I love this cat!

Ok I know I’ve posted about this before, but much as I am still soooo excited about Marcus, President Obama, and snorkeling, I am still excited about my cat. Gus is really the sweetest cat I’ve ever had, and I’ve had about a million and a half cats (so far). The best part about Gus is that he really really loves me, way more than a cat normally loves a person. If I have 100 more cats, none of them will love me as much as Gus does.

I also love my dogs (and Charlie) and of course they love me, but being loved by your cat is so different than being loved by your dog. No matter who ended up being Bailey and Emma’s humans, they would have loved them just as much as they love Marcus and me. Dogs are just like that, as evidenced in this clip from Disney’s Up

If your cat loves you, you know it’s because of you and not their natural inclination to love just any old human. Even Gus, who is super sweet, just recently started to kinda like Marcus, after 5 years of being fed by him. He loved me from the start though.

Marcus and Bailey

Marcus' cousin Camille just got a new puppy, and she posted several cute pictures of herself, her husband, and the puppy on facebook. One of the cutest is of her husband bathing the puppy in the bath tub. That reminded me of this super cute picture of Marcus giving Bailey her first bath.

Update

I haven’t blogged in awhile. Nothing super duper exciting has been going on, but here is an update on my life anyway.

I’m continuing to do well with the weight loss. As of today I’ve lost 25 pounds this year so far. I also hit on a great reward...James Avery earrings. They’re something I like, but not something I would typically buy for myself. And since Marcus and I only exchange cards on holidays, they’re not something I’m likely to get as a gift either. Plus, they never go on sale, so no worries about seeing them cheaper later. And, well, they're just so pretty!

Also along the lines of the weight loss….I started working out again a few weeks ago, and after some initial protesting by my stupid ankle, I’ve got a good little routine going. I do yoga about 4 times a week, and Marcus and I do different Walk Away The Pounds DVDs about 4 times a week. (Not sure how he feels about me telling the world that, but oh well).

On Monday I got my new heart rate monitor in the mail and I am enjoying working out with that A LOT. It accurately calculates how many calories you burn by measuring your heart rate. It’s very helpful on weight watchers, because as you start losing more weight, you start losing eating points, which makes the plan harder to stick to. You can earn activity points by exercising (which you can use to eat more), but you could accidentally overeat and sabotage your weight loss efforts if you aren’t accurately calculating your activity points. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had been underestimating my activity points!

I just booked a 7 day Caribbean cruise with 2 girlfriends for early January. I’m super excited about that! Although I did realize I will need to pack all at once for Christmas in Houston, a family reunion in Denver, and then a Caribbean cruise. Should be interesting!

My India/Pakistan novel kick is still going strong. I recently discovered that our library participates in the inter library loan program, so I may never have to buy another book again!

Oh, one interesting thing did happen last week. I woke up from a nap and then sat on the couch. I felt something scratchy on the back of my arm. I looked back to check and didn’t see anything. A little later I still felt something scratchy, so I looked back again. This time I saw something. A giant lizard! Now, at that moment my brain didn’t have the time to actually register this thing as a lizard, just a reptile in general, so I freaked out, screamed, and jumped up, which sent my lap top flying.

This isn't the actual lizard, but it looked kinda like this one

I would also like to point out that we have 2 cats and 2 dogs, and none of them prevented this lizard from strolling into our house and sitting on the couch. In fact, Gus and Emma were actually sitting on the couch when the incident occurred.

Useless animals!

That's about it. Now you're all updated.

Marcus' leg is out and the bathroom sink is in...

Flat Charlie

This is Charlie's favorite spot in the house:

She loves to lay flat on the arms of the couches and chairs, but her favorite spot by far is Marcus' legs. I think she anxiously awaits his arrival from work everyday so she can sit on him.

She especially loves the weekends when he is home all day and wearing jeans. This cat loves to sit on jeans. When I get home from running errands, I immediately change out of my jeans and into my comfys (as Shannon calls them). Once I sat on the couch while still in my jeans and Charlie flew across the room to sit on my leg. Weird.

If this post doesn't convince you to get a pet then nothing will.

So Marcus and I were about to get into bed shortly after 11:00pm, when all the sudden we smelled something foul. It was the distinct smell of dog poop.

Apparently, Bailey decided it would be fun to roll around in some poop while she was outside. Lovely. Oh, but it gets better. While Marcus was bathing her in the guest bath tub (I bet y'all can't wait to come bathe at our house), Charlie, our cat, peed in a box in the bathroom. Awesome. Fortunately Marcus was right there, so Charlie got dunked in the tub as punishment.

Charlie is the first litter box challenged cat we've ever had and it is super annoying. He'll probably be spending two weeks straight outside so that he can learn to either go in the litter box on the deck or outside like Shiloh and Gus.

Bailey is a very good dog 99% of the time, so I guess we can forgive her for this whole poop rolling thing, but gross.

An unexpected visitor

Last week I was sitting on our couch reading a book, when I heard an animal come through our cat door in the kitchen. When I looked up, I was surprised to see a little wiener dog trot into our room. (Almost as surprised as Marcus was when he came home and was greeted at the door by 3 dogs who were excited to see him).



She belongs to the new tenant in our guest house. Aspen is a sweet dog who apparently does not like to be left outside, so whenever our tenant lets her out to use the bathroom, Aspen pays us a visit.

She gets along well with our pets. Charlie keeps trying to get her to play, but she is only interested in sitting on my lap. Emma had trouble with that at first, since she usually occupies my lap, but she is ok with it now.

I’m typically not a fan of dachshunds (sorry Holly), but this one is nice. In fact, she is the first non overweight/non hyper dachshund I’ve ever seen. I’m still not used to her fur though. It’s different. I do however enjoy that she has a tail, which she wags when she comes in the house. I miss having dogs with tails.

Crazy Cats

Marcus' mom sent us this video in an email the other day, and it is pretty funny. Our cat Charlie does shockingly similar things as the cats in this video pretty much all the time. She is very spastic. We really need to record her more.

That special time in a young kitten's life...

Some of you might have heard of our cat, Charlie. We got him about 6 months ago from my parents in Dallas. He had been part of a litter that was found just a few weeks old whose mother had been killed. We brought him home and he’s been an awesome little terror since (http://amhcarroll.blogspot.com/2008/07/help-us-name-our-new-kitten.html).

He was unfortunate enough to not have a name for about 2 months, until out of the mouth of Bethany (http://abcdugganfamily.blogspot.com/), it became Charlie (http://amhcarroll.blogspot.com/2008/09/out-of-mouths-of-babes.html).

Charlie is a very spastic cat, with no attention span. We’ve actually thought maybe he has some mental problems. Not the same as my first cat, Madison, who has some very interesting stories (taking a ride in the dryer, playing with fire, farting on Amanda, biting Amanda while pretending to sleep, and so forth); but something. Anyway, we were hoping that when we got him neutered, that he would settle down and remained focused a bit more.

So last week when I took him in to get the snip-snip, we were interested to see what changes would happen in him. We were in for a surprise.

I dropped him off at the vet, and told them I thought he might have a slight urinary infection (since he was spending a lot of time giving that area special attention). They told me they would check it out, but if he had one, they couldn’t do the procedure.

About mid morning, I get a call from the vet…not a technician there in the office, but the vet himself. He told me that everything was fine, but the he wasn’t going to be able to perform the neuter today. Thinking he did indeed have an infection, I asked why not. He said, “Because while we were preparing Charlie for the procedure, we found out that he’s a girl.”

I burst out laughing.

So apparently, Charlie is a girl. The vet said that he…er, she…was about to go into heat which is why she was spending so much time cleaning the area (and it also explains why our dog Emma was wanting to do inappropriate things to her all of a sudden…that’s a good story in itself). Of course, we went ahead and had her spayed.

The funny thing is, Amanda and I had been talking just the night before how small Charlie’s testicles are.

I can’t help but think what transpired in the vet’s office when they discovered the oversight. I can see some poor Tech shaving Charlie’s area thinking, “I know they’re around here somewhere.”

All in all, we’ve had a pretty good time with this event; and Charlie has been very cuddly the past week. I guess it makes sense though. I mean, he did have some organs removed, not to mention he ‘s had to deal with the fact that he had those organs to begin with. Very traumatic for a kitten.

Anyway, thanks for listening, and remember to “have your pet spayed or neutered”…just be sure you do the right one.

-Marcus, SGB

I am loved...

My cat loves me. You may not believe me because cats don’t often love people (at least in ways that people recognize), but Gus really does love me.

He often cuddles with me when I sleep, but lately he has taken to sleeping on my face. He did this for about a month when we first rescued him from the animal shelter, but that was four years ago. I’m not sure what triggered it this time, but it is very sweet….and annoying. He weighs 17 pounds. That is a lot of weight on your face when you are trying to sleep. Plus he is quite furry, purrs loudly, and his whiskers tickle my face. All of this makes it hard for me to get a good night sleep.

It’s times like this that I am thankful that I don’t have to be up at a certain time in the morning. It’s nice to know I am so loved, even if it is in a slightly annoying way.

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

After nearly two months of indecision, the kitten formerly known as Name Pending, now has a name.

This is how is happened.

I got to spend yesterday with the Duggans while poor Marcus was in his no good statistics class. Raymond was at work, Amanda was putting Landry down for a nap, and Bethany, who will be 3 in November, and I were sitting at the kitchen table just talking. She was telling me about her dog Abby, so I started to tell her about our pets. Finally, I got to the kitten, and I told her how Marcus and I couldn’t think of a name for him. Then I asked her “If you had a little kitten, what would you name him?” And she said, without ever hearing any of the names we were thinking about, and without even a hint of hesitation, “Charlie.”

When I told Amanda about it, she said that they didn’t even know anyone named Charlie, and she had no idea where Bethany got that name. So, we took that as a sign from God, and named the kitten Charlie.

The Downside to a Cat's Love

So last night I turn out the lights and get in bed, and I feel something kind of crusty against my arm. I reach out my hand and touch it, and it feels like an ear of baby corn. So I turn on the light and look over to what I had touched. It was a dead gecko. Thanks for showing the love Gus.

Smelly Amanda, Name Pending, and The Miss Sister Pageant

Last night Marcus and I took Blue out to eat at Red Robin to celebrate him living with us and going to CJC. We had fun, my chicken sandwich was AWESOME, but when we got home I totally smelled like Red Robin. I hate that. I had to change clothes and seriously considered washing my hair. The same thing happens at Chili’s, and I try to avoid eating there for this very reason. If I smell that much after being in the restaurant for an hour, I can’t imagine what the waiters and waitresses must smell like when they get home!

Our new kitten, name pending, is such a joy. Between the two of us Marcus and I have had a lot of kittens, but this one is by far the best. (Gus was a great kitten, but I think name pending has him beat). He likes playing and cuddling with Bailey, Emma, and Gus (Shiloh has not warmed up to him yet). He cuddles with me for most of the day, which does make it hard to get some work done, but it is very sweet. He has a great personality. The best way to describe him is that he has all the best qualities of a puppy, but with none of the hassles, mixed with the fun and easiness of a kitten. In short, name pending rocks!

I had a whole blog planned about an article I found on msnbc.com a couple of days ago. It seems that a priest was organizing a beauty pageant for nuns. Turns out that the idea didn’t go over very well with the higher ups in his diocese, so the pageant is already off. You can read about the pageant plan and its cancellation here

Brangelina, Funerals, and a Vomit Soaked Kitten

Today I learned that I am separated from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie by 4 degrees. My massage therapist’s best friend’s daughter is one of their assistants. That also means that my cat Shiloh is separated from their daughter Shiloh by only 4 degrees too. Hmm….

I drove past Pioneer Drive Baptist Church this morning and all their parking lots were totally full. I hate when I drive by a church with a full parking lot during a non church and non wedding time. That means there is most likely a funeral. Sad…

Those of you who know us know that our little dog Emma vomits on occasion. It took us forever to find food that would not make her vomit several times a day. Well, she apparently got into the kitten’s food recently, and as a result she has vomited 4 times today (so far). Including once on the kitten! It’s a good thing cats are self cleaning.

Help us name our new kitten

Well, we got a new kitten last Saturday. A friend of Marcus’ mom found five kittens on her property that needed homes. Marcus was already going to Dallas last Saturday to look at a car with a friend, so we decided to take one of the kittens.

He is about 6 weeks old and very very sweet. He is a people cat. He spends the day sitting on my chest sleeping while I work on the laptop. He also enjoys eating. He has a huge round tummy, the kind you typically find on a puppy. So far, the dogs really like him, and he enjoys playing run from under the coffee table to under the bed with them. The cats aren’t crazy about him yet, but that usually takes a few weeks. Hopefully he and Gus will become best buddies.

We haven’t named him yet. The good thing about having a kitten is you can take your time with a name, it’s not like he is going to respond to it or anything. We’ve narrowed it down to a few names, and would like you all to vote on them (check below the picture of us on the right side of the screen). Keep in mind that our other pets are named Bailey, Emma, Gus, and Shiloh.

Christian the Lion

You may have caught this video on the Today Show earlier this week, but if not check it out. It is so sweet, and with Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You as the sound track it is also funny.

Did you tear up? I told you it was sweet. You can read the article about it here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25797678/

Anytime I see footage of big cats, or see them in person at a zoo, I am struck by how much they are like domesticated cats. While my cat Gus isn't big enough to hug my neck, he does do the head nudge thing (to me, never to Marcus) all the time. And of course our other cat Shiloh is a mighty huntress. Although she is tiny, she can take down rats, birds, lizards, mice, and even squirrels.

silly pet pictures volume II

Gus, the best cat ever, is just hanging out.

Emma after an unfortunate date with the groomers.

Scout is just taking a nap.

Shiloh in a box.

Bailey is about to get pounced on by Toby.

they’re cuddlin’

In May, I blogged about my poor cat Gus and how no one will cuddle with him.

http://amhcarroll.blogspot.com/2008/05/marcus-and-i-have-two-cats-gus-and.html


But, today he managed to cuddle with Emma. He waited until she was asleep and then jumped on the couch and lay down right next to her and put his head on her back. Emma didn’t run away. Marcus and I were so excited. I know it sounds silly but have you ever seen a cat try and cuddle with a dog? It is both pathetic and hilarious at the same time. All the poor cat wants is some lovin’, and today he got a little.

Silly pet pictures volume I

Here are some funny pics of our pets, past and present.

Scout, who now lives with my parents, is just taking a nap.

Bailey was not happy about the cone.

Can you find the pet in this picture?

Marcus' stupid cat Madison, who we lost in Little Elm, asleep in a trash can.

Gus hanging out in a computer.

Smart people own dogs before becoming parents

As you all know, Marcus and I don’t have any kids yet. What we do have are pets, two dogs and two cats. Poor Bailey has taken the brunt of most of our “parenting” mistakes.

We got Bailey shortly after we got married. One day, about a month or so after we got her, we all went outside so she could go to the bathroom. Then we went inside, watched some TV and decided to go see a movie. We changed clothes, got ready to go and then called Bailey so we could put her in her crate. We called and called, but she didn’t come. We looked all over the house. Finally, we opened the front door and there was poor Bailey. She was sitting right up against the door and when we opened it she peed all over out of happiness to see us and anxiety for being left outside all alone for about 30 minutes.

A few years later Bailey started getting into the bathroom trash while we were at work. Now Bailey is a very obedient dog, so when she does something wrong she knows full well that it’s wrong and just does it anyway. After several days of her doing this, we started taking her to the bathroom, showing her the trash, and saying “bad dog” as soon as we got home. Well, that didn’t stop her. Then we added spanking her to the routine. It got to the point that she would greet us at the door cowering and whimpering knowing she was about to get a whoopin’. One day we were telling our friends Amanda and Raymond about the problem and before we could share our spanking solution Amanda said “Did you just start closing the bathroom door when you leave?” Marcus and I looked at each other dumbfounded. It never even occurred to us! That finally worked. (To make it even worse we now kind of suspect that one of the cats was actually responsible for the trash thing)

Things will probably just get worse for Bailey once we do have kids. They’ll probably pull on her ears and stuff. She’ll just let them because that is the kind of dog she is. On the other hand, the kids will probably be sticky and lickable most of the time and drop food for her to eat. Maybe it won’t be all bad.