Dave and Suz in Wonderland

A few nights ago, Dave pointed out that since we got our 2 newest family members, Dory (16 wks.) and Gracie (19 mos.), things here at home have become a LOT weirder!

History for those who don't know... In the last year we lost our oldest 2 cats. These losses were traumatic and horrible, not just for us but also for our youngest cat. Merlin is 16 and after Em, who was his best buddy and official head eater (yes, she tried to eat his head on an almost daily basis), and then Alex died, he seemed lost. There was 9 months between the two deaths and he tried to play with Alex the way he had with Em, but Alex had no interest in trying to eat his head, or ears, or even play with him in any way. So when Alex died, he had no-one but Dave and I to really be with or play with, we never seemed to be what he wanted. Mind you, Merlin LOVES his Daddy and even holds his hand when he sits with Dave (which is truly one of the cutest things ever!). But, especially when his Dad wasn't home, he started to wander around the apartment, crying and calling out trying to find his sisters who just vanished as far as he knew. So Dave and I talked about getting at least one cat who was above a year old and maybe also a kitten since our MN Animal Shelter has a program where if you adopt a kitten, you can also adopt an older cat (over 1 year) with no fee! And so Dory and Gracie came to live in our home.

The first impression shared by Merlin when he saw Dory (who was TINY at only 9 wks.) was "KILL IT!" But with Gracie he was more on the lines of "Hmmm.... well, as long as it doesn't touch me or my Dad, then things might be alright." He certainly stopped wandering and crying and started to attach himself to either Dave, when he was home or if not, to me. Dory and Gracie were met with deep growls and sometimes even a hiss.... which is SO not Merlin! He has never hissed at anyone except the vet (and only in the past 3 years)! We knew that he would feel like his space was being invaded and were very good about making sure he knew he was loved above all and all the other things that you do when you bring in new cats to an older cats home.

In the 7 weeks since we brought the new additions home, things have definitely changed..... in weird and strange ways. Dory, as a kitten of course enjoys the kitten habits of feet chasing and chewing, falling off of things she tries to climb, killing fuzzy balls and catnip mice as well as running and jumping sideways whenever she can't quite figure out how she should react to something new. Gracie, as the older and more intelligent cat, takes most of what Dory dishes out.... including her attempts at head eating (ANOTHER HEAD EATER?!?!) with ease and yes... grace (hence the name change she received when arriving at our home, because Tiger, the name she had at the time of adoption, was the name of a fantastic cat who had belonged to both Dave's grandmother and mom). Gracie loves to wake us up to kneading in the wee hours of the night and or morning, which is sweet..... but when she gets to the face and neck, gets a bit scary since she has all her claws (EEK!!)

The WONDERLAND reference comes from what tends to happen between the hours of oh, let's approximate and say 7pm and midnight. Merlin does his usual, sit on his Dad's lap and gaze at him lovingly while holding his hand and being petted or sit 3 feet away from Dave or I and wait until we realize that he wants food (even though he has food in his bowl already.... but it must be stale or unsatisfactory in some way. He is a finicky man. But, he grew up with Alex and Em, so what else would one expect?!) On the other hand (of someone in a locked psychiatric ward it would seem) are the things that Gracie and Dory do. Dory has developed a habit of jumping on Gracie's back and either trying to eat her head or more often than not, going for what she believes is the jugular and thus the kill(!!!) Gracie has since learned that if she just puts her head down, Dory will fall off.... Dory hasn't figured out why she keeps ending up on the floor. There is also the thrill of the running from between the dining room and the living room and up Dave's chair (either with or without him in it, and let me assure you that being a launch pad is definately interesting) to see who can jump and claw their way to the top of the tree first... the loser being the one who then starts the process over again by smacking the winner until she jumps down and runs back to the dining room. Now, all of this is fairly normal cat play.... until you get to the daily cleaning of the litter. Dory is very "paws on" when it comes to the litter box. She likes to help scoop and OH BOY if there's new litter?!??!?!?! Well, let's just say that you don't have to try and pour the litter on her.... she gets right under that 'litterfall' of Swheat Scoop. And then she plays in the new litter box... EACH ONE... for at least 10-15 minutes. WHY? Maybe she needs to make sure that the litter is well spread out? Each granule touched by her little black paw? Or just to be the dustiest black kitten in the world? Thank the person who invented the kitten wipes..... otherwise Dory would have a bath every day. And BOY WOULDN'T THAT BE A TREAT?!?!?!

Needless to say there is so much more strange behavior that these newcomers have added to our home, including cuddles and cuteness and love that can't be measured. But the changes that have turned our home into WONDERLAND are some of the best. Truly (that's for you Dave!)

Thoughts..... on random musings

Point #1.... since the news has been filled with this Mosque in the "Ground Zero" area, i'm going to weigh in with my opinion.... even though SOMEONE told me that since I didn't lose someone in the disaster my opinion doesn't really matter. To which I say POPPYCOCK! I watched that day and mourned for those people just like most Americans did. So, here goes. Personally, I don't really understand what all the hub-bub is about. Would there be a problem if it was a Zen Buddist center? I think no.... and to limit one groups ability to worship in an area limits us all. Just because certain people (cough FOXNEWS cough) seem to believe that the Mosque proposal with its attached learning center is the code for terrorist hideout and future terror planning initiative (although, when doesn't FOXNEWS think anything Islamic isn't code for a terrorist hideout and future terror planning initiative.... really? think about it..... it should be their new tagline), I tend to take the more optimistic and rational view that it is simply what it says it is. And why shouldn't there be a Mosque there? Muslims died in the attacks... There is a Mosque in the Pentagon and no problems there. It seems that people are blinded by their ignorance and fear and that is something that we should try and fight against.... by LEARNING about what we fear. But again, that's just me. Oh, and a brief sidenote... are there plans for shopping and commerce at the "Ground Zero" site? If so, why is the Gap, Abercrombie, Cinnabon, etc. OK on such "hallowed ground" but worship in the area, because the Mosque is planned NEAR not ON the site, not? Worship the almighty dollar and our power to buy more crap but no.... no Muslims!!! What a load of crap! Sorry... but to quote Seth and Amy on SNL "REALLY???"

Point #1 answer in Suzannahstan: Put the Mosque where it's planned to go and let people actually LEARN a bit about Islam and in a broader way tolerance.

Point #2: Have you watched the "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson"? It's witty, informative, and could easily kick Jay Leno's malicious butt! I have been a fan of Craig for many years, ever since I saw a little mock-u-mentary called "The Big Tease" and laughed so hard that I was in pain. That's a good laugh, despite the pain!! He is truly a comedic genius and I must say that I love him. And just so you know, going into it.... if you have never watched the "Late Late Show..." know that puppets may come up every once in awhile. Wavy, you and Sid are AWESOME!! Aside from his late night genius, Craig is an amazing writer, producer and director. Not to mention his voice work... Can you say "ANGRY BEAVERS"? When his autobiography "American On Purpose.." came out you had to search high and low for his fiction work "Between the Bridge and the River", and by that I mean, it was sold out, everywhere. And his autobiography is truly one of those works of art that can make you both laugh and cry (for me Ch. 1 LAUGH! Ch. 2 CRY! and of course I kept going!) So go out and buy "American on Purpose" and learn a lot about a man who REALLY wanted to be an American and a little about what Laura Bush likes in underwear fashion.....LMAO!

Point #2 answer in Suzannahstan: Craig Ferguson should be on after the news every night and in my opinion required reading in schools.

Point #3: So after the loss of Alex and Molly during the past 12 months, Merlin, our remaining cat a.k.a. "The Handsome Man", was lonely. How do I know this? Well the crying everyday was a big big clue. Dave and I decided that we needed to get Merlin a friend. So off to the pound we went. Wierdly it was a week to the day after Alex died that we went the first time. We just looked, but it was therapeutic and we did find a beautiful calico long haired cat named Elizabeth who we sort of decided we would adopt when the time was right. I also found Rosie, a beautiful ginger kitten who just wanted to talk and be held. So over the next few weeks I checked on Elizabeth to see if she was still available for adoption. She wasn't adopted for over a month and we decided it was time to add her and maybe a kitten too to our family. Three was wierd, four would be strange, and five is a number that seems to work for our little family. SO... off to the AHS website I went. But Elizabeth was gone. I called the actual site and they said that she was adopted. Sigh, so looking through the pictures of their cats and talking to my fantastic mom, we saw Dory. Dory was (at the time) 9 wks old, jet black with greenish eyes and a look that said "You know you want to love me!!". I was sold. I should state at this time that the AHS here in the cities has a program whereby if you adopt a kitten and a cat over the age of 1 you can have the older cats' fee waived. So, bully for us! Dave's mom came over and Marilyn and I headed off to the AHS! Dave stated that he trusted me and whatever I brought home would be just dandy (this is not an exact quote, but it's what I heard :D). Dory was first on my mind when we walked through the door.... but NO!!! Others were handling my sweet Dory and I feared they might want to take her home too! (Kittens go fast at the AHS) So I used my charm.... or whatever and said "You don't want her.... look how cute her brother Nemo is!!!" The mother of one of the girls laughed and as they put Dory back in her cage led the girls to look at other cats. I picked up Dory, while Nemo howled and tried to escape his confines. Dory looked at me with her little kitten eyes and settled into my arms and I was sold, so much so that I grabbed her card and put a deposit down on her right then and there! She was mine! Now to find the older cat to take the brunt of the psychotic kitten energy that we knew would make Merlin insane and want to kill Dory. While I looked on one side, Marilyn looked on the other and we both found a few candidates..... until a beautiful 18 month old female who's name was Tiger caught Marilyn's eye. She pulled Tiger out and held her. Tiger purred and was very affectionate. Then I came over to hold her and Tiger literally fell into my arms and began to almost SING while she purred and kneaded my arm. Smitten is the word I think we are looking for here. So we took Tiger into the private room and just hung out with her for about 10 minutes. To say that Tiger wasn't interested in Marilyn is to put it lightly. I don't know if she knew who was looking for someone to join the family or not, but she was on me like glue! Which was fine by me. She kneaded and purred/sang for our time at the AHS. Marilyn, in her great wisdom said "Well, I think you've got a second cat!" So I went to pay the piper as it was. We brought them home and tried to keep them apart from Merlin for a time, but it was impossible and by 4 hours in it was all cats/kittens all over the apartment. Dave came home to find Tiger (whose name became Gracie due to 1- her M marking on her forhead (said to be the sign of Mohammed in legend) and 2- her absolute grace under the pressure of Dory on the crazy side and Merlin on the possessive "MY MOM AND DAD" side). and Dory racing about the apartment after each other or whatever moved. Since then, we have become a family, although I worry about brain damage in Dory's case. Reasons follow: falling off the couch onto her head, falling off the bed, falling off the cat tree while trying to get to the tip top and somehow kill Gracie.... do you see the pattern here? She's now almost 15 weeks and still as nutty as a fruitcake. She has her super goofy time, just like Gracie and Merlin (somedays) where it's absolutely essential to run as fast as possible where ever there is open ground and attack anything that moves (feet, Gracie, toys... even stationary ones, Gracie, Merlin, feet, legs, etc.) and throws a fit if Dave is gone and I need to leave the apartment for an appointment or whatever. Truly.... she sits on my foot, attacks my bag, cries, jumps on my clothes and won't let go... it's cute, but I feel like a bad parent. Sigh. Needless to say, it's been a LLOOOONNNGGG time since Dave or I had a kitten and it's like having a toddler. I love it. Although I have to find a way to stop her growing!!! She;s getting so big.... growing into her back legs (which has stopped some of the brain damage causing problems, thank God!) and getting smarter about what NO means, unless it has to do with the keyboard on Dave's computer or my laptop. I can't tell you how many msgs she has sent to friends. Usually in the form of 444444442wer7h;soe@ after which she somehow turns off the laptop entirely.

Point #3 answer in Suzannahstan: Kittens are psychotic but absolutely lovable and 5 is a perfect number for us.

I promise to update on the family soon and Erin, you fantastic woman, thanks for keeping me on my toes here! Otherwise, my allergy meds have kicked in and it's sleepy time!! If Dory will let me. Take care everyone and thanks for reading!!