It's Spring!

I know this to be true not only because it is ninety degrees, but because of these sassy pants:

This is just how we roll, meow.

There is currently enough fur floating around here to build a third cat. I would say eighty percent of said fur is coming from Mel. I guess Snowshoes shed all that thick winter fur. Who knew? It is apparently something that I block from my memory every year. I imagine that otherwise I would constantly be in a fragile state.

Whatevs. It's spring, Friends. Come swimming with us?

P.S.  I love that my cats spoon. It really doesn't get any better than that.

A Long Time Coming. Or, How Mel Became Room Inspiration.

About two trillion years ago, I decided that I wanted my studio (or whatever you want to call it) to be the next space that I tackled in the house.

So I bought a huge comfy chair (that could easily fit two people) and the ottoman (that you could lie flat on for a nap, it's huge) at Salvation Army. It was a great brand and I got the chair/ottoman set (nearly new) fifty percent off the Salvation Army price. We loaded it onto and into Old Red and brought it home.

That was last summer.

For about six months I was stuck deciding on a color. Then, over winter break, I decided on blue.

But I couldn't choose a blue. None of them looked right. And I bought probably six different samples:

This is not even all the blues. More blue crimes were committed after this photo.

 I seriously hated them all. Plus, Jeremiah had gotten me two prints - one as a graduation present and one for Christmas. And I didn't like the way either of them looked in my room against those blue samples. So I decided that blue was out.

And then Mel walked in the room. In case you have forgotten, Mel looks like this:

I swear, she poses. This is her thoughtful pose.

Anyway, I was like, brown. Hmmm...and then I remembered how much I love the brown room at my parents' house. And I was like, brown...some more.

So I found one sample, just as a trysies.

I was sold. I didn't even need to try any other browns. This one was PERFECT. It was a darker brown with some greyish/purple-y tones.

 After one coat I was loving it, but I was also frightened. I did NOT want to have to do ten coats of paint, and with the horrible textured walls that exist throughout the Southwest, I thought there was a good possibility of ten coats coming true. All those raised bumps make it really difficult to get the low-lying spots.

After two coats, however, I was good. I will need to do some light touch-ups in some extra-textured areas, but other than that, all is golden.

 

And I love it. It's not a large room, and I know some people are into the whole "Small rooms + Dark colors = No" but I don't think it makes it feel any smaller. The high arched ceilings probably help with that.  Also, the room gets constant light, from sunrise to sunset. So it never feels cave-like.

I went back and forth on whether or not to paint the ceiling and trim white. You might remember that EVERYTHING in the house is a horrible creamy color. Everything. Even door hinges, vents, and outlet covers. Finally I sucked it up and Jeremiah painted the ceiling my go-to white (Delicate White, Olympic Paint) and I tackled the trim. It looks SO much better. I'm glad we did it. It makes the brown pop and feels clean and fresh in the room.

I am also happy because the cats love coming in and sitting in the window and watching/scaring the pigeons. Now that the room is finished, they can actually do that again. Plus, we rigged little doggy gates so the cats can have free range upstairs but the dogs can't. Which is good.

What can I ruin in this empty room? The blinds, meow.

Since the pictures were taken, we've cleaned all the carpet in the house with a rented carpet cleaner and then transferred most items into their respective rooms. Two of the rooms (my studio & one guest room) look quite messy right now. So no more pictures for a bit.

I can tell you, however, that I already have spent numerous evenings sitting in my cozy chair with a cat or dog, covering myself with a handmade quilt from a dear friend (Sara!) and read. Oh, how I love it.

Oh, and for the rest of the colors, I'm thinking of more creams, tans, whites, and browns. Like Mel in Siberia.  I might switch out some accent colors seasonally. Not like Mel.

What's still to come in the studio?

• Curtains/blinds
• shelving (I already know what shelving I am getting. For free. Under the cover of darkness. Shh...)
• Art (Already have it all. Just waiting for the shelving so I know where the art will go.)
• Bookshelves. Oh, I love the bookshelves. They need to be sanded, primed, and painted. We got them from Borders when they went out of business. 
• A rug (already have it, taking it to the laundromat to clean it in one of their large washers).

That's what's up in our house. I'm hoping that as we wait for the studio to come together, I can get Jeremiah to help finish painting the walls along the stairs.

Anyone else doing any painting? Anyone else take their inspiration from their cat?

P.S. This weekend Jeremiah and I volunteered for Odyssey of the Mind. It was a really fun time and it was great to see students challenging themselves and getting excited about doing it. I didn't see Jeremiah all day, but afterward he said he had a great time and would judge again next year. You don't have to be in education to assist/judge/coach, so check it out! Or get your child involved! Next year, because you've missed this year.  So sad for you.

Kitty Lovin'

I'm not sure at what point this happened, but at some point the cats began to give lovings. To each other.

They play fight a bunch, but they also groom each other. And cuddle. Maddie is a serious cuddler. That is, she is a cuddler when she takes a break from her all-around evilness. Have you noticed how orange her eyes are? Jeremiah and I were watching a vampire movie on Netflix and Jeremiah kept looking at the vampires, then Maddie. He thinks she's one of the undead.

Undead or not, I'm so incredibly grateful this holiday season that my kitten no longer scales my thighs like they are Mt. Kilimanjaro. That in itself is a gift not to be overlooked.

And personally? I see that she is growing almost daily, but her head isn't growing at all. It's like I'm raising Beetlejuice. Minus the sarcasm. And she doesn't grab her lady parts. But she does occasionally lick them.

Mel: I is tired. I is going to take a nap. Maddie: I is watching you and plotting evil attacks on your thighs.

Anyone else have beautiful/evil pets?

P.S. Last night I went to pick up some Christmas Angels and Jeremiah and I discovered that you can adopt an old person. I ended up getting tickets for four children (more on this later) and an old woman.  We picked a woman who is wheelchair bound and blind. She wants music, books on tape/cd, and a stuffed animal. I don't know if my heart broke or if it grew a bunch like the Grinch's. Please consider donating to a charity of your choosing this holiday season. If we all give what we can, it makes a difference.

Two Exciting Things

1. When I got Mel and had her initial visit with the vet, he recommended that I regularly trim her nails. Inward groan. I have two dogs that flip out over trimmin' time. Atticus is so bad we have to take him in to the groomers or the vet. And now a cat? It didn't seem like that was going to be do-able. I watched as he trimmed her nails for us and she just slumped there in his arms, letting him cut her nails back. I figured she was letting him do that because she was 1. secretly sick at the time and 2. scared. Or maybe he knew a cat hold that allowed him to work his magic.

Flash forward to Saturday at Target. I needed more litter for Mel (I have never in my life seen a cat go potty as much as this one. Holy tinkles, Batman.) and that's when I saw the kitty nail trimmer combo set. I sighed and threw it in the basket. Mel's nails had grown to epic proportions. They would easily get her kicked off of any domestic or international flight. Raptor claws.

I managed to put it off for a day. Sunday morning came and I was ready to try it. I picked up Mel (Who is squishy and rag doll-y. She kind of just flops when you hold her.) and showed her the trimmer. Not intimidated. I flexed her paws. She licked me. I trim the first nail, sure that all hell was going to break loose. No. She might have even yawned. Holy.Crap. Easiest thing ever. At one point she started gnawing on my knuckles, but not aggressively. More like, she was bored and my knuckles were close by to provide some chewing entertainment. At one point she looked at me like she was so bored she was actually pained by how slow I was.

Long story short - I have a cat that tolerates nail trimmings like a champ. But does anyone know why she chews? I wouldn't mind ending that.

2. After 29.2 years I have discovered that I...


like mushrooms! What are the odds? Okay, maybe not exciting or life-altering for you, but for me? Super exciting.

Oh, Mel.

Sigh.

My cat is special. Like, not ribbons and bows special, but like, special. Like, the politically correct term is differently-abled. I've noticed that her focus isn't great and at times she even looks slightly crossed-eyed. Just a bit. But a bit is enough to get a mom wondering about her fur baby. My fur baby might be different from the other kitties.

My fur baby might be better off in a helmet as she has proven now that she has zero grace, agility, or balance.

She turned away from Jeremiah today and ran into the railing on the stairs.

She tried to hop an inch from the desk to the chair - and fell. She also can't make jumps to get her food, which is on the desk in the guest room (Yes, she is headquartered in one of the guest rooms. Are you SURE you don't want to come visit?). I have to set up a chair so she can jump to that and then do a small hop to the desk.

She tried to STEP from a chair to a coffee table and her middle half sank. Picture front paws on the table, back paws on the chair, and a sagging middle. Until she fell.

I'm reminded of my first cat, Cecil, who used to fall asleep in the windowsill while she was standing up and then she would just tip over. Whoops. 

Oh, Mel. I'm going to be honest and say that I thought Snowshoes were supposed to be intelligent. I thought I was going to be getting a genius cat that could perform emergency surgery if I needed and solve complex puzzles all while finding a way to end problems like world hunger and global warming.

I guess the shelter should have emphasized that she is a Snowshoe MIX.

I don't know what to say. Humans are all different intelligences, right? So it only makes sense that some animals are smarter than others. It's completely obvious with our dogs. I've got rocks in the backyard that are smarter than Atticus.

And speaking of Atter-patter, Mel is quite sure that he is a feline. Which is amusing for us to watch, but not so much for him.

I think Scout, who I'm now assuming, based on interactions with Mel, bordered on genius. Scout played fetch (and could return the item to be thrown again), she could do big hops with grace and balance, she didn't run into any of the furniture, and she knew that Atticus was a dog. And she knew when to stop eating.

I'm guessing Mel has gained at least three pounds since I got her. I'm going to have to start monitoring her food intake as she does not know when to stop.

But, oh, how I love her. She hears me come home and runs to the landing on the stairs to see me. She sticks her odd shaped head through the little rails and stares right at me (sort of). She cuddles on the bed every night. And she provides endless entertainment. Yesterday Atticus was resting with me and she came up, smelled his foot, and then started batting at it. Again, he was not amused, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Anyone else have an odd pet?

p.s. We ended up purchasing one of those break-away collars for her, for fear that her own...oh, let's just say it - her own stupidity would get her in trouble. I would say that she has gotten stuck maybe four times already and had to break herself loose.

p.p.s. The tiling is happening today! Oh boysies.