Just We Two - Mom

Nothing like a nice nap on Mom’s lap!  Absolutely the best!

I’ve been very worried about Mom for some time now.  There was a sort of funny smell to her and I stayed with her wherever she went in the house and always, always slept on her lap when she sat down.  Sometimes I even braved the closed bedroom door to sleep on the bed with her, or just be near her.  I just felt that something was not quite right.

Finally, she went to see a vet, or as she calls it, a doctor.  She came back smelling even odder, so I stuck by her some more.  She said they poked a hole in her.  Awful!!

Last week, she went to a place called a hospital for the day and came back smelling even stranger, if that’s possible.  However, the first funny smell seems to be gone.  She has been wearing some unusual pieces of clothing (as if they all weren’t strange!), but I stayed with her.  The smell seemed to come from her left milk holder and the under part of the arm near it.  I smelled both those places thoroughly and then rubbed against them and curled up on them to keep her warm.  I purred to help her heal.  I think it is working.  Mom says that she really appreciates all I do for her and loves it when I come up in her lap and do the purr cure, and says that she is healing very well.

Please, Mom!  Don’t leave me.  I need you.  I love Dad, and I even am fond of Mina, but I love Mom the most, since I have known her for so long.  What would I do without her?  It was bad enough losing Cherokee, but I would not survive losing Mom, too.  Mom keeps telling me that she is going to be just fine, that they took all the bad stuff out and she is healing well and will be as good as new very soon.  She says that she still needs to do more stuff to be sure she will stay okay for the rest of her life.  Will there be new strange smells?  I will keep purring the cure as long as it takes to make her healed and well.

I don’t think Mina has even noticed the smells.  She spends more time with Dad and certainly hasn’t known Mom as long as I.  Of course, she would miss Mom, but she would get over it before long, especially if she had Dad.  She is young and is still capable of handling all sorts of things.  I, on the other hand, am not.  I am no longer flexible, either in my mind or in my body.  Maybe if I lost a little weight . . .

Mom got up real early this morning to go see the vet/doctor, and she says she has to get up even earlier tomorrow – something about a balloon.  I think Mina had a balloon once.  I just can’t figure out what a balloon has to do with Mom’s milk holder.  Perhaps I heard incorrectly.  I also heard another new word from her – radiation.  What is it?  Mom says she is afraid of it, but feels she must do it (whatever it is).  I guess maybe we shall see.

Well, I think it’s time for another nap, once I have finished eating my supper.  Dad is home and will be feeding us soon.

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - Opposable Thumbs

I have been napping quite a bit lately, mostly to keep warm.  I even welcome Mina’s proximity, since she has some heat to share.  It is mutual, I guess.

Anyway, to get to my subject.  Opposable thumbs are highly touted, but I think perhaps they are highly overrated, too.  Mom used to tease Cherokee and me about not having opposable thumbs.  She would show us how she could pick up things and then laugh a little at us because we couldn’t do that.  Well, we have sharp claws and sharp teeth that do a pretty good job of picking things up, believe me.  No, we can’t pick up a book or a piece of furniture, but they would be too heavy for us anyway.  Also, why would we want to pick up those particular things?  They are of no importance to us.  Well, maybe a little importance, as we do sleep on the furniture and occasionally we do read, but we have no reason to pick up anything like that.

Lately, Mom has been complaining that her wonderful opposable thumbs are hurting a lot, because she picks up a lot of heavy law books in her job.  I don’t know what law books are, but she says they are very heavy, as books go.  She has to pick up a lot of them with her wonderful opposable thumbs when she is at work, and now those very same thumbs are hurting and she doesn’t like to pick things up much right now.  Ha!  So much for opposable thumbs!  Now she is pretty helpless, since she doesn’t have sharp claws or sharp teeth.  Are cats superior, or what!

Actually, we do have a little bit of a thumb-like appendage on each leg, but they just don’t work quite like human thumbs.  They are not long enough to be very useful for things other than scratching something or someone.  At that they do a nice job.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dad get mad when we scratch stuff with those claws or any other claws.  They just spoil all the fun in life.

I have been spending a lot of nights sleeping on the bed with Mom and Dad.  I usually end up being shut in the room with them, because Mina can’t manage to behave herself and keeps playing with their feet, or getting up on the dresser and knocking the big chain against the wall, so they throw her out and shut the door.  She doesn’t like to sleep all night, because she just wants to play.  Well, too bad for her!  I love sleeping with them.  Cherokee wasn’t much for sleeping all night, either, but he would just leave the bedroom and play somewhere else, except for the last couple of years.  Then he would sleep peacefully at Mom’s feet every night.

Right now, I’m a little worried about Mom.  She smells funny and all I want to do is stay close to her to help keep her safe.  I don’t know what’s going on, but she has been telling me that she will be fine.  She tells me that she will go to the hospital (whatever that is) and when she comes home she will be just fine.  Can I believe her?  I hope so.  I don’t want to lose Mom.  I’m sure life with just Dad would be great, but I have been with Mom for a very long time, and I think that maybe losing Mom would be worse than losing Cherokee, if that is possible.  I will continue to worry about Mom until she can prove to me that she is fine.  We will find out next week.

Well, I’m tired again.  This cold weather just takes it all out of me and I find I must nap a lot.

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - Am I Growing Up?

It’s so nice to be awake these days.  Miss Patchy insists on sleeping a lot, even though I try to get her to play.  She does play a little sometimes and it is fun.  Now, when Mom opens the windows and the patio doors, a lot of cold comes in.  Before, it was hot, but now it’s cold.  I just can’t figure out why that changes.  Miss Patchy says it happens all the time.  Anyway, it is so cold at night that both Miss Patchy and I often sleep on the bed to keep Mom and Dad’s feet warm.  We also just snuggle up together during the day and keep each other warm while we nap.  I am doing a lot more napping during the day now.  What does that mean?  I have also been spending a good bit of time alone, lying in the office window or in one of the office chairs.  I never used to want to be alone, but life seems to be changing.

Well, I think I have finally figured out the window!  I saw Dad open the door and go outside.  I immediately jumped up on the window sill , and there he was in the window.  I had sort of noticed this before, but I have realized that it is some sort of hole in the wall, with a clear barrier over it.  I wondered before if I could be in the “television” (actually a window), and I think that I am in it when I am up on the window sill.  Mom and Dad can see me when they are outside and I am looking through the window.  I know that they can see me, because they talk to me.  I guess you can see through it from both sides!  There are so many amazing things in life.  Will I ever learn about them all?

Mom and Dad are very worried about money right now.  I’m not even sure what money is, but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about it, or anything else.  Mom says that money is what gives us food to eat and a roof over our heads.  However, I see Mom make our food, so I’m not sure what she is talking about.  This “money” has never been at the stove cooking our food, as far as I have ever seen.  Is money a person?  Is it fun to play with?

I was told by Mom a little while ago that I am now one year old.  Hm-m-m-m!  Just what does that mean?  She says that Miss Patchy is about twelve or thirteen years old.  Why does Miss Patchy have more years than I?  Mom says that she (Mom) is retired, because she is old.  How old is she?  What does retired mean?  Will I have to retire some day?  I remember Mom and Dad talking about getting new tires for the car.  (I think that’s the thing that takes us to the vet.)  Did the car retire?  This is puzzling to me.  Miss Patchy doesn’t seem to know the answer, either, and she says she doesn’t really care about it.  Sometimes she is very curious, but other times not at all.

Mom says that she gets Social Security now.  I don’t know what that is, but she is glad to have it.  Will I get it when I am old?  Miss Patchy says that she does not get Social Security.  I thought she would be old enough for it, but she says not.

Closets are not my friends.  I just can’t resist going into closets, but bad things often happen when I do so.  I think I told you (or Miss Patchy told you) about my experience in the coat closet when I was very little.  After that, I always let Mom know when I was going into the coat closet.  When I got shut in the garage for a long time, I started letting Mom know when I was going out there, and made a little game of it, just daring her to catch me and take me back inside the house.  Well, I love to go into the clothes closet off the bedroom and bathroom upstairs.  It is full of Mom’s fun clothing.  She has a lot of clothes with things hanging off them.  I just love to play with them.  Mom hates it when I do that, so she always keeps the clothes closet shut so I can’t go in.  Well, the other day, I pushed on the door, and it opened.  I went in and had some fun and then went to sleep.  When Mom got home from work, she came upstairs and changed her clothes in the closet.  She was surprised to see that the closet door was open and she looked around for me, but didn’t see me.  When she was done changing, she left the closet and shut the door.  Oh-oh!  I couldn’t get out.  For a long time I tried and tried to get the door open or to get out some other way, but there just was no other way.  I got a little scared and panicky and I tried to climb up the door on Mom’s housecoats.  One came off and fell on the floor.  I climbed a little way up the other one, but there was no way out by going up.  Then, I tried to dig my way out under the door.  I got the edge of the carpet up and pulled inside the closet, but the opening was too small for me, and there were sharp things there.  I heard Mom and Dad calling me, but I couldn’t answer loud enough for them to hear me, because they were watching television.  Finally, when I didn’t come down for supper (I always do!), Mom looked all around and finally found me in the closet.  I will have to be sure to let her know when I go in there now, so she doesn’t shut me in again.

I know some toys that need to be played with now, so I will end for today.  I hope that you will enjoy your toys, too.

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Curiouser and Curiouser

Well, I had a nice night, even though I slept through most of it.  We had a great breakfast, and I will be playing soon, although I need a little rest first.

A new thing happened to me the other day.  I was just minding my own business and looking around for something to do when I began to cough and I felt something in my throat.  It was a little odd feeling, so I tried to ask Mom about it, but she didn’t seem to understand what I was asking, even though she knew it was a question.  I coughed a little more, and suddenly, something came up my throat, out of my mouth, and fell onto the floor.  I was very surprised.  I had seen Miss Patchy do that, but it had never happened to me before.  I asked Miss Patchy about it and she said that I shouldn’t worry; it was just a hairball.  I asked her why it happened, and she explained to me that I have been shedding, with lots of my beautiful, long fur loosening up.  I have been having to groom myself a lot lately, and she said that I have been swallowing my fur for a long time and now it was time for it to come up.  She said it happens pretty often and that now I am an adult.  No more kitten, even though I still feel quite kittenish.  Mom says I play like a kitten, too.  Why do I have to be an adult?  Actually, though, I don’t really see any difference except that I now have hairballs.  At least it doesn’t hurt!

The lights went off again, just a few days after the last time.  It was daytime, so we didn’t need the light stick or the candles.  Later on, Mom said that a car had hit a utility pole (whatever that is) and that turned our lights off.  What does a car hitting this pole have to do with our lights?  They weren’t off for very long, which Mom said was good because it was pretty hot outside and the cold air machine didn’t work, either.  I’m glad it hasn’t happened at our meal time, because Mom says we shouldn’t open the refrigerator when the lights are out, so that it won’t warm up inside.  Our food is in there!  It’s scary to think that we might not be able to eat because the lights go out.

Dad has been going away every day for a few days now.  He says that he has a job and has to go away to it.  It’s very lonely here when both Mom and Dad are gone.  Mom has a job, too, but she goes away mostly in the morning, while Dad goes away in the afternoon and evening, so most of the time we are not alone.  When Dad is home, he spends a lot of time on the computer, so I go up to the office to help him.  Sometimes I watch him from the second chair, sometimes I watch him from on top of the desk.  Sometimes he plays with me and sometimes he strokes me.  I like Dad a lot.  I like Mom, too, because she is also very good at stroking me.  They both spend too much time stroking Miss Patchy, though.  Sometimes I get a little mad and just lie there and glare at them while they are stroking her.  I’m not sure they even notice me.  I always feel as though I shouldn’t let them stroke me any more when they do that, but then they start doing it and I have to let them.

Mom cooked some food for Miss Patchy and me last night.  I heard her tell Dad that there is chicken, beef kidney, and chicken hearts, gizzards and liver in it.  It smelled very good, but I would rather eat the dry food.  Miss Patchy would rather eat the wet food and the stuff Mom cooks, so we often exchange our dishes.  The whole house smelled really good, and Dad was hungry when he came home from work and he ate some of our chicken.  It takes Mom quite a while to make the food.  She cooks it for a long time, then lets it cool off, and then she has to chop it up.  She mixes some of the cooking juice with it and then puts it in little containers that she keeps in the freezer.  She is a very good Mom and Dad is a very good Dad, because he gives us treats.  While our food was cooking, he took a chicken heart out of the pot and chopped it up and gave it to us.  I liked that.

Well, it is getting late in the morning and I haven’t played yet.  Lots of playing to do, lots of toys to play with.  So many toys, so little time!

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Strange Times

I haven’t yet had time to play today.  I just finished breakfast a short time ago and had to take a little nap before playing.  I lay in the office window and slept off breakfast.

I would like to talk about something strange that happened the other night.  We were all sitting in the living room, watching television.  I can’t remember what was on, but I think it was just changing all the time, the way it does sometimes when Dad has the little box in his hand.  Anyway, we were just sitting there and Mom and Dad were talking, when all the lights went out.  The television went out, too, and the ceiling fans stopped.  It was a little scary, but Miss Patchy and I could see okay.  I’m not sure about Mom and Dad.  Dad stayed on the couch, and Mom walked slowly into the kitchen.  When she came out of the kitchen, she had some sort of a stick in her hand.  When she made the stick click, light came out of it.  It made a little circle of light on the floor, or on the wall, or wherever it settled.  When Mom got back to the living room, she lit a candle and there was some light in the room then.  I found it all very odd.  Why didn’t they just turn on the lights and the television?  There must have been some sort of reason why.

After a few minutes of sitting in the light of the candle, Mom told Dad that she was going to go upstairs on the roof to see if everybody’s lights were off.  The little circle of light from the light stick went up with her.  I ran up after her and managed to dash out onto the roof before Mom could stop me.  It was very exciting!  There was a really bright light coming down from the sky.  Who needed lights?  Mom looked around and said that everybody’s light were off except for some way off, where she could see some lights.  I couldn’t see, because of the wall.  I was going to go up on the wall to see what I could see, but Mom grabbed me and took me back inside before I could do so.

We went back downstairs and Mom and Dad talked some more.  Mom said they might as well go to bed, since they couldn’t watch television or read or anything.  She said they could talk in the dark in bed just as well as in the dark in the living room.  It had been dark for quite a while by then, so they went upstairs and got ready for bed.  Mom turned off the switches on the cords in the office, turned off the cold air machine, and turned on the light switch for the shower light.  They weren’t in bed for long before the shower light came on.  Mom got up and turned on the cold air and turned off the shower light and the two of them went to sleep.

Why did the lights go off?  Will I ever find out?  Did Mom or Dad do something?  Why were all the lights off when Mom looked around from the roof?  Where does the light come from anyway?  All I know is that someone clicks a switch on the wall and there is light.  I have asked Miss Patchy, but she doesn’t know either.  She also said she didn’t really care, just as long as there is light and she is comfortable and gets good food.  I certainly appreciate all those things, but I am really curious about the missing lights.  Mom said something about electricity and power.  I don’t know what that is, but it must have something to do with the lights.  I guess I will have to let it go for now, since no one seems to be able to explain it to me.

Another strange thing happened yesterday.  I found the balloon.  It didn’t run away after all.  It was just hiding, probably embarrassed because it was getting small.  It looked as though it might be fun to play with since it was smaller, so I jumped on it, intending to pick it up.  Well, it made a loud noise and turned into a little piece of plastic.  That scared me.  What happened?  Another mysterious event!  The world is just full of strange, unexplainable things.  Dad threw what was left of the balloon in the garbage, along with the string that was attached to it.  Maybe another balloon will come to visit us some day.

Mom got mad at me yesterday.  She went into the office in the morning and found that I had pulled a skirt off a hanger.  She has several things hanging on a hook on the door.  I just can’t resist her clothes.  Also, it’s fun to make her mad.  Anyway, she picked up the skirt and looked it over carefully to make sure I hadn’t put any holes in it and then put it back on the hanger, saying that she must iron it.  What is ironing?  Maybe I will find out soon, if she irons the skirt.

Well, I think I hear my toys calling me to play.  I’ll just finish a short nap first and then be off.

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Lots of Fun

Whee!  I just had breakfast and I’m feeling fine!  Time to play before I take a nap!

I just wanted to say how much fun I have with Miss Patchy.  When we finally get Mom to get up out of bed to feed us, we run down the stairs.  I usually jump over Miss Patchy at least once on the way down.  If I miss, I go back up and try again.  It’s just so great to run up and down the steps and jump over her.  Then, on the way into the kitchen I leap over her at least once more.  It’s just so much fun!  She doesn’t seem to mind too much.  Mom gives us such a great breakfast!  We both eat pretty fast, but once Miss Patchy finishes up her wet food and homemade food, she pushes me out of the way so she can finish up mine, too.  Fortunately, most of the time Mom is standing right there and she says “Patchy?” in a loud voice and gently nudges her back to her own dish with her foot.  Once the good stuff is gone, it doesn’t really matter who eats out of which dish, so I usually let Miss Patchy eat from my dish, if she wants to.

Miss Patchy and I wrestle a lot, but she doesn’t want to keep going for very long.  She gets grumpy and starts to growl at me.  What fun!  I always like to see how long it takes to make her growl.  Then we can switch our tails back and forth, as if we were angry, and glare at each other.  I usually jump on her a few times before she gets really mad.  I then move on to play with my toys.  I’m always finding new ones, too.  Just the other day, I found a flat, round toy on the dresser.  It had a little hook-like thing on it.  For some reason, it didn’t play very well, so I left it on the bedroom floor.  Dad picked it up and showed it to Mom who said it was an earring.  She put it away in the closet.

That’s another thing. When Mom and Dad were gone last week, Dad left the closet door open.  It was a lot of fun playing with the things hanging down from Mom’s clothes.  I also cleaned off the top of the little cabinet in there, except for a few heavy things.  There were more of those earrings hanging on a thing on top of the cabinet, but I couldn’t get any of them off to play with.  Darn!  They looked like a lot of fun.  Another great toy is what Mom calls twister ties.  Dad almost never remembers to close the bread bags and leaves the twister ties on the counter.  Of course, Mom and Dad don’t want me on the counter, but I go anyway.  What harm can there be in it?  Anyway, I want to go on the counter.  I always grab those twister ties and play with them all over the house, although sometimes I put them in the water bowl.  Mom finds them and then talks to Dad about closing the bread bags and keeping the twister ties away from me.  What a spoil sport!

A couple of days ago, Dad brought home what they called a balloon.  It was round and red and, at first, it hung out on the ceiling.  Mom pulled it down and showed it to me.  I didn’t like it at all and I kept backing away from it.  She tied it to a chair leg so it wouldn’t go up in the high part of the living room ceiling.  The next day, it was hanging out on the floor.  Mom took its string off the chair leg and bounced it around on the floor.  I watched, but I still didn’t like it.  This morning, I don’t know where it is.  Maybe it ran away because I didn’t like it.  It seemed kind of sad, since it wasn’t up by the ceiling any more.

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time in the dining room window.  What wonderful things, windows.  I’m not quite sure how they work, but there are a lot of things to see in a window.  Sometimes there are buzz birds in the window and sometimes there are other things.  Sometimes, even Mom is in the window.  Hmmmm!  I wonder if I could ever be in the window.  Is it like the television?  I’ve never seen a buzz bird or Mom in the television.  When Mom opens the door and goes outside, I can see her in the window.  I must try to get outside to see if I can get in the window.  Who would see me in the window, though?  I’m the one who looks at it.

I’ve also been watching television a lot with Mom and Dad.  Sometimes I lie on the floor under the comfy chair, and sometimes I lie on the couch next to them.  There are so many people and other creatures in the television.  I have gone up on the cabinet that holds the television, but I can’t figure out how to get into it myself.  This is very puzzling.  Miss Patchy says not to worry about it and to take a nice nap, but I need to figure this out.  I’m a little tired now, though, so I guess I will think about it later, after a nap.

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Anger

I just had a much-needed nap.  I was so angry this weekend that I just got really tired.

Mom and Dad got home last night.  They left on Friday and just got home yesterday, on Sunday night.  I was so angry with them that I didn’t bother to come downstairs last night.  I decided to show them!  When the neighbor came over to feed us, I actually came downstairs and allowed her to pet me.  Mina, on the other hand, did not show her face, but chose to greet Mom and Dad.  When will she learn the proper way to act?  When will Mom and Dad learn that they should never leave us?  I remember when Mom decided to move to the house called Phoenix.  She took Cherokee and me with her.  We didn’t like rolling too much in the car, but it was great to sleep with her every night, instead of comforting each other when she left us alone.  Mina wasn’t a lot of comfort to me.  She has her toys, but she also went around the house looking for Mom and calling out for her.  Silly girl!  I told her what to expect and what to do, but she wouldn’t listen.  Now Mom and Dad know that Mina missed them and was happy to see them come home.  I, on the other hand, let them know my displeasure with their disappearing act, by not coming down to greet them until this morning.  What do they do when they leave the house?  Anything?  Or do they just sit outside somewhere and think about how else they can make me unhappy? 

Mom always says that they are going to away.  Where is this away anyhow?  I’ve tried to figure it out, but all I can think of that it is another house somewhere.  I think they sleep there, because they take pajamas.  This time they took food, too, so I guess they ate there, also.  I’m not sure I would like to go to away, but I guess if Mom and Dad were there, it wouldn’t be too bad.  At least then I would know what and where it is.  All I know is they walk out the door and leave us here.

Anyway, I really am glad they’re back, I just don’t want them to know.  The neighbor just gave us dry food.  Ugh!  This morning I threw it up.  Mom says we need it for nutrients and to keep our teeth in good shape.  It’s okay when she gives us canned food and her homemade food along with the dry stuff, it’s a nice variety, but just dry food is awful.  I’m glad she came to her senses and started giving us wet food again, after a long while of just the dry stuff.

Mom left some nice stuff on the couch for us.  There was a pillow, a blanket, and a sheet.  I liked the blanket okay, but I didn’t bother with the pillow, too puffy.  It felt unstable.  Mina likes to lie on Dad’s pillow, but that’s because it smells like him.  I do like to curl up by Mom’s bed pillow, because of her scent on it, but I don’t really care about sleeping right on it.

Mina was really kissing up last night.  She cried off and on for hours outside Mom and Dad’s bedroom door.  What a little suck-up!  Once in a while, I have been resting peacefully under their bed when they have closed the door and gone to sleep.  That’s okay.  In the morning I let them know I am there and then they let me out.  Of course, Mina cries a lot, because she is all alone when I’m shut in the bedroom with them.  She doesn’t like that at all, but it is good for her sometimes.  She then appreciates me more than ever.  I just don’t understand how she could not appreciate me all the time.  After all, I teach her things, I save her from becoming fat by sharing her food, I even wrestle with her sometimes.  When she does something I don’t like, I hiss at her and let her know that she has gone beyond the bounds.  What’s not to appreciate?

Well, I’m still feeling a little angry, so I should probably take a nap.  I should feel better about life after that.  Such a distressing world we live in!

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - Feeling Better Every Day

I just had a delicious breakfast a little while ago, but haven’t yet had my morning nap.  I’m actually not all that tired, but I know I will be.

Mina and I have been wrestling quite a bit these days.  Some days I don’t mind, but other days I guess I am a little cranky and would prefer not to wrestle with her.  She is wiry and strong for her size (quite small), but I am bigger and heavier, so it’s a pretty even match.  When I’m done, I just growl and she gets the idea pretty quickly.  She learns fast.

A few days ago, Mom and Dad were sitting by the computer and he was playing with Mina, using the stick with the little pieces of cloth hanging on a string from the end.  He then turned to me and I actually played with it.  I don’t do the impossible acrobatic flips that Mina does, as I was lying down at the time, but it is the first time I have felt like playing for a long time.  It felt good.

Mom keeps talking about jealousy between Mina and me.  I know that every time I am sitting or lying next to or on either Mom or Dad, Mina will lie down somewhere that she can see us and we can see her.  She will rest her head on her paws and just glare very angrily at us.  I don’t know how she can justify being angry about that, since she is the interloper.  What right does she have to be cuddled and petted by Mom and Dad?  I get angry sometimes when I see her with them, because I should be there instead of her.  I’m not jealous, though, only concerned with my rights.  Mina is the one who is jealous, since she is obviously inferior to me.  Mom tries to get both of us up in the comfy chair with her, but that’s just not acceptable to me.  When Mina comes up, I go down.  Just showing my displeasure with Mina’s company!

Mom and Dad have been watching all the news about something called Hurricane Irene.  It would appear to be something worrisome and they are afraid that Mom’s daughter will suffer from it.  What is it?  Will it ever come to Phoenix?  I hope not, because I don’t think I would like it at all.  They said it will bring a lot of rain and maybe flooding.  That definitely would not be fun.  The only water I like is what is in our water bowl, and that comes from the refrigerator.  I’ve seen water come from the sky (rain), and it’s most unpleasant.  I always go into the house from the patio the instant it begins.  Mom just laughs at me when I do that.

Mina has been watching television a lot lately.  She will lie on the couch or on the comfy chair and stare intently at the television.  She watches mostly when there are dogs or cats on the screen, but I’ve seen her watch humans, too.  Maybe I will watch a little some time, as life occasionally gets a little boring around here.  I think I know how to turn on the TV, so we could watch it while Mom and Dad are gone, too.

I think I mentioned before about Mina’s curiosity getting her into a little trouble.  She has spent a night outside because of it, she has had things fall on her because of it, and a number of other things.  I don’t think I ever said anything about what happened a little while ago.  Mom was in the dining room reading or eating or something and Dad was upstairs working on the computer.  Mina smelled something tasty in the kitchen, so she jumped up onto the counter and onto the thing they call a stove.  They cook food on the stove, and sometimes they leave the pan sitting there after cooking.  Well, Mina wanted to taste what was in the pan, but it was very hot and she got a little burn.  Fortunately for her, she is pretty fast, so it didn’t really burn her, but she was not happy about it.  She jumped down very quickly and I think she will stay away from the stove from now on.

I have been lying on the table in the dining room lately.  Haven’t done that for a while.  It is a nice view out the window.  Sometimes both Mina and I are up on the table.  Mom does not like it at all and makes us get down, but I take my time about it.  After all, it is my house, too, why shouldn’t I be able to enjoy everything in it.

Well, I feel a nap overtaking me.  I must go find a comfortable place to sleep.

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - Things

I just finished playing with a great toy!  I’m not sure how to describe it, but it curves up on one side and down on the other.  It has interesting things on it, too.  It was lots of fun reaching under it and playing with the little ball that is attached to it.  I can move it around on the floor, too, and that makes a nice noise.  Mom heard it and came to see what I was doing.  She didn’t yell at me or call me “bad girl,” so it must be okay to play with it.  Maybe I’ll leave it alone for a while.

I’ve been noticing some things about Mom and Dad, well mostly Mom.  Sometimes I see her without her clothes on, and she is really funny-looking.  I was very surprised to see that she has only two milk holders.  My feline mom had lots of them.  Of course, just seeing the milk holders made me realize that probably human babies get their milk that way, just the way we felines do.  I know that Miss Patchy has wondered sometimes about baby humans and whether they actually exist, since she has never seen one, but now I think I know that they do exist.  Maybe some day she and I will get to see one.  Of course, Miss Patchy has taught me to always leave the room and go sleep under the bed whenever the doorbell rings, so I guess if a baby human ever rang the doorbell we would never see it anyway.  I must think about this for a while, as it is somewhat confusing.

I have been thinking lately about going back out onto the roof sometime.  That scary experience was a while ago, and that was the first time I was ever scared out there.  Maybe things are okay out there now.  I will think about checking it out once again.  Miss Patchy never goes out there, or maybe just a little way out.  She would just rather lie down in the doorway and feel the air blow over her, or maybe see a little bit of sunshine.  Now that it is hot out there, Mom and Dad never leave the door open, and there is a machine that makes a noise and blows cold air out of the walls.  It’s a little scary, but Miss Patchy isn’t afraid of it, so I guess it’s okay.  She says that every year when it gets hot outside the machine blows out cold air.  Also, it blows warm air out when it is cold outside, but not very often.  The cold air blows out all day long.  It is on, then it is off, then it is on, and so on.  I guess maybe it would be too hot in the house if the cold air didn’t blow out.  Why is it hot outside sometimes, and sometimes cold outside?  I don’t really understand it.  There is another thing to think about.  Is my little brain capable of thinking about all these things?

Here is another puzzle.  Sometimes Mom and Dad talk to a little box that they hold up to their ears.  What on earth is it and why do they talk to it?  I think the box talks to them, too, because sometimes they are not saying anything and then they talk again, or laugh or something.  Very odd!  Maybe Miss Patchy and I can figure it out some day.  They often leave their little boxes lying around on a table or the couch or something.  Maybe she and I can investigate them and find out how to talk to it.

Speaking of puzzles, Mom did what she calls a puzzle.  It was many, many pieces of cardboard on the dining room table.  They had colors on them and looked like fun toys.  I went up on the table and grabbed a piece and took it down on the floor with me.  It had an unusual taste and I wanted to check it out some more, but Mom got mad and took it away from me.  She was upset because I pulled a lot of pieces away from where she had put them and she had to put them all back.  After that, she started putting a piece of cloth on top of the “puzzle” and put other stuff on top of the cloth so I couldn’t pull it off the table.  Miss Patchy says that Mr. Cherokee always used to play with Mom’s puzzles, but he was lot stronger and bigger than I am and he would often take them apart.  He also would sometimes pull the cloth off the puzzle.  She said that Mom would get very mad at Mr. Cherokee, but he would just laugh.  Miss Patchy said that she sometimes went up and checked out the puzzles, too.  Somehow I just can’t imagine Miss Patchy doing anything wrong, although Mom has had to tell her not to scratch on the furniture a few times lately.

Dad vacuumed yesterday.  I was curious about the vacuum cleaner when I came here, but Miss Patchy told me that I should stay away from it and go rest under the bed when they turn it on.  I always go with her, but I think I would like to know more about it to see what it does and why they turn it on and rub it over the floor.  Hm-m-m-m-m!  A very curious thing!

Well, I hear my toys calling me so I must go and play with them.  One can never have too much fun!

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Mina's Rebuttal

What fun!  I’ve been lying on the table in the office, on the papers and things that are there.  Before that, I was in a box on the table.  The table is a really fun place, so many little things to scatter.  There are lots of other things to do today, but I will get to them later.  Just the other day, I scattered the bits of paper by the shredder.  That is a lot of fun, too. 

There are so many amusing things to do in the office.  When I get a little tired, I jump up on the top of the computer desk.  That means that I jump on the desk, then up on top of the monitor, and then up to the top, over the shelves and things.  There are four pictures hanging on the wall over the computer desk.  Mom says they are pictures of her, her two sisters, and her brother.  I like to play with her brother’s picture, which is hanging just over where I like to lie down.  Mom used to straighten it up every time I made it crooked, but now she just leaves it the way it is.  She’s just no fun at all.  It was a great game.

Just the other day, we were all on the couch, watching a movie.  I was up on the top of the back cushions and Mom was lying down next to Dad.  I got tired of the movie, so I jumped down hard on her stomach.  I don’t know why, but she didn’t find that as much fun as I did.  Yesterday we watched a movie.  Mom said it was called “Lady and the Tramp.”  I watched a lot of it, because there were lots of dogs in it and sometimes they barked.  It’s kind of silly to make a movie about dogs, since felines are much more interesting.  I guess everyone likes different things in life.  Mom says that a lot of people have dogs, and I do hear them barking sometimes.  Felines are so much quieter and, I think, better behaved, although I really haven’t known any dogs.

I haven’t gone out on the roof since my scary experience.  I’m not sure I will go out there again.  Mom keeps telling me now that it’s very hot out there and I wouldn’t like it anyway.  It’s hot in the garage, too, so I never like to stay out there for very long.  The patio is pretty hot, too, but there is shade, and sometimes the air moves a little bit.  We go out there only in the morning.  Mom says that is before it gets really hot out there.  We’ve been out there a few times lately, because Mom thinks maybe her purple lilac vine has died.  I’m not sure what that is, but she is sad about it.  She has given it water a few times, and even what she calls food, but she thinks it is gone.  That makes her sad, so I am sad, too.  Poor purple lilac vine! 

Miss Patchy thinks it’s odd that I lie down with her for a nap, but keep my eyes open.  Who wouldn’t?  It is boring!  Somehow she can just lie there sleeping, for hours and hours.  A lot of the time, she sleeps under Mom and Dad’s bed.  Another boring place!  Sometimes I like to sleep in the water box.  Mom and Dad buy bottles of water and keep the packages on the floor in the dining room.  When some of the bottles have been taken out, I like to crawl in there.  I chew on the plastic covering for a while and then sometimes I sleep.  The water packages are kept right under the window, which is another fun thing to do.  I like to get up on the window sill and look out.  Sometimes those buzz birds come near and tease me.  Ooooh!  Would I love to get my paws on one of those!

The other day, Mom was going out on the patio, and I rushed to go out as soon as she opened the door.  I bounced right back!  I could feel the hot air coming through, and the sounds of the outside were coming through, and I could see out, but I couldn’t get through.  Mom laughed and said I had to wait until she opened the screen.  Oh!  Not sure what it is exactly, but now I know to watch for it.  I didn’t realize it was there, since I could see through it.  If I look closely, though, I can see it.  Sometimes humans have funny things.  I will have to learn more about these screens.  It was kind of an embarrassing moment.

Well, I think I see some things that need to be played with, so I will end for now, but I will be back.

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Mina Has a Lot to Learn

Well, I’ve had a nice nap and I’m ready to rumble, as I’ve heard humans say.  I’ve heard it on the TV.  I’m not sure exactly what it means, but it sounds good.

Speaking of rumbling, Mina was out on the roof a while ago, and she got very scared, as I think she wrote in her last blog.  Of course, it was thunder and lightning and wind that she experienced.  She was extremely frightened.  Ha!  Ha!  She is so curious and nosy, it serves her right.  However, she keeps on being curious and nosy, no matter what happens.  She usually learns from her experiences, so all is not lost, but she makes me laugh a lot.

Lately, I have been feeling pretty good.  What a nice change from before!  Mom has noticed it, too, and claims that I have lost weight, as well.  That’s really good news.  She says that my face is thinner and I’m looking very good.  Mina just thinks I look old, no matter what.  Just wait until she is my age!  She has been jumping at me a lot lately, and starting fights.  We wrestle a lot, but I always win, since she is very small and I am not so small.  Sometimes she keeps it up long after I’m tired of it.  That’s when I get mad and growl and hiss at her.  It takes her a little while, but she usually realizes that it’s time to quit.

When I lie down for a nap, Mina usually comes with me, but Mom has noticed that quite often Mina is lying there with her eyes open, looking bored.  Silly girl!  She just doesn’t know what is good for her.  One can never get enough sleep.  Or enough good food, although I haven’t been eating as much as before.  I think Mom is giving us a little less food, and I just don’t seem to be that hungry these days.  Maybe the food Mom makes for us is a little more satisfying.  The first time she made food for us, we didn’t like it an awful lot, as I mentioned previously, but this second batch is very good.  Mom always gives me a little bit of yogurt with my meal.  At first, I didn’t like it at all, and Mina won’t touch it, but I do eat it now, although I usually leave it for last.

Mom has made up some new names for us.  She calls me Queen Patchy and she calls Mina Princess Mina.  She uses those names only sometimes, but I rather like mine.  It makes me feel very regal, I think is the word I want.  Mina doesn’t care one way or the other.  Pretty much all she’s interested in is her toys.  I keep reminding her that they are actually Cherokee’s toys (most of them, anyway), but she doesn’t care.  She thinks she would have liked to know Cherokee, but, of course, that will never be.  I still miss him so much, but I am not as sad as I was before.  I guess that’s good, but I don’t ever want to forget my precious brother.  Perhaps when my time comes, Mina will miss me. 

Mom and Dad are now talking about moving somewhere.  They say that the economy is so bad that they just don’t know what they will do.  Dad has not been able to find a job – any job, and Mom is really worried about money.  I never worry about money.  I’m not even sure what it is for, but Mom and Dad say they never have enough of it.  As long as I have a home and food, I’m not worried about anything.  Mom says she has meat in the freezer that she will cook for us soon, since the second batch of food is getting low.  That makes me happy, because I know that we will be eating well for a long time.

I wish this “bad economy” would go away, since it is making Mom and Dad unhappy and worried.  I don’t know what it is, so I don’t know what it looks like, but if I ever find out and see it somewhere, I will growl and hiss at it, bite it and scratch it and make it go away.  Then we can all be happy once more.  One can never overrate happiness.  It is a wonderful way of life.  I can never get enough of it.  Food makes me happy, Mom and Dad make me happy, naps make me happy.  What more could there be to life?

Well, all this worry on Mom and Dad’s part is making me very tired.  I think maybe a nap would do wonders for this problem.  Maybe Mom and Dad should do more of it.  That’s it for now.

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - Mina's Thoughts

Whee!!!!  What fun it is to be alive and play!  I just played with the ball in the ring and it makes such a great noise.  I’m taking just a short break so I can write.  It isn’t often that I have time or that the computer is free, so I must take advantage of it when it comes up.

First of all, I want to say that playing is my life!  There are so many great things to play with.  Besides the ball in the ring, squeaky mouseys and other things, I now have a wonderful ball that Dad brought back for me from away.  I don’t know where away is, but there must be a lot of  nice toys there.  Maybe Dad will take me to away some day so I can see all the toys.  Other things I love to play with are some little paper packages that smell nice.  Mom has them on the tray on the table with the salt and pepper.  She gets mad when I take them and tells me not to play with the mints.  I do anyway.  There also is the little brush up on the bathroom counter that smells like Mom’s mouth.  It is just tiny and plastic.  She gets mad about that, too.  Lately, I have been trying for the cold things in the glass Mom drinks from.  Once I get one out of the glass, I play with it for a while (as long as I can stand the cold of it), but then I must forget where I put it, because it is never there when I come back.

Another fun toy is the big chain that hangs down the wall of the bedroom.  It makes a wonderful loud noise when I pull on it, let it go, and it bangs against the wall.  For some reason, Mom or Dad will always get up out of bed and shut me out of the room when I do that.  They also don’t seem to like it when I mine for their fingers under the pillows.  One toy that Mom really hates is what she calls the “nuggets” that I get out of the litter box.  They are fun.  They are very hard and they make a nice noise when I drop them on the tile floor.  Mom can always tell when I have one and she will yell at me and take it away.  Mom and Dad just don’t know how to play at all.

I had an experience a little while ago.  It was pretty scary.  Mom went out of the roof and, of course, I dashed out after her.  Something was wrong with it that time, though.  It was dark, and the air around me was moving a lot and there were flashes of light in the sky.  The air just made my hair stand up and it was very, very scary.  I panicked, I guess, and I ran to the door, but it was closed, so I ran and jumped up on the wall that divides the parts of the roof.  Mom grabbed me off the wall and took me, struggling, to the door.  Before she could open it, I gave one last strong struggle and I scratched her on the leg.  She didn’t even yell at me, but made sure I was in the house.  She knew that I was afraid, so she didn’t do or say anything to me.  I’m really sorry that I scratched her, but I was just so scared.  Mom put alcohol on the scratch and then tried to comfort me.  I love Mom a lot!

There was another scary time, but it was a long time ago.  Mom and Dad went to away and they were gone all day.  Mom got something out of the closet before they left, and I, naturally, dashed into the closet so they couldn’t see me.  Then they closed the door and left.  There I was, all alone in the dark.  I went to the door and called out, but no one was home but Miss Patchy, and she doesn’t know how to open doors.  I was very frightened and lonely, but at least I could talk to Miss Patchy.  I didn’t have a litter box in there, so I had to leave something on the carpet.  When Mom and Dad got home, I was frantic, and I was screaming and crying at the door.  Mom looked in my room and when she didn’t find me there, she checked the closet.  I was so happy to get out.  Mom and Dad were upset that they had shut me in the closet and now they always check before they shut doors.  Of course, I do my part by always letting them know that I am in there.  As I dash in (while they are watching), I call out to let them know.  I don’t ever want to be shut in there again.  I’ve also been shut in the garage a couple of times.  I don’t like that, either, so I always let them know I’m going out there so they don’t forget me.

Another experience that took place a while ago, was that I got outside.  They will never know how, and I’m not going to tell them.  It was pretty cold out there, and very dark, and I heard strange things moving.  I was outside until it started to get light.  When I didn’t come to breakfast, Mom started calling me and looking for me.  I was very small and didn’t have a big voice, but Mom finally opened the front door, and she saw my cold, little body and quickly brought me inside.  I ate my breakfast and we cuddled a little and I finally got warm.  I don’t like it much outside, even though it’s not cold out there now, but maybe it’s cold only when it’s dark.  Sometimes, Mom will let us go out on the patio when she is out there, and it’s very hot out there now.  It used to be cold.  Is it me, or is something changing in the air?

Well, I see a toy that needs to be played with, so I must dash off now.

Regards,

Mina

Just We Two - Where Do Humans Come From?

Good morning!  I’ve been awake for a while now and have eaten a delicious breakfast – all of it.  I was so hungry that I actually ran down the stairs again.  Haven’t done that for a while.

I’ve been pondering some things.  Where DO humans come from?  As I said before, I have never actually seen a baby human, so I have no idea what they look like.  I had always assumed that they might look like adult humans, just not so big – like felines.  I’m beginning to question that assumption.  Dad says he is from Turkey.  ????  I think turkeys are birds, at least that’s what Mom calls the one we eat on Thanksgiving.  What do humans and birds have to do with each other?  This is very puzzling.  Mom says that she is from Ohio.  What is an Ohio?  Is it also a bird?  I certainly have never seen an Ohio.  I always say that I am from Massachusetts, but what is a Massachusetts?  I had always thought that that is what we called the house we lived in there, but I’m beginning to wonder now.  I vaguely remember my feline mom, and she looked just like any feline, just bigger than her kittens.  Mina says that she remembers her feline mom, too.  What is it about humans?

Mom talks about others who are also from Ohio, but some from Indiana, Chicago, Boston, California, etc.  Are these all birds?  Or what?  Certainly Dad does not look like a turkey, as much as I can tell.  He definitely is not a bird, as he doesn’t have wings or skinny feet, or feathers.  But none of the turkeys I have seen have skinny feet (or any feet), and they don’t have feathers.  Sometimes Mom pulls a part off the turkey and calls it a wing.  She says they are delicious.  Hm-m-m-m!  What is going on here?  Our house is called Phoenix, but I have heard Mom say that there are three and a half million people living in Phoenix.  Where are they all?  They certainly aren’t here in our house, unless I am misunderstanding numbers.  Maybe some day Mom will explain things to me.  I have a feeling that there are a lot of things in the human area that I don’t understand at all.

Here are some other things about humans that I just don’t get.  Why do they persist in eating fruits and vegetables and chocolate?  Don’t they know that those things are not good for them?  I would never, ever eat them; they taste awful!

Why do they do what they call “going to work?”  Where is work and what do they do?  They call it “having a job.”  All I know is that they are gone from the house for a while and then they come home.  Do they go somewhere and just sit around?  Do they watch TV there?  Are there felines there?  When Mom had two jobs, she said that she was completely exhausted and felt that she was dying.  She would get up in the morning, feed us, clean our litter box, eat something yucky and then drive away.  She would come home late at night when it had been dark for a while, long after our hunger had begun and she would feed us.  Then she would sit in the comfy chair and turn on the TV for a little while before she would go to bed.  She said that she was “wired” and couldn’t sleep right away after she came home.  Cherokee and I would get up in the chair with her so that she could pet us and make us feel good.  It wasn’t much fun for us when she did that; we missed her a lot.  When Dad came, it was better because we had company all day and then Mom would come home at night.  When she started going to work for just a little while, it was much better for us.  We had lots of company then.  We had our choice of Dad or Mom.  That’s how it is now, and Mina and I are happy with it.

All of this brain work, this contemplation of things that cannot be understood, is exhausting me.  I must take a long nap now.  Perhaps I will dream the answers to all my questions.

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - Thoughts

Pain free at last!  Did the vet do that?  It doesn’t seem right that such an unpleasant experience should take away my tooth pain.

I don’t seem to sleep as much as before.  Is that good or is it bad?  I don’t know.  I have just had a good nap, though, and I was in the office with Mom.  For the first time in quite a while, I actually felt like getting up in the chair with her.  I think the chair got a little smaller, or Mom got a little bigger, but it was pretty tight.  I stayed for a while, and Mom thanked me for coming up, saying that it had been quite a while.

Mom calls me her “pretty girl.”  I like that.  She calls me “Beauty” and she calls Mina “Cutie.”  Mina really kisses up by getting up on Mom’s lap, putting her front legs around Mom’s neck, kneading, purring, and burrowing her little head in under Mom’s chin.  Mom just eats it up!  It’s pretty disgusting, if you ask me.  Cherokee used to kiss up, too.  I would get up in that comfy chair with Mom and, after a few minutes, Cherokee would come galloping in and jump up in the chair.  I always left after that and went to lie on the couch by myself.  It didn’t seem to matter to Cherokee that I was glaring at him.  He just kept on purring and putting his head under Mom’s hand so she would pet him.  Completely disgusting!  Mina does that little head under the hand thing, also.

Mom really tries to be fair to everyone, though.  Whenever she leaves the house, she always says goodbye to everyone.  Now, it’s Daddy first, then me, then Mina.  I used to be first, before Daddy came.  Oh well, I’m glad Dad’s here anyway.  When Mom comes home from wherever it is she has been, she says: “Babies, I’m home!”  It’s always nice to be recognized and appreciated.  She really likes it when we come downstairs to greet her.

When we get Mom up in the morning (when it starts getting light), she tells us “good morning,” and asks us if we would like some breakfast.  Kind of a silly question, if you ask me!  Of course we want breakfast.  We’re pretty hungry after a whole night without food.  At night, she’ll call out “Supper!” and we always come into the kitchen or down the stairs to eat.  A number of years ago, Cherokee and I got only wet food.  Then someone told Mom that wet food wasn’t really good for us and she started feeding us dry food only.  It was okay, but not nearly as good as wet food.  Now she makes food for us and we get a combination of wet food out of the can, some of her homemade food, and dry food.  It’s pretty satisfactory.  We often leave a little dry food for later on, in case we get hungry again.

The first food she made was not that great.  It had a kind of funny taste in it.  She said she had cooked chicken thighs and catfish nuggets.  She ground them up and then added egg and Vitamin E.  Something just didn’t taste quite right.  A couple of days ago, she made a second batch of food – chicken thighs and beef heart, with soft-boiled egg.  Yummy!  She gave Mina and me a few little slices of raw beef heart.  It was so wonderful!  Even Mina loved it, and she never seemed to care for raw meat.  She can give me beef heart anytime, raw or cooked!  I wonder what the next batch will be like.

Well, thinking of eating is making me sleepy.  I need to take a nap until the next meal.

Yours,

Apache

Just We Two - The Dreaded Vet

Well, I just had a little nap.  I find that I really don’t need to sleep as much as I used to, but I still enjoy my naps very much.  I see that Pest has been filling in for me on this blog.  I was grateful to her for trying to get me out of the box, but let me explain all that happened to me during this time that I was not writing.

On Monday, Mom and Dad managed to get me into the infamous box.  Mom picked me up out of the bathtub where I was enjoying a little privacy.  I spread out my back legs so that she couldn’t get me into the box (which was standing on its end), but Dad helped her out by holding my back legs together so Mom could put me in.  Oh, I was so angry!  I hate going into that box.  It is a death box, although in this case that was not true.

After being so unceremoniously dumped into the box, we went out to the car and rolled away.  We went to the vet’s place, but a different one than we went to last week.  I think I had seen this vet before, maybe last year or sometime.  That didn’t make me like it any better, though.  I hissed and growled at the vet (well, actually her assistant) to demonstrate my anger and displeasure at being treated so badly.  They really treated me well; I was just very unhappy to be in that box and being anywhere but home.  My teeth were hurting and I was in no mood for that sort of thing.

I was there for quite a while before they tried to take me out of the box.  I just would not let them.  I got myself as far back in the box as I could and braced myself totally with all four legs.  I growled and hissed.  The vet said she was going to call Mom.  When she came back, they put my box into a big clear plastic box and then I fell asleep.  When I woke up, my mouth hurt a lot, even more than before, and I felt something strange in it, where one of my precious teeth used to be.  They had taken some of my teeth!  Did they want them for something, some sort of ritual?  I just couldn’t understand.  I was so sleepy that I didn’t really have time to think about it.  I guess I sort of dozed off and on for a while, and then I heard Mom’s voice calling me.  Oh, blessed day!  I was so happy to hear her voice that I calmly let them pick up the box and take it out to the other room.  There, waiting for me, were Mom and Dad.  Happiness!!  Dad carried me out to the car and off we rolled, until I could smell home.

Seeing the inside of my home made me feel much better, but my mouth still hurt quite a bit.  I let Mom take me out of the box, but I just wanted to lie down and sleep.  When she called us for supper, I went into the kitchen, wobbly as I was, but I didn’t seem to be hungry.  Not long after that, Mom squirted something in my mouth and I soon went to sleep on my heart-shaped cushion on the floor.

The next morning, I ate my breakfast, since I was very hungry.  I even crunched some of Mina’s dry food.  That might have been a mistake, because my mouth hurt a lot after that.  Mom and Dad then held me down and she squirted some more of that stuff in my mouth.  I struggled and screamed, to no avail.  She finally managed to get it into my mouth.  Mom said that it was so stressful squirting that stuff into my mouth that she was not going to do it again.  Thank goodness!  I slept again after that, but when I woke up later, I felt pretty good.  My mouth was feeling much better, and I felt much more awake than before.  Mina wanted to play, but I still didn’t feel too much like playing.

On Wednesday morning, I felt so good that I actually ran down the stairs, keeping up completely with Mina.  I felt as though I had some energy.  Maybe later I will play a little, even though I have never been much for playing.  That was always Cherokee’s job.  I wish he was here.  He always wanted to wrestle, and now I feel as though I could do that.  Maybe one day Mina and I will wrestle.  She is becoming a nice companion.  She listens to me when I tell her things; she is eager to learn from me.  It’s almost as if she considered me to be her mother.

On that note, I think I will go take a nap so that I can contemplate the happenings of this strange week.

Yours,

Apache