Dad is coming HOME TODAY!!!!!!

Dad comes home today!
Hip hip hooray!

Last time he brought me a penguin--I JUST KNOW that this time he's bringing me a pony. My very own pony and I will call him George.

I will ride him around the neighborhood and people will come out of their houses to see me and give me sardine treats. They will cheer and applaud as I pass by--George will do a little dance step as he clippity clops along.

We will be the best of friends.

We'll go camping and tell stories by firelight. in the morning we'll make bacon and blueberry pancakes on the wood fire.

We'll take art classes together and we'll be the best of best of friends.

I really really really hope dad is bringing me a pony.

But even if he doesn't . . . I'm glad he's coming home. I miss him lots.

Rainy cat day

It's a rainy cat day and I'm helping type my blog this morning while Mom gets around for work. Oh WOW a pen! Let's knock that on the floor.

Oh my! Mom has minty fresh breath. Kisses mom! Kisses!

purr purr purr

I love rainy mornings. They're quiet and gentle and you can watch the trees bud out--watch the tulips pop.

Finally.

Jon said that his tulips and blossom trees were popping out a month ago!

Michigan is so far behind. We need to lobby for an initiative that lets spring come a little earlier.

Maybe Chester will start a petition.

Mom! It's time to update my BLOG!

Oh for Pete's Sake--LET ME DO IT!

A peaceful deck shot

mom worked on powerwashing and scrubbing the deck on Friday night, Saturday and part of Sunday.

NOW it's peaceful and clean.

That powerwasher is very noisy.

Buzz Sunbathing on the deck

He borrowed mom's hat because Penguins sunburn easy.

Buzz went for a walk

He was out in the flower beds. Mom spent all weekend cleaning up the dead stuff and the weeds.

I think Buzz is a little unsteady on his feet.

He might have been drinking some Ginger Ale . . . he makes him a little tipsy.

That's Buzz passed out in the flower bed by the jacuzzi.

OOOOOOOOKlahoma

Mom had the radio on Saturday and we were listening to a Canadian show about music. They were dissecting the music and lyrics of Oklahoma.

Since then I've had these songs . . . stuck in my head . . .

I . . .can't . . . get . . . them . . .OUT!

Jim says to try and remember the lyrics to the Ompah Loompah songs in Willy Wonka. That that can drive just about ANYTHING out of your head.

I've never SEEN Willy Wonka. . . . Or an Ompah Loopah . . . so I guess it's just Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain . . . .

Something stinks under the deck

Mom's been working out in the yard. The windows are open and the sun . . . oh it is so warm and shiny and wonderful.

Mom brought a feather up to the back door to show me what she found in the yard. It was a blue jay feather. I liked it a lot.

There's something dead under the deck. I complained to mom that there was this icky smell every now and then and she said, "I know, Dougal, but I'm really not up to crawling under the deck and dealing with a dead oppossum. Go sniff the Eucalyptus branches--but NOT TOO MUCH you know how dippy you get when you sniff too much!"

I will admit I have a sensitive nose. And I will admit that some scents make me a little loopy. Celery. Onion. Garlic. Eucalyptus . . . mint . . . oh wow . . . I LOVE mint.

tonight is steak on the grill (again) and spinach salad. Mom bought 2 steaks and even though I begged her to cook me one last night, she said nope.

~~sigh~~

Tomorrow is another work day for mom and she's got a lot on her to do list. I saw it while she was having coffee this morning. Too much to do. Not enough time for fun.

I think I should go to work and help her with her filing, but she suggested I work on my cat poetry instead.

"Your poetry can be shared with the world. Your filing skills . . . well . . .it would really help if you could READ."

Dad went on a Pizza Safari!

Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored . . . Bored.

Dad's gone again.
Jim's not coming home this weekend, again.
And Mom is too busy to pay much attention to us.

I'm bored.

I asked Mom if we could rent "Cat from Outerspace" and she said that Blockbuster doesn't have it. What good is a rental place if they don't have anything good to rent? Sheesh.

I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo bored.

The days are long and the only entertainment right now is wrestling with my brothers or watching the wind blow oak leaves around the deck.

Oak leaves are funny. They don't fall off the tree until Spring. All winter they hang on and cling and seem to be afraid to get their feet wet--and then the weather starts to warm up and the Oak leaves drop off the trees and they're everywhere!

bored bored bored . . . . .

Chester's been reading us philosophical poetry and it makes my head hurt.

"Why ask why if you know not?"

What is that? That's silliness . . . I blew a raspberry at Chester and he thunked me on the head and gave me an assignment to write a 200 word essay on "The power of thinking."

Oh goodness gracious. THAT is going to take the whole day!

bored bored bored bored bored . . . .

I asked mom if I could drive the car, she said no. There's some sort of "RULES" about having a driver's license first.

I think if we went to some back roads where nobody is around, she could let me drive. I could race over the hills and see if there are any squirrels or turkeys out there to chase.

Mom still said no.

Old Cat

I snuck up and took his picutre while he was sleeping and he NEVER WOKE UP. Never twitched. Nothing. In fact he just continued to snore.

He is such and old cat.

If it weren't for the fact that he's in charge of getting us the tinned mice, Tiger would be useless.

Well that and the fact that he will play run run run with me IF I give him a 10 second head start.

And he does know some great stories. He's good for stories too.

And he gave me his book of cat jokes, which was nice of him. He is generous and shares. That's true.

But he SLEEPS so much!

Sometimes you just want to have somebody to wrestle with, you know?

Whew!

Me and Buzz were playing tag and running around the house yelling and screaming.

It was GREAT fun.

Nobody plays tag as good as a penguin.

~~sigh~~ I love Buzz.

He's a great friend.

. . . so sad . . . . .

Dad packed up THREE (3) bags this time. It was about . . . . 130 pounds of stuff he was taking with him.

He's going away for a long time this time.

I will miss him lots.

He told me that he is taking Midnight with him . . . which hurt . . .but then he said it was because Midnight reminds him of me and that the reason he takes Midnight instead of me is that Midnight . . . is stuffed . . . and not real . . . He can sit in a safe and not be scared or lonely.

~~sigh~~

I asked mom if we could have a movie marathon this weekend of "All Creatures Great and Small" . . . I like those British Chix Cats . . . they are soooooooooooooooooooooo hot.

That will take my mind of Dad being gone.

I think.

I also asked mom if we could paint some pictures for Dad and put them on my blog. She said (reluctantly) "Okay . . . but remember what happened the LAST time you were painting. I was cleaning up kittypaw prints all over the bathroom for WEEKS!"

So I'm energetic when I'm creating . . . so sue me.

Crafty TV

Oh my!

They are making yarn pom pon balls today and . . . . oooooooooooooooooooooh . . . they're stringing them together.

It's about time they had a show that appeals to the cat demographics out there.

And thanks mom--

We love it when you leave the TV on during the day--we learn sooooooooooooooooo much!

It is snowing again today.
Actually it looked like it was slushing.
From the sky.

~~sigh~~

CAT SONG FOR SNOW
Magic melty icy bits
Falling all around us
SPLATT it attacks my face!
Quickly my eyelashes flutter
The slushie stuff melts
I continue blinking away with disbelief
SNOW past Easter
SNOW on the daffodils
SNOW making things cold and miserable
Only Buzz liked it outside today.
But then Buzz
Is a Penguin.

OH OH OH!!! And Jim said

He called me and told me that he picked Cornell!

I am doing a happy cat dance, because I know he is going to let me come too. I can travel with him in the car and watch the portable fish channel alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the way there!!!!!

I love fish.

I love waterfalls.

I am going to love love love going to college in New York!

Jon Jon's first day at work!!!!!!!

OH! and congraulations Jon on your first day with the new job!!!!!!!

I hope they give you sardines for lunch!

You just can't get a nap around this place!

Mom had to work today but Dad had the day off. Does he sit iwth me watching TV? noooooooooooooooooooo.

He goes outside and works in the garage all day. Noisy stuff. Loud buzzing noises. And when he came in he was all covered with saw dust.

Like I want to nap with somebody who's all dusty and dirty?

I'm just a cat, but I KNOW that the best way to nap is in your pajamas (your cat pajamas--get it?!!!!!)

Some people just don't know how to take advantage of a day off!

Easter Bunny DID come!

It's True!

It's True!

The Easter Bunny DID come to Jon's place!!!!

Hippity Hoppity Hippity Hoppity

Easter's on it's way.

I've been trying to email the Easter Bunny to make sure he knows that Jon's moved and Jim won't be home for Easter.

You'd think the Easter Bunny would check his email!

If I don't hear something soon, I'm going to have to start calling on mom's cellphone.

Dumb bunny.

Wait a minute . . .

That's me and Midnight in the photo dad took--sent it email to Jon and WAIT . . .that's Midnight looking at me at Jon's place.

What is happening?

Midnight can magically jump from one time zone to another?

PROOF!

Here is proof that Midnight is WITH ME!

MIDNIGHT is travelling AGAIN!!!!

Dear Mom,

I wish I were there with you. I miss Jon.

Dad and I got tired of watching TV -- it was just a lot of yelling and screaming and scary stuff. So we're getting things ready for dinner tomorrow. Dad's chopping stinky stuff to go in the cracker pot.....I dunno what it is, but it stinks and makes you cry.

You can't be there with Midnight. He's here with me. We're watching the deck to make sure not aliens get in the house. Here's a picture to PROVE it!!!

Dad says I need to wake him up tomorrow when you come home. I guess that means I don't have to sleep in the basement after minced mice -- which is fine by me. There's too much puke on the floor down in the basement, and the spiders make fun of us.....

Love you.

Mom wrote to me from Oregon

Dearest Dougal,

I am with Jon and we have had a nice relaxing day today. I am typing this from Jon's kitchen table, which is a black cardboard table that we've set up next to the kichen window. The window faces west and I can see an asphalt walkway where two big gray fluffy squirrels are chasing each other. Next to the walkway is an ivy covered hill that slopes down towards a road that we can hear, but can't see from the window. We can't see it because there are large pine trees that block most of the view.

Jon has some kind of decidious tree next to his baloncy/deck. It's a large deck, large enough for a bbq, a table and chairs and maybe even some potted plants.

We have worked really hard to get him moved into his apartment. Mom drove a TRUCK to get his stuff up here. And she moved lots and lots of heavy boxes--and has the bruises to show for it.

Because we finished moving stuff in yesterday, we slept in late this morning, had eggo waffles for breakfast (I did, Jon had donuts) and read books and played video games.

Around lunch we went to this market near Jon's aparment. It was really fascinating! All organic foods and health conscious stuff. The wine selection was awesome and the fresh fish was incredible. I want to stay here and shop at his store. It even has a cheese counter where you can taste different cheese before buying them. There had to be several dozen kinds of cheeses!

Jon is unpacking some more boxes now. He found his beanie babies and is decorating the tv stand with a parrot, a bear and a beaver.

We made brownies for a snack and now we're waiting on a LASAGNA!!!!! which is just beginning to smell heavenly. His kitchen has a pantry about the size of our laundry room. It has some great storage here.

I miss you very much. I miss holding you and cuddline you and giving you kisses. i miss your paw on my cheek and your rumbly purrrrrrrrrr when you drift off to sleep.

I hope that you are loving Dad and making sure he isn't lonely or bored.

Jon said he won't be getting a cat right away. He wants to be more settled before he thinks about a cat. That and it's another $200 deposit! for pets!!!! (For that kind of money they should GIVE YOU the pet too . . . .)

There are some older couples (retired) in his apartment building. And there are also some young ladies. We ran into a couple blonde ones yesterday as we were unloading. One of them, seeing me moving the handcart stacked with boxes says, "Moving in?" And I wanted to say, "Yep . . . . here's your sign." (Ask Dad, he knows what I'm talking about).

There are some mighty fine cars in this town--and a couple nice ones in the parking lot. (just a couple)

We even saw a Maserati! This is clearly Porsche city, though. You can hardly go a block without seeing a 911 . . .

I love you lots and miss you lots.
I'll see you tomorrow--late--proabably around midnight.

Love mom
(and midnight)