Technology, not just for humans. Oh, and the NFL Season kicks off!

Dis mine.  I keep it now.

This is just too funny not to share.  In noticing the cats increasing weight gain, I've been trying to find new ways to get them on the move.  Fergie will have her occasional burst of energy and go nuts playing with her toys, but those times are short lived and few and far between.  I searched the App Store on my iPad to see if they had any games for cats.  They did!  Some were free, some were around .99 cents or so.  I purchased one called simply "Toys for Cats" and it was a hit to say the least!  You can choose from a mouse, rat, spider, frog or ping pong ball for them to chase and bat around on the screen.  The rat has a little hole it can go into and disappear...that's Fergie's favorite.  She looks under the iPad and tries to figure out where it went, when it pops back on screen she goes insane.  I highly recommend making the .99 investment if you are looking for something new to entertain a sedentary indoor kitty!  Spencer gets into too, however he didn't take to it nearly as well as Fergie.  He's more of a feather-on-a-wand sorta guy.  Check out my crazy girl in action:

Here is her sister, Rigby, becoming interested in what she's doing:

In other news, this past Sunday opened Week 1 of this NFL season!  The Colts didn't pull out their first win, but at least Andrew Luck got his debut out of the way.  He had a lot of turnovers...but I still have high hopes for our #1 overall draft pick!!!  Peyton Manning's first game as a Bronco was bittersweet to say the least.  Seeing him in that orange jersey seemed so foreign and wrong.  It was fantastic to see him playing like his old self...like he never skipped a beat.  I now have to add the Denver Broncos as my second favorite NFL team, and will absolutely be cheering for them too.  Go Manning!

Rigby and Pete were also in the NFL spirit!

Equal Opportunity Pet Owner

You've got your self-proclaimed "cat people" and your self-proclaimed "dog people".  I like to think of myself as an equal opportunity pet owner, giving equal love to all my species, and being just simply, an "animal person".  I enjoy the company of dogs and cats for different reasons.  Sometimes I love it that Pete and Rigby (dogs) are needy and up in my face, but other times it's completely annoying.  I love that Spencer (cat) lays on my lap all night because he wants to, and not because I've called him over to me and he obeys. I love that I never get any privacy in the bathroom because Fergie (cat) just loves to tag along because she knows that's her designated belly rub time.  Cats and dogs are very different and I don't think I could imagine life without either one.  Statistics show that there are more cats living as pets in the United States, but more dog owners.  This means more people have multiple cats in one household, versus just owning one dog per household.  Makes sense to me as cats are much more low maintenance!  I got these statistics from The Humane Society.org's website, and I thought they were interesting:

Dogs:

• There are approximately 78.2 million owned dogs in the United States
• Thirty-nine percent of U.S. households own at least one dog
• Most owners (60 percent) own one dog
• Twenty-eight percent of owners own two dogs
• Twelve percent of owners own three or more dogs
• On average, owners have almost two dogs (1.69 percent)
• The proportion of male to female dogs is even
• Twenty-one percent of owned dogs were adopted from an animal shelter
• On average, dog owners spent $248 on veterinary visits (vaccine, well visits) annually
• Seventy-eight percent of owned dogs are spayed or neutered

Cats:

• There are approximately 86.4 million owned cats in the United States
• Thirty-three percent of U.S. households own at least one cat
• Fifty-two percent of owners own more than one cat
• On average, owners have two cats (2.2)
• More female cats are owned than male cats (80 percent vs. 65 percent respectively)
• Twenty-one percent of owned cats were adopted from an animal shelter
• Cat owners spent an average of $219 on routine veterinary visits
• Eighty-eight percent of owned cats are spayed or neutered

Pets offer so many benefits to us and enrich our lives.  Yeah, they can be a pain in the rear when it comes to pet hair, boarding costs, the occasional "mistake" in the house.  But what we yield in return is priceless!  Lower blood pressure, exposure at a young age actually reduces allergies, and unconditional love!  

Our Brood

 I like to link to this once a year, just in case someone has missed it.  This Dog vs. Cat Diary has been around for years, but it still makes me laugh every time I read it.  

 The Dog's Diary

•   8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
•   9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
•   9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing! 
• 10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
• 12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
•   1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
•   3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
•   5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
•   7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
•   8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
• 11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

The Cat's Diary

Day 983 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

Hodge Podge

Since winter is a time of hibernation for some of us, it's a great time to catch up on some TV!  What's everybody watching?  We watch way too many TV shows, admittedly.  Our favorites are Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, and the one I can't wait to return... Game of Thrones! Season two trailer seen here.  Sons of Anarchy completed it's fourth season last week and although I've been hearing disappointment from many Facebook friends, I was pretty satisfied.  It was a "set up" ending which pretty much laid the groundwork for how season five is going to go.  If you haven't seen this show I would highly recommend it.  It's not all about biker gangs...well, ok it is but more about their subculture including terrific characters, intense plots, and complicated story lines.  I was hesitant at first but I was hooked after one episode.  Note though, you must watch from season one - not something you can jump into.

Hanks and Olmos

Dexter... Oh how I love you.  This season is much better than the last, in my opinion.  Season 6 of Dexter is thematically about a couple of religious extremists trying to bring about the "end of days" by performing acts in Revelations.  It guest stars Colin Hanks (son of Tom) and Edward James Olmos.  Both of these actors are playing the parts tremendously and are very convincing as a pair of nutjobs.  Colin Hanks is incredibly creepy and as always Edward James Olmos brings depth to any role he portrays.  Dexter is something if you haven't seen previous seasons you'd be just fine jumping into any of them, as most plots are self contained. 

American Movie Poster

Whatcha reading?   I just finished (finally) the Stieg Larsson trilogy, The Millennium Series.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.  The first two of these had me burning through the pages.  The third...not so much.  Overall this series is great with Larsson's portrayal of  social outcast/hacker Lisbeth Salander and in fact I can't wait for the American version of the movie to come out this month!

I'm now onto The Hunger Games.  It's been on my  list for months and I started the first book last week.  So far it's totally worth the hype!  The synopsis is a post apocalyptic North America, now called "Panem" has now transformed into districts after a series of fires, storms, you know, apocalypse stuff.  The "Capitol" as it's referred to, controls these districts and every year as a "tribute" for the districts waging war on the Capitol and being defeated, are a series of gladiator style games where one boy and one girl from each district fight to the death.   I'm about halfway through the book already and can't put it down.

O hai.  Tanks fur dis new bed.

In other news... it's December 12th and I'm officially finished with Christmas shopping!  Everything is wrapped up and under the tree ready to open by their recipient!  I really went all out with the mint theme...not easy as mint stuff isn't always easy to find!  The cats seem to think the Christmas tree is exclusively for them and won't come out from underneath it.  The Duchess Ferguson has made a permanent kitty bed out of one of the gifts... awesome.  Ever try to discipline a cat?  No?  Me neither.  Pretty much an effort in futility. 

13 days til Christmas!

A few "BEFORE'S"...and we've got fish! (Shy fish)

Lillies!!!

Michael has been working so hard on getting the koi pond up and running.  We've both always wanted a water feature in the back yard and luckily we already had the basics laid out when we moved in.  We learned from the landscaper (who has been doing the yard work for the past year) that the koi pond hadn't actually been operational for over 3 years.  No wonder it was funky.  I'm surprised it wasn't funkier.  We've been skimming and cleaning out the debris regularly and cycling out with all new water.  We had no idea until after we put pea gravel in to make it look nicer that this is in fact a bad idea.  Whoops.  Oh well, live and learn.  I got the lovely surprise last night of coming home to beautiful water lillies and....fish!  We now have four koi!  I think.  They won't come out from under one of the rocks so I've only actually seen some fleeting moments of them so far.  A tail here or there.  The waterfall was made to look just right, Michael patched the hole in the liner with a repair kit, and now we're in business!  The dogs have discovered the fish and Pete just had to do his Godfather impression....thanks Whitney for the great caption! 

Pete meeting the fish and pretending he's Marlon Brando

We got a taste of the Amish lifestyle this past weekend.  A crazy storm came out of nowhere Saturday evening and left us without power until Monday at 9:45pm!  Not cool.  We were just lucky it was such a beautiful weekend and could have the windows open.  For a storm that lasted maybe 10 minutes, the damage was insane.  Over 150,000 LG&E customers were without power, the last of which were just restored as of yesterday.  There were trees down everywhere and the wind damage cost a great number of people some homeowners claims!  Luckily no damage was done to the house and all of the falling limbs from the trees landed in the yard and not on our vehicles.


The house is coming along great and the only two rooms that need finished are the "drum room" in the basement and the spare bedroom.  I've made some headway in the spare room but there are still some boxes to be put away and things hung on the walls.  We've got some priority projects that are needing attention such as the deck seriously needs to be power washed and stained, and the gutters are as full as they can get.  I took some "before" pictures of the landscaping so you'll be able to see the transition in the upcoming weeks.  It's all very overgrown in the front and I can't wait until we're able to actually see the front of the house.  I'm thinking of building another mound on the other side of the driveway mirroring the one on the right.  Everything else is pretty much just maintenance.  So far so good and I can't wait to showcase some more projects! 

A "BEFORE" picture of the front landscaping

"BEFORE" sidewalk - out of control Crape Myrtle

Making a mirror mound directly across from this one

Tighter shot of landscape overgrowth

 

New Begonia for the sun room, and Ferg

A little hiccup, but we are back on track.

The residence in question.

This house stuff is all so very stressful!  The appraiser came out yesterday and determined that there is no access to the crawl space under a portion of the house.  This, this seemingly minute little detail deemed the house unable to be financed.  I opened my email and low and behold - "Inelgibile Property".  Uh.....what?  Come again?  Sorry?  Enter heart attack, stage left.  After a pretty stressful afternoon and going back and forth with our (amazing) realtor, the seller is going to get things fixed this weekend...putting us back on track with hopefully no delays on our original close date.  See, my neurotic nature of having all of my ducks in a row way ahead of time still has us on track, even with this week setback.  There is something to be said for being neurotic. Michael makes fun of my House Binder, complete with a spiffy cover, labels, three hole punched papers and tabs.  Let's not forget the tabs.  It's just how I stay sane. 

Future site of destruction

I've been having conversations with the pets about their new house.  I think they're pretty excited about it too.  Well, except for Spencer.  Last time I moved he was under the bed for about 3 months.  Poor little guy...doesn't really take change well.  He must get that from me.  Probably gets his OCD from me too...if something is new, an inch out of place, has a new smell on it, or is foreign to the house he is all over it.  Sniffing, pawing, rubbing all over it.  I guess it just to have his personal stamp of approval.  Fergie is very excited about the sun room.  She is planning major cat naps back there in the warm sun rays.  I know this because she told me.  Rigby is happy anywhere and has intentions of messing with my koi fish out back...I can see it in her beady little eyes.  She's so clumsy she'll probably fall in.  Then there is Pete.  As long as he has his dog bed, he most likely won't even realize we've moved. 

O hai.  I can haz sunroom 'stead of dis box?

Whut iz dis ting?  Wuz not heer before.

I dun't care if we moves, as long as I haz mah bedz. 

And there you have an update on the house process.  I am expecting more hiccups, and still trying not to be too excited.  Anything can happen to make something else fall through.  Just gotta stay positive!

Gratuitous Pet Cuteness

Rigby man handling a large stick...does it get any cuter than this?

Hey, what's for dinner?

Pete showing off his "winter wardrobe".

I know since Rigby is the new baby she's been getting lots of attention on this blog. But let's not forget the other adorable family members. Fergie is very curious about Rigby...but is not down for playing with her. She likes to sniff her when she's sleeping and bat her from the safety of the dining room chairs. See photo for her strategy. It's a spastic, paw and run, very convulsive. Pretty cute. Rigby and Pete are both entirely unfazed. For those who haven't met the Fergster, she has the curly tail gene. Which means her tail is always curly q'd up over her back. She also has no meow skills. It just comes out as this pathetic little squeak. I find it incredibly endearing. She's a very friendly affectionate little cat. I stumbled upon her at an adoption even last January in Indy. She had what they call "cage stress". She didn't deal with the kennel environment at all. She had massive hair loss and her front teeth were very loose from chewing on the metal bars. I'm a sucker for a sob story and she went home with me the next day. She's been a terrific pet. Spencer on the otherhand has a meow you can hear for miles. He will take any opportunity that presents itself to hiss at the dogs. Just walks around hissing, basically. He's very irritable, only affectionate when it benefits him, and otherwise just a grumpy little thing. His massive OCD is quite entertaining. If something is an inch out of place, he obsessess over it. Sniffs it, walks around it, stares at it for minutes on end. It compliments me nicely because I'm basically the same way. If he's not inspecting the house for imperfections, he's sleeping.

Welcome Home, Rigby.

The real motivation behind starting this blog is the adoption of a bouncing, baby Australian Shepherd, who we've decided to call Rigby. Eleanor Rigby, actually. You see my boyfriend Michael and I are enormous animal lovers, and this is our first pet together. I entered the relationship with three of my own...a Corgi mix named Pete, and two kitties Spencer and Fergie. We had been talking about getting an additional dog for months but wanted to research and find the right puppy for us. We had it narrowed down to a Border Collie or an Australian Shepherd. Along came Rigby!


I was off work and shopping several Mondays ago when I needed to get Pete a present for his 3rd birthday. I thought he could really use a new bed, so I headed into Feeders Supply. The first thing I always do is make a beeline for the adoptable puppies and kittens in the back. Normally I just say hi, and move on. But this fateful Monday a new litter of Aussie's had just arrived! They had gotten there that morning, and already 3 of the 4 puppies were on hold. I took a picture of the litter and sent it to Michael. We decided we'd just go "look" that evening and that the one I had fallen in love with would probably be long gone by that time. A long story short...we went back and Rigby was the only one left! The one that I had wanted. We filled out an application and planned on picking her up the next evening.

Rigby has been home for a week today. I'm convinced she's a little puppy prodigy. She has only messed in the house one, maybe two times...and already knows "sit" and "lay"! We are implementing the "clicker" to train her. I hope you enjoy reading about Rigby and our adventures to come with her! (Oh, and look forward to adventures with our other pets too!)