Ok, we were less back then I planned....

Boy this week has been weird - first of all, we had surprise managers in at work - yuck. And so that was stressfull and visiting didn't happen. I have to admit I have been very depressed lately because of my job, and I think that makes it hard for me to visit because I am always afraid of bad news. That and I feel guilty not visiting (and yes, I know I shouldn't but that is just the kind of person I am - I feel bad when I get a new car because I am convinced the old car thinks I don't love it anymore and will feel bad - and yes I am 100% aware of how insane that sounds. I think it is from being an only child and having "friends" that were toys to play with when no real friends were available - like, if you watch that TV show The Middle, when Sue feels bad about getting rid of her hot rollers - I could relate to that. Not that it matters, just wanted to let you know why I feel the guilt about not visiting). I do miss you all tons when I don't get to visit - I know I am always in a much better mood when I get the chance. Oh, this is going to be a long, rambling post is my guess - so just to let you know ahead of time. I honestly haven't looked at my email in forever - so if you emailed me that is why no responses. I mean, seriously, there are emails from WAY back - I just get so overwhelmed by it sometimes and mark it as read and plan to go back and read it but then I just never get around to it.

Ok, so enough about me being crazy - oh, and still a bit in pain. My mouth is healing but not great, and that is frustrating me because I have had a lot of dental stuff done in the past and never had this kind of issue (I had 10 baby teeth pulled at age 13 because they had full, solid roots and wouldn't come out even though the adult teeth were there - this hurts more). So now, on to cat news - not there there is a lot of it.

Lets see, I will go by age, oldest to youngest as usual. So that means, Kirzon. Kirzon is doing good - we got some new toys for them - giant (seriously like 18" long) pipecleaners - and Kirzon has one he seems to like. They were a bit intimidated by them being so big (except Gus) so I curled them into springs and they love them - even Kirzon has a blue one he likes! It is great that even at his age he still likes to play.

Lola is being her usual, crabby old lady self. But she likes to play too - there is a string she really loves (and I only play with it with her), and she is always very snuggly while she is out. She is only in her own room when we are not home or at night, so she wouldn't be seeing us anyway at those times, so I think she is ok with that, since the other cats don't bother her that way. But she is getting much better with most of them - Barney still likes to bug her but she really seems to like Trixie.

Virgil is very much a mancat now - he almost never chases Lola around anymore (Barney took that over) and he seems more mature - I guess at 3 he should be at that age. He loves his milk rings and likes to play with them - and the other cats seem to know that they are his toys, so when he wants to play fetch with them they don't try going after them (they do with balls and pompoms and he gets mad about that sometimes). He loves to be in Lola's room and usually spends a little time in there at night with her alone while I am getting ready for bed, which I do in her room to spend some extra time with her.

Barney is still very much a kitten - he plays and chases everyone, but especially Lola. I think he learned that from Virgil because that used to be Virgil's thing to do. He is a bit of a jealous boy sometimes I think but he loves his little brothers and sisters and snuggles with them a lot, especially Trixie and Stella, who like to wash his face, and he seems to love it when they do. He is always a snuggle bug, and he is always there to greet me when I get home from work - there are times when I am still in the car, and he is in the laundry room and I can hear him meowing for me to come in.

Gus is well, Gus. He has been more snuggly lately, especially in the morning when I have to go to work. He is always curious - I think the most curious of all the cats - but he is curious from a distance and likes to observe. He will sit on the dresser or the table and just watch what is going on. Oh, and he loves the heart shaped pillow so much and will claim it whenever it is free. Kirzon wanted to sit there once, so he sat next to Gus and Gus was all freaked out and staring at him. Stella sits there with him and he is fine but I think he still thinks of himself as a kitten and of Kirzon as the big leader mancat - even though Gus is bigger than Kirzon now.

Stella is a little troublemaker - she is always getting into things and knocking stuff down. There is a table in the kitchen with glass tiles on top - she has knocked it over twice and broken or chipped all the tiles. She loves to try to jump and get bugs she sees outside the windows, and that is what causes a lot of the problems. She and Trixie love to chase each other all over the house in the morning.

Trixie is doing great - she really fits in well with the group. She is still the smallest by a tiny bit, so she is the perfect size to play with Virgil if he wants to not have to play with a bigger cat, and she is so sweet to everyone for the most part. There have been times when some cat is walking by and she will just bop them, but I think that is her way to get their attention to play, and if they just ignore her she will move on to the next cat. She is also a big snuggle bug, and sometimes it is a contest between her and Barney to get the best snuggle spot. But at night, she always sleeps in the little cat bed on the end of the bed - she loves it. She will snuggle for a while, but then when she gets sleept it is straight to her little bed. Oh, and she is funny - she likes to touch faces. She is very sweet and loving when she does it but when she does it to the other cats they are weirded out a bit. I try to explain but they don't get it at all.

Ok, see, I told you this would be long! I hope to get in visiting and have some pictures for you to see tomorrow - I haven't taken any in a while so I hope to do it soon.