The Christmas Toy Enjoyed The Most...

My son and I did some last-minute Christmas shopping this year. Little did we know one of the things we bought on that trip turned out to be possibly the most-enjoyed gifts this year.

It was a cat toy.

The cats loved it!

It's been a different Christmas for us this year. Because of the play and other things, we ended up doing a lot of things late. We thought we had everything ready when we realized we hadn't gotten anything for the pets. I don't know where you come down on the whole "getting pets Christmas gifts" question. We usually do, even though I'm pretty sure the animals didn't notice the times they went without.

And since we needed to pick up cat food anyway, we decided to check out their toys.

Our cats are getting older. The one, Gracie, has eye problems and doesn't play very much. Our other cat, Teewinot, is usually not interested in cat toys. He's a hunter and finds the real things--mice, birds, bunnies--more fun than imitations, but when both cats got a look at the new toy, they went nuts. Both attacked it with gusto. Of course, the kids (and the adults...) had fun with the cat toy, too.

I'm not saying that the other presents were not appreciated. I think the kids had a good Christmas, it's just I think the cats had more fun with what we got them.

Cat-Owner Chores...

I grew up with dogs, one dog really. A Shih Tzu/sneaky neighbor dog mix. She lived for seventeen years. She was a good dog. My wife, however, did not grow up with dogs.

She grew up with cats.

Because we've been married for almost a quarter of a century, we have one dog and two cats. Over the years I've learned a thing or two about living with cats.

I should say I wasn't completely unprepared for the cats. My mom had a few around her house, but they weren't indoor cats. I'd never had an indoor cat. And after we got our first cat (the exact date of when the cat came into our lives is still up for discussion...), we really didn't have an indoor cat. 

Teewinot, named after a peak in the Tetons and the area where we got him, is such a perfect cat, except for ripping up several window screens. He has a fairly predictable schedule. He likes to hunt in the evenings. In the summer he comes in about the time I leave for work. In the winter, he comes in in the middle of the night. He'll go upstairs and sleep on one of the kids's beds and he'll stay there until the afternoon when he goes outside to hunt.

He didn't even need a litter box.

Then we got another cat and she's changed pretty much everything. Gracie was a rescue cat. She's been a great pet, don't get me wrong, but this animal definitely needs a litter box, or several. Cleaning out that box was something I never did as a kid, but I do now. The picture of the door is the cat's room. It doubles as our laundry room. Of all the people/pets living in our house, that cat has the biggest room (in comparison to her size...) than any other person/pet. Of course, to the cat, that's the way it should be.

Tonight I cleaned up the cat's room and Gracie just watched. If I clean it regularly, it's not that bad. The problem is, after I clean it, I don't want to do it anytime soon. Hence, the dilemma. I won't show you what's behind the door, but I can say it's clean now. And it will be that way until at least tomorrow. My cat chores are done.

Some Things I Miss...

A couple of times this past weekend, I snapped a picture and thought, "Oh, that would be a great picture to send to my son."

And then I caught myself, because my son is back living with us. I don't have to send him pictures anymore.

My son has been home from his LDS mission for exactly four weeks as of today. He was gone for two years, and just like that, he's back. While he was away, we got into certain routines. Each Monday, I would e-mail his a letter and I would also send him pictures. Ever since I began posting a Pic Of The Day (for five years plus...), I always had a choice of pictures I could send him. I especially liked sending him pictures of the pets, and our cat Gracie is a natural ham. Most of the pet pictures I sent my son were of her.

So, as I did some writing and editing this weekend, I snapped some pictures of Gracie and thought my son would like to see those. Strange how those routines stay with us.

At work today, I thought about the 104 Mondays when I would wait by my computer for an e-mail. Even though we're so glad he's home, I do sort of miss some things.

Here You Go, Chris--Pictures Of Our Little Gracie...

I ran into my neighbor at church today and she complimented me on some of the pictures I've posted over the days, months and years. But, she told me I needed more pictures of one particular thing.

Gracie.

Several years ago I visited my neighbor around Christmas time and I noticed a black and white longhair cat sitting on her front porch. It was night and it was December and I hoped the cat was warm enough. When I asked her about the cat (because I knew she had cats that lived inside her house...), she told me that the cat was a stray and it showed up on their porch about two weeks earlier. Since she didn't know anything about the cat, they set up a little bed outside and began feeding her, but they didn't feel they could allow her inside. She was worried about her other cats.

It just so happened that within a few days the family did something we hardly ever do--we went to a local pet store on a Saturday when they were doing cat adoptions. Since we already had a cat, the thought of getting another cat never entered my mind.

Until we went to the pet store. It was then I considered adopting Gracie, the cat currently residing outside at my friend's house. And so, we adopted Gracie and gave her a home. Several hundred dollars and a complete buzz haircut later, she became our second cat.

I like taking pictures of Gracie. Her white, carmel and black colors are beautiful and lend well to the camera's eye.

So, Chris--here's some pictures I took of Gracie today. Hope you like them!

Getting The Shot...

I walked into the living room yesterday morning and saw the cat sitting on top of the couch. It wasn't so much the cat that caught my attention, but the sunlight shining down on the cat. I quickly grabbed my camera.

I don't know if I've been told this, or it's something that came to my mind, but when I think of photography, it's basically the manipulation of light. Without light, no photography can exist. The light coming into the living room was extremely bright and such bright light bouncing off the stunningly white fur of the cat looked amazing.

So, I had good light and good subject matter. I began taking pictures. I was only able to get a couple of pictures before the cat became bored and left her moment in the good light. With digital photography (at least, for me...) I snap as many pictures I can and hope things work out. I haven't worked in a studio so I haven't had a lot of experience setting up the shot.

Of course, it's not until I download the pictures on to my computer can I really tell if anything worked. It was the last picture I took, the one below, that turned out to be my favorite. I know I've posted many pictures of our cat before, but I really like this one a lot. Yesterday morning, I got the shot I wanted.

Gracie...Quite Comfortable Now

Back at the end of December we adopted a cat, a cat named Gracie. I've written about her before. Back then, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to keep Gracie, but she's still with us and I think she's here to stay.

We had hoped Gracie and our other cat would become fast friends. When on the rare occasion they do get together, they are "fast" but not at being friends. Fast describes how quickly Gracie runs away from the other cat who chases Gracie at top speed.

It's interesting to have two cats and a dog all living under the same rood as us humans. I wonder if the animals look at us (the same way we look at them sometimes...) and think, "They're crazy!" Probably so...

A New Cat...

Gracie

Something about the calico long hair cat caught my attention when we went to my neighbor's house last Sunday. She took an interest in us. We asked my neighbor about the cat and they said it was a stray and that they had been feeding her for a few weeks. They also said they could not allow the cat inside so she's been living on their porch so far this winter. That was Sunday. Monday night I drove by their house again and that big fluffy cat sat on their porch just looking at us. We ended up bringing Gracie home.

We already have a great cat and since I know as much about cats as I know about Bollywood actors, getting another cat is always a risk. Since we picked up Gracie, we've learned more about her. She was owned by some renters in the neighborhood who recently moved. We know she won't be having any kittens and that she's healthy. These are good things. We also know how much it costs to have a cat shaved (much more than our dog...).

We're now in the process of acclimating Gracie to our dog and our cat (and our house and our kids...). Hopefully our new cat will be able to enjoy the home we're trying to provide. Welcome to the family, Gracie.