After the Ball Is Over

 Oja:  I want to thank everycat for coming to my soiree yesterday evening and night.  Almost everything went perfectly.  I did wonder why so many of my guests, especially the gentleman cats went out to the patio for a breath of fresh air and came back smiling.  We did have the windows closed, as the evening got rather chilly, so maybe it got a little hot and stuffy in the living room.  The gopher hunting must have gone really well, because I saw Bambino going all crazy pants in the back yard.  I'm really glad I sent his silly self outside during my dignified party, because he doesn't even know how to act dignified.  The only fly in the ointment was my Mom.  Halfway through the evening, just after she got all the trays refilled with canapes and sushi, she said she needed to sit down for a minute.  She sat down in the easy chair by the window and promptly fell asleep.  I was so embarrassed.  At least she didn't snore.  I nearly had to go out to the patio for some fresh air myself at that point, but Jose and I had to get busy passing the trays of snacks around.

Spyro and Rocio:  Whew!

Oja:  What was that?

Spyro:  Nothing Oja.

Oja:  I didn't see you or Rocio all evening.  What were you up to?

Rocio:  We were outside, keeping an eye on Bambino and the younger kitties.

 Spyro:  Psst, Rocio, is Oja out of earshot?

Rocio:  I think so.  We got away with it, didn't we?

Spyro:  We sure did. High five, bro!

 Rocio:  Spyro and I really enjoyed putting one over on Oja.  She still hisses and growls and yowls at me.

Karen Jo:  She wouldn't if you didn't keep smacking her with your paw.

Rocio:  She insists on sitting in the chair I want.

Karen Jo:  This house is full of chairs.  I think you just enjoy annoying Oja.

Rocio:  That could very well be the case.

 Bambino:  I sure had fun in the back yard last night.  Spyro and Rocio let me have just a little niptini.  I'm not that much underage.  I will be a mancat next month, I think.  The younger kitties and I played chase and sniffed the gopher holes and chased moths, though there weren't many of those.

Karen Jo:  That's because I don't have any flowers for them.  One or two of the peony buds opened, but the rest of them turned brown.  I don't know if it was lack of water (probably) or some bugs got them.

Jose:  I enjoyed the soiree very much.  I had never been to a dignified party before.  Oja and I danced together, then we danced with the other guests.  That is until the Mom fell asleep and we had to take over her duties of seeing that everyone got canapes, sushi, shrimp and catmint tea.

Karen Jo:  I apologize.  Throwing two parties in three days tired me out.

Karen Jo:  Now I want to bring up another subject.  Last summer, Spyro loved going outside in his harness and leash.  I think I spoiled it for him this year.  We had a warm day in April and I put his harness on him, but it had been a long time and I forgot how it went.  I got it on him wrong, took him outside and something spooked him.  He pulled strongly on the harness and got out of it and ran to the back door to be let back inside, then hid.  In late April, I tried it again, getting the harness on him right, this time.  Again something spooked him and he jerked the leash right out of my hand.  I opened the door for him and he ran, still wearing the harness and dragging the leash and hid.  I thought he was under the bed and that I would take his harness off of him when he calmed down enough to come out.  I heard a big meow from him and when I went to investigate, I found him in the hall without his harness.  He had gone into Oja's hideyhole, where there isn't much room, gotten the leash caught and managed to wiggle out of the harness.  I tried taking him out on his leash twice more, once in  May and once again today and he lets me put the harness on him, but as soon as he gets outside, he wants right back inside again.  Have I ruined his enjoyment of his harness and leash forever?

Happy Belated Gotcha Day, Oja!

Oja:  Man, am I hissed off at Mom!  She spent all her time getting ready for Rocio's birthday party and forgot all about my Gotcha Day, which was June 2.  I have been here one whole year now and I want a party, too.

Karen Jo:  Are you sure you are ready for another wild party?

Oja:  I don't want a wild party.  I am up to my curly tail with rambunctiousness.  I want a nice dignified soiree as befits my status as a lady cat.

Spyro:  You kicked up your heels with the best of them at Rocio's party.

Oja:  I still want a dignified party.  We are going to have catmint tea, tuna bites, sushi, shrimp with catnip sauce and treats.  We have regular cat food, too, for those of you who don't like people type food.
NO niptinis. There will be ballroom dancing in the living room.  All you lady cats and gentlemen cats are invited.  The younger ones can come, too, and if they start feeling rowdy, they can go out to the back yard and hunt gophers and chase birds.

Rocio and Spyro:  ::whispering::  Hey, guys, we mixed up a picnic jug full of niptinis and hid it out on the patio, in case you get bored in there with Miss Dignified, just don't let Oja catch on.

Bambino:  What are you two whispering about?

Rocio:  Never mind.  You're too young.

Bambino:  You're up to something.  I'm going to go get Oja and she'll make you tell.

Spyro:  Hush up!  We are going to have a little party of our own outside, but Oja wouldn't approve, so we can't let her find out about it.

Bambino:  You are mixing up niptinis, aren't you?  If you don't want me to tell, you have to let me have one.

Rocio:  OK, just one, but you can't go all wild on us.

Bambino:  I'm always going wild and crazy.  Oja will never notice the difference.  She told me to go chase gophers during her dance party.

Oja:  You mancats better behave yourselves at my party, especially you, Rocio.

Spyro and Rocio:  Yes, Oja, we will.

Oja:  Come on over.  The party is just getting started.  Jose, haven't you finished your bath yet?  You are my escort.

Jose:  Just a sec.  There, ready, let's go greet our guests.

The Aftermath

 Rocio:  We are all resting up after the party last night.  I had a wonderful time and I hope that all of you who came had one, too.  I think a few of you slept over and got to see the return of Bird TV.  The finches and starlings came back this morning, I think because the wind was blowing the other way and we no longer had ash falling and the smoke wasn't nearly as bad.  The fire is pretty far away from us and Mom hopes that it stays that way.  Thanks to all of you who came to my party and helped me celebrate my first birthday.  Niptinis are awesome and I danced with all the lady cats, except Oja.  She still doesn't like me, though I have been mostly nice to her lately.

Karen Jo:  Mostly doesn't quite cut it, Rodio.  You have to be nice to her all the time, like Jose and Spyro do, if you want her to like you.

Rodio:  I don't think I care very much if she likes me.

 Spyro:  The sun came out and it's much too bright.  I might have had one or two niptinis too many.  Make the bright light go away and let me sleep and sleep.

 Oja:  I agree with Spyro.  The sunlight is much too bright today.  I just want to snooze the day away.

 Bambino:  Silly grown up cats.  I just had a little nip and danced with the lady cats.  I feel fine, if a bit tired.

Jose:  The light isn't as bright in the kitchen in the laundry basket.  Something seems to have happened to my body, though.  Where is the rest of me?

Happy First Birthday, Rocio!

Rocio:  Hiya, Dudes and Dudettes!  It's my first birthday and I am now officially a mancat.  Bring on the niptinis and meowgaritas!  We even have a bottle of Dom Perimeow nip champagne to toast me with.  Mom is really late posting this because she has been doing Mom things all day.  She had to go to the pet supply store and knowing it is my birthday, do you know what she brought home? A new PTU!  What kind of birthday present was that?

Karen Jo:  I also brought home a small bag of new treats.  I know it is a tiny bag, a sample, really, but you like them.  I had to get another PTU because I was one short in case I need to put all of you in PTUs at the same time.  I don't know if it has made the national news, but we have a forest fire near here called the Thompson Ridge fire.  It is growing due to windy conditions and rough terrain.  We are getting burned up pine needles falling from the sky in town.  I am hoping that if I have everything I need to evacuate, I won't have to.  The fire is still miles away, but if a strong wind blows up in just the right (wrong?) direction it can travel mighty fast.

Rocio:  Anyway, we are having a party tonight, inside only I'm afraid.  There is smoke and ash outside and it isn't very healthy.  We are having nip drinks for the grown up kitties and milk and water for the kittens.  We have a great stereo and lots of dance records.  Mom has put out a buffet with a whole salmon, tuna steaks, roast beef, a turkey and a roast chicken.  We have cheese cubes and sardines to snack on.

Mom says she will be happy to wave the wand toys around.  With all of us kitties, she has learned how to hold two wands in each hand, so there are plenty to go around.  We have toys galore including some almost new nip balls from Yeow!  that are really great. There is loose nip on a piece of paper on the floor, it you can get to it with Spyro trying to hog it all.  We have a nice hall for THoE and room for rasslin'.  There is plenty of furniture, both human and cat for napping or just resting.  The bird TV is turned off, sorry to say.  Mom filled the feeders and the birdbath, but we didn't have any takers.  Maybe the smoke has chased them away.

Let's turn on the music and dance the night away!

Happy Birthday at the Rainbow Bridge, Austin

Karen Jo:  It's kind of a sad day here.  Austin would have been one year old today.  I did manage to get him a birthday present.  A week or so ago some jerk came by and stole three of my four solar lights, including the ones marking Herman's and Austin's graves.  Whoever it was didn't get Emma's because I buried her right next to the house and her light can't be seen from the street.  Today I went out and got replacements for the stolen lights.  The store didn't have the stars, so I got a sunflower for the front yard and hummingbirds for Herman and Austin.  A hummingbird was what I originally chose for Austin, so he got a straight replacement.  I hope whoever it was doesn't come by and steal them again.  I did put Herman's and Austin's much farther from the fence, so someone would have to actually come into my back yard to get them.

We still miss Austin, Rocio in particular.  Rocio misses Austin the most at meal time.  I would feed the two of them in the safe room and close the door, so they wouldn't hassle Oja while she was eating.  These days, most of the time, instead of running for his dish, Rocio just lies on the floor, looking very sad.  I have begun placing his food next to his head when he does this, or he will just lie there and Bambino will eat his Stinky Goodness.  He rouses himself to eat and shares with Bambino, who insists on sharing with all the boys.

I know you are having a grand time at the Rainbow Bridge, Austin, but we miss you down here.  I imagine you and Herman play chase and kitty rasslin' a lot, while Emma watches.

Mousebreath Interview

Spyro:  We are all very excited because our interview with the Funny Farm Cats is up on Mousebreath today.  How cool is that?

Oja:  And you did most of the talking.

Spyro:  I have been here the longest, so that makes me spokescat.

Rocio:  I hope that most readers believe that I was named after a fish, because the other part is downright embarrassing.

Oja:  HAHAHA!

Rocio:  What are you laughing at, opera singer?

Oja: Raspberries to you.

Bambino:  I like my part.  I shoved Spyro's kibble bowl off the counter just last night.

Jose:  Too bad my excellent jumping abilities didn't surface until after the interview.  I was the first cat to get up on the curtain valence in the living room, which is the highest place in the whole house.

Bambino:  I got up there, too.

Jose:  But I was first.  You didn't jump up there until you saw me do it.

Karen Jo:  I expect that Spyro will jump up there soon, too, but Jose gets the claim of being the first to be the highest.  Rocio and Oja are getting along better.  He did make her yowl yesterday in the computer room, so I plugged the Feliway in there.  He was starting it up again this morning, but left in a hurry when I dropped to all fours behind him.  A whole lot of you want to see a video of me being MomCat, but I don't know how I could arrange it.  There is no one else here to take the video.  Maybe I could find something I could rest the camera on, then perform for the camera.  We'll see.

TCC News

 Rocio:  See this ratty-looking scratching post?  If I scratch on it, I get a treat.  I am trying to decide if it is worth the trouble.  Bambino, Jose and I are all exceited.  Mom finally put in our applications to join the Tabby Cat Club and Gracie said we could consider ourselves unofficial members until her computer comes home from the computer hospital.  Yay!

 Bambino:  I am trying to decide if I want to give Jose a whap for trying to take my sparkle ball that was dipped in nip.  See my raised paw?  I am the only full tabby cat here.  The rest of you are tuxie-tabbies or Russian Blue tabby.

 Jose:  Mom has been trying and trying to get a picture of me full face with my eyes open, so you can see what she calls my Egyptian eyes.  This is as close as she has come so far.  My eyes are a light green and with  my brown eye-liner I look quite exotic.

 Oja:  Ha!  I have you all beat.  Everyone should go right over to the Tabby Cat Club and look at the wallpaper.  That's me!  Right there!

Spyro:  All this excitement!  I was the first to join and tuxie-tabbies are just as tabby as full tabbies.  No that is not a smudge of Stinky Goodness under my nose.  That is just part of my markings.  I am getting screen door whiffies and trying to figure out how I can get outside without my harness.  Mom is getting too fast for me and I hardly escape at all any more.

Karen Jo:  Thank you all for the good advice on calming things down between Rocio and Oja.  I have been basically letting them work it out, until Oja yowls.  I don't want a full-fledged fight.  Until the Feliway arrives, which will probably be a waste, because it is finally open window season here and the sockets where I could plug it in are right under the windows, I have tried Brian's suggestion of acting the MomCat.  Rocio got Oja cornered in the litter box room last night, so I got behind him down on all fours and hissed at him and chased him into the bathtub.  This morning, he tried it in the computer room and got I down beside Oja, facing Rocio and hissed at him again.  He ran away and hasn't been a pest to Oja since.  I don't think this means that the problem is solved, but it is working.