Diversion Post

This post is brought to you by my attempt to divert attention away from my impending appointment tomorrow as I have decided to focus on something that brings me great joy...my cats.

I have had one cat, Smokey, for almost 10 years.  Our other cat, Gizmo, was adopted this past Summer.  These cats are the greatest little animals ever.  It took them some time but they like each other now.  Gizmo likes Smokey more than Smokey likes Gizmo but they still play together and sometimes we even catch them laying together.  It doesn't happen often, but it happens.  And I think the only reason it happens is that Smokey is just too lazy to get up and move when Gizmo lays down next to her.

It has been so much fun watching BJ bond with Gizmo.  He will pick Gizmo up and give him kisses and talk baby talk to him and he calls him "buddy".  It's just too damn cute.  Especially because he's never been that fond of Smokey.  They have a strange relationship to say the least.  It stems from how she was raised by me and my ex.  She views the male figure as the play person and me as the lovey-dovey-snuggle person.  She plays rough and by rough I mean that she gets to a point where she is nothing short of pissed off and ready to mame.  She bites when she plays...and hard.  And if you say "ouch!" or "stop!" it's like adding fuel to the fire and she bites harder.  At that point I would just walk away from her or shoo her away from me and within a few minutes she comes back to apologize in a way that only cats can...by purring on the person she just tried to destroy.  Brian insists that she's evil because of this.  I can't help how she plays, my ex played very rough with her since she was a kitten without realizing that it would make her...mean.  We have pretty much broken her of this habit by not playing with her in a rough manner.  We won't let anyone get rough with Gizmo because we don't want him to pick up this bad habit.  It seems to be working.

The Little Guy has always been afraid of Smokey.  This fear was unfounded because she would pretty much avoid him as much as he avoided her.  She never bit or scratched him but I think his fear came from BJ calling her evil.  Since we got Gizmo, the LG has done a complete 180.  He pets Smokey, he gives her kisses, he plays with her.  She has rewarded this behavior by laying on his lap when he's trying to do his homework.  It's very cute.  She even sleeps in his bed during the day sometimes.  It has been a very nice change in both of them.

BJ has warmed up to Smokey over the years, too.  She lays on his lap and he lets her.  She has a certain method of getting on the couch now and it consists of jumping up on the arm where BJ is and sniffing him and then walking across the top to walk down my chest and lay on my lap.  I really enjoy these times with her.  And it's nice to see BJ pet her and not get bitten because she thinks he's ready to play.  If he's got the laptop on his lap she has to come over to see what he's doing.  If the LG is playing a hand held game that is making noise she will try to lay on his lap.

You may wonder why I haven't mentioned Gizmo laying with us on the couch or on our laps.  It's because he doesn't.  I don't know why.  We have tried countless times to get him to lay with us and he stays for about 5 seconds.  He'll lay on the ottoman or pressed up against the side of the ottoman...or better yet...he lays under BJ's legs when BJ puts his feet up on the ottoman.  But lay with us?  Forget it.  Maybe he'll change when he gets older.  I'll just have to survive with one kitty on my lap for now.

Gizmo hears the garage door open each evening upon my arrival home and he immediately goes to the door and waits for me.  When I walk in, he meows and lays down and rolls over so that I can rub his belly.  That is his favorite way to be loved...belly rubs.  He is such a sweet little guy and petting his belly makes all the stress of the day disappear because he just stretches out and lets me ruffle his fur until my heart's content.  He is the most vocal cat I have ever known.  Smokey rarely makes a peep, but Gizmo?  He meows, squeaks, howls...everything.  Sometimes it's like a crying baby...we don't know what he wants or why he's meowing, but it's very sweet.  If we ask him if he's a good boy he'll let out a tiny (sometimes silent) meow.  It's the cutest thing to see his mouth open and nothing come out.  He waits for me outside our bedroom door in the mornings (BJ doesn't let them sleep with us anymore...booooo!...major issue at home) and meows when he hears me come out of the master bathroom because he knows I'm about to open the bedroom door.  His favorite toy is balled up paper.  If he hears you rustle or tear paper he comes running from wherever he is in the house.  We ball it up and throw it.  He knocks it around and usually gets it stuck under the stove or the fridge so we have to go fishing for it.  He carries it around in his mouth which brings big laughs.  He will drop it at your feet if you are in the kitchen because he wants you to throw it.  If you ask him where his paper is he will get excited and anticipate you throwing it.  He's quite the character.  And we love him so very much.

I could go on for another few paragraphs, I'm sure, but I will stop now.  If you made it this far, congratulations!  I'm sorry for boring anyone but I wanted to write about something other than IF, TTC, appointments and anything else heavy.  I need to get some pictures of my babies up here so you, too, can see how adorable they are.  I haven't posted any pictures of Gizmo since we first brought him home...he has grown so much!

I will be back Friday with an update of my appointment.  Catch you later!