Surviving life in the 'burbs

Hey y'all. It's a gorgeous day, so I'm relaxing in the sun. It's been a little dreary for the last few days. My people drove up to Sedona a few days ago to pick up a new mattress and got caught in real, falling from the sky snow. Then they proceeded to move things around in the house to replace the mattress. Since it was their mattress that was being replaced, they stood the old one up by the front door while they put the new one in. I promptly climbed to the top and explored around the arched window above the door. Wow--who knew there was a window up there. I wish they would leave the mattress there so I could climb up anytime I want and catch some rays.

Meanwhile, they had to air up the new mattress, which meant that it made some very unusual noises. I don't go under the bed anymore because of the strange noises I've heard there. It might be something wild that will get me. However, as soon as the bed was made, I did promptly lie on top of it and take a long snooze. I'm a good mattress tester, and I pronounce it very comfy.

They then moved their mattress into the guest bedroom after they moved the old one out of there. Seems that when our visitor came with the kitty, it got scared and dug a hole through the bottom of the box springs so it could hide. Hey, I can sympathize with that. After all, I was waiting outside its door, ready to scare the heck out of it.

I had my own scare in the middle of the night just after the new mattress went into the master bedroom. I was heading for my box in the bathroom, but the door was slightly ajar and so I had to sneak up on it and peek under to make sure nothing would grab me from the other side. Then I suddenly heard scratching behind me and I jumped straight up in the air. I whirled around and my she-person was laughing her head off. She had seen me sneaking up on the door and decided to scratch the mattress, which nearly skeered me to death.

A sweet little kitty like me doesn't deserve such behavior from the people who are supposed to protect me. However, I got my revenge later that night when I begged treats off my she-person, then cried to my he-person so he would think I hadn't had them yet. Yep, you guessed it. I got double treats that night. I have my ways of getting revenge. And I want to get really big and strong on treats so I can intimidate the vet when I go back again.

I'll have to practice my scary squall, too, so I can make believers of everyone in the vet's office. They want to stretch me out and take pictures of my innards, and that does not please me. And they want to draw blood. I don't know what they do with it, but I would like to keep it, thank you very much. Don't come at me with any needles cause I'm a big and strong and scary panther.

Time to get back to my nap. Life is mostly good.....purr-r-r-r.

Christmas Tree and Wintry Weather

Geesh, who knew I would take such a long vacation from posting. It wasn't intentional on my part. You'll have to take it up with my people, who are supposed to keep me on schedule and do my typing. Obviously, they've been negligent lately! In fact, I thought I posted after Christmas, but obviously I was wrong. So here's to bring you up to date.

Christmas was a big to-do since we're in a house. Who knew it meant bringing a tree into the living room and decorating it? That was some surprise! My he-person carried a huge box in and proceeded to open it up and lift tree parts out. I thought trees came in one piece from out-of-doors and smelled like fresh air. A quick taste of a needle told me this wasn't my kind of tree, but it would do for relaxing under.

I immediately claimed my spot under the tree and spent most of my time there throughout the holidays admiring the lights. I was interested in the decorations they were putting on, but other than sniff a couple, I didn't mess with them. I would have liked to climb the tree, but since it didn't smell natural I decided against it. Still, I bit off needles occasionally to test them just to make sure I wasn't mistaken the first and second and third time about them being real. Nope--they still tasted like plastic.

My people had a couple of parties and I was eager to be in the middle so that the guests could all admire my beauty. Who better to provide entertainment than me? Then there was quite a slowdown following the holidays.

One wintry day we woke up and found white stuff floating down from the sky. It actually coated some of the tree limbs and lay about an inch deep on the ground. What a wondrous sight, especially here in the Arizona desert. My people decided maybe I would like to go out in it. I guess they were wrong! They opened the patio door and I made a beeline for it, then I heard raindrops. Yikes! I skidded to a stop, and within an hour, all the beautiful white stuff was gone. Bummer.

I'm still fat and sassy and still get cortisone pills every other day. I love them! Of course, my people think I don't know they're inside those delicious pill pockets, but I know. I just play along and eat those "treats" so fast that I don't taste the pills. I have to go to the vet every 3 months for check-ups, but the last time, the vet carried me back out to my people after a short time and told them I wasn't in the mood for an exam that day. Hey, maybe I have finally made a believer out of her when I roar like a lion. And believe me, that's one thing I do very well!

I'm kinda looking forward to a trip this spring to the Great Northwest. Been there, done that, but maybe there will be some surprises this time. I will get to see my people's sweet nieces, so I know I'll get some extra attention from them. I'll have to be on my best behavior, though.

Until next time. . .purr-r-r-r.