Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Meet Lio

Happy Father's day to all the wonderful fathers (and my hubby) in my life! Father's day was almost a week ago, but my story today starts a while back...

Lexy has been working on the parents to get a pet. Finally the youngest in the family broke Mom down... and they ended up with an adorable tailless kitten... Lilly. Apparently, the gender of this little cat was misinterpreted the first time... I was informed last Sunday that she is, in fact, a he. Thus his name is now Lio. I'm sure you might know where this story might be going, but bare with me...

Father's Day was a busy one for us. We went to church and came home to make Grandpa Grass some Root beer float cupcakes and then booked it up to American Fork to visit with the Grandparents and cross paths with Bryce's family on their way to St. George. To my surprise (and Dad's frustration) the cat showed up at the Grandparents' house. He was going on the family vacation to St. George where he wasn't allowed in the hotel. Naturally I volunteered to cat-sit for the duration of their little trip. And Dad gladly accepted. (So happy Father's day to you Dad-o!)

The past four days have been quite the experience. I thought I was completely capable but when your first day with a kitten is a battle of wits and wills in order to get the poor thing hydrated and un-constipated... I seriously wondered if my offer was a great idea... nothing I tried worked, all it got me was an even unhappier kitten and a few more scars to prove it... Exasperated, after a few hours of struggling and meowing I called Bryce at work. He still had an hour or so... but I needed someone to help me, and I wasn't going to call mom... she'd laugh at me... ;) As I was on the phone with Bryce, who was telling me how his day at work was going, the cat tried to swallow something he wasn't supposed to... thus the conversation ended with... "HEY! Stop that, you can't eat that!" MEOW!!!! "I gotta go, come home as quickly as you can..."

Haha, now that I am retelling the story its fairly funny... Needless to say, Bryce thought it was funny, and in a quick stop to my parent's house to grab the cat's medicine, he told my mom anyway... who laughed as well... *sigh* oh well, its a good story...

We were supposed to get him wet... have you ever tried to give a bath to a cat? yeah... not the best idea... But my version seemed to do the trick. I put a little luke-warm water into the bathtub(enough to cover the bottom of the tub) shut the bathroom door and plopped the poor plugged kitty into the water. It was literally only deep enough to get his paws wet... but... lets just say I scared the crap out of him...

Jessica: 1 Lio: 1/2 (for the night before... and the pretty red pattern on my arm)

after our major bathroom battle, the rest of the time was almost pleasant. :) there were a few close calls with the litter box, and I still had to give him medicine, but I quickly figured out what meow was friendly and what the "urgent" meow sounded like... I also learned to mix water into his food as he doesn't drink anything... This kept him hydrated and the problem we started with didn't reoccur.

He got used to my voice too. If I was in a different room from him, Lio would meow and I would answer with his name. He would then come in the room enough to see me and get me to see him and then he would resume whatever he was attacking.

It really was amazing to see the development of this little kitty today. When he first got here he curiously, and timidly explored the nooks and crannies of the house. He wanted to get onto our couch and so he jumped. When he didn't succeed the first time, he used his claws and became a little couch climber. Once he mastered the couch he had to master the Lazy Boy. The first time he climbed to the head of the chair, he got scared and wouldn't get down, just meowed for me to save him. I did the first time, but the second time I made him figure it out... and over the course of the next two days he became fearless. Before he came to visit he didn't really jump... but now he flings himself across the room when leaping off the furniture...


Haha. With no tail, his pounce is a little different.... just before he pounces his little behind wiggles back and forth before he jumps. Sometimes he'll knock himself off balance and he needs to reposition... It is pretty funny... I also found that Lio is an avid blogger! :) If the computer was open, Lio was right there, trying to check my spelling... or just want my keyboard for the next nap... weird... His other favorite nap spot? under my feet inside the blanket that can be made into a little nest.



All in all, its been a fun week, and I want to thank the family (and my hubby) for letting me playing with and watching the kitten. It was a great experience for me... I like to think I passed with success...

Monday, June 21, 2010

A little black Kitty


About 17 years ago the planets aligned in my favor. I was finally going to get my own kitten. While visiting my grandma down at the ranch I was told that if I could catch one, I could take my own kitten home. As a 4 year old I was determined to find the one... I spend the whole weekend hunting kittens in order to catch the little feisty black one...

The rest is pretty much history. I caught him the last morning that weekend and I got to take him home. I dubbed him "Midnight", then "Winkie" (after the black cat starring in the Escape to Witch Mountain, my favorite movie at the time). The only thing that he actually answered to was Kitty. So we gave up naming him and just called him "Kitty."

He was quite the controversy in the neighborhood, at least among the kids... I remember a particular incident of telling one of the annoying neighborhood boys (who told me letting him cross my path was bad luck) that in was only bad luck if you didn't own him... and he would avoid that cat for weeks afterward...

The cat was often found sleeping on the dryer on the clean clothes, in the middle of the floor in the sun, or (his favorite spot) mom's lap. Whether she was on her computer, working on church things, standing up every 3 minutes... he would try to take his nap on mom's lap (or computer as it were...)

Family prayer included the entire family at times... :)

We went through 11 or 12 lives with this cat. I will always remember the trip to the vet after his face got infected. Dad and I had to fill out the paperwork... we didn't know how old he was... or what his official name was... so "Kitty" became his official name a few years ago...

He's been a part of the family for almost as long as my brother... and sometimes we believe he's more endeared to mother than my brother too... ;) (just kidding! Love you Ben!) He'll always be known for that pink tongue that he couldn't seem to keep in his mouth... and his half effort to get the string if it was sitting on his nose... He liked to sit at the glass door and stare at himself, recently he just liked to sit on the flip flop mat...

Last Saturday our lovable Kitty did not come home... and we have yet to see him. Knowing how many extra lives God (and the Vet) have given him, it is time to say goodbye. Officially. So goodbye old friend. We'll miss your craziness around the house and that pink tongue of yours. Here's to all the good memories, the funny moments, and the drool spots... Rest in peace my old friend.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Deals to meals

I have stumbled across this amazingly wonderful place where money can be saved on good food... :) Deals to Meals is a site that scans the deals to be found in the grocery stores and lets you know without you having to spend the time... it also shares a meal menu using your deals to save you money while you feed your family with taste and style. :) They have an awesome blog too so check it out through their button on my side bar. Or click here. Just thought I should share! :)