Klutzo the Clown-Cat and a few of my favorite things

Tuesday morning I was struggling to get myself ready to leave for work on time. I somehow managed to make it and by 7:28 I was standing in the kitchen having my first smoke of the day counting down to 7:30 when I call my buddy, Jo.  Five or 10 minutes later, we meet at the foot of my street to start our schlepp into the City.  Duncan, as usual, is on top of the fridge watching the birds in the backyard while waiting for his morning ice cube.  Only this morning, he must have been startled by a bird because the next thing we both knew -- BAM -- he was on the floor!  I'm not sure who was more startled, Duncan or me!  Of course, he immediately picked himself up and strutted past me as if to say "I meant to do that."  Yeah, sure he did!  Just like I meant to choke on my cigarette!

Fast forward to this evening.  We've had our dinner, the dishes are done, phone calls are made and now we're settled down watching Ghost Hunters.  Duncan sprawls out on his scratching board and looks at me to make sure I'm not just watching Jason, Grant and the TAPS team search for paranormal shenanigans but taking time out to admire my handsome little boy every so often.  And of course he wasn't disappointed!  Well, as I'm admiring his furry gorgeousness, he leans his head back to glance up at the tv and WHAM!  He's on the floor and his scratching board is on top of him!  This cat constantly makes me laugh!  I know I've said that many times already and can only imagine that I'll probably say it a million more times but he is just the funniest little goofball EVER! 

And now for the best part of our evening.  Anyone who knows me for more than 10 minutes also knows that I'm a HUGE Michael Crawford fan.  There are SO many things in life that I truly enjoy but Michael Crawford is always at the top of my list, these days, right below Duncan, and I have WAY too many collectible items from various aspects of Michael's career.  One of those prize possessions is the top hat that I'm told he wore in the play Sorry by Vaclav Havel (or maybe as Dave Finn in the British sitcom Chalk and Cheese?) that was given to me by a very dear friend.  I keep it in a glass case on top of my curio cabinet and have a teddy bear that I won at one of Michael's fan club (yes, I actually belong to his fan club!  At 50 years of age I wound up joining my very first fan club -- who would have known?!) birthday celebrations on top of the glass case.  Well, evidently the teddy bear did NOT belong there -- DUNCAN did!  He's been working at getting on that case for weeks now and I kept chasing him off but last night he managed to sneak up there, knock the teddy off and finally take his rightful place on top of that case!  So naturally, instead of chasing him off, I simply had to take pictures of two of my favorite things -- Duncan and Michael Crawford, together at last! 

Too cute for words!

By the time I got home last night, all I wanted to do was settle Duncan down with his dinner and collapse!  Of course, that wasn't what Duncan wanted!  So by the time he finished "helping" me lug all the groceries up the stairs and put them all away, it was all I could do to get his food dished, grab a diet Coke, a smoke and head for the couch and the remote.  First thing I noticed was that he'd hidden my lighter -- AGAIN!  That's the third lighter in as many days!  Nothing else was touched, everything was exactly as I'd left it except for the missing lighter.  So back to the kitchen for some matches (that was the last of my "spare" lighters -- the only 1 left was the 1 I keep in my purse!) and back to the couch.  Ahh, finally, I can sit!  Wait!  What the hell was THAT noise?!  Back to the kitchen.  Seems Duncan found the prescription I'd just picked up at the supermarket and decided it belonged on the floor.  Ok, put it away, back to the couch.  BAM!  Back to the kitchen where Duncan has pulled all the grocery bags out from the side of the fridge and strewn them all over the floor.  Pick up the bags and head back to the couch.  ZOOM!  Here comes Crazy Cat flying low into the living room, across my lap, onto his cat tree and into the window.  ZOOM!  There goes Crazy Cat across the coffeetable and out of the living room leaving a path of destruction in his wake!  Ok, so nothing was really destroyed, but everything was certainly in different places after his flight! 

Cheryl called later on and was treated to a constant stream of interruptions as Duncan continued to torment me throughout the evening!  Then, maybe an hour before bedtime, it happened!  Duncan decided to settle down and just be adorable!  He came flying in from wherever and shot into his crinkle sack and just posed for the camera!  How can anyone not love this guy?!  He's such a little clown and he knows just how far to push my patience before going into Cute Mode and winning me all over again!

And now for those pictures I promised!  Just wish I was better with the camera.

Just a few more!

Just a few more.  God, I love this cat!  And, of course, while I was putting this post together he decided to come investigate what had so captured his mom's attention!  I haven't laughed so hard in YEARS!  He's my little clown and always manages to do something to get me laughing.  Even when he's being naughty! 

The pictures of him with my FAO Schwartz Burmese kitty from when I lived in The Village in the 80s make me wonder if he wouldn't like a playmate but he's such a handfull and I'm so restricted with my arthritis/bursitis that I'm not sure I'm up for it.  However, being raised Catholic, my ingrained sense of guilt may lead to another kitty in the house at some point! 



Pix of the big guy!

My bursitis is acting up again -- went to the orthopedist today and got cortisone shots in both hips so hopefully it'll be better soon but in the meantime, figured I'd just post a bunch of pix I've taken lately.  Hope you enjoy my big guy as much as I do!  Doesn't matter if he's watching the wildlife from the window or sleeping next to me on the couch, he simply lights up my life!

Seriously?! Can you say "Spoiled Kitty"?!

Had a really hard time getting up this morning -- sleeping isn't always an easy thing with my bum hips and knees and add allergies to the mix and some nights I toss and turn all night long -- so all I really wanted was to take my shower in peace.  Fed the furball, gave him fresh water and crunchies and then went and closed the bathroom door for my shower.  Well, obviously this was a HUGE mistake and Duncan has a sure-fire way of showing his displeasure -- when I came out of the bathroom EVERYTHING that had been on the kitchen table was now on the kitchen FLOOR!  GRRRRRR!!  He has no idea how lucky he is he's just so doggone adorable!  Or maybe he does!  I tried to remind him how easily he could become homeless again but he was way too busy playing with his ice cube to be bothered paying me the slightest attention!  Not too spoiled, is he?!

Music to my ears!

We have a new game in the morning!  We live on the second floor of a 2-family house and I had tried using treats to keep Duncan from bolting down the stairs to the front door when I leave for work so that I don’t have to go all the way downstairs, chase him all the way back up and then go all the way back down again with my bum knees and that worked for about 2 seconds!  He quickly realized that he can run downstairs and when he comes back the treats will still be there waiting for him.  So now just before I leave the house I drop an ice cube into his water bowl!  THAT works like a charm and he knows that if he runs downstairs, unlike the treats, the ice cube won't necessarily be there by the time he comes back!  So now I leave wishing my little furball a good day and reminding him how much Mommy loves him to the sounds of ice banging against the sides of his metal water bowl!  Amazing what odd sounds can come to be sweet music, isn’t it?

As usual, life gets in the way!

I was so determined not to get behind on this blog and then life happened!  Its been a crazy week and a half what with work, commuting, grocery shopping, doctor visits, my wonderfully considerate neighbors (yes, I AM being extremely sarcastic here!) who see the gimpy broad (me!) hobbling to and from her car every day and evidently get such a kick out of this show that they all park as close to my house as possible (especially when I've got LOTS of groceries to cart or its raining and I've got the spare umbrella from under my desk which is the size of a postage stamp) so that I wind up parking 5 houses away, laundry and family visiting from out of state -- it was wonderful to see my sister and my niece and I really do love them but I'm glad they were staying with my mom and dad because it still seriously cut into my weekend time!  So now its time to play catch-up.  So, first installment, back to Duncan’s birthday weekend!

Well, Duncan did get his ice cream for his birthday but instead of a Carvel ice cream cake he wound up with a Hagen Daz vanilla ice cream cup simply because the ShopRite where I was either didn't have Carvel cakes or they kept them so well hidden that I couldn't find them and I was NOT going to another store for one!  I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that, yes, I have finally become a Crazy Cat Lady but I'm trying my best to keep some limits to just how crazy I get with this!  Duncan is the love of my life, especially since he seems to have the best qualities of my 3 favorite kitties ever --  Gus' joie de vivre, Sybil's attitude and Harley's energy -- and I love spoiling him -- he has more toys than he can find hiding places -- but there has to be a line in the crazy cat lady sand and this was that line for me!  And, honestly, he seemed just as happy with his ice cream and not at all disappointed that it wasn't part of a Cookie O'Puss cake and, yes, I do know that's for St. Pat's but it's a cat and it's a cake, alright?!  Just consider it part of the Crazy Cat Lady Syndrome, ok?

We even had an extended weekend because I wound up home on Monday after over-indulging in some sugar free candy.  It seems that it can cause a "laxative effect" but they only put that in teeny-tiny print on the back of the bag!  And who knew 6 pieces was overdoing it!  But Duncan was thrilled to have his mom home for an extra day and we had lots of fun running to the potty where he could play with the running water, climb across mom's shoulders and jump up on top of the sliding doors!  Of course, then Tuesday came and it was back to work and a very UNhappy Duncan!

Happy Birthday, Duncan!

Duncan is 1 year old today!  He's celebrating with some new mice and a new kitty tease and later on he'll have some ice cream!  He got the cutest card from his Aunt Jo and Uncle Bob and they're responsible for the new toys, too!  He's one very lucky little kitty cat!  And right now I'm going to go snuggle with him and dream about all the years we'll have together and all the birthdays he'll be celebrating in the future!  Happy birthday, my little love!