We still have cats!!

Yes, although very rarely mentioned, we do have cats. One of the few words that Paisley both says and associates with the object. Just recently we started letting them in the living room again (since we now have a second gate). So they've been cuddly, and Paisley has been trying to learn how to move slow and be gentle with them. She's getting it! Oakley (grey one) lets her pet him all the time... but is a little nervous at the same time. Teemo (the orange one) avoids her.





Paisley's vocabulary includes:
Dad,
Mom,
Cat,
Up,
Uh-Oh,
Hi,
and can sing "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys (no... seriously!).

The only words that are ALWAYS in appropriate reference are: Up, Uh-Oh and Cat.

We have 4 people that also swear that she said "Team Canada" when we were talking about her hockey jersey collection.

And also.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH! Shhh.. he doesn't want anyone to know ;).

Oakley

Oakley, originally uploaded by Joshua Schroeder.

Oakley's hiding spot

IMG_7217, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Oakley found a box in the recycling pile. Been in it all day!

Poor Kitties

IMG_7056, originally uploaded by tyeoca.

Well we've had the baby gate up on the stairs leading up from the living room for a while now, just to keep the bedroom floors cat-free (allows us to leave the doors open). Well a couple weeks ago, I moved the gate to the stairs leading down from the living room (making the living room floor also cat-free). It's great in many ways, but I feel bad for the cats. Don't they look sad?

They look sad, but they actually rarely sit at the gate like that. IN fact, I put up the gate, because they weren't using the living room since I had moved the pet bed to the basement.

I do miss cuddling the cats, as I don't get to cuddle them much anymore (always have Paisley on me). I try to pet and cuddle them during her naps, but always have to change afterwards, as I have a slight suspicion that Paisley may be allergic to cats.

But they haven't starred in a post in a while, so I thought I'd post a new pic of them. :) Hopefully I'll get a better one of them soon.

They've arrived!

The rest of my cloth diapers arrived today! :) At the early stage, we're trying a couple of each company's diapers that got good reviews. Then we can see which ones work for us and which we want to invest in for the rest of the diapering stages. Although several of them are One Size diapers that can be used from 8 lbs all the way up to 30lbs. So we'll see how it all works out. I've still got to pick up a few more doublers, or make them. Also have to finish making cloth wipes (my project this coming weekend).

Last night we got rain and snow. So this morning when it warmed up again, I heard water running (rather loudly), so I went to investigate. The gutter that goes above our front door was pouring down over the front step (opposite end of the trough as it is supposed to). It wasn't just pouring out... it was waterfalling! There was no way to get in or out of the house! It only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was crazy. Guessing it's something that will have to be attended to this summer. In the winter the same thing happens, then the water freezes on the front step (not so safe).





Since we've put up the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs (we put it up to keep the cats out of the bedroom area of the house while we were working), I've noticed the cats aren't getting as much exercise as usual. Normally they're chasing each other around the house... but this week... they've been laying on their pet bed, and sleeping. But as you can see.... Teemo is definitely more comfortable than he ever used to be.

Outsourcing

Help is getting harder and harder to find...

Still looking for that portrait

I want to go for a walk

Watching hockey

Teemo sat on the bed and cheered on the Tigers to a win over the Giants tonight. With his colours, he'd fit right in at the Medicine Hat Arena.

Recycling photo shoots

Since I didn't take anything new today, here's another one of Oakley hanging out in a basket.

Playing in the rain

Since I missed yesterday, I'll be generous today.

Oakley and I tried the flower thing again today, and he was more interested this time.



And Teemo watched.



One more shot of the flowers in the rain.

A walk in the flowers

Bring flowers into the house and he won't stay away from them, but do you think I could get him to play with some flowers in the garden? Of course not. This was as good as he'd do for me today.

Cats

Tamara's daily cat fix. The funny part of this is that Teemo would start cleaning himself, and Oakley would give him a whack.

Spring is here

Never mind that the flowers aren't real ... spring is here.

Today was the international Buy Nothing Day. Convieniently it is the same day as Black Friday. Our club had a stuff swap on campus. It was a store set up, but no money was exchanged.. just items. Kinda cool. Unfortunately today was also the big Country Christmas Craft Show at the Exhibition Grounds. Over 177 craft booths! :) I did go, and I did buy a couple of items (as gifts of course). I also wanted to scout it out, since I plan to have a booth next year for my cards. Last year I had said I wanted a booth this year... but I'm still in school. So next year... I have it in writing now... that I WILL have a booth at the craft show. There were 2 other card booths there this year. One of which the cards weren't very nice and they were charging $4 a card. The other one had great cards. :) I would considered mine to be on the same level as theirs. They were charging $3.50 a card. So I scouted it out, and both booths were selling a number of cards while we were there, so YAY!

My cats have been fantastic lately. I thought they'd be all over the tree, but they just leave it alone. Actaully they've been napping under it, but not disturbing it. Which is wonderful.

At this point, I think there is no way I can fail any of my classes. I think I'll even get through chem with a somewhat decent mark (my lab is definately going to drag up my mark). In lecture I'm sitting at 56% (higher than I thought), and she gave out a make up assignment which is able to add 6%to the top of my mark. So say I only get 50% on the assignment, I will be sitting at 59%. Which means I only need above a 40% on the final. :) which I can guarentee I'll get. So YAY!!! No chem worries anymore. With th lab factored in, I should get 65-75% on the course in the end. YAY for lab, even though it is a very brutal lab.

Ohh and I charged up my cell phone for the first time in,.... 8 or 9 months! They're threatening to cut me off if I don't use it soon. So I figure I'll carry it this week, and one day I'll call Josh to get him to pick me up!

I was reading yesterday about christmas trees and the environment. Artificial trees (which I have) are bad in that they have so many chemicals in them. Which really isn't bad, until it hits the land fill. Real trees, well.. you're cutting them down and killing them. Now being a christmas freak, christmas just isn't christmas without a christmas tree. So it gave a solution. In some cities you can rent a tree. It's a really neat idea. You pay a rental fee, and the tree comes burlapped up (roots), and after the holidays, the tree is picked up and gets planted within the city, whether it be a park, a schoolyard or something! It's brilliant! Right now this program is available in San Fransisco and Portland. Hopefully it takes off elsewhere for next year. If you have a real tree... make sure to recycle it at the end of the season!

The promised pictures! Oakley is the grey tabby, Teemo the orange tabby.

So I've got more exciting news! Teemo was lonely. Very lonely, he's never lived without at least 2 other cats before. Well.... yesterday we found Oakley, and we brought him home. Him and Teemo buddied up pretty quick. It brought Teemo out of his shell even more. He's a grey tabby.. and only 10 weeks old. He's very cuddly, and purrs loundly and constantly! Last night he tried to spend the night with us. Poor Josh had to work this morning, and all night Oakley was climbing all over him. SO all night I was mostly awake, fishing the cat when he got too near Josh and either pulling him over to me (which he'd stay for a while)... or put him on the floor (which he just climbed back up on the bed).

I'll post the pictures later today of both the kitties. :)

Anyone know how to keep cats eating their own food.. rather than the others? Cause Oakley is on kitten food and Teemo is on adult food, but they're both trying to eat each others.