At the end of March we got a kitten that we named Sadie. Sadie was only 4 weeks old — she and her sibs had a mother that for some reason had just stopped feeding the kittens, hissing and swatting at them if they tried to nurse. So, Sadie came home with me (without having consulted Lisa).
Simba, our 22 lb. male cat welcomed Sadie the same way he did Idgie 3 years ago. He groomed her, played with her, cuddled with her — he’s such a good big brother. Idgie and Cedar, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with her and hissed and fissed at her if she dared come anywhere near them.
Anyway, Sadie was barely strong enough to stand and eat food from a dish without her little legs quivering. We fed her canned kitten food (at the advice of our vet) and actually had to force some in her mouth so that she could figure out what it was. We had to give her water with an eyedropper for the first few days until she got the hang of drinking water out of a bowl without drowning. At any given time, she would only stay awake for an hour at a pop before it was nap-time and she’d find a warm spot under someone’s collar, on a lap, or even under the furniture covers to hunker down and nap. Because she was so little, we confined her to a bathroom at night when we went to bed. As soon as we put her in there at night, she was quiet and we didn’t hear a thing from her until we got up the next morning. When she snuggled with me, she’d suckle on my ear lobe and just hold it in her mouth and go to sleep.
She was adorable.
Was.
Sadie has no fear of anything or anybody. She isn’t just energetic, she is frantic with energy from the time she wakes until it’s time for her next nap. She is into absolutely everything. And poor Simba can’t take a nap without her jumping on him, messing with him, and pissing him off. She grabs hold of the fur on his backside and, as he runs yowling, she goes along for the ride, teeth clamped firmly on his fur. When I’m in the shower, she runs right in, runs around in the shower playing with the water as it runs down the drain or she sits on the seat in the shower and watches me. When I’m brushing my teeth, she jumps up on the vanity, into the sink, and bats at my toothbrush as I brush or plays with the stream of water coming out of the faucet. As I take my morning meds, she jumps up and pulls at the paper cup as I try to drink from it.
Sadie climbs the door casings. She jumps as high as she can (and this girl gets some SERIOUS air), then clamps onto the door casings with all 4 paws/claws and just hangs there, like a Koala bear. She takes a running start down the hallway and, as she reaches top speed, launches herself onto the wall and then pushes off with her feet — literally “bouncing off the walls.”
She chews on the cord to my laptop. She jumps onto the counter in the kitchen where the sink is and bats our poor plant around. She gets into any sink and acts like she’s digging on the smooth surface (I think she likes the slippery feel), although she doesn’t scratch it. If there’s any kind of bug, she will climb whatever screen, piece of furniture or other obstacle she needs to in order to get to said bug. She tightrope-walks across the top of the wrought iron rail which would drop her 10 feet to the floor beneath if she loses her balance. Every time poor Idgie walks into a room, Sadie chases her right back out for the pure pleasure of watching Idgie run. At night, Sadie comes into our room, purring loudly, looking for an earlobe to suckle. If we cover our ears, she just grabs any loose piece of skin (which, at our ages, could be just about anywhere) and begins to suckle. If we discourage that, she runs back and forth across our bed (meaning our chests, our faces, whatever) in that same frantic style of play. We often have to put her out of the room and block the cat door coming into the room just so we can get some sleep.
Sadie uses her claws to fish things out of places. She does this with the litter in the litterbox, leaving a huge pile of litter OUTSIDE the box. She fishes throat lozenges out of a small container on our headboard, and carries them around the house, batting them around. Q-tips come out of the trash can, as do toilet paper rolls (we have 3 bathrooms so that’s 3 times the fun). Of course, there’s the shredded toilet paper, too.
So, last week Lisa was dog-sitting for a friend. That first night I thought to myself “Sah-weet! I can sprawl across the bed!” so I went to bed looking forward to having the bed all to myself. About 2:00 or so, Sadie comes in, purring loudly, looking for an earlobe or other fleshy part of the body to suckle. Like an annoying mosquito, I kept waving her away, to no avail. After an hour or so, Sadie gave up and just sort of faded into the darkness. Just as I was drifting back to sleep, I heard the retching. Then I heard it again. I reached up, turned on the light, and saw Simba hunched over at the foot of my bed, horking on the bedspread.
Now, understand, cat yak makes ME retch and often Lisa is the one who has to clean it up, while she laughs raucously at my retching. Without Lisa there, I knew I’d have to clean it up. So, I steeled myself, went into the bathroom for some toilet paper, and saw that it was shredded all over the place. I gathered up some shreds, put a huge grin on my face, and went to clean up the cat yak. Why the grin? We were watching CSI one night and Sara Sidle was grinning while at the a particularly nasty crime scene — she told her colleage that she’d read that grinning suppresses the gag reflex. So, there I am, at about 3:00 in the morning, grinning like a fool, cleaning cat puke off my bed.
Completely exhausted from the constant interruption in my sleep, I dropped like a prom dress into my bed again, but lay there tossing and turning for another hour or so until I finally drifted back to sleep…to be awakened a short time later by Idgie pulling the covers from me with her claws. This his how SHE gets attention. I’ve always thought it was adorable and, since Sadie has come into our home, Idgie stopped coming into our room with us at night. So, I was pleased to see her, and told her how much I missed her, and petted her, scratched her behind the ears, everything she asked of me. But she wouldn’t settle down, which was weird. After a good half hour or so of trying to drift off only to be nudged by Idgie again I finally realized that the only reason she was there was most likely because all the food dishes were empty. So, I got up, went to the kitchen and snapped on the light. The hair on the back of my neck prickled up as I realized I was completely surrounded by the four cats, all looking at me expectantly. All four dishes were empty, not a morsel to be found and I found myself feeling very unsettled with the position I found myself in — surrounded by four hungry cats. I scooped food into all four food dishes and went back to the bedroom and promptly blocked any way for the cats to come back into the bedroom. It was nearly 5:00 and I’d not had much sleep at all.
I tossed and turned for a while longer until I finally dropped back off. The alarm went off too soon and I lay in bed for another hour and a half before I was able to force myself to get up and start my work day. I showered, dressed and opened the bedroom door. I took one step into the hallway and stood stock still, dumbfounded.
The hallway was littered with band-aid wrappers, Q-tips, shredded toilet paper, toiled paper rolls, tissues, and other types of items you’d find in the trash can in the bathroom. You know the one — the one that was overturned in the spare bathroom. All the contents of that trashcan were strewn about the hallway, into the living room, and into the kitchen. In the kitchen I found a 10-12 foot piece of shredded toilet paper — most likely the predecessor of the mess that I’d found a couple of minutes earlier in the bathroom. I stood there, surveying the mess, and turned to look back down the hall toward my bedroom.
In the half-light of dawn, I could make out something on the floor in the spare bedroom, but wasn’t quite sure what it was. It seemed rather large and almost looked like it could be a blanket or something. I walked down the hallway to investigate and, the closer I got, the more convinced I was that it was a blanket. It seemed brownish and very plush, but an instantaneous thought struck me that we didn’t have any blankets or similar items that fit that sort of description. I snapped on the light in the spare bedroom and clapped my hand over my mouth as I said “OH MY GOD, SADIE!”
In the room NEXT to the spare bedroom, on an over-the-door hook on the back of the door, I’d had a rabbit coat that I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with. This was the object laying on the floor in the spare bedroom. This little kitten had somehow managed to jump up and get that coat off the hook, and had dragged it into the spare bedroom. Rabbit fur was EVERYWHERE on the carpet.
Behind me, Sadie sat on her haunches, feigning innocence.
She’s damned lucky she’s cute.
SoS?
Spawn of Satan.
And for some reason, the vet keeps telling me that a lobotomy is not an option. We’ll see about that…
Speaking of the Spawn of Satan……..
The New York State Senate continues their childish antics. While two Democrats defected to the Republican side to vote on the leadership, making the Republicans control the chambers with a 32-30 lead, one has since gone back to the Democrat fold, giving the chamber a 50-50 split at 31-31. They are getting nothing accomplished and are having dueling sessions — the Republicans claiming control and running the show THEY think they own, and the Democrats doing the same. The governor keeps ordering them back to work even though they’re supposed to be through with this year’s session, but they merely enter the chamber and begin their childish games once again.
For the time being, the courts are refusing to get involved to resolve the leadership situation. And, because our elected governor stepped down in shame, elevating the Lieutenant Governor to the top spot, we have no Lieutenant Governor to act as a tie-breaker.
One of the defecting Democrats got, as his reward, leadership of the Senate. Greed. This man represents his own self-interests and not those of his constituents.
The entire shitty lot of them should be fired.
In another state, at the state government level, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford falls off the face of the planet for a few days. Nobody, not even his wife and kids know where he is. It’s a minor news blip but nothing more is made of it while he’s MIA. State government at every level argues and fights over who gets the reins and why.
He resurfaces AFTER a nice trip to Buenos Aires with his mistress.
When news first broke about his mysterious disappearance, first lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press she did not know where her husband had gone for the Father’s Day weekend.
Sanford’s announcement came a day after another prominent Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, apologized to his GOP Senate colleagues after revealing last week that he had an affair with a campaign staffer and was resigning from the GOP leadership.
And what, exactly is with these governors, regardless of party? “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” is the old adage. And I’m thinking this list indicates that our governors need more to do at work!
- Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D-AL) found guilty of bribery, mail fraud and obstruction of justice 6/29/2006, sentenced to 88 months.
- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Vice president nominee in the 2008 elections. Troopergate — refers to her alleged dismissal of Walt Monegan because he wouldn’t fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin’s ex-brother-in-law. A state personnel board investigation found no wrong-doing. Other investigations continue.
- Arizona Governor John Fife Symington III convicted of fraud (1997)
- Arkansas Governor James Guy Tucker, Jr. (D-AR), convicted of fraud conspiracy (1996)
- Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland resigned from office during a corruption investigation, and later pleaded guilty in federal court to a one-count with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and tax fraud. He served ten months in a federal prison followed by four months house arrest ending in June, 2006.
- Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. He was also accused of “Pay to Play” schemes, including the sale of President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder. He was impeached and removed from office (January 28, 2009)
- Illinois Governor George H. Ryan (R-IL) illegal sale of government licenses and contracts as Secretary of IL State. Convicted (2006)
- Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards (D-LA) convicted of extortion (2000)
- New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevy (D-NJ) Resigned from office 11/15/07 after admitting his homosexuality and the inappropriate appointment of his alleged male-sex partner to a government paid office.(2004)
- Oklahoma Governor David Walters (D-OK) pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election law violation (1993)
- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson(D-NM) withdraws his bid to be President-Elect Obama’s Commerce Secretary due to an investigation by a federal grand jury into how a California company that contributed to Richardson’s political activities won a New Mexico transportation contract worth more than $1 million (January 4, 2009)
- Ohio Governor Bob Taft (R-OH) pleads no contest and is convicted on four first-degree misdemeanor ethics violations (2005)
- West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore Jr(R) guilty of mail fraud, tax fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice, (1990)
As my friend RL says — if their lips are moving, they’re lying.
That’s what’s going on these days. Nothing. Nothing new, at least.
I liked Kris Allen almost from the beginning. I have to confess to having liked Danny a bit more than Kris early on, but as the competition progressed, I decided I liked Kris the best of all. Cool, assured, in great control, great range, a good, well-rounded singer.
