The Cozy Dilemma

I was evidently cold when I was writing my Christmas wish list this year because I got a whole bunch of fleece. Pajamas and sheets and a robe and slippers. It is awesome.

The first time Oliver walked over the really soft robe, he came to a full stop and looked down at his feet in amazement. He is no longer interested in snuggling on the old fuzzy blanket. Only on the robe.

Last night was or first night with the fleece sheets on the bed. We figured this morning would be a glorious morning of sleeping in for the grey kitten and me. But things didn’t work out that way.

At 5:30 this morning, I got up to feed the kittehs and went back to bed. Oliver found me there and was purring before he even got situated under the covers.

Fleece. Sheets. Are. Awesome.

But I have this cough right now and it is worst in the morning. Getting up started the coughing and I couldn’t get it to settle down. To let The Boy sleep, I got up.

Oliver was horrified.

Fleece sheets? He looked at me sadly.

“You can stay here and be cozy,” I whispered to him. The grey kitten turned in three circles and plunked down with his head on my pillow. I tucked the sheet under his chin.

I’d have chosen the quiet, soft sheets over a coughing Girl, too.

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Kittens in the Kitchen

The Boy and I have a pretty good arrangement for presents: I tell him exactly what I want and where to get it, and he goes and buys it. Since we both work downtown and I shop downtown, that’s where his purchases usually happen. On Friday, we met for beer and dinner – but he needed to put “something” in my trunk in the parking garage.

After dinner, we went home and Kitten Thunder opened my birthday present for me.

A bag AND a box? Boy, you shouldn’t have.

The Girl’s birthday is happy for everyone.

 

Box-a-Palooza!

The Boy is very picky about his work shoes – they have to look nice with slacks but stand up to walking through construction sites. He found a pair that he liked last week, but not in the color he needed, so he had to have them shipped to him.

They came in a box. That was in a box.

And the kittens rejoiced.

Then, today, I came home and finally noticed Obi sitting on a NEW box.

I made him get off the box so I could cut it open. I took two steps away to put the scissors on the coffee table. When I turned back around, Oliver was already looking at me – disappointed – because there was stuff in the box.

So I emptied it for him.

Oliver told Obi, “it fits just right.”

Poor Obi, he got my attention…his brother got the box.

But! Inside the box, was a box.

I emptied it quickly and urged Obi to claim it.

Poor Obi…his brother wanted that box, too.

Wait…maybe NOT “poor Obi.”

Seems like he got what he wanted all along.

So what was in the box inside the box? It is the new blending system that my parents gave me for my upcoming birthday (Saturday). Oliver closely inspected all the contents. Then he must have seen the directions.

He washed thoroughly before using.

And Obi got the second box as well.

The Highs and Lows

I left Cheyenne for the girls shopping trip last Thursday. That evening, we went to my grandparents’ house and the trip could have ended right then. Because I got the perfect gift.

My aunt brought Oliver milk rings, all the way from California.

I couldn’t wait to get home to give them to him. But thank goodness I did because I got Kitten Thunder another great gift the next day. Our very first purchase in Salt Lake was at a Skechers store. I looked at my sister’s bag and declared that our mission was accomplished and that we could all go home.

She disagreed.

So I tried again at our next purchase, at Loft. Here it is, the perfect gift.

Obi got a real charge out of being in the bag.

Oli felt powerful…and pirate-y.

Unfortunately, a bag won’t do a kitten any good if The Girl insists on doing something stupid like working a 15 hour day. Especially if she spends most of that time away from the house.

And then insists on working in the office instead of on the couch.

Obi supervised from the condo.

Oliver contemplated his hard, hard life from the bed.

So hard.

 

B is for Boy. And Birthday.

The Boy’s birthday was on Saturday and came none too soon. For one thing, I found out during our trip to California that he hates the toaster oven I got him last year for his birthday. So I needed his birthday to hurry and get here so I’d remember to get him a different toaster oven for his birthday this year.

Romance, we has it.

I found the perfect toaster oven and hatched a plan to have it waiting for him to make something toasty on Saturday morning. This meant opening the box, unwrapping everything and setting it up…then putting it back inside the box until Friday night when The Boy went to bed.

Let me help you guess where I’m going with this: I opened a box. I closed the box. I covered the box, in my office for ease of access, with Obi’s blanket.

Obi was going absolutely nuts over this. He spent all day Friday digging at the box. On the box on top of the blanket. By the box. On the box. Under the blanket on the box – and that time I swear he actually got IN the box.

Then, Friday night, I changed my mind about how to give it to him. So I didn’t put it out.

Saturday morning I decided that would have been a fine idea. Luckily, The Boy doesn’t toast things for breakfast so much as he toasts things for lunch, so I set up the toaster oven before he came back from the Saturday train meeting. I couldn’t find any bows so I put a classy yellow post-it on the front that said “a toast for your birthday.”

Then I gave Obi the box.

Oliver came to check it out for a while as well.

 

Then The Boy came home and made Obi into a box monster.

Box monsters do not like the flash. They attack the box in retribution.

 

The Boy likes his new toaster oven – complete with a higher ceiling and a timer. Also, it matches the microwave in both style and size so it has moved out to the breakfast nook. This frees up valuable counter space and we’re both excited about that.

Happy Boy’s birthday to the whole Thunder household, I guess.

 

 

Happy Birthday, Kitten Thunder

Happy birthday to you,
You’re eight; and you’re two
Happy birthday, Kitten Thunder
Happy birthday toooooo yooooooou!

That’s right, Oli and Obi have the same birthday. And it’s tomorrow. I didn’t even plan it that way. In fact, I didn’t notice until I took Obi in for his one-year appointment back in April. But how convenient is that?

I’m not really the type to get all celebratory about my pets’ birthdays. Heck, we barely get celebratory when The Boy or I has a birthday. So Kitten Thunder might get a can of tuna in the middle of the day. That’s about it.

And, since I was in the store and have been planning to get one anyway…

"We'll call this new program on OutTV...Thunder Cafe."

The new bird feeder is a big hit. We’ve had sparrows and wrens galore at an already wonderful window. Two windows, actually, because you can see the feeder from the breakfast nook and the dining room. It also hangs low enough that doves can sit on the fence and eat from it.

It might be low enough for squirrels to sit on the fence and eat from it. Which may be why there is a LOT of birdseed on the ground.

"Thunder Cafe is a big success! In one day, the customers have almost cleaned out the inventory!"

Hopefully the birds take better care of their things than the squirrels do.

"The easiest route is a straight line - right through the lid of the box."

There is a new squirrel in the neighborhood and boy is he ever stupid. He chewed this giant hole in the box in one day. While sitting on it. The bright side is that when the peanut level is low he has to climb all the way into the box. So we get little squirrel legs kicking in the air as he goes in. Very cute. And we get squirrel face peeking out once he gets a nut. Very very cute.

But I still hope we don’t have any stupid sparrows.