Hmm?

Hello everyone, Fin's Mom here. I've hijacked the blog to report this "Things that make you go hmm" moment.

We left Fin alone overnight on Thanksgiving while we went to my in-laws home in California. Friday morning I awoke at 5:30am to the sound of a cat meowing loudly outside my guest room window (auditory hallucination or an actual cat - I couldn't tell).

I was settling back to sleep at 6am I was awoken by an alarm of an "ocean" sound which sounded oddly enough like a combo of a purr and a grumbling tummy. I was unable to turn it off (even with the lights on), all I could find was snooze. So it went off every ten minutes till I finally figured it out at 6:30am. Coincidence? I mean if she can go to Finland on a magic carpet is it so hard to imagine it was all her doing?

(Twilight Zone music plays, Fin purrs happily and I think she winked)

PS: Fin's belly up napping is featured on kittybellys.com

Floofy Friday

Did I mention that my parents have abandoned me for 24 hours?

They are returning this afternoon, and this is the view they will be seeing.

Update: My belly is being featured on Kittybellys.com

Thanksgiving Thursday

As always I have many things to be thankful for this Thursday, but since it's Thanksgiving Day I feel like I need to bump it up a bit. So I'm going with a special Turkey edition.

Yeah Turkey the star of the Thanksgiving table. Sure there are other good things too, gravy (everything is better with gravy!!), stuffing (well, I guess you can pick the sausage out), mashed potatoes (hey, they make a nice bowl for gravy), yams (yawn), cranberry (waste of plate space I say), and don't even get me started on the green bean casserole. All Hail Turkey!

In the spirit of giving, let me give a shout out to Tufurkey, on behalf of my vegetarian friends and relatives. Oh I can barely say that without snickering, turkey from tofu, crazy lovable vegans.

What? I have just informed my parents will be going to Thanksgiving Dinner elsewhere. Well, as long as they bring home a kitty bag full of Turkey I'll still be thankful.

Have a very happy day everyone. May you be filled with the spirit of thanks - and Turkey.

6 AM - The Sequel

Screenplay by Fin

Fade In. Interior Bedroom. Two humans are STILL lying in bed. FIN, our heroine, is watching vigilantly from a curled position on a nearby chair. She is exhausted but she remains awake.

FIN wearily stretches her floofy legs and jumps in slow motion to the bed (Mission Impossible theme plays). She lands safely as we return to regular motion. FIN carefully navigates climbing over MOMMY's hip to reach her face.

FIN (politely): Mommy it's time to get up.

MOMMY grunts as sweet FIN gently pets her face with her delicate paw.

MOMMY (crabbily): I already fed you, now beat it.

Clever FIN, seeing MOMMY is hopeless, dashes over MOMMY's head to the nightstand. She begins to push MOMMY's glasses towards the floor. FIN narrowly avoids MOMMY's backward flailing hands as MOMMY grabs her glasses and tucks them under her pillow.

Our plucky heroine FIN looks determined. She begins to scoot the full glass of water towards the edge of the nightstand and the bed beyond.

MOMMY (angry now): If you spill that water on me again Fin, I will go Carnival Freak Crazy!

FIN, with great bravery and determination, scoots the glass just a bit more. MOMMY flips herself over with surprising speed. Brave FIN stands her ground and points to the hated noisy box. The wild eyed (and haired) MOMMY looks at the clock which now reads 6:15am. MOMMY's face is transformed into softness as she realizes the situation. MOMMY scoops FIN into her arms for a forced cuddle.

MOMMY (sweetly): I don't have to go to work today, I'm on vacation. Let's snuggle instead.

FIN is placed between her two parents and is showered with pets and scratches.

Fade Out

Don't you just love a happy ending. I need a Kleenex.

5 AM - Screenplay

5 AM

Screenplay by Fin

Fade In - Interior Bedroom. The room is dark. We see two humans sleeping in the foreground. In the distance our heroine, FIN, is sitting in the hallway watching over her family.

FIN (politely): Merrrr! Merrrr! Excuse me but Mommy I'm hungry!

MOMMY (crabbily): Shut it little cat, it's flippin five am and I'm not getting up yet.

We see sweet, hungry FIN pacing back and forth in the hallway. A short montage runs, showing many cute poses to music (perhaps to the song "Anticipation"). A timer runs in the corner of the screen to show an inordinate amount of time has passed (perhaps as much as three minutes).

FIN (impatient now): Maa-ow! Mommy, I'm starving now! I've not eaten since last night!

MOMMY (frustrated) DADDY stirs and then quiets: Okay! I can't take it anymore, I'll feed you.

MOMMY rises from the bed as Fin dances in the hallway. MOMMY lumbers down the hall as the lively heroine FIN races ahead. MOMMY looks at each can of Feast, distaste on her face. Our heroine mewls loudly and pitifully as she dances around MOMMY's feet. She is growing weak from starvation. MOMMY cracks up a can in slow motion (cue sound effect). MOMMY clutches her hand to her face as she holds back a hairball of her own. Mommy places the TINY can of food onto a plate and plops it on the floor without ceremony.

MOMMY (still irritable): I hope you are happy now.

FIN (politely): Well, if you could pop it into the microwave for maybe ten seconds, just to take the chill off that would be excellent. Thanks for asking.

MOMMY walks away in a Drama Queen inducing huff. Our Heroine shrugs and gets down to business licking the gravy.

Fade Out

MoMo Monday

My dear friend, and Sister In Floof, MoMo is not feeling her best right now so I decided to dedicate my post today to helping her feel better. Mommy took some pictures of the lovely flowers that drape over our wall for her, she loves a nice garden.

Please join me in sending purrs for sweet MoMo to feel better very soon.

World Domination

Let me start this post by saying I have no personal desire to rule the world (just ruling over Mommy will do), but I have noticed that some of my cat friends would like to, and I think there could be some merits to a cat run world.

So no plans for domination here, but when you have an idea you have to share it right? The key to Cat World Domination is - Kittens. No, not to have them run things, imagine thundering kitten herds running things - um no. Kittens are the distraction, while the cats move in.

I was thinking about all the kittens I have seen recently and how much the humans are powerless in their darling presence, other than to squeal and clamor to hold them. My great friend Whicky's home is being overrun, Siena is having to share her - well everything, and then while I was away I learned that Mommy was cuddling kittens at a shelter! I know! Luckily she came home empty-handed, thanks Daddy.

So kittens are the key, place them out in front of the World Domination Movement while cats run things. Probably few humans will even notice. Well all this deep thinking has me tuckered out, time for a nap.

Floofy Friday

I know another gratuitous Nip shot.

The "carpet" you saw on Wednesday laying on top of me was my own floof. Yep all mine.

Thankful Thursday

Today I have a lot to be thankful for, as I do every Thursday. I have my family, my friends, and a nice warm home. Things are good. In hard times like these I've noticed it can be easy to get a little focused on everything that is going wrong instead of everything that is going right.

I've received this pretty little award from sweet Siena, and I'm thankful I don't have a little hissy, err sissy. I'm thankful she is a rule breaker and I think I don't have to name anyone... I always feel such pressure. I love all my friend's blogs so it's so hard to choose. If any of my followers would like to pick up the torch I love your blogs too.

Then I asked my friend Huffle Mawson to give me a letter. Huffle gave me the letter D (thankful I didn't get X) and I have to think of ten things I love that start with the letter D.

1. Daddy!
2. Dan - Okay I know him as my grandfather but it is his real name
3. Daisy the Curly Cat
4. December - Good snuggling weather
5. Doors - Fun to paw open or to close
6. Drumming - Daddy plays on Washer
7. Dryer - I like to nap on it
8. Dog - Not all dogs but I loved My Dog Koda
9. Dark - I can see in it
10. Daylight - the perfect reason for breakfast

If any cat wants a letter leave me a comment.

Wordless Wednesday

Looky!

Today I was hanging out in the living room (a complete misnomer as no one lives there usually) when I saw a package on the table. I took a little look and then a big giant sniff. Hmm, smells good - like cat perhaps?

My loud pawing and investigating finally alerted Mommy that I had found the package. Turns out my prize for winning the Frisky Fall contest had arrived well I was away. I demanded she open it right away.

A Kitten Calendar. A Cat Sack (with a string handle!), I might be a bit too big to get in it but you know I'm gonna try. What's in that other little sack? I better take a closer look.

Catnip Toys! Snergle... rubbing my face with package, big deep sniffs... snergle. Crack it open Mommy!! I love that little red fella, Little Nipper I call him. Oh what's that... more stuff! Jingle bell rolly balls... I think I need to rest. I'll be rolling those around at 2am, when I'm nipped up and well rested.

Thanks Floof and Fur, and a personal thanks to my floof, I couldn't have done it without you.

This Land Is My Land

We’ve been having so much fun on our trip, and I’m so glad you’ve all been coming along with us. It's like you're all there with us. The Magic Carpet is now completely floof covered.

When I mentioned to my SIFs (MoMo, Miss Kitty, and Siena) that there was a land nearby named after me, they all said we needed to go. Can you guess where we went next? That’s right, Finland!

As soon as we landed in Finland we met up with some of the native cats. They were very excited when they learned my name was Fin. They were so welcoming of the Norwegian Four that they took us all around town. We saw all the amazing sites, and met many of the fine people of the land. Naturally we wanted to see the forests in Finland too. Here we all are checking things out.

Finally it was time to leave, as the crowds were getting a bit thick at our appearences. I was given this special gift by the Finnish cats and their familes.

I don’t think it will be permanent there, more of a special edition, but I’ll be flying it over the house with pride when I get home.

MoMo wanted to check out Lapland too. I have to admit that I thought it was going to be something totally different than it turned out to be. It was great, but I was distracted (looking for the laps, which I imagined would be everywhere).

It’s been a grand adventure with my floofy sisters but this cat is anxious to get home to the land of Mommy lap. I’ll be offline tomorrow and then Tuesday I’ll be back to business as usual at my happiest place on earth, home.

Northern Lights

I mentioned to my SIFs (MoMo, Miss Kitty, Siena) about my plan to take the carpet and check out Finnmark and everyone was on board. It was really cold in the Arctic Circle so we didn't stay long, but look at how pretty the Northern Lights were.

Hey it kinda looks like a floofy tail. You don't see that in the Nevada desert. We managed to avoid getting eaten by any Polar Bears, so it was a fun excursion. We have a big day planned tomorrow in a new place, so I won't be able to post about it till Sunday. Have you guessed where we are going next? I personally can't wait.

Norway At Last

Norway at last, and it's lovely. The carpet ride was very nice, no turbulence to speak of. We flew over a number of the main cities in Norway on the carpet.

We went to Lillehammer which is where the Olympics were held. Of course Siena wanted to zoom zoom down the bobsled run on the carpet. I was hesitant, but after some encouragement by MoMo and Miss Kitty, I said yes. What the heck you only live nine times right.

We dropped by Bergen which is right by the water for some much needed fresh fish. We declined the locals offer to go ice fishing. We have snowshoe paws but still, brr.

Being forest cats naturally we had to go see the forests. So we headed past the Fjords and into the forest land. The big cities were few and far between so we stopped in a small village. Although our notoriety had not spread here (no Internet access) we were welcomed by the village cats with headbutts and licks. Of course all the young mancats were after the young one, although we three older kitties were called cougars (odd) and got some of the attention too.

We enjoyed a welcome party in the local pub and we showed everyone how to make a good and dirty Niptini (well that sounds naughty but it really wasn't). Since it was dark our new friends suggested we stay in the village till morning, so we snuggled under the carpet by a little cabin and waited for the sunrise. When we woke up we saw it had snowed. Boy it sure was lovely.

Then it was off the forest at last. Here we are in the forest (one of our new friends was nice enough to take our picture).

After of plenty of climbing (and some leaping from tree to tree, and some nerve wracking running straight down the tree by Siena) we were all exhausted. So we all snuggled under the carpet for a long sleep. Tommorrow we are headed off to my place...

PS – I might go rogue and borrow the carpet for a quick adventure… I saw this in a brochure… "The land above the Arctic Circle is known for midnight sun, northern lights, the Sami people in Finnmark, and polar bears at the Svalbard Islands." It sounds a bit dangerous, what with the polar bears, but Finnmark? Come on! Hey do you think I can pick up some meatballs in Sweden?

Siena Joins the Carpet

The pilgrimage to our ancestral homeland of Norway continues... We all had some good carpet naps on our way to Siena's house in Germany. It was a long trip but all the purring and chatting made it seem like no time at all. MoMo and Miss Kitty wanted to look around Germany for a bit and we took this picture. Isn't it pretty from the carpet?

I requested that we head right off to Siena's place for a few reasons, I wanted a guided tour, to see little Siena of course, and truth be told, after that long trip, I needed a litter box ASAP.

Sweet Siena, or LSIF (little sister in floof), is just as cute and full of life as I thought she would be. She was leaping and purring and it was hard to pin her down (you know the young ones are).

Thank goodness Mommy didn't come, she would have been incapable of putting her down. Plus she would be begging for a baby sister for me (I have one Mommy, she just lives in Germany, don't get any ideas. No I can't keep her). We all had some milk as we planned what to do next.

Siena took us on a tour of her place, including her fountain with some fishes. Luckily I realized they were probably pets and told everyone it would be rude to dip our paws to try to catch them. They wouldn't have stood a chance with four excellent huntresses.

MoMo and Miss Kitty were climbing in the trees with Siena, so her Mom showed me the famous garden. I offered to snoopervise dinner prep with Siena's Mom. It was a little sad when we had to leave, Siena's mom was very nice to chat with.


We boarded the carpet and of course LSIF wanted to drive. All that zooming was a little too much for this granny cat so I put my paw down and insisted on the auto pilot. We all snuggled in for a nap. Good thing we have all that floof to keep us toasty. We'll be in Norway soon...

Miss Kitty Joins the Carpet

MoMo and I had so much fun on the first leg of our journey to Norway. Some cats have expressed concern over the sturdiness of the Magic Carpet, but it's delightful, practically flies itself. We flew over the desert chatting, and caught a quick nap too (yes the Magic Carpet has auto-pilot, they don't call it "Magic" for nothing).

The trip took hardly any time at all, and before we knew it we were at Miss Kitty's house. She welcomed us with open paws and we all got caught up, much purring all around. She is a lovely cat (even prettier than her pictures). I knew Mommy would have loved to snuggle her too.


MoMo wanted to stretch her legs before we headed off to pick up Siena in Germany, that's when Miss Kitty mentioned that the "Happiest Place on Earth" was right down the road. I was skeptical at first, but let me say it totally lived up to the hype - A six foot, slow moving mouse, who doesn't mind being nibbled. Happy? - I'll say! To protect his street cred he said that he couldn't be filmed with us, and that he preferred to have his name left out of any press releases. We agreed, but let's just say his name starts with an "M" and ends with "Icky."


Here we are heading out of the park, we decided to leave as soon as we saw the six foot dog (starts with a "G" ends with "Oofy").

Miss Kitty wanted her turn at driving the carpet so I looked on as we headed off to Germany to pick up Siena. MoMo took a well deserved rest. More tomorrow from Germany.

P.S. Don't forget to visit the other cat's blogs as they share their experiences.

Waiting for MoMo

Well everyone I'm all ready for my trip to my ancestral homeland of Norway. MoMo has posted some great information about Norwegian Forest Cats, you should check it out.

My coat has been extra floofed for warmth. I'm sitting on the front stoop waiting for MoMo, my Sister in Floof, to come pick me up. She said to keep my eyes towards the sky. She is coming all the way from Australia and I'm guessing she might be hungry, so I've packed Temptations for all the kitties to enjoy.

I have to admit I was a little nervous too, I've never been away from home for this long, but Mommy assured me that I could teleport home for a quick snuggle if I needed too. She always makes feel better. She also reminded me that little Siena would need to have the three older and wiser cats watching over her to make sure she doesn't get into any mischief.. well not too much anyway. What's a vacation without a little mischief?

"What's that? Is it a bird, is it a plane? No it's MoMo! Look Mommy and Daddy!"

It's MoMo in the fur! Oh she is even prettier in real life. ::Purrs and headbutts go on for several minutes::

"MoMo are you hungry? I have Feast and Temptations ready for you. Yes?" ::Nom, Nom, Nom::

Mommy scoops MoMo up and give her lots of forced snuggling.

"Mommy you are embarrassing yourself, put MoMo down. No, you can't come too. The magic carpet is for kitties only!"

Now I have some forced snuggling too (okay I don't really mind this time) then Daddy gets in on the action (of course I love the forced snuggling with Daddy). He even gives MoMo some good chin scratches.

MoMo and I settle onto the carpet for our trip to California to pick up Miss Kitty. Oh the carpet is very safe but very different than the car. Oh my I hope I don't yak on the Magic Carpet, that would be embarrassing. ::Errgle:: No, I'm settled in now. Join us tomorrow as we visit the sites in Southern California. Here is a picture of Las Vegas as we fly by - No it's not my house, in case you were wondering.

Almost Time

I know I promised to give my tips on how to get your fill of the Feast back on Monday, but the week just got away from me. I started off the week at the Vet (I'm feeling better now, but the antibiotics made me a bit sick to my tummy so I'm glad they're done tomorrow!), then there was election excitement, and Peace Day, whew.

I'm so sorry but you'll have to wait for now my friends, because now it’s almost time to take a trip to my ancestral homeland of Norway with the other Norwegian cats. Tomorrow I have to pack my treats for everyone, maybe a toy or two for us all to play with, but luckily I already have my own fur coat.

It all started awhile back when MoMo and Miss Kitty had this great idea for all of the Norwegian Forest Cats to go on a trip to check things out in Norway. So MoMo from Australia, little Siena from Germany, Miss Kitty from California and I are headed over to check things out. Here is our itinerary:

Monday MoMo will be leaving her place to pick me up from Nevada

Tuesday we will be off to pick up Miss Kitty in Southern California

Wednesday we will be heading off to Germany to pick up Sienna

Thursday we'll all be in Norway!

Friday I’ll sneak away from all the fun for a quick floof shot as we explore the city

Saturday we will be offline as we travel to another country but I will show you all the festivities on Sunday and then we will be headed home.

I hope you will join us in our adventures. Luckily I can still teleport home for a quick snuggle, dictate my posts to Mommy, and leave comments on my friends blogs. Boy isn’t technology grand.

Floofy Friday

Bath Time or My Bowling Ball Impression?

Dona Nobis Pacem

Today many bloggers throughout the world will dedicate their posts to the subject of peace. This movement was started by Mimiwrites. Peace is a big dream to try to be held within the borders of a web page. I like to imagine it's a hope held by most, and yet it proves to be elusive in the world.

Will my post, joined with many others, help to create peace? Will my humble post stop countries from going to war? I think that's probably too much for me to hope for. I'm but one small cat after all. I will try to demonstrate peace within my own sphere of influence and hope that my small piece of peace will encourage others to do the same. Perhaps with each of us making the effort in our own small spheres we can make changes the giant sphere you see above.

Treat the ones you love well. Treat the people that you don't love well too. Try to find the commonality between you instead of finding the reasons to disagree, and when we must disagree, do so with respect.

Wanted Wednesday

Wanted

Can you believe we have no squirrels here?

Just little "ground" squirrels which are smaller than a chipmunk (we don't have those either). Mommy wants a cute little squirrel, anyone have one to spare? Oh boy Mommy is squealing over our own post.

Feast Guidelines

Well friends, I thought I'd hit the feast jackpot. Mommy, in her blindness, had been unable to read the Feast can. She thought I should be getting a half of one of those wee small cans twice a day.

Finally all my crying encouraged her to trombone the can and look more closely. She thought the can said 1 oz per three pounds of cat, and as a petite 13 pound kitty I should have, say... 13 divided by 3... give or take... 4 ounces.

I danced about the kitchen with joy, 4 cans of Feast everyday! Now that's what I'm talking about Mommy. Then I heard the dreaded voice of reason -

Mommy - Wait that can't be right, 4 cans of Feast a day! Oh the can is 3 ozs so... That's probably one can, I was right.

Fin - What! That is just wrong. Look, how do I know you aren't just horrible at math? Blind and bad at math - it's like the perfect storm. Look again.

Mommy - Oh one can per 3 pounds of cat.

Fin - See!

Mommy - That seems way too much! You'll be one ton of kitty.

Kitties I need your guidance, how much Feast should one cat have in a day? Remember I am refusing to eat any dry food - make sure that goes into your calculations. Oh and I like the kind with gravy and small chunks so it's not a solid can, make sure you take that into consideration too.

VET

Dear Readers I have some news to report. I was forced into a PTU (Prisoner Transport Unit, I think it's called) and sent off to the V.E.T. on Saturday morning. Why you might ask? My parents (Mommy in particular) are worry warts.

About a month or so ago, I started to shun the dry food I'd always been given to eat. My nose became upturned to the Friskies I had once enjoyed (oh my, do you think this will ruin my chances at a future endorsement deal?), a fine product to be sure (whew, I think I saved it) but no longer to my taste. I had a taste for the Feast. I was craving the goodness that's stinky.

I would dance and cry for the feast. At first it was just given as a treat, but slowly it became all I wanted (okay, pretty quickly actually). Dry food was completely refused. I even lost some weight in the war being waged with my parents. Daddy thought I was being difficult (really!) and would eventually return to the dry stuff. Nope! They bought well over five different varieties and still nothing.

Finally Mommy said I was losing weight, and buckled into giving me the feast on demand, and demand I did (I'll be sharing my methods later this week). I also started to really down the water (this was just because I got a new water dispenser and the water was delicious). Mommy began to worry I had an issue. I heard things like "Maybe we should get her checked out? She's a granny cat after all."

Well Mommy stressed for about a week about traumatizing me (which I appreciate and love her for) and purchased feline hormone spray to soothe me in the carrier (boy that stuff is nice) and drug laced treats to calm me (of course I refused to eat those). As you know I like to keep the parents guessing so instead of freaking out, I was like a perfect little angel going to the VET, no biting, no bunny kicks, hardly even a harsh meow.

The Vet was the best ever (well as good as his kind can be), he thought my gums looked a bit red and gave me an antibiotic (yuck) to try for a week. No rude tests, unless I don't improve. I was a bit put off though when he mentioned I was a "sizable" kitty. Well I never! He didn't mention the "D" word though.

Oh and it turns out, that in Mommy's middle-aged blindness, she misjudged the amount of Feast I should be getting. No wonder I was so hungry. So I will be a mostly good cat and take my medicine with minimal biting, get lots of lap naps on Mommy, guilt treats, and finally I will have my fill of the Feast. Should be a pretty good week.

Halloween Changes

Well Halloween is over for another year. Mommy dressed in her traditional costume "Wild-Haired Lady, with No Makeup in a Nightie" and Daddy in his "Middle-Aged Guy Who's Way To Excited About Carving a Pumpkin." We did the traditional things, but it got me thinking.

Back in July I made some very well received suggestions on how America should alter the way it celebrates its birthday (look for an official campaign to be launched next year). After much careful consideration, I’d like to now suggest some changes to how we celebrate Halloween.

Change one - I don’t like the sound of the doorbell. It startles me. I also don’t care for my parents constantly getting up from the couch to answer the door for the wee ones. It disturbs my napping or snuggle time. Here's what I’d like to see instead. All the wee ones should gather together in front of the house, when everyone is present, they may politely knock on the door. The humans of the house pass out the treats, as the wee ones look in through the door and admire the kitty (resting at a safe distance, of course). When the candy runs out, or within 15 minutes, whichever comes first, Halloween is over, and on to the next house for the wee ones.

Change two - Why are we the only ones handing out treats? Shouldn't this be two way street? I’d like to see the wee ones bring offerings for the cat of the house as an exchange. Perhaps small hunks of Beef Jerky or Temptations can be left as offerings in a large bowl by the front door - call it a Bast bowl perhaps.

I think you'll agree that with these simple changes, Halloween can be fun for everyone.

Oh and I'd like to give a special shout out to Tater, my new pup hero. Mommy said a co-worker was trying on her scary Halloween outfit the night before Halloween, and saw that it startled the poor pup. She then chased poor Tater, amid startled barks, around the house. When she later removed the outfit, and fell asleep in a wine induced haze, Tater attacked and destroyed the costume. Good Dog! A virtual pat on the head for you.