Keeping the memory alive

Hi!

You have read about me before. I'm Gundel.
If you wonder what I'm doing on Ponder's blog, well, that's a sad story.
As you know Ponder wrote his last post in September. Not long after that he had a dental appointment and not long after that he became sick. It had nothing to do with his teeth, but he kept losing weight and not feeling well which broke Mom's heart. Be assured, however, that he stayed Ponder until the very end when Mom had to let him go in February.

It has been five months now, but the hole is as large as it was on the first day, and there are still tears flowing.

So, Ponder's footprints may be too big for me to step into them, but I've got my own footprints, and that's the way it should be.
The memories stay - not just of Ponder of course, but all the other cats that Mom keeps telling me about (shh, I am kind of glad I never had to fight things out with Meffi, she sounds as if she was some tough kitty) - and Mom and I will make new memories together. For that I thought it was just right to stay on Ponder's blog and not start a new one of my own.

So I hope you will keep following our stories.
It may not be as loud here anymore, but we will still be having fun.

Love,
Gundel

P.S. Mom is accusing me of sleeping on the job. Now if that isn't a fine start to this ...

She called me a thief!

Let me make this very clear first. I am not a thief. I was here first. I have been the supervisor in this house for 14 years. Gundel has been here for a little over two years.
I have been very generous from the start. I shared most of my sleeping spots, I shared my food, I shared Mom, and it wasn't always easy. I'm a gentleman.
And now I am being called a thief just for taking back the Stairs to Nowhere. It's unbelievable.

Here's the story ...
Once upon a time there were the Stairs to Nowhere with a little platform at the top. The top is quite close to the ceiling and the platform is just big enough to make a wonderful sleeping spot. There's no pillow there, not even a blanket, but it's still perfect.
All of us have been using that platform over the last seven years which is when the staircase had been cut off. While Mom can come up the stairs, she's way too big to do it comfortably, so she only does to sweep down our hair and remove one or the other hairball.
I hadn't been using it for a while because I had discovered Wardrobe Island.

Okay. When Gundel found the Platform of Undisturbed Sleep, I was fine with that. I didn't think, though, that suddenly I wasn't allowed to use it anymore at all without being slandered. Yes, Mom, I am looking at you! Calling me a thief when this whole thing is actually your fault!

Mom has an a/c unit standing in her bedroom. She doesn't use it most of the time, so then it is in a corner and it's from there I jump up on the wardrobe. Now there were a few really hot days when she did use it for which she has to pull it further into the room, but from where it is too far from the wardrobe. AND even though those really hot days were over, she still left it standing there "just in case". A case of laziness if you ask me.

Last week there were a few more hot days which I like to spend on top of things. If you don't take away my path to the top of things, that is. So yes, I dared to claim my old haunt on the stairs while Gundel was sleeping on Mom's pillow in the bed (who's the thief here?). Then the little lady got up and went straight for the stairs ... and stopped on the first step looking up at me ... and dropped almost right in the spot in one of our favorite sun spots and fell asleep.
Obviously she had no problem with this, I mean look at her, does she look anything but relaxed to you?
Mom, though, haha - you should have heard her nagging at me from her desk underneath!

Of course I played it cool. Call me Mr Cool. Ponder Cool. With the license to sleep on the stairs. Take that, Mom.

SOS! SOS! Mayday! Help! Whatever!

"Is there a way down here, Flossy Blue?"
"Not for me, pal. I have been stuck here forever, just like my brothers. A quick dusting is all I get, but no water for us poor fish."
"Water! I didn't even think about that! In this heat I'll probably die of thirst up here!"

"Ponder."
"And does Mom care? No, of course not. SHE has water and food and everything she wants."
"Ponder."
"A poor little cat like me, though? And it's disgusting she's leaving you guys up here."
"Ponder!"
"What?!"
"Mister, you got up there, you'll get down. You always do."
"You could help me, you know. Just because I once want to take a little nap in peace."
"Once. Right. You know I can't help you down. I'm too short, and even if I got out the big ladder, I wouldn't trust us to be safe on it together."
"I've seen you on a ladder, you may be right about that."
"I've seen what you weigh, so you would probably play your part in us both dying. And being eaten by Gundel."
"How dare you??"
"Stop the whining and jump on the a/c like you always do. Be glad I didn't move and turn it on yet or you wouldn't have had a nap up there in the first place."
"That's easily 20 feet!"

"Oh geez."
"Don't you oh geez me!"
"It's not 20 feet and you know it. I'm leaving now. You never make such a fuss if I'm not in the room."

I swear the lady is gonna get it when she least expects it. Can you believe she actually didn't help me? Made me jump into the abyss instead??
I only wish I could have taken Flossy Blue and his brothers with me ...

Master of the screws

That's my new title. I already have so many, not all of them sounding as grand as this one, though. Supervisor, studio manager, most wonderful cat in the whole wide world, dark master, it would take too long to list them all.
When Mom got a visit from her sister yesterday, however, I could tell immediately that once again I had to take over another task.

They were cleaning out a cupboard that was full of stupid stuff. Paint, screws, instruction manuals, screwdrivers, a strange machine and a lot of little bitty things ... and more screws. And screws. A lot of screws. Mom may have some screws loose, but certainly not that many. To defend her, this had not been her cupboard, she was left with it and just couldn't get herself to clean it out really good. She kept saying she was afraid everything would just fall out, and guess what, that's what happened! Well, not everything, but something did fall.
Now her sister said she'd come to help, so it would go a little quicker.

When they were through, they moved the last two containers of screws to the table with them, picking out the odd nail (I remember when Mom desperately looked for nails once, but couldn't find any among all the screws), this and that, but they were so slow.
It was clear they needed me for supervision or they would never get the job done. Of course I also needed attention very urgently, and I don't let a few metal thingies take attention away from me!

So here we go. I told them what to do and how to do it, and that did the trick. Afterwards I took a well deserved nap on my cat tower.
Those humans are so helpless, what would they do without us??

An unhappy client or I need space

"This is ridiculous."
"Did you say something, Ponder?"
"The walls are not even high enough."
"Ponder?"
"What is she thinking? I need space."
"Ponder, what is the matter? You muttering over there in the bunny ro.... oh, there you are. Haven't seen that in a while."
"This is ridiculous."
"Yes, you said that already. What is?"
"This tiny house fad."
"Tiny house ... Ponder, have you been watching TV without me again?"
"How much do you want for this? Is it for sale or for rent?"
"Is this some kind of role play? You seem to be mistaking me for Jenn. Jenn's the realtor, not me. This is a box, Ponder, the box that had your litter and food in it."
"Some furniture would be nice, but it doesn't even have a roof. At least it's bigger than the last few you showed me."
"I didn't show you any tiny houses or boxes for that matter. I may have been a little slow in cutting up the last ones, and yes, they were smaller, but that is ..."
"How do you heat this thing?"
"Not at all."
"No heating? What kind of agency are you running, lady?"
"Well, there isn't a roof, so heating doesn't make much sense, does it? What I can do for you, however, is put a cardboard bed inside and put a blanket on as a roof, would that help, Mister Stibbons? Pillows are extra, plumbing is outside. There's a restaurant only a few steps from here, by the way."

"Not a good one, I've heard. Lousy selection."
"Unhappy with the food, the accomodation and what else?"
"You have been taking up a lot of space in bed lately. Not acceptable. And last night you have pushed me off my space on the desk ...."
"Oh. So that is what this is about. I knew it would come back to haunt me. Look, I'm sorry. Sometimes I just need a little room."
"Do you now?"
"Yes, I do. Oh, for God's sake, come on. You can spread your bi...beautiful self all over the desk if you want to."
"Have you learned something from this?"
"I did. Always cut up boxes right away."
"What?"
"Just joking, just joking! Let Ponder do everything he wants whenever he wants wherever he wants."
"Good. Don't forget it. You are allowed to pet me now."

Honestly, why is it so hard sometimes to train a human??

The cat that got wet

That's me. The cat that got wet, I mean. Not that I mind water so much, but as a surprise?
Let me tell you the story.
Mom was taking one of her bubble baths. Okay, so her tongue is very inferior when it comes to cleaning herself and let's not even think about her physical flexibility. You won't see her around with one leg in the air grooming it, I can tell you, and a good thing that is, too. So it's showers and bubble baths. She takes a book and then she's gone for the world for a while. I can live with that.

Merlin used to guard her lying next to the tub on a special towel she'd put there for him. Esme loved to check out if Mom had chosen one of the herbal baths that she liked to taste, Esme, not Mom. Very strange if you ask me. Then she would sit there, at the end of the tub, dipping the tip of her tail into the water. She had to wait if Meffi wanted to claim the spot, though (sans dipping). Greebo and Gandalf were satisfied with a quick check and a pet every, now and then. Gundel prefers an empty (not necessarily dry, however) tub to sit in it and, no idea, meditate?

There was a time when I was more interested in the tub than I am now. I used to hunt the odd spider in there and sometimes I'd try to walk around the edge a little or just sit at the end telling Mom stories.
Lately I have shown more interest again, though, especially after Mom told me that it was not a good idea for me to do "the walk". Can you believe she said I was too big and she didn't mean my height by that! She also told me that she loved me, but that I would stop at the tap, anyway, and then get all whiny because it was slippery to climb over it what with the shower hose hanging over there as well and even more difficult to turn around on the narrow edge of the tub against the wall, and me being not as slender as I used to be and she wouldn't try to hold me, and did I remember the time when I jumped on her belly, geez lady, are you done now??
And today she tried to tell me all of that again. Too bad I was already beyond the shampoo corner, and before she even knew, well, let's say I may have lost my balance for a second. And maybe my claws dug into her shoulder a little and only maybe one a little more than the other when I used her shoulder for a springboard as there wasn't anything better at the time.

I have no idea why she yelled like a baby. I was the one who got wet, legs, tail and my underbelly. With soapy foam, too! All because she is a very bad springboard. There's no "spring" in there at all. Instead she's more of a "diveboard" meaning she sank into the water even more, with me on there.
I had to clean myself completely out of schedule, and believe me, while I did, she got quite an earful from me!

You know something, though? Shh, don't tell her.
I regret nothing! :-D

P.S. Except that she didn't take a better picture of me afterwards ....

I want to break free

I'm not going to sugarcoat the fact that I am not as young as I used to be. Jumping for freedom over a big parcel that Mom is trying to sneak through the door is pretty much a thing of the past. It was fun, though. I jumped into the hallway and Mom started yelling my name and chasing after me up or down the stairs.
The last time I surprised her was a few months ago, but I let her pick me up pretty quickly. Ever since there are Kosel and Nemo, the gentleman and the madman poodle, are living upstairs, I have become more careful. They never seem to walk, they storm if they hear someone in the hallway, and you never know when that door will open.

This does not mean, however, that I can't jump anymore or that my spirit is broken. Just yesterday ... wait a moment, Mom is calling. I wonder what she wants now.

"We need to talk."
"Isn't that what I usually tell you?"
"It IS a miracle you are not complaining much at the moment. It should have made me suspicious in the first place."
"Hee-hee."
"Don't you hee-hee at me, young man."
"Almost tricked both of you. The cat ladies. The self-pronounced keepers of all knowledge about cats."
"Wait, wait, wait. I never said I even remotely understand cats. No one does. You probably don't understand yourself! Back to the topic now. Why did you jump into my sister's tote?"
"Because I could."

Whoo, making a big fuss about such a tiny matter! You want to know what happened?
Mom's sister came over. You can always tell winter and Christmas are near when she gets out her snowman tote. She put it down on the table and they started talking. Humans don't notice much when they are talking, so this was my chance and in I went. Unfortunately I was discovered before my escape was completed. I wonder how they noticed! When I ducked down completely, it was already too late.

 So in the end all I could do was get out in dignity, playing the incident down and pretending I had never tried to get away.
My chance will come.

The red carpet

"PONDER!! Are you trying to kill me again??"
"Me kill you? You kicked me halfway through the room!"

Not an unusual conversation between Mom and me these days.
Let me explain. A few months ago Mom decided to put something on the floor in the bunny room (bunnyless now, but the name stuck). Greebo liked to sleep on the little sofa there, but due to his age he is a little wonky on his feet sometimes, and he had a problem with slipping on the laminate floor when he got down. Mom's sister still had a rug in storage, brought it over and voilà, Greebo didn't slip! Of course the reason for that would be that from this day - that's no joke! - he didn't sleep on that couch anymore. He always refused to tell me why, though.
I liked the rug a lot and often sprawled on it, so although it hadn't been planned, it stayed for now.

A while ago then when Greebo had been to the vet and got some pain medication, he didn't react well at all. He kept falling over, slipping on the wooden floors which were slightly better than the laminate, but still too smooth, and I don't even want to talk about the cork imitation in the hallway. He had such a hard time getting up that Mom got very worried. To make it easier for Greebo, she took the rug from the bunny room and moved it into the hallway and because it wasn't big enough, she used her spare bathroom rug which hadn't even been unpacked yet to create even more of a path. Not pretty, but useful, and it really helped him even after the side effects of the meds had fortunately worn off.

I, however, like to think of this as my red carpet. To be honest, I think there should be a red carpet running through the whole place, maybe leading to all of my favorite napping spots.
Black on red does look fabulous, admit it. And this is my corner. I'm quite particular about my corner.
Now Mom keeps telling me that black on red in the dark is more like black on black and that the day will come when she will really kick me into the bedroom like a football and die herself in the act. It's ridiculous. First, she would never be able to kick me that fur. She sucks at sports. Second, she didn't even die when she slipped on one of Merlin's pee puddles in the middle of the night (don't judge him, he was sick and sometimes didn't make it to the box in time) although she fell flat on her back. Point proven.
It's just a trick to take my corner from me.

Then she started telling me that I recruited Gundel as an assassin's assistant (say that three times very fast). I have no idea whatsoever what she is talking about!

Gundel probably feels the same way, black on red is gorgeous. As long as she stays on the other side, we make an excellent pair - because, my corner, you know.

You want to know what Greebo is thinking about all of this? Well, as long as we leave him alone when he goes to his food bowl (the rug leads to the three table mats for our food dishes), he thinks we are all being, I quote "a bunch of kindergarten kids fighting about inane matters".
I know he can be grumpy with us sometimes, only Gundel gives him a quick one on the butt with her paw every, now and then. And of course he has the little bed under the chair that Gundel and I are not allowed to use at all. Shhh, I did the other day, but only for a few minutes before I was practically dragged off like a thief.
It's okay, he's not asking much even if Mom would get him the moon from the sky if he asked.

Now excuse me ... I gather it's time for a little nap. On my red carpet.
Talk to you soon!

One bed for two

"We've got to talk."
"Oh no. What did I do wrong this time, Ponder?"
"Not you."
"Oh goodie."
"It's Greebo."
"You can't be serious. Greebo never does anything to anybody, well, except for pulling down stuff sometimes to get my attention."
"He's a squatter."
"Erm ... Ponder, what on Earth are you talking about?"
"It's the bed. The cat bed under the chair. The best bed there is in the whole world."
"The cardboard bed used to be the best bed. The hallway cabinet bed used to be the best bed. Heck, my bed used to be the best bed! Not even mentioning chairs, the top of the stairs or the armoire, the washing mach...."
"Yes, yes, yes. Now it's the bed under the chair."
"That neither Greebo nor you touched so much as with a toe for months and months. I was about to take it away."
"He keeps stealing it from me."
"As you keep stealing it from him if you get the chance."
"You don't want to understand me!"
"How about a second bed under a different chair?"

Humans. Impossible to live with, but unfortunately they have the opposable thumb.
I guess I'm going to go stalk Greebo for a while and make Mom feel guilty because I have nothing but the hard floor to sleep on.

The cat sat on the mat

"Look, Ponder, what I got for Christmas from my friend."

"What's that?"
"It's a mat, but I can't use it. I would feel weird stepping on it."
"You are weird."
"Look at it. If I look at it just out of the corner of my eye, it looks real."
"It has a head twice as big as mine."
"You know what I mean."
"You never cared about stepping on your other mat, the little Santa kitten."
"Yes, but ..."
"You keep pushing the vacuum cleaner in its face."
"But ... oh, whatever. You know, I think I'm going to put this one in front of the Stairs to Nowhere."
"Now that's a good idea!"

Guess what Mom's friend got me for Christmas ..... yes, it's mine now, can you tell? Thank you, Mom's friend!

P.S. Of course it's for Greebo, too. It's just that he prefers alternating between bed and couch at the moment. Just saying before I'm being labeled as greedy and selfish here (thank you, Mom, for calling me that ... not!).

42?

"What's the matter, Ponder?"
"I'm pondering life."
"You do know that your name isn't program? You were named after ..."
"I know, Ponder Stibbons, a Discworld wizard. Because all I am is a wizard who's a nerd that runs a computer with ants in it and wears glasses."
"Yeah, well. I loved the name. Greebo was already taken and ..."
"For a cat that is as laid back as they come while the real Greebo is the terror of small animals and everyone else beside Nanny Ogg."
"But ..."
"Don't disturb me."
"Any thoughts on life yet?"
"I like the odd sunbeam."
"That's it?"
"You interrupted my pondering."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, right."
"No, really, I ..."
"Go away."

Dismissed by a cat. I hope they'll put that on my headstone one day.

My great-grandmother was a shoe saleswoman

It's true, she was. Mom thinks that's the reason why she always stares at other people's shoes. All I know is that for the descendant of a lady who prided herself on her work Mom doesn't know much about shoes. She's wearing the same kind of sneakers all the time and even said she'd wear them in green with pink dots if she could walk in them. And either one pair has to die before she gets a new one out of storage (no kidding you) or there has to be a special occasion.

So the other day she brought in this new pair and presented them to me. I know everything about everything, so of course she was seeking my advice.
First I had a good look.

 Hm.

 Not sure.

 Better do another check.

Ok, that was not TOO bad, so next I tried one on.

Whoa, it's like a small boat. You really must have some big feet, Mom.

How about you trying them on now? Wow, your foot really does fill this up, eh?















Wait, let me check the quality of the shoelaces before you tie them.

Now with claws.

My face of approval.
In fact I think I should keep these myself ..... especially the left one .....

The Portal or Dream On, Human

There are days when I'm ready to give up on Mom. She's either extremely naive or stupid or she believes in purple unicorn fairies.
This week she came upstairs with a big parcel and unpacked something that looked like ... heck, I don't even know what that looked like.

"Come here, babe." (Lately she fancies calling us babe or baby bear. Don't ask.)
"Did you finally order my computer?"
"I got you something you will like. Well, I hope you'll like it since you like being combed and brushed."
"What ... is .... that?"
"It's a brush arch."
"You gotta be kidding me."
"I know it looks a little small, so let's try it out. You can brush yourself with this when I'm not home."
"I can barf on your pillow when you're not home."
"Is that supposed to be a threat?"
"Is this thing supposed to be a joke?"
"Come on. At least try it out once."
"Stay away from me with this thing!"
"Ok, look now."
"Don't you dare pick me up!!"
"Just walk through it once. Please?"
"Don't you dare putting my head through this thing!!!"
"We can pretend it's The Portal. The Portal through which you visit your furry friends all over the world. Just once. Come on."
"Leave your fingers off me! I said ... don't you ... stay away ... WHAT THE ....!!!!!!!!! Don't ....!!!!!! I officially hate you."
"Just get up and walk through and it will brush you."

"I'm stuck. I'll have to die here because I'm stuck. I can already feel my will to live disappear."
"You are not stuck. I can tell. Don't be such a cry baby. Why don't you give it a chance?"

"LET ME OUT!! I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!"

"You are not going to die, Ponder! Stop being so silly! You can crawl into the smallest holes and be fine and here ..."

"Phew. Made it back out. Everything still there? Foot, are you still there?"
"Your foot wasn't even in there."

"What do you know? You are dead. I don't even want to look at you, you monster. And stop rolling your eyes. I know you are."
"And I know you are sniffing The Portal because I can see it."
"Stop calling it The Portal. You know nothing about The Portal. I would have to kill you if you did."

"Whoa. That was really close. I'm exhausted. I'll need lots of treats to bring me back to my feet again."

"We are not done yet. I still think you will like that once you get used to it."
" ..................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

P.S. She was being serious. Every, now and then she picks me or Greebo up and shoves us through this thing.
"Ponder, I don't shove you ..."
"Go away, human, and live in fear."

The carpet and the mouse

The other day Mom decided that she didn't want to keep the carpet in the bedroom. She didn't hesitate to tell me her reasons. In fact she had been complaining about that for years.
"I vacuum, you sit on it for two seconds, and it's all hairy again." That's coming from the lady with the long hair that keeps strangling the vacuum's brush, by the way.
"It has been a dumb idea from the start to get a light colored carpet with you guys around." Yeah, hey, was that my idea? I didn't buy this thing (although I do admit it is very comfy), call the guy who did and stop nagging at me for it.
And then the big bang: "You keep puking on it!" Well, excuse me. If cats feel a hairball working its way up, if the cat grass wants back out, and if they only once have eaten a little too quickly ... those are the moments when it's time to retreat to a rug of their choice and do what has to be done. It's what cats do, and it's what rugs are for.
"That carpet has to go. I'm going to roll it up to see how heavy it is."
For once Mom did something right. Not only is the carpet still there, rolled up halfway which makes it kind of fun to sit on it as if you are on a little bench (that thing IS heavy), but she also created a bit of entertainment for me.
I have a sisal mouse with a long tail that is a stretchy, and she managed to roll up the mouse with the rug, but leave the tail out.
I hope the rug will stay around like this for a while because this is fun! Thanks, Mom (and stop rolling your eyes at me!!) :-)

Little boxes

Today it was time for a discussion between Mom and me again. Can you believe that she left me sitting next to the sink and made all floors all wet? My feet are very delicate and there's a few things they can't stand. Water on the floor. Kibbles touching my toes. People thinking it's funny to tickle my foot when it's up in the air while I'm grooming myself.
Then there was the box and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
If you can call that a box at all. Just look at me trying to sit in it.

"What the heck is that, Mom?"
"It's a box. You have seen boxes before, haven't you?"
"It's tiny."
"Not everyone has as big a butt as you."

"You take that back!!"
"I didn't put it there for you, anyway. It's just left over from when I scanned photos."
"All boxes are there for me and should be the right size."
"Well, there is a big box in the hallway right now you would fit into twice and you haven't even looked at it. As a matter of fact, none of you has been very interested in boxes at all recently."
"You want to know why? I happened to be informed that other cats - cats that are loved by their people - get much better stuff than we do here."
"What other cats?"
"Mulder."
"You have three cardboard beds and two more that are not even unpacked yet. You have a big bed, two armchairs with fake fur blankets, a couch and a plushy cave. What on Earth could be better than ALL of that?"
"A nest."

That silenced her of course. I mean, just look at that great nest. Space aplenty. Mulder told me that he loves sleeping in it. Mom's sister ordered it just for him. Mom says she ordered something and this was the wrapping, but what does she know?
She'd better up her game if she wants us to stay with her ...

This couch is not big enough for the two of us

"Ponder."
As a cat I am really good at ignoring my name if I choose to.
"Ponder. What's that?"
Ack. Why doesn't she go away? I thought she wanted to take a bubble bath.

"You are a silly boy, you know that?"
"Sheesh, human, what is it?"
Oh. She is looking at the intruder.

"The couch is big enough for him and you."
"He had to leave urgently. Business."
"Business on the floor under the table? You mean he was on the blanket and you still don't like to sleep on the couch itself."
"Absolutely not. I just need lots of space. Now put that camera down ... and ... go ... away."

Finally.

Guess who's not going to sleep well tonight? A hint, it will not be me.

Cats and Christmas as in ME and Christmas

I like Christmas. Seriously, I do. Mom gets us some special treats, her friend always sends us something and since last year we even have a Christmas tree again. I had never seen a Christmas tree before. When Esme and I came into the family it was summer. Until winter it had been decided that around us - which was just the polite way to say "around me" - a tree would be too dangerous.
Mom even admits openly that she thinks pictures of fallen Christmas trees are funny as long as it is not her own.
Well, last year she bought a small artificial tree to give us - as in "me" - a chance to behave. Of course I was good. I only stole two of her handmade weirdly colored pineapple slices - she calls them her stars, but where are the points? - and they were easy to put back. I haven't decided yet what I'll do with the tree this year.

Yes, it's up already, with those nice bouncy wire crochet balls - I have stolen them before, too - and the pineapple slices, and of course Jack on the top.
Today was all about Christmas, even more than the last weeks. If you have wondered why I haven't blogged in more than a month, well, I simply didn't get a chance! Mom is having an advent calendar on her blog, and she has been preparing it forever and still isn't done. She's doing research and page hopping and she listens to Christmas carols and songs and she even took up the challenge of baking without the planet breaking apart!!
Well, and today she turned on Smooth Christmas Radio and finished a blog post, then she got inspired to set up the Christmas tree, she (finally) made the final draft of the Christmas gift list - why aren't we on there? - and ordered things. We all took turns on her lap, so it was a rather pleasant day which was topped by the fact that she gave us treats to eat instead of the regular food.

It had been my turn on her lap when Santa Baby was next on the radio. She got up, held me tight and then she started singing AND dancing with me. Who took my Mom and who is this weird lady?
Okay, it wasn't that bad. She held me really tight and kissed my ear and I was purring all the song through. It's probably one of those brainwash songs.
I was seriously worn out when we were done, though. Christmas is hard work!

P.S. Can you see it? Pineapples, right??

Ponder Palmer

"What are you doing there, Ponder?"
"I'm impersonating Laura Palmer, kind of."
"You are in the plastic I just tore off the new pillow, you mean."

"Wrapped in plastic. Laura Palmer. Twin Peaks."
"I know who Laura Palmer is and you only know it thanks to my Twin Peaks marathons."
"So why are you asking?"
"Shouldn't the question be since when you are a Twin Peaks fan?"
"There will be a sequel."
"I know. I know everything."
"No, you don't. Do I have to remind you of the moments when you don't get what I want from you?"
"I meant Twin Peaks everything, not universe everything."
"First, that's not true. Second, why did you have to ask me what I am doing then? Can't you tell?"

"Get out of that plastic. I don't have time watching you and I don't want to you become a dead Laura Palmer."
"That would be true method acting, though."
"And highly unpleasant for all of us."
"Yeah, well, that's true."
"How about a damn fine cup of coffee?"
"And cherry pie?"

Of course we didn't have coffee (tea is the choice of beverage in this house) or cherry pie, but I had kibbles, and that wasn't bad, either!

P.S. For people who worry about my safety ... there was no danger. Not only were there two big holes in the plastic, but Mom didn't let me out of sight for a second.