The soccer ball returns!

Yesterday Eve finally found Tulip's kitty's soccer ball. It was under a folding step stool next to the fridge. That's why we couldn't see it. Kitty must have batted it around for half an hour afer she found it. She was so excited! She was whacking it all over the place and carrying it around in her teeth. It was adorable. I'm so glad it turned up, because she doesn't enjoy the mini tennis balls as much. Now she'll be getting some exercise again.

Thanks, kitty

Tulip kitty has really been making my day lately. She's been quite a bit more affectionate lately. Much of the time we can get her to jump up and sleep on the bed now. Even when she doesn't, she still comes up to get her pets and say good morning when she hears my alarm go off.

She's still into getting up on the bed and watching me get ready for work in the morning. Last night she even got up there and watched us get ready for bed.

If she hears one of us run away, she comes running too to see what's going on. That's usually how we get her to come to us.

She still likes to get up with me to help make the coffee in the morning.

She still likes to sit with me while I do homework sometimes too. Eve said she got up in the chair with her the other day and sat with her all day while she worked. Awwwwww.

She's definitely a sweetheart in her own tough-as-nails sort of way. Good kitty!

News on Sweetheart?

Kat, if you happen to be reading this, please let us know if/when Sweetheart finds a new home.

Kitty closeup

Here's a closeup of Tulip Kitty putting the hurt on Tiggy Tiger. Man, she's tough! Better Tiger than me...

New routine

For the last few days Tulip kitty has been getting up on the bed to "watch" while I get ready for work. After the bed is made, she jumps up there and runs around like a maniac for a few minutes. It's usually a furry of fangs and claws. I end up tossing her ballerina bear to her so she can beat her up instead of me.

After she settles down, she parks herself in the middle of the bed. She listens while I iron my clothes. Sometimes she helps by tearing them up after I lay them on the bed. She listens to me walking around the room. I talk to her a lot. Sometimes she'll let out a little chirp in response. Sometimes I can pet her. Sometimes I get the fangs. I just like the fact that she's taking more of an interest in spending time with me. She's so bloody independent, but she's slowly getting closer to us. It's pretty cool.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Oh my God, Tulip kitty was wild last night. I had a ton of homework to do and she was going absolutely nuts. She was squeaking and chirping all night. She was up and down off the furniture. She was up and down the stairs. She was hanging off the side of her green chair. JEEZ! I was sitting at the dining table trying to read and she kept getting up in the chair oppostite of me. The chair was pushed all the way in, but the curved back allowed her to poke her head up above the table. She kept poking her head up and reaching across the table with her paws, looking for something to swipe off the table. I have to laugh because it was pretty cute, but she was drving me nuts. It took me hours to finish my homework, and I can hardly name one thing I read because I was so distracted. Punk!

Kitty tells time

Lately I feel like I haven't been getting enough sleep. With that in mind, I changed the alarm clock to go off at 6:00 instead of 5:00. This morning I was sound asleep until the 4-legged wakeup call came up on the bed. She let out a few squeaks, then rubbed her little head against me to wake me up. I looked at the clock. It was exactly 5:00. No wonder Tulip's always trying to steal my watch! Kitty can tell time. Apparently she didn't get the memo about the time change.

Chilly

Eve stayed up working a bit after I went to bed last night. She told me she found Tulip kitty huddled up on the bathroom rug. She had her tail and paws tucked under her like she was cold. Eve brought one of kitty's beds in there for her. She crawled in there and cozied herself right up. Kitty was chilly! I don't know why she didn't come snuggle up with me. I was cold too! I'm hoping that now that fall is approaching, kitty will want to curl up on the bed more often.

A little help here

Eve and I did a race in Los Angeles on Saturday, so we left the house quite early. We got home around 4:00 in the afternoon. When we came in from the garage, Tulip kitty was not at the top of the stairs to greet us. We thought she might be napping somewhere. We called her, but she didn't come running. I started to panic a little. Eve and I ran around the house looking for her under furniture and everywhere else. Eve finally found her sitting on top of the desk in the office. Eve purposely leaves the chair pulled out so that Tulip kitty can't get up there. I didn't know that little detail, so I pushed it in. Well, she got up there and couldn't figure out how to get down. We have no idea how long she was there, but she was waiting patiently for one of us to find her and put her down. Crazy cat! Good thing we didn't leave for the weekend!

Tiger standoff

Here's Tulip kitty staring down Tiggy tiger. It's a rare moment when there's not a tiger hunt going on.

Tennis anyone?

We haven’t been able to locate Tulip kitty’s catnip ball for a few days now. I can’t imagine where she hid it. There are only so many places it could be in our small condo. And yet we can’t find it.

Last night while we were at the supermarket Eve found a new present for Miss Tulip. It was a package of 3 tiny tennis balls. Looks like kitty is taking up a new sport!

When we got home, Eve opened up the package and gave Tulip all 3 balls. They stink like rubber, so she was very curious about them. They’re quite a bit heavier and harder than I expected. She makes a little pouty face when they bump her in the nose. They make a pretty good racket (no pun intended) when they’re rolling around on the hardwood floors. She spent most of the evening chasing them around the house. I heard one thump its way down the front stairs. I woke up this morning to her batting one around the living room. I guess kitty approves! Video coming soon…

Homework helper

Yesterday I did homework ALL day. I was camped out on the couch reading when the little screamers started filing into the pool area. I couldn't hear myself think, so I hauled everything into the office on the opposite side of the house. I sprawled out on the spare bed in there. After a while, Tulip decided to hang out with me. I coaxed her up onto the bed with her string toy. She played with that for a while then curled up next to me to nap. Several hours into reading, my eyelids were getting pretty heavy. I laid down next to her with my face right on her and fell asleep. When I woke up, she hadn't budged. I thought for sure I'd end up with a face full of claws, but she was an angel. She let me pet her. She let me give her a kiss. She let out one of her little squeaky chirps while she stretched. Then she went back to sleep. AWWWWWWWWWWW. When she finally woke up, she came and sat next to me while I worked. She just sat there and watched. She put up with a lot of petting. I didn't hear any purring, but she seemed pretty content. She definitely made the homework less painful. I think she's finally warming up to the idea of being close to me. She seems to be starting to understand what affection is all about.

Busy week

Sorry I haven't posted much this week. I just stated two classes, so it's been quite a busy week. Here's what Tulip kitty has been up to:

- No biting since Wednesday. She's been on her best behavior. Even laying on the bed this morning, she allowed me to break the pet/no pet rule without getting upset.
- Playing. Her soccer ball seems to be missing at the moment. Instead, we've been doing a lot of bowling and tiger hunting.
- Eating sushi. Eve and kitty have been eating sushi for lunch without me. Punks! They don't even save me any.
- Chilling on the deck. Eve and kitty relax out there in the sun. Tulip likes to listen to what's happening at the pool.
- Taking over Dee's chair. Kitty decided that she likes the big, green easy chair that our previous cat used to sleep in all the time. In the evenings she sits up there and snoozes.
- Being cute. She greets me at the door when I get home still. I come half way up the landing and stick my face right in hers. She touches her nose to mine to say hi.
- Being my shadow. If I go out the front door to check the mail, she comes down the stairs to see me out. If I leave the room, she comes too. If I go to the bathroom, she hops in the litterbox. She's a good girl.

Ornery

Man, Tulip kitty was ornery this morning! First of all, she heard Eve's alarm go off, so she came into the bedroom. Then she decided it was time to clear off the shelf of my nightstand. She woke me up by dropping my watch onto the floor, so I scolded her. After that she jumped up onto the bed for some pets, then almost immediately bit me. She plopped herself down on the bed, leaning up against me so I would be tempted to touch her. Every time I did, she bit me again. What a brat! I hope she's in a better mood when I get home tonight!

Snuggles

It’s rather unusual for me to sleep on my back. In fact, I rarely even lie down on my back. In any case, I did so last night when I crawled into bed. Tulip kitty seized the opportunity to plop herself right between my feet. I was quite surprised, as she’s been sleeping in the living room most of the time lately. She landed there before I fell asleep and stayed there all night. She didn’t budge until the alarm went off. Then she stretched, yawned, and walked up next to my head for some purrs and pets. Now that’s how I should wake up every morning.

More bowling fun

Eve got a new phone today, so she was messing around with the video camera on it. She took this video of Tulip kitty and I bowling. The quality isn't that great, but you get the idea. Kitty loves this bowling game.