Post-break

Easter break was 2 weeks long.  Now it's over so I'm back.  I had to get used to having Bishop home all the time.  We both got tired of him being home.  Last week, he asked me when school was starting.  He was so happy to go back today.  Now I've got a month and a half before he's off for the summer.  It's gonna be interesting.  Then I'll have a first grader!  Then after that, he'll be going off to college!

My brain is like an avalanche, I can't help it.  As I was exiting my 20s, I kept thinking "OMG I'm gonna be 30, I'm basically gonna die tomorrow!"  Sometimes I can't help but live in the future.  But now that I'm in my 30s, I'm starting to forget how old I am.  Maybe that's my brains form of self defensive.  "You're getting older.  How old?  I don't know at least 30.  That's not so bad is it?".  Then I wander off and do something childish like coloring or something crazy like having a conversation with the cat.  She's wise.  She's been through some stuff.  Also she's biting me a lot less.  I think she likes me.  Or maybe she's just filling me with a false sense of security so she can strike harder.  Cats are evil like that.  But also they're angels.  Just not when they're being evil. 

Also today is my BFFFFFF's birthday!  Happy Birthday Brandi!  You're the greatest and the cutest.  

Marshall Trap

I'm pretty sure I've blogged before about the infamous "Angela Trap".  It's basically any cat I come across outside that lets me pet it.  John noted very early in our relationship that if someone wanted to trap me, all it would take is a friendly cat and I'd be gone.  So every cat I randomly come across is an "Angela Trap".  Today I realized they are also "Marshall Traps".  He has inherited my absolute need to pet any cat that holds still for 2 seconds.  We've been coming across an adorable orange cat recently that lives somewhere in our complex and it is very difficult to get Marshall to focus and continue walking when we come across him.  And to make matters worse, I've officially retired the monkey leash so I often have to grab his hand to drag him away from the trap.  And he's chased the cat into a few bushes.  Probably under some cars.  It's like he has magnets in his hands.  It's adorable.  And frustrating cause we got places to be. 

It's interesting to see the behaviors I'm passing on.  Most of mine are going to Marshall.  He loves stuffies.  And Moana.  And cats and cuddling and making faces at when people tell him he's cute.  He even loves pink.  He's a mini-me. 

This is the only picture I've managed to get of the trap.  The other times I was too busy petting him.

My Daily Writing Partner

 

I know I usually leave pictures until the end but I thought it would be easier to show you than explain it.  Seriously, he's like one step away from laying on my keyboard... because HE'S A CAT!  I just had to tell him to get off the table.  If he was just a little less scared of me, I'm sure he would be laying on my keyboard.  He already can't stop playing with my mouse cord.  

I asked him what I should write about so he would at least be helping me.  He said something about crackers and then just kept saying Mommy.  Now he's playing with crayons so that should buy me like 5 minutes.  The most distracting thing about Marshall is that he's always trying to hand me things.  I don't know why he thinks I want all of his toys.  I guess I should be happy about his aggressive sharing.  He will make an excellent host someday.  Every time we leave, he brings me my shoes like a little gentleman.  But he also plays with them when we're just hanging out.  Why do toddlers love shoes so much?  I feel like this is universal.  I mean, I have 2 kids and they both played with shoes at this age so that means every kid must do it right?  Isn't that how it works?  

Well, my kitty needs lunch now. 

My Son is a Cat

The evidence has been mounting for years that my 2.5 year old, Marshall, is a cat in a human body.  It actually began almost 6 years ago when I first got pregnant with Bishop.  I had a dream that I gave birth to a half-kitten half-baby.  I told Kris about my weird dream and she told me she also had a dream that my baby was half kitten but the opposite half as my dream.  Then Bishop was born, very much human, and I kind of forgot about it for a while.  Then Marshall came around.  He came into this world feet first which stressed EVERYBODY out but, you know, a cat always lands on its feet.  And Marshall definitely landed on his feet.  He has always been the absolute cuddliest baby, like a kitten.  When he whines, it sounds like meowing.  And I'm not talking about all the times he actually pretends to be a cat.  Needless to say, he is very good at that. 

He has climbed into my clean basket of warm laundry a number of times.  He likes to stand in the doorway while he decides whether to go in or out so I can't close the door until he decides.  He is very stubborn.  He likes to hide under pillows.  He enjoys climbing.  The older he gets, the more cat-like he becomes.  He just tried to knock his bowl on the ground while I was typing this.  When I scold him, he looks adorable instead of ashamed because he knows exactly how cute he is. 

Yeah, I may be looking for clues that prove my point, but not always.  A lot of times these behaviors come out of nowhere.  He's mysterious like that. 

He's even cuddly in his sleep

Day 37: PicSay

So I've had this app on my phone pretty much since I got it called PicSay.  It's a photo editing/enhancing/sillifying program.  Sillifying is when you make something silly just in case that wasn't clear.  Anyway, I've only just started using this program recently.  For example this morning when I wanted John to get out of bed and join me in the living room I sent him this picture...

It's so much easier to manipulate someone's emotions with kittens.  Then later when John went to take the trash out and talk to the manager and I somehow completely forgot that he had left the apartment and was wondering what the heck he was doing, I sent him this...

For the record, this is a realistic picture because she likes to sleep underneath his desk when he's in it.  Since he was not there, she had no reason to be under the desk and was starting to feel lonely. 

I'm going to send him this one later because he's off working on a project...

I may never send a regular text message again

Day 29: Apartment

It's almost as if she prefers to be uncomfortable.  The only reason the cat carrier is even out is so I could threaten to put her in it when she's misbehaving.  Apparently that's not really a punishment.  Maybe I should move the sign over and change it to "Olive's Apartment".  She's not ready to be a homeowner yet. 

Cat

One day, I came home from going out with my friends to find a crazy, small animal scurrying around our house.  She would run from one end of the house to the other over and over again.  If you tried to walk anywhere, she'd appear out of nowhere, leap a foot into the air (but was careful NOT to touch you), and then scurry away as though nothing happened.  My parents told me they had picked her because when they walked by the display, she was hurling herself at the window, sticking with her pads, and slowly sliding down the glass; wash, rinse, repeat.  I dubbed her "Cat", even though my Mom wanted to name her "Isis".  My name stuck.

Cat does not like me, even though I don't know why.  She used to wrapper herself around my arm and let me carry her places.  Now, if I so much as touch her head, she has to bathe herself.  If I touch her again, she'll bathe herself again and again and again.  I think she thinks I'm dirty and somehow my hands are soiling her fur.  If I'm trying to sleep on the couch, she'll climb up the back and hang on the material, swing her body around, and swat my head until I wake up.  Then she simply drops to the ground and runs away.  I am desperately trying to record this to prove the validity of my claim.  Cat is also camera shy.

Cat grew up with our dog Molli and she thinks she's part dog.  If we play fetch with Molli, Cat will bring her toy for us to throw, chase it, and retrieve it like a dog.  As she's grown, she's gotten better at figuring out ways of catching it so she doesn't have to chase it.  She'll leap into the air and snatch it with her paws to avoid having to go all the way to the other side of the house and back.  She also thinks she's a vulture because most of the time she sits in her cat tree over my head, looming down, reminiscent of Snoopy from the Charlie Brown series.

All this is lead up to a strange happening today.  I came downstairs and no one else was in the house, but the answering machine was beeping.  I went over to see if it was a message left for me when I felt something thump against my leg and begin to curl around it.  Surprisingly it was Cat.  She must have been feeling lonely because she then lay down and let me pet her for a full five minutes.  Of course as soon as she heard my parents coming back, she ran off.  She can't be seen with me, I make her dirty by association.  But perhaps, just perhaps, she's starting to warm up to me.

I'm not cool like Angela, I have no pictures of Cat to show.  You'll just have to imagine a black and white Cat!

Day 25: Cats don't sleep where you tell them to

Breaking news: Olive has not destroyed her house yet.  It is still 100% intact.  That's probably the most exciting thing to happen all day.  Something I made was not destroyed.  That's not even something happening either.  That's something not happening.  It's okay though because I cleaned the apartment yesterday so I wasn't really neglecting anything.

After that picture of Olive sleeping in the house, I don't think she's gone back in there.  She's sleeping underneath Johns computer desk right now while he plays video games.  That seems to be her favorite spot.  Seems like a fluffy blanket would be more comfortable but whatever.  It's not like I spent a whole 45 minutes putting a house together just for her to sleep in.  Cats are so ungrateful. 

Day 24: Boxes

When John and I woke up this morning there was a large box sitting outside our sliding glass door.  It was the electric grill we ordered on Amazon.  Apparently it was so fragile that it was shipped in 3 boxes which Olive was ALL OVER!

OMG NEW TOYS!

Unfortunately, today was clean the living room day so there was no way I was gonna let those boxes sit in the living just for Olives amusement.  So I made this!

I made Olive her very own bed.  Of course she kept bothering me while I was trying to make it because I took all of her other toys out of the living room so her list of things to play with was down to me or the box.  I don't think she counts her real cat toys as viable options because they're not new and/or fight back.  When I was done she gave it a thorough inspection.

And then promptly decided to play elsewhere.  A little while later, she started falling asleep on the floor.  I tried to shove her in the house because it has a super comfy sleeping blanket in it but she decided she wanted to play some more.

UPDATE: Success!

and I didn't even shove her in!

Day 21: The Evolution of Kitten

This is our adorable kitten back when she was known as 'shoulder cat'.  For some reason, she felt the need to be intimately involved in every task we were doing so she would perch on the shoulder for a realistic perspective on what was going on.  Above you can see her watching John do computer things (probably video games).  And here she is helping me watch TV. 

Unfortunately kittens grow up.  She's too big to balance on our shoulders anymore so she is now....

Desk cat!  Not wishing to give up her intimate involvement in our most mundane activities, she merely sits between John and the computer instead of on the shoulder.  Why she did not choose the lap is beyond me.  Seems like it would be a lot more comfortable down there.  I guess she doesn't feel as intrusive sitting on laps than right in front of the keyboard.  That's just how she rolls.... in our face all the time.  And people say cats are independent. 

It's Sunday

Me: *rubs arms cause I'm cold*

John: Hey, you were the one who wanted EVERY SINGLE WINDOW IN THE APARTMENT open. 

I do!  And you know what?  I don't regret it!  I'll suffer through being a little bit chilly just to feel like I'm outside while I'm stuck at my desk in front of my computer. It is AWESOME today.  Also its fun to watch Olive get freaked out by outdoor sounds.... and wind.  I don't think she understands what wind is. 

In case you're wondering why today doesn't have a number, it's because it's Sunday which is my day off from blogging.  Which means this blog isn't really here.  It's all in the your imagination.