hello

been a long time.

just thought I'd say hi and see if anyone remembered me. I was thinking
about you guys.

Kitties are fine, Tish and I are great.
We have another in our herd - did I post that ever? Well, when Tish
moved here, she brought Allie with her. Allie was an old grey, 20+ years
old with no teeth and a bad attitude. She showed up on Tish's doorstep
in the show 2 weeks before Tish moved here from Alaska. She wouldn't
leave. Tish took her in, got her treated for her Thyroid issues, and
kept her comfortable. TED told her that she only had a few months left,
so just make her happy. So we did. She died March 15.

In April, we were in the Natural Pet Foods place getting some stuff and
there were cages in the back with kitties in there. There were two
brothers in em, and they were so tightly bonded. There was a flame point
Siamese, and a tabby n white marked one with the same Siamese shape,
just not the coloration. A few days later we went back for food and the
flame point was gone. The other one was soooo depressed. We adopted him
on the spot. How could we leave him there alone? And besides, Toby had
been having some weird adjustment issues. Allie's presence had upset the
pecking order, as Sam seems to think he's a girl, so can't handle
another girl in the house... Otherwise the boys don't really seem to
have a hierarchy. Until someone tries to mess with Calvin. Then he
asserts his dominance and reminds them he COULD be top cat if he wanted
to, and order is restored.

So the baby came home. He was promptly named Sheldon. It was discovered
that his birthday is Halloween. And it is so appropriate, because as
much as Calvin was a hooligan, this cat is evil. Well, not so much evil
as... plotting to take over the world. If he had opposable thumbs he'd
be ruling a small country and attacking neighboring ones for plunder.
Whereas if Calvin had opposable thumbs he'd be down at the corner store
drinking a 40, smoking cigarettes, stealing cars and trying to teach the
other cats how to join him.

But at the heart of the evil one is a Mommy's boy. He'll curl up in my
arms in a little ball if nobody's looking. And with Tish... well. He may
be a Mommy's boy a little bit if nobody is looking, but he's really
Daddy-Mommy's boy. As soon as he hears her car, he runs to the window
and starts looking for her. When her face is in view, he whimpers. He
whimpers like a baby puppy until she has smoked her cigarette and is out
of sight and around the corner, then her RUNS to the cat tree by the
front door and gets up on it to greet her at the door. When she opens
the door.... he rolls his eyes and looks bored as if he couldn't care
less that she's home.

heh. But I know better, because I heard him whine for her! And he
follows her all around!

Calvin helps her work out. He sits on her back during push ups, bites at
her hair during sit ups, headbutts her on the way down during the push
ups once he's been kicked off her back (20 extra pounds is a lot when
she only weighs 90!) and generally makes a nuisance of himself. When she
lifts free weights, he kisses the weights. I'm convinced he's trying to
find a way to lift them himself. But even as he's still a hooligan, he's
also turned into a big lump of snuggles. he loves being a pillow for a
person. He sleeps on me at night. And in the evening he has to be on the
couch behind our heads, purring.

Toby was sick last week, but is better now. He's turned into a
cuddlebug. He tells me when it's time to go to bed at night. At around 8
he comes in and stands on his hind legs, pats me with his paw and says
"aaaah, aaah!" in his little squeaky voice.

And Sam is still the sweet boy on one hand, and a brat on the other.
He's so spoiled that if he's not getting enough attention he will get
onto the kitchen counter and YELL for us to come in and see that he's
being bad. He has to have his cuddle time in the morning and evening or
we will be punished. And yet he always comes when called, he sits, lies
down, stands, gets up or down from things, or pretty much whatever else
I ask him to do on command. He's the "mommy" of all the other cats, and
held Toby around the neck and glared at me when I was about to take him
to TED last week. He gave me the "you are NOT taking my baby!" look. I
had to tell him exactly what was happening and why in order to get him
to let go. Toby was too sick to care.

I have pictures and will post them a little later.

Much love to all!

Aim