Boxing Day

Yay!  It's Boxing Day!

What's Boxing Day?  Why it's the day after Christmas in the UK and since my fiance is from the UK, we celebrate it no matter where we are in the world.

So Happy Boxing Day! 

I've not got much else to report so I'll just leave it at that!

The Cats Have it!

It's Monday again!  How do you feel about Monday?  I know most people don't like it.  I used to be that way.  Now I like Monday because it's the start of a new week and anything can happen.

So what now?

Well since I've spent the weekend with the cats, I figured this blog should be about them and for them.  Zoe is bugging me as I type this because she wants to go outside.  Odin is outside because I just couldn't handle his caterwauling at the front door anymore.  Grayson, Annabel and Boo are off doing who knows what, probably napping somewhere warm.

Do you want a happy cat? 

I love them.  I really do.  Whenever life hands me troubles or it just seems like nothing is going right, they are there, right by my side to offer me a cuddle or a purr or a loving headbutt.  They don't care that I'm overweight or that I don't wear stylish clothing.  They don't care that I stay up really late sometimes and fall asleep watching the tv.  They don't care that I will spend a whole afternoon reading a book.  They love me no matter what and for that, I love them too.

I love how they can sleep just about anywhere and do most days.  I love how they greet me when I first get up in the morning with their big round cat eyes.  I love how they get excited for wet food and toys sprayed with catnip spray.  I love how I can lie down and one of them always comes over to lie down and cuddle with me. They are the best companions ever! So what are some of my favorite products for cats?

Well catnip spray for one.  If you have a cat, this is my number one favorite product.  See, you can buy dried catnip and they love that too, but it makes a huge mess and if you are like me and accidentally leave the bag of catnip out on the counter, one of them always gets into it and makes a huge mess all over the house.

Catnip spray eliminates this problem as it is catnip essence in a bottle. You can seriously spray it on anything! (believe me when I say you can spray it anywhere).  I spray their toys with it and watch them go nuts.  When I first built their cat tree, I sprayed the tree with the catnip spray so they would be more inclined to like and use the tree.  I've sprayed it on the rug once or twice because I wanted to see what they would do.  (all they did was roll around like crazy which was entertaining). Catnip spray is the BEST.

Click photo to purchase catnip spray

Another good product for cats especially if you live in a multi-cat household is Feliway.  It's a bit expensive, but worth it especially if your cats don't always get along. Feliway is a plug-in diffuser that puts out pheromones to calm the cats.  I know it sounds hokey, but it works.  I bought a couple of them a few years ago when I adopted Boo and within a few days, everything was calm in the house again for the most part.  Boo still hates Odin, but she gets along with everyone else. I love this product because you don't have to spray the pheromones, just plug the little doo-dad in and let it do it's magic!  It's awesome!

Click photo to purchase Feliway

Another miracle product that every household with a cat should have is Nature's Miracle Orange Oxy for cat.  I love this product because it works.  Hands down of all of the urine and odor eliminators I have tried over the years, this one is the BEST of them all.  See, sometimes my lovely felines, they pee on something.  It doesn't happen often, but it does happen on occasion.  Nature's Miracle is the answer to those moments.  It smells like fresh oranges and it really does work.  You just spray it on whatever has been peed on and let it sit for a while.  Then you wash the item and voila!  The urine and smell is gone!

Click photo to purchase Nature's Miracle

So there you have it. Three must haves for any home with felines :)

The cats have it! 

Happy Monday!

Calm Before The Storm

Sunday, Fun-Day!!

So I got up early this morning and the cats were waiting for me in the kitchen.  Sunday's are wetfood day for them and like clockwork, they were waiting.  It's hard to believe that people think cats are stupid. They know the sound of a cat food can being placed on the counter and the swoosh of the lid when I tear it off.  They know the clink and clatter when I get out the little glass dishes I serve their food in and put them on the counter.  Cats are not stupid in the least.  They just choose to pay attention to things when it suits them.  They are very discerning little creatures.

Five Very Happy Felines

Do you own a Cat or Dog?

Anyway, so I gave them their wet food treat and then I started puttering about the house.  I'm doing some laundry and I cleaned up the bedroom a bit.  Eventually I'll make my way to the couch and finish knitting G's scarf cause I'm on the homestretch with it and cannot wait for it to be finished.  He is gonna love it. 

Now I was looking at my schedule for my part time job and shaking my head because I'm on the schedule for nearly 30 hours this week.  It's the holidays and retail so it's not that surprising.  I'm just so used to setting my own schedule that when I actually HAVE a schedule like this, I shake my head. This is the calm before the storm.

Don't get me wrong.  I appreciate the money and the job.  I really do enjoy working in retail, but the rush of holiday shoppers and the craziness that ensues is NOT my idea of fun.  The one thing that made me quit retail years ago was holiday shopping and the rude assed people shoving and pushing and destroying my shop all for a 5 dollar teeshirt.

Stop Yur Shoving!  IT's just a FIVE DOLLAR TEESHIRT!!

See, I used to be in retail management years ago and I remember that for several years, I would get maybe 2 days off between the first of November and the end of the year.  Guess what days I got off?  If you guessed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, then you guessed correct. Two days off!  I remember missing holiday parties and family gatherings because I was always working.  In fact, most days were 10 hours or longer because our part-time help was always calling out sick and as a manager, we had to have coverage.

Anyway...I have the rest of the day off today before the week starts. I am definitely thankful for that.

And I beg and plead with you my readers to stay home on Black Friday.  Stay home!!  Shop in your PJ's on the internet!!  There are heaps more deals online and they don't run out of stuff like they always do in the store!!

Here are some good deals and ideas for at home holiday shopping!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Baby, it's COOOOLDD outside!!

No really, it's really cold out there. I don't know what's up with our weather, but it's only November and it's so cold that I don't want to leave the house.  I wanna stay inside where it's nice and warm.

Best part is I don't have to go out today because I work from home.  Bwhahaha.....I love that.

Today I've been spending some time figuring out a few things about the language of HTML.   What I've learned so far is I know jack about HTML except for how to identify it and how to shake my fist at it. I'm very good at shaking my fist at it.  (the cats stare and think I've lost my mind when I do this!)

The famous Odin stare (he does this daily)

See, I want to update and reformat my blog and website and make them really snazzy, but I need to learn a little more about HTML so they'll look good and not shi**y.  I should probably sign up for a class or something.  Maybe I'll go look into that later.  It's not like I don't have a million other things to do already like pet the cats, finish this blog, eat something, continue knitting G.'s Christmas present and what not..

I am totally having an ADD day, but I'm home, I'm warm, I'm working and I'm happy.  

Oh look...one of the cats just walked by! 

What Makes Em Tick

The cats are at it again.  I don't know what makes em tick, but whatever it is, it sure keeps me entertained.

Yesterday Odin was in a mood and spent the day camped out on the bed in a bad mood.  Zoe was wandering about the house, mewing at me, Grant, the other cats and just about everything.  Boo camped on on the back of the couch with Grayson.  Annabel just hung out on the cat tree.

Working from home, I get to spend my days with them.  I love that.  No longer do I have to wake up in the morning, drive into Boston in the crappy traffic, park the car, and then deal with the wonderful asshats I used to work with. It's lovely.  My co-workers are all furry four-legged creatures with pointy ears and long tails.  They keep to themselves and most days they sleep.  Sometimes they come down and ask for a bit of affection when I'm trying to write ad copy or a blog which is the worst thing they do all day.

I wouldn't trade these days for anything. :)

Odin resting

Yes, I am a crazy cat lady....

And I am proud!

People always ask me why I have so many cats and to be honest, I am not sure why I have so many. I do love em though.

I started out normal with just two cats.  I had two cats for years and was very happy.  While married, we adopted another cat so we had three. One of them died and for years I was back to having only 2 cats.  When living with a boyfriend, we adopted a cat together and when we broke up, again I ended up keeping that cat because she hated him. (she was a smart cat!)

Fast forward to today....I have five.  I seem to accumulate them in pairs now.  First there were the boys who are brothers and I just couldn't adopt one and not the other. After the death of my elderly cat, the local cat rescue brought me two to foster and well, let's just say I am not a good foster mother.  I'm a great fur-ever mother!

A year after I adopted the two girls, there was a little black cat that needed a home. I couldn't say no!  Voila, there are the five cats!

All five of the clan eating

I'm a crazy cat lady and I'm proud!

So having all these cats, sometimes we have litter box issues.  Sometimes one of them misses or gets mad.  Anyway..I found this to be helpful