Kung Fu Kitty

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's taken me so long to write. Not sure what we've been doing, as I am unable to account for most of any given day . . .

I can now say with 100%assurancece, that I am dumb.

Daily, things are happening around me that I have no recollection of later. So much for a good memory as a key employment attribute . . .

Addie is adjusting quite well to her new big sister role. She gets concerned if someone besides Jeff or I take Lorelei out of view, and loves to give her kisses and hugs. We often have to make sure she's not squishing her in the process, but she loves her all the same. Minus the near smothering incident, they're both doing well.

A few weeks ago, Addie managed to cover Lorelei with every blanket and pillow she could get her hands on. Not sure if she was trying to build a fort for her, or whether she'd had enough of her crying . . .

We also tested the neighborhood emergency response system the other day. Jeff and Addie were in the backyard. Addie was digging in the bark-a-mulch (attempting to bury one of Jeff's yard statues), and I was in the garage. Suddenly I hear her scream like she's never screamed before. Instantly my mind flashed to giant snakes dragging her away by the toes, or a colony of fire ants swarming all over her body.

Sprinting to the backyard, I see Jeff laughing (Addie is still screaming mind you). At that point, our next door neighbor comes running outside, and a neighbor three houses down comes running up the road.

Turns out Addie had a mosquito on her arm, and Jeff thought it was a good idea to point it out to her. Needless to say, it freaked her out. So now we can add mosquitos to the list of terrifying things Addie's afraid of - right up there with frogs.

After seeing how quickly our neighbors came running, I wonder that all y'all don't test your own neighborhood emergency response systems.

It's one thing when your kid is being bullied, but what are you supposed to do when your cat is being beat up? Turns out Bubbles gets beat up almost daily by two cats in the neighborhood. I've thought about having a stern conversation with them, but not sure that wouldn't make it worse for Bubbles (you know, being called a mama's cat and all). I've considered teaching her some self-defense, but after a quick search on the internet, there doesn't seem to be a great market for feline martial arts.

To top it off, we thought we'd lost Bubbles for good. She was missing for five days, and the neighbors who we've mentioned as Bubble's "other" family, we're asking and calling around. Not that we weren't concerned for her, but frankly, between being beaten up by bully cats, and being accosted by Addie, I can't say I blame her.

As it turns out, she had found a "new" cat-loving family, just the other side of the road, and they had been feeding her tuna fish and milk. But the "other" family came to her rescue, and called the "new" family and told them to stop feeding her. Although, as I understand it, that was after a heated debate as to whether it was in fact Bubbles, as the "new" family claims the cat they were feeding looked unkept and homeless . . . Fortunately for us, she had a distinguishing injury on her right leg (from her most recent cat fight).

So Bubbles got hungry again, and when she found the tuna/milk supply had been cut off, shbegrudginglyly (you should have seen the look on her face) came back to us.

Being the responsible owner that I am, quicklyly went out and purchased her a brand new shiny collar with a little bell on it. But frankly, I think I just gave Bubbles another reason to hate me.

When a friend explained to me that she had taken her son's toys and books away when he had thrown a fit (the kind that only a 2 1/2 year old can throw), I thought, "what a good idea."
Except that Addie doesn't play with traditional toys.

It's not for lack of toys mind you, just lack of interest. Of course that got me thinking, and I'd thought I'd share some of the things Addie prefers to play with:
+ Used tin foil
+ A wet wash cloth
+ Batteries
+ Empty packages of any kind
+ Any box left unattended
+ Nearly rotten limes
+ Placemats
+ Band Aids

Keep in mind, these are not little things she picks up and plays with for a minute - she'll carry on an entirdialogue with and about each of these things for hours on end.

I like to think she chooses these types of things because she has such a vivid imagination . . .

About this time last year, Rock Hill made national news for arresting several people at a high school graduation for . . . (drum roll please) cheering when their family member received their diploma.

Since it's graduation time again, and fearing repeat offenses, the newspaper and radio stations have been putting out public service announcements about rules and regulations for graduation ceremonies held within Rock Hill city limits. Granted, some DJ's were less than kind in there delivery, but can you really blame the city officials for wanting texpeditete the graduation ceremonies?

Take care,
Kate