I Have the Smartest Cat in the World

Well, I think so anyway. *g*

We have two cats, both yellow tabbies. One is the big male (Spike) that Irish rescued as a kitten back in 2003, the other is a smaller girl (Bonnie) that we adopted a couple of years ago - just about this time of year, in fact. (And for those of you who remember me talking about my fluffy yellow Dizzy cat, I don't think I mentioned that he died almost a year ago. He was pretty old - over 14) and he had a tumor at the end, so it wasn't a tragic death. We still miss him, though.) Anyway, yesterday after dinner we stopped at Walgreen's to pick up some pop and while he was in there, Irish bought a little laser pointer toy for the cats. When we got home, I put the batteries in and started playing with the cats. Bonnie went for it immediately, chasing the little light all over, trying to catch it with her paws - it was cute. Spike, on the other hand, sat and watched for several minutes. Then he walked over to me, nosed my hand - and started sniffing the laser toy. He never once chased the light, just watched and went straight for the source. I didn't think there were cats that smart!

You know, I'm thinking the two cats alone are probably enough reason to invest in a digital camera. Hmm.

***

I don't think I ever mentioned that I named Spike. When we got him, he was a little yellow cat with blue eyes and tiny fangs - how could I resist? I knew I'd picked the right name when he peed on a Bible. (Which, fortunately, was closed at the time, so not ruined.) And then when he got older, his eyes turned yellow. He still thinks biting is a form of play (but we don't let him because he's too big and bites too hard, so it's a no-no). Definitely the right name!

Irish named Bonnie and she's a pretty little thing - very appropriate as well.

Thanksgiving Day

I hope all my American friends had a good holiday yesterday and that all my other friends had a good Thursday.

We skipped the big family thing this year. It's a bit of a compromise - I have a fairly big extended family and sometimes Irish just finds the whole crowd a bit overwhelming; sometimes we both go to family things, sometimes I go alone, and other times we skip them altogether. We'll go to the big gathering on Christmas Eve but opted to celebrate Thanksgiving more quietly. We went to a local restaurant that was having a buffet. Very good food though not, of course, as good as what we would've had had we gone to the family thing. I did have a couple of small pieces of turkey - it was Thanksgiving, after all! - but concentrated on the ham and pot roast. Mmmmm. We'd talked about going to a movie, but came home and Irish got involved in his computer game and I fell asleep, then watched the second to last episode of Sapphire and Steel. Later I stayed up till 7:00 this morning playing my own computer game, listening to music, cleaning out my e-mail boxes, reading live journal. Lots of fun! Of course I slept most of the day away and don't want to do that again anytime soon, but I enjoyed it. (I'm very much a night owl.)

So today's a lazy day - more lj reading, more computer game, probably a Bollywood movie later on - definitely avoiding the stores and mall. Black Friday is a home day for me - just about the only places I'll venture out are the movies or a drive-through, and this year we're not even doing that.

***

What are you thankful for? I'm thankful for Irish's disability coming through and that I have a decent job (it's not my ideal job but it's not bad, the people are ok, and there are no rumors of layoffs - all positive, especially in this economic environment); I have only 202 days left till I finish my degree; I have great family (even if we did avoid them yesterday!) and great friends, both in person and here on line. No one's died so far this year and I hope it remains that way. Everyone's in relatively good health. Our car runs well and we don't have to make payments on it. We have more than enough food and clothing and a nice little apartment with lots of books and (now) toys and our two yellow cats. And I could go on and on and on - I wonder how many of us really sit and think about everything we have to be thankful for? I suspect that most of us have way more than we realize - I'm sure I probably whine more than is warranted at times. (/sermon mode *g*)

Off to pay more Richochet now....