All sorts of little things happen around here that are too brief to write a full story about, but too good not to write down. Take this morning for instance.

For the last 2 1/2 years one of Mandy's jobs has been to take care of the cat boxes. She has it down to an art form. Scoop, stir, flush. Twice a week change the litter. No problem. Well, I changed duties around as Mandy is now doing the dishes and Mike is doing cat boxes. What once took no reminding and very little time now requires nagging, formal complaints from the felines and extended time. So, I was pleased this morning when It only took two days and thirty minutes of nagging to get Mike to do his new job. Apparently QC was pleased too, as she lay in her nesty above one of the cat boxes and watched Mike intently as he cleaned the box beneath her. She had her head hung over the side of the nesty watching his every move as he changed the litter and put it down on a couple of layers of clean newspaper. It was as though she wanted to make sure that he finally did it right.

Tanada has taken to sitting on either my mouse pad or the paper shredder when I'm at the computer. I suspect that she wants to make sure that I write correct information about the furball trio. She has also taken up eating raw tomatoes. She steals them off my plate if I leave them alone for even a minute.

Berfert sings to me. I talk, he answers. A week ago Mike accidently unplugged the answering machine which means that I had to re-record the message. I'm at the part where I say please leave a message and I might get back to them when I hear a big YOW!!! NOW!! Berfert was leaving a message. I had to erase it because I was laughing so hard that I couldn't finish the message.

QC is a loving cat who has big bones. She weighs 23 lbs and very little of it is plush. She can stand on her back feet and put her front paws on the kitchen counter. I never thought much about it until the other night when some of Mandy's girl friends came over to hang out. I answered the door with QC in my arms as she likes to escape out the door and eat the yard. The girls immediately freaked, panicked and screamed. It took almost ten minutes to get those little girls to calm down and pet the cat. The reason they were so afraid? QC was so big they thought she was part wild cat. This is about a cat that is so gentle that she won't start any fights, she just stares the other cats down. Unless she's in the mood to play, of course.

Copyright © Pam Shirk
June 13, 2000