The Three Days of Lexi

So, as I mentioned in a very quick blog post on Sunday, my parents and niece were in town for Cheyenne Frontier Days. First, I’ll share with you what happens when you ask Kitten Thunder to make up their bed for Grandpa:

“Trust us, the nest is way more comfortable than having the sheets flat like you insist on.”

I did eventually make the bed myself. Oliver was less than pleased.

It was super hot while everyone was here but that didn’t stop us from doing lots of things. We walked. We visited the botanic gardens. We petting zooed. We rodeoed. We went to a park. We saw a parade. We went on a horse-drawn carriage. We ate a whole bunch of processed sugar. We drank water like it was going out of style because sweat was pouring down our backs like a waterfall.

And Lexi played with the cats.

Aside from believing that Obi is a girl and that his name is Odie, Lexi got along well with the brown kitten. They played with a bunch of toys. He supervised her closely. It gave him something to focus on other than the horrible sounds of Cheyenne Frontier Days – fireworks, canons, concerts, etc.

And Oliver finally got his pets. It turns out that Lexi thought he was complaining when he meowed at her and that’s why she would suddenly leave. The other cats in her life meow when they have had enough. So the answer was simply to explain that he is making conversation with her. And to assure her that Oliver doesn’t bite.

That, and I gave him a pill for his allergies – a little bit of the talking was to tell her his eyes were itchy and his nose was stuffed up.

The family left this afternoon and recovery has begun. It started with a nap under the ceiling fan. Then, to counteract the processed sugar, we had chard and beets for dinner and I met my friend Sarah for a fruit smoothie. Tonight, those of us that remain will move back into the guest room in the basement. I predict sound sleeping by all.

Tomorrow we will suffer a minor setback when I finish off the doughnuts. But we’ll have a salad for lunch.

And, while we do very much love when the family comes to visit us, tomorrow we will enjoy a simpler pleasure. We will sit, the two cats and I, at the desk. Inside. Cooled by a fan. And we will not walk. Or rodeo. Or drink water like it is going out of style.

But there will be ear kisses for all.

***

I made the mistake of telling Obi we needed to blog tonight. He beat me to the office. And the chair.

“My chair.”

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The Lexi Treatment

My parents, and my niece Lexi, are here for Cheyenne Frontier Days. Kitten Thunder is relieved to find out that company is the reason for the recent cleaning. They like company.

Lexi is interesting.

Obi thinks her toys are cool. She has a little plastic hermit crab that walks around on the floor. And her bag is full of neat stuff. Plus it smells like Cousin Puck.

Oliver agrees about the bag, but Lexi confuses him. She runs up to him and puts her hand on his head. He thinks she’s going to pet him and turns his face in anticipation.  But then she runs away. He watches her run away. He in disappointed and confounded.

They’ve only been here for a couple hours. More to come on Tuesday…

Sunday Snapshots: CFD Edition

Cheyenne Frontier Days is over. This makes me both happy and sad. Same goes, I imagine, for pretty much every resident of Cheyenne. Except for those that just hate it and leave town for ten days.

If you were to ask Oliver what his favorite part of CFD was, he would say Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Boy has to work at the free pancake breakfast downtown so he was getting up at 4:30 a.m. Oliver is more than happy to eat breakfast that early. Obi wasn’t sure at first but he ate anyway in defense of his portions.

If you ask Oli was his least favorite part was, he would probably say it was getting in trouble on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for trying to get me out of bed for breakfast at 4:30 a.m.

Obi’s favorite part of the week was the excellent programming on OutTV. Much like sweeps week, we had a wide variety of guest stars including drunk cussing guy, the WOO girls, horses, and the new bird feeder he got for his birthday.

Obi’s least favorite part was how much we were gone. His belly was seriously under rubbed. Between the personal errands and visitor schmoozing I had to do for work I don’t think I made it home for many lunches. Honestly, I don’t remember; it is a long week.

***

I was out in the garage today going through some boxes and I found this picture. This is Poco and I on her first night at our house.

Kids and kittens are so cute at that age...

Nothing to say about it really, just got a kick out of it.

OutTV: Frontier Nights

Kitten Thunder is enjoying special OutTV programming this week: Cheyenne Frontier Days. It’s ten days of rodeo, concerts, parades and other events. At the old house we were only part of the Air Force Thunderbirds, flattening my cats to the ground every time a plane zoomed overhead.

The new house, though, is only blocks from the park. So OutTV has featured cars in search of free parking, the drunken Kid Rock concert goer who couldn’t find his car afterward at though his friend on the phone should be more help, and lots of sirens going by for various reasons.

It is only day three so I offer you the most interesting fact of OutTV so far: Charlie Daniels Band? WAY louder than Jason Aldean AND Kid Rock. Go figure. Seriously, I can understand the words. So… FREE CONCERT!