It's a bird! It's a plane!

Greetings, all! I'm told that unexpected hiatuses are "the thing" in the blogging world so I won't apologize for ours. In any event, I'm sure you all know how these things are. One just gets so busy stalking other members of the household, practicing nocturnal sprints down the hallway, mauling the ankles of unsuspecting passersby.... You add blogging to the mix and what do you have? A very full schedule, that's what!

While I'm quite sure that you'd all love to hear about my escapades in and around the old homestead, I'm told by my co-authors that these posts are supposed to be about the going on's of the rest of the household. Quite a silly notion, if you ask me. If they want blog posts about their activities, they should write a blog of their own! It's only sensible. However, as I am the most junior member of the writing staff I must accept that some of my assignments will be assigned rather than chosen. Ah well, such is life.

Today, I've been asked to write about Jason's recent adventures in an aeroplane. One thing I quickly learned about Jason is that he is enraptured by aeroplanes. Our home is filled with books about the art of aviation and models of historic aircraft (which are, apparently, not for kittens to play with). Last fall, Jennifer spotted an advertisement for flight lessons at a local airport. Knowing Jason's love of all things aeronautical, she arranged for him to have an introductory lesson. You can imagine his delight! When the big day came, he was giddy with excitement.

After an introduction to the aircraft, and under the watchful eyes of the instructor, Jason took control of the aircraft and quickly proved himself a natural.

As the airport was located near the Pacific Ocean, they were able to enjoy lovely views of the mountains and the shoreline.

They even flew by Disneyland. Many of you undoubtedly remember Edmund's earlier entry about the family's trip to the happiest place on Earth.

Soon, they came to Catalina Island and Jason took them for an aerial spin around the rocky isle.

Quite lovely, isn't it? Aside from all the water, that is. 








I am told that he is now pestering Jennifer for even more flight lessons. Perhaps next time I will be able to act as his copilot!

What ho!

Greetings, all! Marlowe here! Quite a nice place this is, isn’t? All fancy-like and everything. I believe this is the part where I introduce myself. Right, then. Here goes!

I had a bit of a rough and tumble childhood. You see, I spent my early life on the streets learning to fend for myself. I had been making my way just fine, when one day I got myself into a bit of trouble. I didn’t like the way this one bush was looking at me so I decided to teach it some manners. I gave it a pretty good thrashing but as I was just a mite of a thing, I’m afraid it eventually got the better of me. It had me pinned to the ground and I was hollering for assistance when some bloke appears and extricates me from my predicament. I was quite grateful to him and told him so. I must’ve made quite an impression because next thing I know, I’m on my way to a new home. Quite an unexpected turn of events, I’ll say! I’ll admit I was a bit trepidatous at first, which is only to be expected when one goes from tangling with shrubbery one moment to being whisked away in a fancy automobile the next. But I’ve always been the adventurous sort, so I decided to see how things fell out.

The trip was a rather long one so I had a chance to get to know my rescuer. He told me his name was Jason and he struck me as a rather decent fellow, although a bit bear-like in appearance. Once we arrived at our destination, I met his wife, Jennifer, (who is not at all bear-like, by the by) and I learned that she had a lovely room all fixed up for me. I had a bite to eat and then she insisted on giving me a bath. I’ll admit that the bush had left me looking a bit bedraggled, but a bath?! Honestly! As if I wouldn’t have gotten myself sorted out eventually! She was insistent, however, and as I didn’t want to offend my hosts I complied. Grudgingly.

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, I began to explore my surroundings. I quickly discovered that despite the bath incident, Jennifer has her good points. In addition to providing me with food and water, she also makes sure I have a supply of toys on hand and warm place to sleep for my afternoon naps. After I had a chance to orient myself, I met the other members of the household: Dante and Edmund. Dante’s a bit stand-offish but I’m beginning to bring him around. Edmund, however, is always up for a tussle or game of chase. They all did their best to help me settle in and it wasn’t long before I felt right at home. All in all, my change in situation has most certainly been for the better. I’ve been hearing all about the family’s adventures and can’t wait to join them on the next one!

But in the meantime, I think I'll enjoy my nap.

We moved again! Again!

A long time ago, we started this blog about moving to California. That was pretty cool. We even went to Vegas! No Vegas on this trip but at least we didn't have to spend a week in the car again so I guess that's okay

Even though we stayed in Riverside for four whole years, we normally move a lot. Like all the time. And always for school. My person is so weird. Why would you move to go to school?!? And now she has TGWWGA moving us for school, too! Last year, TGWWGA got into law school. Which was kind of cool. I guess. I really only noticed because he was gone a lot more. Which was awesome! Less time ignoring him and more time getting my belly rubbed by my person!

I was a happy kitty! Apparently, TGWWGA wasn't. *rolls eyes* He had to drive a really long way to get to school. I didn't mind, but I guess he did. He finally convinced my person that we needed to move closer to his school. My person didn't want to move because then she would have to drive a long way to get to her school. Just not going to school didn't occur to them. Sigh. Anyway, they compromised. My person still has to drive a long way but not as far as TGWWGA did. She's not home as much to scratch my ears, but this new place is pretty cool.

Oh, right. I'm supposed to tell you about the move. Well, there were a lot of boxes. So many boxes....

And of course they're full of books. *rolls eyes*

TGWWGA's parents came to help us put everything in boxes. They were okay. I mean, they're related to TGWWGA. That's a negative right there. But they were good at putting things in boxes and scratching my ears, so I guess it could've been worse.

They day we moved was SO hot. Like crazy hot. I would've helped even though it was hot but my person sent me and Edmund to spend the day with some friends. I stayed with them last Christmas and they're awesome! They have a lot of books so they're nerds like my person, but they're still really cool. They had a Christmas tree and they played with me and they let me sleep on things and gave me lots of treats! I was super excited to see them again even if there wasn't a Christmas tree this time. Edmund was scared (of course) and hid.

I tried to tell him it was okay, but then I realized that I didn't have to share my treats with him if he was hiding under the table. :D

When my person finally came and got us, we were all excited about our visit with her friends. We told her all about it while she was driving. Edmund sat on her lap so I had to stand on her arms to tell her all the things we did while she was moving all those boxes of books. She was thrilled. Or something. It was probably thrilled. *nod nod*

Anyway, our new place is pretty cool. It doesn't have a patio but it does have hard floors. I love running up and down them in the middle of the night! Sometimes my person gets out of bed to chase me! :D

We live closer to L.A. now so hopefully we'll have even more adventures!

In Memoriam

Although this blog has gone on unexpected hiatuses in the past, this one was not due to busy schedules. As we related in the last post, Spanky had been experiencing health problems. He seemed to be improving, but he took a sudden turn for the worse at the end of May. He passed away peacefully on June 1, curled up with Jason on the grass. He had lived with Jason for 17 years and the rest of the family for most of a decade. We all miss him terribly. After a lot of thought, Dante and Edmund have decided to continue with the blog. Spanky always loved writing for it and they want to continue it in his honor. If you have any memories of Spanky you’d like to share, please leave a comment. He was a great cat and I know he’ll be missed. 

Dante

I’m never very good at this stuff… but Spanky always liked writing so I’ll try to do this right for him. I was just a kitten when I met Spanky. He was older and more serious, and sometimes I didn’t like it when he lectured me. He could be grumpy at times, especially when I tackled him or didn’t listen, but he always took care of me. He taught me how to clean my fur and how to get better at stalking. I’m all grown up now but I still liked to get his advice on stuff ‘cause he knew all sorts of things. I really miss talking to him. He’d want me to be all responsible now ‘cause he’s not here to take care of Edmund and TGWWGA. I won’t ever be as good at it as he was, but I know he’d want me to try my best. He was the best mentor a cat could have.

Edmund

Spanky always protected me from scary stuff. He’d let me sleep with him so I wouldn’t have nightmares and he’d yell at the vet and keep the Monster distracted and chase away anything bad. He’d even take on the vacuum cleaner! Now that’s brave! I’m trying to be brave just like he was. The Monster really misses Spanky so I’ve been cuddling with him to make him feel better. Even though he’s the Monster, he loved Spanky too so he must be okay. I still get sad sometimes when I see Spanky’s bed is empty but Mommy says to think about all the good times we had with him and then I feel better. He was the best biggest brother ever!

Disneyland!

First, you should know that Mommy's friends from Michigan came to visit us in April. They were very nice. Well, Mommy's one friend was nice but the other friend was a monster. Why are there so many monsters?!?! It was very scary and I spent lots of time hiding under the bed. But, they went on lots and lots and LOTS of adventures while they were here. It's going to take us awhile to tell you about all of them. Mommy said I could go first and I picked Disneyland! The happiest place on earth!

Sometimes Mommy gets a little carried away when she has the camera and will take pictures of silly things. She thinks the polite trash can is really funny. I don't know why, but humans can be weird sometimes. Even my Mommy.

But they did a lot more than take pictures of trash cans. That would be too silly even for humans. They went on a ride that had a dinosaur. See!

No, not the train! The dinosaur. It's down on the right. It looks angry and everything! Spanky says it's not a real dinosaur and even it was it's just a dinosaur skeleton but I don't know... Look at those teeth! They're bigger than me!

They also went on a ride where you had to shoot aliens with a laser gun. Aliens!!! O.o So scary! Why are there scary aliens at someplace that's supposed to be happy? Maybe the happy part is getting to shoot the aliens? I guess that makes sense. I still think it would be happier without aliens in the first place... At the end of the ride, you got a score based on how many aliens you lasered and the Monster got WAY more points than my Mommy did.

Mommy's Score

The Monster's Score....

Even aliens are afraid of Monsters....

Then, they went on a submarine ride. I don't know why anybody would want to get inside something that goes under the water. What if it started leaking? Then you'd be all wet! I fell in the bathtub once when Mommy was taking a shower and it was not fun at all!

That's way more water than a bathtub. Don't let those birds fool you. Birds have wings so they don't fall in the water when they slip. Also, only one of those birds is real.

One last picture before I go:

Giant mice! I am not afraid of mice but mice are afraid of me. Even giant mice would be afraid of me if I pounced on them! *nod nod nod* Once I knocked them down, I could sit on them. I didn't get to try my giant mouse tackling skills this time but next time they go I'm making Mommy take me.

As long as the Monster doesn't go too.

And there's no water rides.
Or dinosaur rides.
Or anything scary.

I just want to chase the mice. :D

Happy Birthday, Spanky!

Spanky had a birthday! He's 17! That's like super-old for a cat, but I guess Spanky is special. He was already special 'cause he has extra toes and he lets me sleep on him, but now he's even specialer. :D I know he looks grumpy in the picture, but he had a very nice birthday. We all sang to him and he got a cupcake. Well, he didn't get to eat the cupcake because cupcakes aren't for cats, but he did get some tuna fish. I wonder why nobody gave him a tuna fish cupcake? That way he could have his cupcake and eat it, too!

Ever since his birthday, Spanky has been going to the vet a lot. I'm not sure what for, but he's always very grumpy when he gets back. Spanky and Mommy had lots of arguments about going to the vet (Mommy won those) and when it was okay to bite people (Spanky won those). Spanky says that if she stopped taking him to the vet, he'd stop biting people. Seems like a good idea to me, but Mommy was worried about him and so she made him go. But now he's doing much better. Yay! He even gets special cat food that Mommy made just for him. It smells really yummy and sometimes she lets me have some once Spanky's finished. I'd tell her I want my very own homemade cat food, but then she might take me to the vet with Spanky. I don't like the vet. It's scary! O.o

Dante and me had to help Mommy and the Monster take care of Spanky so we didn't get to blog very much in April. We wanted to, but we were just too busy. We went on lots of adventures before Spanky got sick and now that he's feeling better we get to write about them. It's very exciting!

[Editor's Note: Spanky is doing quite well for a cat his age, but he's developed a few conditions that needed regular treatment at the vet's office. He's improved considerably and the vet expects him to keep trying to bite her for quite awhile yet.]

Housekeeping

Edmund and Dante (Spanky didn't want to have his picture taken)

Now that they're posting more regularly, the cats thought it would be a good idea to update a few things. They've now all got brief biographies in their profiles and they've been streamlining posts' tags. For those that are new to the blog, you can read Spanky, Dante, and Edmund's profiles and/or read their introductory posts. They also tell me they miss reading people's comments. Apparently, it doesn't count if I just tell them what people said when they ran into me.

They're thrilled that you all love reading their blog and they have some really great posts planned for the next few months. Thank you for reading To Say Nothing of the Cat!