Cats can sit too...

Cat Lady Saturday...

The Cats are were just fed and are now happy, I've been gone all day. We buried my aunt Leslie today, the impetus for this blog. I drove up to the Old cemetery this morning to meet my family. The windows were rolled down while driving around the lake and I was blaring some Laura Lee soul. My grandmother was sad and gave me a side hug, trying hard not to be too emotional. She is a stoic little Mainer; quiet and simple. Later, we celebrated my brother's birthday with white marble cake with black roses. I got to put my hands in the dirt today. I helped my mom plant some flowers around the house and sorted through some family stuff on the ride home.

Before home, I stopped in at J&B's house - The sweet dancer-dyke couple I'm cat-sitting for on the hill. Their little kitties are sooo lovable! They curl up in your arms, soft little bundles of kitty! Benjamin & Zoey are their names. The following is a description J wrote of of their little ones:

Zoey - female black longhair, ~11yo. Ornery but cuddly. Loves being gently held and petted, but please be careful around the base of her tail. She will warn you before nipping. She has a twisted rear left hip/knee that sometimes causes her discomfort.





Benjamin - male black longhair, ~2yo. Very friendly and playful. Loves being chased around the apartment (though I'm not sure if our downstairs neighbor likes it). Loves playing fetch with yarn tassels and zill covers (baby socks).





Benjamin and I got to roll around on the floor... just enough time to blog and meet up with Jess & Lor - haven't seen them since their wedding in Mexico! Hooray! So happy about friends, cats and dirt-work today!

I'm pup-sitting for Chester tomorrow night!! Eek! Doggy! We'll see how is goes with the little guy... It's time for this cat lady to bond with the sloppy little spaniel-pup. We have a doggy date with Kt & Small, the weimaraner. I think I understand the life of a dog owner now... it is about arranging your day around your dog's energy levels. I suppose the key is to wear them out so you can do what you want and once worn out, they just drape on you, sleep and eat (like cats).

Chester is staying at Camp Bow Wow in SoPo. They have web-cams so you can watch your dog online. Chester was playing with the big dogs tonight. He's the Black & white springer-spaniel (with the whacking tail and the droopy face) chasing a shadow:

http://www.campbowwow.com/us/me/portland/CamperCams/tabid/1843/Default.aspx

ten signs that you might be a Cat Lady...

1. You drive or take the bus home on your lunch-breaks just to hang out with your cats for 20 minutes. Their lazy purring and mid-day snuggles always makes the day better.

2. When you attend networking events for work, you start talking about your cats instead of your company. People usually start looking for the exits and warn others of "that cat lady."

3. You have two or more cats with very intricate personalities.

4. For the holidays, your relatives & friends don't buy you gifts anymore, they just buy you cat supplies.

5. When sending birthday and thank-you cards, you sign your name and your cats' names in kitty handwriting and insist that they really signed the cards themselves.

6. Your out on a date and have clumps of cat hair on your sweater. It doesn't bother you and in fact, if it bothers your date, the night ends right there and you go home to the cats.

7. You have homosexual tendencies... If you're not a lesbian, you've thought about it, lez-be-honest... And your cats would still love you the same and hiss at your lover, regardless of their gender.

8. You leave for vacation and leave a ten page letter for your kitty sitter, complete with food, play and poop details. You also watch videos & photos of the cats from your phone when you're gone. Ideally, there would be a web cam set up at home so you could watch them play and hang out.

9. You schedule evening plans and weekend activities around when your cats need to be fed.

10. You bought a bigger bed to make room for all the kitties sleeping with you. Some have designated pillows with their favorite colored shams.

cat ladys read books

The cats and I enjoy a good book in bed. Tee has been enjoying Pema Chodron buddhist books lately. Bit is more of a comic book reader. Just click on the books to read my reviews.

Kitty Pheromones...

So Kd and I are having folks over tomorrow night for dinner. While most cats run and hide under he bed when new people come over, T-rex stalks everyone in the kitchen and paws at their ankles. Most of our friends have a great sense of humor about it, but a few are scared of her vicious little kitty-kat ways. I got my Feliway package in the mail over the weekend. Mostly this stuff is used to encourage kitties to stop marking, but my vet recommended it to me to use when T-rex gets stressed out or territorial, i.e. when we have company come over. The vet said she was probably just scared and threatened and acts aggressively instead of passively. It seems simple... but seriously, she intimidates my friends and lovers: not okay.

I sprayed the synthetic kitty pheromones on our carpets and bedding (where the cats hang out) and bacon immediately licked it. T-rex seemed immune until last night when I sprayed it right bedtime, she crawled into bed with me and purred all night. :)

Dave End & kittens!

reyrey shared this with me, d just got kittens!! It must be spring.

kitten video with Dave End singing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfN9dfiPVU4

a cat lady's thoughts on marriage rights in Maine...

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=254850&ac=PHnws

I'm so excited to be a Mainer right now!! Our gov. just signed the bill to make Maine the 5th state in the US to allow gay marriage. I know the kitties will be very happy about this! After all, pets are a big part of the family.

At first, my academic feminist teachings urged me to oppose marriage in general: a patriarchal institution that is rooted in property arrangements between men that kept women subordinate throughout history. Some of my queer friends convinced me years ago that our community was beyond marriage. We could have family arrangements that didn't involve referencing sexist histories and laws. I changed my thoughts on marriage years ago...

Choice is a wonderful thing.

Oh how choice changes everything! It eventually occurred to me (when my ex partner and I were making plans for the future) that I actually didn't have a choice to engage in these marriage laws or ignore them all together. While heterosexual feminist women are deciding whether or not to keep their husband's name (often still a hot-button issue), I can't event legally marry the person I may choose to spend the rest of my life with. This makes me a little crazy that I live in a state that doesn't protect my relationship, property, children, pets, etc. I've considered moving from my home, setting aside my Mainer pride, and moving to Massachusetts for this very reason.

A good cat lady makes sure there is a plan for her kitties in case anything were to happen. Usually married partners would take care of this if something happened to a cat lady. Hopefully her Cat lady Life Partner (CLLP) would take care of the kitties after death and help them in their grieving. Also, marriage binds two people together financially, and we all know vet bills ain't cheap. It would be helpful to have a legal contract saying that CLLPs agree to support each other's cat lady expenses (CLE). Many couples choose pets over children. A good cat lady is serious about her pets and considers them to be just as important and glorious as children.

So far, if anything were to happen to me, none of my friends really want Trex :( but people are lining up to take the lover Mr. baconbit. (Sorry guys, it's a package deal. Both or nothing!)

a weekend away from the cats...

That is bacon playing in the hallway.

I was in Boston and Providence this weekend and I've been away from the cats for three days! I can't wait to see the little buttons. I miss them SOooo much. 5 bucks says Bacon dug up my plants while I was gone.

I went to the RISD Art sale this weekend. (http://www.risd.edu/alumni_sale.cfm) It was great. I bought a Betty Page ceramic cup for ReyRey (to encourage her fantastic Burlesque career) and yummy smelling Lavender & Rosemary pillows. (Lee hates the smell. I say: too bad.) I had to stop myself from spending 50 dollars on a set of ceramic kitty dishes. :-/