Why is Cookie so embarrassed?

Cookie is a trick cat - mostly in the mornings.  When the heat comes on around 6am you can hear her squeeze in through the bathroom door, then shut it behind her to keep warm.  She then waits for us there  so that she can bask in the heat of the hair dryer (if we don't share she yells until we do).  When Cortney is brushing her hair, Cookie paces the counter, arching her back until she is rewarded with her own brush strokes.  She waits until we are gone to roll in the water on the bottom of the tub, then paws the linen closet open so that she can dry herself on the towels. 

But this morning she took things a bit far.  After her preening ritual it would seem that she decided to dress herself also, and made her way into the top drawer of Jon's dresser.  When Jon went to shut the drawer, he heard...a cat.  We couldn't see her, so we opened the next drawer down, which was accompanied by a quiet "thud," as she fell down one more level.  We repeated this with each of the remaining three drawers until she was safely on the bottom, then removed the final drawer, revealing a sheepish blond kitty.  That is why she is embarrassed this morning.

Cookie's having a ball...

More effective than a dog whistle, and nearly as effective as the sound of a can opener, we have a new cat calling technique.  In doing some spring cleaning this weekend (hey, it might be January, but it was over fifty degrees) we found a package of unopened cat toys.  They don't look interesting (they are pink and yellow plastic balls with small bells inside) but there is just something about these balls.  Cortney took one from the package, preparing to toss the rest of them, and dropped it on the ground on her way to the kitchen trash.  There was a rumble somewhere in the basement, followed by a stampede and the emergence of a cream colored whirlwind that, for the following minute or so, engaged itself in play with said ball.  And it works every time - drop the ball from a standing position and no matter where in the house she is hiding Cookie will be there in a matter of seconds.  She may not play with it for long after that, but at least now we know we have a fail proof way of locating our cat.

Didgeridooin'

Jon has been practicing the didgeridoo and working toward circular breathing. Perhaps squeezing the cheeks with a free hand would help? Not so much. But it was worth a try. As always, Cookie was completely unphased by the vibrations, while Ollie freaked out without constant reassurance that something terrible was not coming his way. We're still not sure if Diamond could hear it at all, as she seemed quite happy to sleep through it.

 Michigan football countdown: 4 days to go!

The arrival

Who knew that furniture companies delivered on Sundays?  The scheduled delivery for our new set was between 8 and 11  today, but we couldn't be here because of church, (and church was especially important and long this morning because it was all-church picnic day and "good-bye" Lloyd day, a wonderful man who we will all miss).  We were all set to have Cortney's parents come and hang out during the delivery hours as a special favor (and because Cortney's mom loves the dogs) but low and behold, the delivery guys called at 7:10 am and wondered if they could come early—they were right around the corner.  Worked for us...although we were almost late for the 8:00 service.
But the furniture is great. It is bigger than what we had before so it makes the space seem a little smaller, but we were expecting that and it still looks great and is really comfortable!  Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time sitting on it.  Instead we tried out the weed whacker and mowed the lawn in sprinkles of rain, and we cleaned the bathrooms and our offices, and even some of the basement.  We always keep a clean house, but it has to be spotless this week;  Steve and Rachel (our best friends) are visiting from Seattle Wednesday and Thursday.  We are really looking forward to seeing them, but I'm not sure they were worth the lawn mowing in the 86 degree heat. Finally, after finishing the above and grabbing a shower we were able to sit on the new furniture...but it was 6:00 by that time!  We want to point out that even the animals look pooped in this picutre, and they sat inside in the air conditioning all day!

New furniture!

Our old sectional sofa, a much appreciated hand-me-down, had become more uncomfortable than a Democrat at the Republican convention.  So last weekend we engaged in a right of passage through marriage—we bought living room furniture!  Come this Sunday our sitting room will be graced by a comfortable couch, chair and ottoman in tan, or camel.   The chair has spiral swirls for contrast.  I think it's the presence of the ottoman that makes us feel the most refined; a place to put your feet with such a fancy name.    The floor model of the ottoman was actually the last one, so we were able to take it home with us.  I thought we would get to try it out, but Cookie has taken up what appears to be permanent residence on it.   Diamond spent a good ten minutes trying to remove the attached pillow-top until finally giving up and falling asleep with her chin resting next to Cookie.  So much for refinement.  It's not an ottoman, it's an animal bed.