And Then It Snowed.

We were expecting a huge amount of snow overnight. We only got four inches, not anything to talk about in Wyoming in April. When we were still anticipating, my boss (me) decided we would wear jeans today even if we still had meetings to go to today.

This morning, The Boy not only had to go to work but had to go early. No snow day for us. Oliver, though, decided we should have a delayed start.

And then it snowed.

As I was finishing up my coffee, I received a call about getting counters installed. I threw on some clothes and went out to shovel our walks for the counter guy. Jeff, from Jeff Channel fame, was also shoveling. The Boy and I are going to Croatia this spring and Lori isn’t available for kitteh sitting the whole time (has to go to Yellowstone for “work”). I asked Jeff if he would be willing to make a celebrity appearance.

He agreed.

And then it snowed.

The counter guy arrived and had to shovel again before bringing stuff in.

There is more to do tomorrow and Thursday, but then we’ll have a kitchen again! I have never realized how much I love my kitchen sink. It is wrong to use water from the bathroom to cook.

The kittens helped by inspecting the sink.

And then it snowed.

While the counters were being installed, I worked on jewelry for my friend Angie. She sent me a bunch of rocks to work with. Here’s Obi helping with my photography efforts.

And then I rammed my pliers into my hand and bled. A lot. And then it snowed. A lot.

One of my clients closed early so I didn’t have to go in.

And then it snowed.

My hair stylist called and cancelled our appointment.

And then it snowed.

The City closed its offices and The Boy came home.

And then it snowed.

The striations are kind of cool. By counting the rings we can see that this storm is 12 snow years old.

And still it snows.

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Obi’s Tool Review

The morning started as all Sunday mornings do: with Obi bored and trying to get someone ANYONE to do something with him. Eventually it worked and I got up to rub his belly and find his flat leopard skin mousie.

Then I inspected The Boy’s efforts of moving stuff back into the breakfast nook. The kid did good. Obi appreciates that his table is back for optimal bird watching.

Then I went downstairs to work on some necklaces that I’m hoping to get done and into the local gallery for Valentine’s Day shoppers. Obi came down to supervise. Then he realized that there was something else we needed to do.

With him sitting in my lap, we tried out some of my tools to see how they work as chin scratchers. In case you are considering and investment of metal working tools for feline chin scratching, here are the results:

Saw – Of course The Girl wouldn’t let the brown kitten scratch his chin on the actual saw blade. But the frame has potential. The top part, where the blade is held, was pretty good. And the little twisty knob for tightening the frame was also pretty good.

Needle nosed files – The flat one was good! We filed Obi’s chin for about five minutes of full purr pleasure. He could not convince The Girl to use the round one. Once again, The Girl refused to actually let the brown kitten cut his face open in pursuit of the perfect chin scratch.

Ball peen hammer – Meh.

Rawhide mallet – Fun to chew for the ten seconds The Girl allowed it. Not great for chin scratching.

Pliers – The little ones are good, but The Girl wouldn’t hold onto them tight enough for the brown kitten to get some really good leverage.

Bench block – It turns out the best chin scratcher on the entire workbench is the bench itself. Sitting on The Girl’s lap puts the kitten at the perfect height to scratch his chin on the block.

And then the experiment was over because the rotten Girl wanted to actually do work. That wasn’t exciting so Obi left to seek out The Boy. Later on, when I was laying on the couch, the brown kitten discovered – or rediscovered – the best chin scratching tool of all…Girl fingernails.

The Blind Side

"I'm tired of thinking outside the box. Tell Obi it's my turn to get in."

This evening we were downstairs. I was working on some earrings for a coworker. Kitten Thunder was, well, thundering. They zoomed around the basement at full speed. As they rounded a corner, Oliver ducked under The Boy’s workbench and Obi whizzed by. He didn’t get far before he realized he’d lost his prey.

Obi was trying to coax Oliver back out and into a run, but Oli settled under the chair. Then he raised his head and knocked a towel off the chair and over his face.

“What are you doing?” Obi wanted to know, excited.

“Who turned out the lights?” Oliver wanted to know, confused. It was Obi who saved his brother from a lifetime in the dark. He pulled the towel off his brother. Then bit him.

And they thundered on.

***

As I type, Kitten Thunder is on the bed behind me doing a small-space thunder. Move. Hold. Move. Hold. Obi will get Oli in a headlock, and lick his face. Oliver flips Obi over his head and off the bed. Oli retreats to the condo and Obi attacks imaginary bed monsters. Oliver leaps to the bed and Obi tears out of the room. Obi zooms back in and Oli flies back to the condo. I find this to be very cute. And maybe a little dangerous for me.

***

As I typed that, Oliver and Obi were wrestling, standing on their back legs. Obi went off the bed backward and hit the extra TV we have on the floor as he went down. It got and “OH! Are you okay?” out of me. He’s fine. But both boys have gone to their corners – a.k.a. they’re hiding under the bed because they think they’re in trouble.

Multiple Choice

"I'm still supervising. You're doing fi-zzzzzz."

1. What wore this kitten out?
a) Thundering
b) Napping
c) Beadwork
d) Zumba class

The correct answer is c. I was restringing a necklace for a friend. Obi helped.

2. How long did it take to exhaust Obi?
a) 5 minutes
b) 10 minutes
c) 30 minutes
d) An hour

The correct answer is b. Beading is hard work.

3. Why is beading such hard work for a kitten?
a) Eating string is hard work.
b) Gagging as The Girl pulls the string back up is hard work.
c) Jumping back and forth across The Girl’s lap as she moves the bead tray is hard work.
d) Chasing two strings at once is hard work.

The answer is all of the above. In regard to a and b, Obi says that cat gut is commonly used in the manufacture of jewelry.

4. Where was Oliver during all this?
a) On the back of the couch, supervising.
b) Taking a nap.
c) Also helping.
d) Trying to start a Thunder.

Again, the answer is all of the above. Ten minutes is a long time when you multitask as well as Oli.

5. Where is Kitten Thunder now?
a) Taking a nap before bedtime.
b) In bed.
c) Helping blog.
d) Doing post-Zumba stretches.

The answer is a. They are both napping on the back of the couch. If you answered d, maybe you should start this quiz over.

Cats in carriers, cats in copper

As I mentioned in my last post, Obi has been with us for almost a year. His annual check up was on Friday and went as well as can be expected. He cried a lot on the way there. I can’t decide if it is the carrier, the car or the “going” that he doesn’t like. His crying much less on the way home makes me wonder if it isn’t the “going” part – after all, a majority of his trips in the carrier have had bad endings.

We had the new doctor; she’ll be okay eventually. She was relatively nice to Obi (but no ooohing and aaaaahing…Oliver would NOT find this acceptable) as she poked and prodded him. She brought the scale in with her – which I like because it means no alone time in the exam room – and he hopped right on. He weighs 11.5 pounds. Perfect.

Of course the visit ends with three shots. Obi has never disliked anyone in his life but by the third shot he gave her a look to indicate he was considering an exception. Then she insisted on giving me a talk and a brochure about urinary tract infections and how dangerous they are in male cats. I tried to explain to her that I’ve had cats every day of my life. And I know the signs of an infection. I raised an eyebrow at her and, too, considered making her an exception. But, like I say, she’s new and once she mellows out we’ll probably like her just fine.

Waiting to check out, I saw the monthly magazine from the animal shelter and flipped to the center spread to show the nurses that Obi is a celebrity. This is the third time he has been pictured in an animal shelter publication. The nurses are well trained and ooohed and aaaahed. One even suggested we carry around a stamp pad so he can autograph his pictures. Obi’s only contribution to this silliness was to sulk in his carrier with a pout that said, “celebrities don’t get rabies. I don’t need shots.”

Last month a friend of mine emailed on behalf of the animal shelter to see if I was planning to donate for the Fur Ball, an annual fundraiser. I told her that I had to; the shelter’s publications were vital to building Obi’s modeling portfolio. I finished up the necklace Friday morning to turn in for Saturday’s event. I think it turned out well:

The clasp is the fish, which fits through a slot in the kitty's hand.

Obi, of course, is very helpful when it comes to photographing jewelry. Especially when you’re in a hurry and try to take the picture on his bed.

"This cat is horrible; look how skinny his tail is!"

Back to the great vet visit. As I said, Obi cried a lot less on the way home. I’m really relieved that he isn’t always going to cry like he did last year. I’d only had him for about a week when he went in to get declawed. Oliver had just decided to like him. When we woke up, I put Obi in the carrier so Oli could eat – but Oli stood outside the carrier and wailed. Obi was inside in a panic. In the most horrific twist ever, his panicked wails sound like “Mama mama mama!” So all the way to the vet he cried “Mama! Mama! Mamaaa!”

Ugh.

And Oli was TICKED when I came home without his brother. It was a long 24 hours. This year, Oliver was equally unhappy with me forcing his brother in the carrier and taking him away. Luckily I got to bring him back half an hour later.

As soon as I let Obi out of the carrier, Oliver was all over him trying to sniff and make sure he was okay. Obi wanted nothing of it and tried to walk away. They walked two laps around the house before Oliver just shoved Obi to the ground and sat on him to keep him still. “Fine,” Obi sighed. “You pick on me too.”

Then he got kisses. But I’m pretty sure brother kisses make it all better.

And by Saturday, The Girl got to give him make-it-better kisses as well.