My oldest son, Chris, came to visit Dan and I last month and introduced us to the world of “geocaching.” It apparently has been around for years, but since I live in a cat induced bubble, it was new to me. For those of you that also may have no clue what geocaching is, it is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a GPS receiver or mobile device to seek hidden containers of various sizes, called “geocaches” anywhere in the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. Geocaches are currently placed in over 200 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica and the International Space Station. After more than 12 years of activity there are over 5 million geocachers worldwide. Read more

Fireworks are awesome… in theory…

Dan and I are homebodies by nature and I can’t remember the last time I got in a car to drive and see a professional display for the 4th of July. Sure, when the kids were living with me, we made the trek to wherever the nearest event was, but that was a long time ago.

So, embarking on a new theme for us in what we call “getting out of the house more,” Dan and I decided it would be fun to drive to the beach to see the display at the Pompano Pier (Fort Lauderdale area) and take some pictures.  We knew we would have to leave around 6:00pm to get some dinner and find parking, but due to an ironic joke on me, we were running late because of one of the cats… Read more

I often find after I do a serious series of posts (in this case, my foray into the world of pedigree cats) that my mind just needs a break and I venture from the sublime to the ridiculous. In this case, I got to thinking about how many of us cat lovers have a tendency to anthropomorphize our cats – that is, give them human characteristics even though they are animals. For me, guilty as charged. Maybe not quite as guilty as our friend, Debbie Glovatsky, over at the Glorgirly site who was recently  indicted for Photoshop misconduct and a serious addiction to the software program, but I have definitely put my cats in just about every human scenario or predicament you can imagine in the name of journalistic entertainment. My most recent light bulb of creativity to follow is this little gem – what would the tabloids be like if they were written for, and about cats? Take a look at this first installment of the newest tabloid to hit the fishstands, “The National Cat Enquirer.” And yes, I realize I need counseling…

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There is nothing better than being part of something wonderful and exciting, but having someone else do all the hard work!! In this case, thank you to the incredibly talented Debbie Glovatsky and her cat Katie over at the Glorgirly site for coming up with the Real Housecats of the Blogosphere concept!! Zee and Zoey are thrilled to be part of the Season 2 cast and all I had to do was send over some glossy images of the furballs and the rest is history!

Zoey is acting like an insufferable Diva, meaning that nothing has changed with her since this eposide has aired and Zee remains true to form as well – as in, completely oblivious to the entire ordeal. Poor dear, maybe one day he will catch himself on reruns…

The kids, well, lets just say there is A LOT of explaining to do. It seems Mom and Dad have been doing some cat-clubbing at night when we were all under the impression they were taking night classes to learn about the finer techniques of furniture scratching and mouse pouncing. Not to mention, my credit card has charges on it that are all now starting to make sense… Glitter Box indeed!

Check out the video to see for yourself!!

When I was asked to do an informative Q & A about living in a multi-cat household for the Cats the Boss site a couple weeks ago, it got me to thinking about one of the questions, “Do your cats sleep on the bed with you?” Is that really a question? I don’t think I’ve seen the top of my bed without a cat on top of it since, when, well, um… never! And whose fault is that? Well, mine, of course… But I would never consider shutting the door and keeping them out of the room. I will uncomfortably sleep at the edge of the bed each and every night and suffer unbearably, so long as the cats are completely undisturbed and content…

All seven cats are sound asleep... good luck to the humans when it is time for bed!

This got me to thinking about one of the funniest cat antidotes I shared in my book (for me anyhow), The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey, that broached this very subject. Written with what I like to call an Erma Bombeck style of wit and honesty, I thought I might as well share the excerpt with you so that you could fully understand the extent of “Do your cats sleep on the bed with you?”  Okay, from Chapter 24, entitled, “And So It Is,” I bring you my funny story of how my gynecologist unwittingly became a part of my book:

“… I went to my annual gynecological checkup and told my doctor I thought I was going through menopause because I was sometimes sweating profusely during the night and would wake up drenched. Clearly I was experiencing hot flashes, right? He flat out confirmed that it was physically impossible and asked about my sleeping patterns… turns out having a blanket made of assorted cats sleeping on, next, or near you in the same bed at night can cause the same symptoms as menopause… He also confirmed with all certainty, that he thought I was certifiably nuts. Apparently sharing a bed with seven cats and one human is not normal…”

Jazz is 14 years old and I think he really likes to feel the warmth of my body when he sleeps on top of me.

To be fair, typically all seven are not on the bed at the same time. Jazz and Harley are the only two that stick to me religiously like glue. And I mean they literally stick to me like glue. If I toss, they toss. If I turn, they turn. Both of them sleep on top of me and that is that, hence the hot flashes… Zee makes several appearances throughout the night, as he has a very important ritual that he rigidly adheres to every night. He will stay in bed with us for a while, then he leaves for what we call his “nightly ritual of homage.” He literally feels compelled to bring us gifts throughout the night. We will hear him enter the bedroom as he makes a loud and garbled meowing noise. We then hear a plunk, as a plush toy is dropped to the floor. He will meow loudly until we thank him for his gift. This happens between 5 to 7 times each night and I think he has even hit double digits on occasion! No wonder the dear boy naps all day long – he has to rest for his night-shift! The rest of the cats will randomly come in and out throughout the night. So, to answer the question, yes, our cats do sleep on the bed with us… Someone needs to use the bed for sleeping since it isn’t Dan or I!!