good food, so we are always ready whenever she calls us for breakfast or dinner!  So, here we are, enjoying our breakfast, calming down from all of that alarm stuff.  Mom was getting something to drink and taking her pills she takes every morning, and all of the sudden - again - DING DONG!  Mom kinda looked at us like, 'Huh??', but we don't like the doorbell either, so off we scampered again!

Mom went to the den to try to look out the window to see what was going on, and there was a man looking into the den though the shutters at her!!  Just beyond the man, Mom saw something else - something like THIS :

Uhhh...YIKES!  Mom told us to get a picture of the real one in front of our house, but we think she forgot we don't have thumbs and can't hold a camera or phone very well!  Needless to say, we did NOT get a picture, but found one online while she was at work today...

Well, there was no way Mom could NOT go to the door since that guy was looking in at her, so she went to the front door, opened it, and three firemen were standing there!  She apologized profusely, told them what happened, etc, but before they left, she thought she'd ask their opinion about our smoke alarm.  We heard her say, "Well, let me ask y'all - hang on a minute."  She went to the kitchen, got the smoke alarm off of the table, showed them it was still blinking red after three sets of batteries and asked them if they thought it was probably bad and just needed to be replaced.  We heard her tell them that she was going to stop and get one on the way home to replace it.  They talked on for another few minutes, then before they left, one of the guys thought about it for a minute and said, "Now if that is hooked to a security system, they may need to come replace it so it will connect with their system."  Mom was glad he thought of that, because she had not thought of that at all!

The firemen were so nice, and Mom just apologized and apologized for them having to come to her house for that reason - but they were very kind and told her it was okay.  We heard her tell them, "I'm sorry y'all had to come out for this, but I AM glad to know you're on the job!"

Of course, after they left and Mom was telling us all about what they said, she said while they were all standing in our den talking, she had a sudden realization that she was standing here talking to these three men in her yucky shorts and tank top that she'd slept in!  We thought that was hilarious and had to snicker to ourselves, because we can tell you, those pajamas are nothing to look at!!  (Hahahahahaha - meow meow meow - Hahahahaha!!)

Mom called the alarm company after they left to ask them about it, and that nice fireman was right - they do need to be the ones to replace it, so they are coming next Friday.  We will be glad to get all of this behind us for a while!

So as you can understand, with all of that excitement yesterday, we feel like we lost about 3 lives EACH, so we are looking for calm days here for a little bit!  We were really glad when Mom left for work, because we'd been up since about 4:00am and were ready for a NAP!!!

Don't tell Mom we put this out there for everyone to read.  We just thought it was funny, and mostly just wanted to laugh again about Mom standing in our den, in her yucky pajamas, with three firemen looking at her!  (Hahahahahaha - meow meow meow - Hahahahaha!!)

Four out of Five Dentists Surveyed....

I keep telling Mom this isn't such a big deal, but she still isn't being very cooperative, and I just need to get it all out since she won't listen!  I decided this was the best forum because Roxie isn't really listening either.

Back before Mom left on her trip for Las Vegas (and left us at home, by the way!!), she was in her bedroom gathering stuff to pack.  I didn't really think there was any problem, but she heard this crunching noise that she wasn't sure about.  She came into the bathroom, and here I was:

She yelled at me like I was doing something wrong, and I was SO confused!  I mean, I see HER brushing HER teeth, so I thought it would be okay to brush mine, too!  Unfortunately, that was NOT the case!  Although she did kinda laugh, she told me in no uncertain terms, "Josie!!  That is MY toothbrush!  It is not a toy and I better not find you doing that again!"

I guess it's a good thing she doesn't really know how many times I'd done this before she figured it out!

And that 'Four out of five dentists thing' - I guess, by Mom's reaction, it would be "FIVE out of five dentists recommend not letting your cat chew on your toothbrush."

Guess I'll need to find another way to get fresh breath.  Wonder if they make breath treats for cats?

Hip-Hip Hooray! It's Tax Deadline Day!

YAY!!  It's finally here!  We thought tax season would NEVER end!!  We've got a big surprise for Mom when she gets home!  We have been patiently waiting for 3.5 months for this day and are SO happy it's finally here!  We have decorated the house and are ready to have a party!!

We had sort of a hard time with these balloons, and some of them popped because they kept getting hooked on our claws!  Good thing Mom clipped our claws and gave us manicures on Saturday or no telling how many we would have lost!

We're kinda proud of the vase of flowers on the end table below, too. We know she'll be surprised about that!  We just need to be careful and not knock it over before she gets home!

The hearts here are because we love Mom so much!  This will probably be what gets us lots of love tonight when she gets home!  

We think our Mimi knew how excited we'd be, too, and wanted to share in the fun, so she sent us some of our favorite treats!  Mom showed them to us last night and saw how excited we were!

Mom said since we've been such good girls, she'd go ahead and let us have some tonight, and BOY, were we happy!  We were so excited, we couldn't quit meowing long enough to let her find a little bowl, so she just poured some on the floor for us and we didn't even care! We are such lucky kitties!

Well, we need to get back to decorating, so we need to close, but there's LOTS more to say!  Mom's been taking a Dave Ramsey class and we've got some thoughts about that, too!  After we party and recover, we'll talk about good ol' Dave!  

If you see or talk to Mom today, be sure to wish her a Happy Tax Day - she's almost as ready as we are for it to be over - but just almost...

Well, it's been a L-O-N-G time since we've blogged!  I know it will be hard to imagine when I say this, but things have been just kinda rockin' along here at normal pace, BUT today is my 'Gotcha Day' and we couldn't let that go by unnoticed!  I just LOVE my mom and know it was part of the plan for me to end up at her house with her and Josie!  

For anyone who doesn't totally remember my story, I'll give a short synopsis here:

Mom already had Josie.  Since she was so playful and hated so bad for Mom to leave in the mornings for work, Mom started thinking she needed to get a second kitty to keep Josie company.  After lots of searching, trips to Petsmart, Humane Societies, etc, she was at her desk on January 2 of 2015, knowing tax season was about to start, hating to leave Josie alone every morning, and wondering just what to do.  Having lunch at her desk and thinking about all of this, she prayed and said she told God, "If I'm supposed to get another cat to keep Josie company, I'm going to need for you to drop it in my lap like you did with Josie.  I don't want to make a mistake, and I don't want to get one that will squash Josie's personality.  I also need for it to be a girl!"  Well, about two hours after that, seriously, about 3:20 that afternoon, Mom's friend, Ms Pam, was at the vet with her dog and sent Mom a picture of me saying that I was there and needed a home! I'm really glad Mom told Ms Pam she was looking for another cat!  Mom left work early that day to go check me out, and decided I was the one she had been looking for.  Bad news was that she didn't have a carrier with her, so she had to come back the next day, January 3, so get me.  I didn't know what I was in for either, coming home to Josie, but we made it work and I just love my home now!  

Mom has done some reading up on me since I've grown so much this last year, and according to what she's read, she thinks I have some Maine Coon in me.  Made her feel a little better, but we'll let you in on all the facts of that later. 

Here are some pictures of my first year,  I'm not quite the 'rounder' that Josie is, and I don't get into as much a stuff as she does, but I am quite photogenic, even if I do say so myself!  :)

"Here's the pic of me Ms Pam sent to Mom.
Mom was thrilled I was gray.  She hadn't told
anyone, but she had been looking at gray cats!"

 .

"Oopsie - here's my first greeting from Josie!
Not quite welcoming, and I was glad to
be in the carrier!"

"My pretty little face..."

                                             

"Selfies with Mom..."

"My favorite sleep position.  Mom says this
means I feel secure."

"Reading up on Feline Feuding!  This picture
makes Mom laugh!"

"Now that's some serious sleep right there!"

"Mom likes this profile picture!"

"Not quite sure why Mom has so many
pictures of me snoozing!"

  

"Hmmm...a tree with lights!  That looks interesting!"

"Josie being the leader into mischief - but I'm a
great follower!"

"Again - following Josie's lead - but she has a
good question - What IS cooking in there?"

"Josie teaching me to drink out of  the faucet!"

"Oopsie!"

"Cuddling with Mom."

"We LOVE to sit in the window!"

"I'm gonna get the first drink for once!"

"Hey - did you know these are all still wet??"

A rarity - snuggling sisters...

"More selfies with Mom!"

"I love helping with chores!"

"Who?  Us?"

"Tell Josie I'm ready to go for a spin!"

"I love to fetch!"

"Mom loves this picture!"

"Hiding...sort of"!

"Now HOW does all of this work??"

"Nothin' like a good stretch!"

"I loved that Grace came for a visit!"

"Not long after I came home!"

"Getting used to my new toys!"

"Our first KitNip box!"

"Mom likes this picture, too!"

"More help with chores!"

"Playing by myself while Josie was recovering
from getting fixed."

"Fun house from our cousin, Kate!"

"Playing hide-and-seek with Josie!  I haven't
found her yet in this picture, but notice her
nose in bottom right between the pillows!"

"Checkin' out the washing machine with Josie!"

"Lovin' on my mom."

"Tryin' to figure out how to go on an overnight trip
with Mom."

"I made this stryofoam tent all by myself!"

"Go, Josie!  I know you can get that closet door
open if you really try!"

"I see my toy here under the stove, Mom, but can
you help me get it out from under here?"

"More chores!  Gosh, it just never ends!"

"I love boxes, and these little spiral toys!"

"I was looking for that Aristocats movie...do you
know where it might be?"

"My favorite game to play with Mom...she thumps these
across the room and I catch them!"

'Ready for Halloween!"

"Treats ready for the trick-or-treaters!"

"...and who could forget National Cat Day?
Josie and I wore our crowns all day that day!"

"My 'Birthday Girl' shirt - kinda makes my hips
and behind look big though, don't you think?"

"Here's the birthday card Mom made, just for me!"

"Working on Ladies Luncheon seating with Josie.  Boy -
THAT was a job!"

"Trying on our new Santa hats for Christmas!"

"We love to prop on Mom to sleep!"

"My 2015 Christmas card picture...Cute huh?"

Thanks for helping me celebrate my first 'Gotcha Day'!  Can't wait to see what this next year holds!

Happy New Year from Josie and me!