I want to thank everyone who participated in my first giveaway. 

My Giveaway winner was chosen using a random number generator and was lucky number 35! Congratulations to… Sihui, the winner of a $25.00 gift certificate (credit) to Maria Bella Jewelry or my Tiger Bead Store!!!

I had fun doing this and I will do another giveaway the beginning of July so come by and sign up again.

Thanks again everyone!

Mary Ann

Tiger has an "issue."  He doesn't think it is an "issue," but sometimes I am a bit concerned for him.  You see, he has a fetish, a shoe fetish.  And it started when he was a youngster. 

This was the first time I noticed it.  I should have known it would get worse.  But I missed the clues.  Of course, at that time, it seemed cute.  Oh, he likes my shoes.  So sweet.

But as he has gotten older, he's grown more attached to shoes.  First it was my shoes.

And then it was Scott's shoes.

And his sneakers.

After a while, he decided to share his love of shoes with Motor. (please excuse the glowing eyes)

Last night, it got really bad.  Tiger gathered all the shoes he could find in the house.  When I walked into the living room, I found him there, lying on the pile of shoes. I said,"Tiger, what are you doing? Tiger looked at me and responded, "Back away Mom.  These shoes are MINE!"

Happy Mother's day to all the Kitty Moms we know and the Mother Cats of Kittens.
 
I made the cats an enclosure from a large plastic storage container.  I cut out an opening so the cats could go in and out, and I put plenty of blankets inside.  Originally I made this so the cats could go outside, get inside the enclosure, and watch the rain when it rains.  And they do use it for that.  But Tiger and Motor also like to relax in it.

Last week, Motor and K.C. were hanging out together in our Catio.  Motor was in the enclosure, K.C. was outside of it.  I just loved seeing the two hanging out together so close.  They were both enjoying the warmth of our spring day.

They're so cute!

Tiger:  Ah............it's very quiet.  Mom must be gone.  I can lay around on my favorite chair now.  Mom usually has this chair covered so I can't get on it.  Little does she know, when she goes to work, it's mine.  I throw off the coverings, do a little cleaning, and then it's naptime for me.

Mom: Uh, Tiger.  What are you doing on that chair?

Tiger:  MOM????? What are you doing here?  I thought you were at work.

Mom:  No Tiger, I haven't left yet.  But anyway, you, on my favorite chair.  You know I don't want any cat hair on it. 

Tiger:  Oh Mom, not to worry.  I always clean the chair before you...UH OH.

Mom:  You ALWAYS clean the chair when Tiger?

Tiger (to himself):  Oh man, I am so busted.

Usually on the weekdays before I go to work, I let the cats out in the catio.  Yesterday, right before I left for work, I went outside to make sure all the cats were inside and I didn't see anyone in the catio so I closed the door and off to work I went.

Little did I know, Motor was left outside and it was raining.  Not a good thing at all.  Motor is very, very sweet, but also very very fearful.  He's even afraid of my husband.  I am sure Motor was freaking out.

This is my husband's account of the morning after I left.

"Quite the dramatic start to a week. One of my wife's cats - the timid one no less - got trapped in the rain and clawed his way out of "The Catio" (see picture). So, I'm running around in my heart PJ pants with acorn slippers, uncombed hair, and a"recess at work day" t-shirt in the rain with an open can of tuna fish (not a site you want to see) trying to entice him to come back in the house. He's freaked out (probably coz of how I look) and climbs under the back deck. Great! Just freakin' wonderful! Under the deck I go. Got him. He's home."

I am so lucky Scott was home, that he happened to see Motor in the yard, that Motor didn't get very far and take off, and that Scott was able to catch him in the end.

Scott did not call me at work to tell me about Motor's adventure.  That was a very smart choice.  I would have been so upset and unable to do anything about it.

Hooray for my husband, my hero.

Tiger:  Mom, I know I'm cute and all but...

put that camera away!

Motor: I like to look at life from many different points of view. You can often see me looking around with my head upside down.  Why you may ask?  Because everything looks better upside down!  Try it sometime.  You won't be disappointed.  Guaranteed.

Love this photo.  We don't always get to see this here at home.  Usually they sleep separately.  At night, the orange boys come to sleep with me before my husband shows up and makes them leave.  And most times they are hassleing each other before they settle down.  This was a lovely rare moment.

Wow.  We had a rough ride out here in Northern CA.  A 6.5 earthquake that felt much bigger than that.  The last earthquake we had of any large magnitude was about 15 years ago.  This was last saturday.  Since then, the earthquake in Haiti has happened.  Compared to that one, we were blessed.

My husband and I were in a large grocery store when it happened.  No one got hurt, but lots of breakage and ceiling damage there.  It was scary.  In CA I think we just go along and don't really think about quakes until we experience a large one, and then we are woken up to the fact of where we live. 

As we are driving home from the store, my husband is thinking about the damage we might be coming home to.  I am thinking about the cats.  We had glass breakage in the kitchen, Scott's office was a mess,  the bathroom was rearranged, things fell in our bedroom, but all in all, we didn't loose anything we could not replace.

Tiger was hiding under our bed, which is where Motor usually is.  I had to coax Tiger out because he just wasn't sure how safe it was.  Even then, he was on hyper alert.  Motor was no where to be found.  And I looked for him.  About 3 hours later, he just shows up.  That boy is a magician.  He disappears and appears when he wants to.

K.C., our older deaf cat was sleeping under the table on a chair, hidden by a table cloth.  Her favorite place of late.  I think she slept right through it.  She couldn't hear anything coming down so all was well for K.C.   

Here's a few pictures of what we came home to.

Mantle emptied of all photos...

all dropped to the floor.  Miraculously, nothing broke.

Bathroom cabinets emptied.

Everything either in the sink or bathtub.

The one casuality from my art studio.

All in all, not a fun experience for Tiger, Motor, or their Mom.

Tiger and Motor are busy right now rocking out to the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert on HBO.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's wonderful.  Tiger and Motor highly recommend watching it.  We've watched it once all ready but Tiger and Motor asked to watch it again.  And since it is New Year's Eve, it seems like a good night to watch a concert.  The list of performers include Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Bono, Bruce Springstein, Billy Joel and many, many more talented musicians.  You may not have known this, but Motor is a big Bruce Springstein fan.  And Tiger really likes watching Simon and Garfunkel.

The Very Best Cats and their Mom would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  We wish for all our friends good health and happiness, much prosperity and peace.  And we look forward to getting to know our kitty friends better in the new year.

Happy New Year!!!