I uploaded three new videos of Contessa, Pippin, EB and Sapphira. New video of Mercedes coming soon. ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRmsrxR-avE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yomBYtcAz8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4swC0G-nRo

There's nothing like the excitement of packing up and going on a road trip with your beloved. The promise of the open road. Leaving your troubles behind you. The enjoyment of discovering more about the world around you, and yourself, while you're at it.

And...there's nothing like the threat of not going on the trip at all, just when you've finished packing and you need to load the car. But wait, first you must have a HUGE, blowout fight over the fact that you're stressed and short-tempered (because you don't want to leave late) and not being very nice. Okay. Let's have a big fight for two hours, so we can be certain to leave as LATE as possible, so the 660 mile drive will end around 12:30AM instead of 7PM! Great.

There's nothing like battling through CT, NY & NJ, followed by an endless drive across Pennsylvania. I swear that state GROWS while you drive it. All the up and down, curvy roads, the rain, the truckers who tailgate and the insane f-cker who almost hit us.

Yet, somehow, with all this, there's nothing like being able to find a way to work it out, to get over your petty/not-so-petty-but-you-don't-want-to-admit-it crap and attend to the task at hand. You make the 660 mile drive. You get to the hotel late. You eat a cold sandwich and pass out cold on the big, cat-less bed. You wake up to a new day, full of possibilities.

You awake to the purr of a garbage truck dumping something outside your window. You might be fearful that the shit storm is going to happen all over again, but you have that hope that today will be different. Today will be different! And if not, the trip was already worth it.

We made one stop yesterday, other than bathroom breaks. I scored a really cool 1950's lamp for my living room at the Atomic Warehouse, so that's good, right?

More from BlogPaws, life in Columbus, Ohio and The Sam & Robin Smackdown Show, soon!

Bags are packed. My first time leaving the cats alone in over two years. I have a great pet sitter, who is also a Vet Tech coming twice a day, but I know that all the hours between those two visits will give the little jerks plenty of time to destroy the house with their vengeful bladders and angry claws.

I've shut off my bedroom and a few other areas. Am hoping that allowing them access to my office, which is the prime afternoon napping location, will appease them. I fear I will find a spray coating of whiz on my keyboard, but so be it. It's only “stuff,” right?

I'm looking forward to having a break. I guess I just wonder what the price is going to be. I suppose it's not a good thing that I am bound to this place by cats. I thought I was the boss? How dumb am I? Don't answer that!

With any luck, I'll be blogging from BlogPaws with updates and pix from lovely Ohio and points in between.

The road is calling me...better get going.

Your fearful hostess,

Robin

Unfortunately, Blitzen cannot quite walk anywhere in Sam's shoes, but it doesn't stop him from trying.

I just hope the little sucker doesn't get into my lingerie drawer next.

Do not play with your food!

Okay, play with it, but eat it when you're done.

Bob LOVES frakenprey-which in this case is the neck and giblets of a chicken we were going to roast. I cut up some of the bits because Bob only has a few teeth. I don't have to worry about Blitzen, so he got a neck to gnaw on to help clean his chompers. He really had a blast dragging a chunk around, throwing it up in the air and carrying it in his mouth. No, not particularly hygienic, but I cleaned up after his playtime was over.

P.S. Bob and Blitzen LOVE their raw treats!

How do you get your furniture to look like it does at my house-covered with cat hair? First, throw away that lint roller refill and buy a new piece of furniture. In this example, it's a comfy chaise lounge. The process doesn't work on hard surfaces, so we opted to add nice, complimentary soft green cushion, to go with our cats fur colors. Some of you might say; “No! You need to match the cats fur so it doesn't show up as well. Only cowards do that. You need to embrace your cat-hair-covered-ness! Especially this season. You want your cat hair to “pop” off the surface, so if we could have gotten black cushions, we might have gone that route for a more dramatic effect.

Bob enjoys the brand new cushions. Not only do they compliment his fur color, but the surface is perfect for locking down and holding any loose fur from his coat.

Also, make sure the fabric has a rough texture. This not only attracts your cat it, but it also locks the fur down on the surface better and makes any feeble attempts to remove it nearly impossible.

While Bob sleeps, his fur is shedding, beginning the process of covering the cushions with his cat hair.

The time period between you revealing the new furniture and the cat sitting on it should be less than a few minutes. Clean cushions are passé!

At first, it may be difficult to let go of trying to clean off the cushions, but with patience and some will power you can achieve the same elegant look shown here.

Due to time constraints in getting this article to press on time, we had to create an “artist's” interpretation of how the lounge chair should look in a few days. This effect would require three additional and differently colored cats to also spend time shedding on the cushion. Your results may vary depending on the furniture color and color of your cat/s.

Remember, the look for Spring is big, and bulky cat hair covered cushions and bedding. I hope to see some photos of your covered in cat hair collection soon!

Little Blitzen is the last of Santa's Team to be in foster care. The rest are off to their forever homes. Blitzen would have been long gone had he not needed treatment for Ringworm. His last dose of meds will be on Saturday. He's had no sign of any ringworm for a few weeks. Other than an occasional sneeze, his health seems good.

I also let him out of his room a few weeks ago, too. Once the others were gone, it was too unkind to leave a little guy alone for so long. I knew it put my cats at risk of getting ringworm, but since the stuff is airborne, I had to figure they've all had a snoot-ful of it by now.

Blitzen loves the cat mat that Aunt Clare made him!

I think he's wear it if he could.

Bob's not too sure he wants to share the cat mat, even though there's one behind him...yes, it IS considerably smaller and Bob wants what Bob wants. Blitz is happy to have someone to roughouse with. Spencer is staying out of it this time.

Open the door to the deck and all fighting ends. The boys love the fresh air.

Blitz has been trying to find his place among the other cats. Petunia is very angry about him being here and Spencer has ramped up attacking her. It's a complex situation having eight cats. Spencer wants to bully Petunia and so does Bob. I can't understand why, though I do believe that Petunia might want to be the alpha cat OR she is so fearful that she needs a nicer alpha cat, instead of a bossy guy like Bob or Spencer. Having Blitzen here doesn't help her, but it does give the big boys someone to play with and chase around, so maybe they'll leave her alone a bit more often?

Someone's tail is growing faster than their body. I'm not sayin' who, though.

And don't think for a minute that Blitzen is in any danger. In fact, the little squirt instigates many of the clashes. He's not aggressive. he just wants to play. I've seen Spencer race up and down the stairs with Blitzen hot on his tail! It's great to see the cats running around more. Even Bob and Nicky, who have been slow to warm to Blitz, have begun to show signs of accepting him.

Blitzen and Nicky. Looks like the little guy has a long way to go yet before he's as big as Nicky-if that is even possible!

I feel bad for Blitzen. He's doing his best to fit in where there isn't a whole lot of room. He was sleeping between Sam and I most nights, but now he is under the bed. I think ”the girls,” Gracie and Petunia, had a talk with him and asked him to get lost. He won't even hang out on the bed and they rarely leave it. Something is up.

I know you want to come outside on the deck, but you're too young! Talk about guilt!

I really want Blitzen to be happy here. Sam is ready to adopt him. I see some definite benefit, but I also see the problems. He might not get as much time and attention from us as he would from a family with only one other cat, but he will have other cats to interact with here in addition to his human family. The problem is that this sweet little guy has had a few cats hiss at him, so now he's confused about being friends with other cats. I really hope he can find one or two of my guys to be closer to. I'm sure he misses the closeness he shared with Cupid and his sisters and it's not fair for him to go without cat companionship.

Blitzen has done very well adapting to a much bigger space, lots more cats and challenges. He remains a sweet tempered kitty and he always makes me smile.

I have to ask myself if I can be happy letting him go and knowing he's in a great home, that's not mine; or decide that although we weren't looking for another cat, that one found us.

It's time to adopt him or put Blitz on Petfinder.

©2008 Robin A.F. Olson

From 2008. This is Poppy a few days after she was born. She's all grown up now, with her own forever family. She was one of the babies I still miss.

I'm definitely jonesing for some teenie tiny kittens in the house!

I feel badly that I haven't been updating you guys on what's going on. I've been cranking to get ready for my presentation at BlogPaws next week! Also, my, err, birthday is on Saturday and I've decided to give myself a Tea Party with a few cat-lady friends and there's more to do for it than I imagined.

Why on Earth do I suddenly need to over complicate this “informal” gathering by making a late night run to Pier One and Target (Tar-Jay) to buy candles and treat bags? Hopefully, it will be worth it. If I had the funds, I'd invite you all to come over! That would be fun! All the cat lovers talking about cats. I might dare to think that it could be too much! Would it?

We got about five hundred feet of rain over the past week. I'm bloody sick of it. Our leaks have leaks. At least the trees, knock wood (hee hee), are still standing and haven't fallen over onto the house from the wet soil and lack of it. We're on lots of ledge here. Not much room for plants to thrive on stone. Sam almost collapsed last year when he had to dig a hole to plant a lilac in the front yard.

Rumors have it that the sun is due out any minute now and the temps will soar from the 40's up to the 70's! This weekend might be purrfect for a tea party outdoors on the deck. I hope it works out. It's been years since I did much of anything for my birthday, plus it forces me to clean off the center island in the kitchen, which is the repository for mail and other crap and it annoys me when it gets so messy.

Blitzen lookin' like a big boy! And yes, that's a FAKE cat/pillow behind him.

Blitzen is doing well integrating in with my cats even though he's not supposed to because he is still being treated for ringworm! Ugh. I can't lock him in a room. He's too big and would be too lonely. Now he spends his days exploring, getting into things and trying to find a way to fit in with the rest of the cats. It's cause some rifts between the other cats, some peeing where they're not supposed to, some fighting. I'm alarmed at the fighting, but I know it's not just due to Blitzen. In fact, I believe something else is going on.

Shhh...pouff asleep.

Spencer is going after Petunia in ways I've never seen before. He seems to be on the warpath, but he's not the only one. None of the fights have been serious, but Petunia overreacts and screams fairly easily. None of them have been hurt, but this is, of course, not ideal. I wonder if it has to do with the change of season and Bob getting older and Spencer maybe shifting his power. I have no idea just yet, but am keeping a close eye on the situation. Right now Bob and Nicky are passed out under my desk and Spencer is next to me on a chair, so it could be a lot worse.

Nicky passed out next to my feet.

Bob washing his face before settling down for his nap.

Kitten season has begun. Our pregnant mama had kittens and there's another cat who just gave birth, who may also be joining our foster care program. I have to sit on the sidelines for at least a few more weeks. I really hate it. I miss having babies here! I also seriously hate not being able to help in the south. That still bothers me a lot. I want to help all the cats who need it. I think I need to amass a nice cat-rescuing army. Anyone want to join?

Back to work. I want to make sure I'm dazzling at BlogPaws!

Looks like my interview on BlogPaws went live and I didn't even notice. Oops! That's what I get for drinking and surfing the net at the same time.

If you'd like to read about me, because you know you do, visit here

I can't believe I just wrote that. I feel like such a twit! Back to the wine! Thank You to the folks at BlogPaws for lifting my spirits!