Dear Sami-cat:

Let me tell you a story.  The story of how you came to live with us. 

We started out as a one-cat household.  Rudy-cat came to live with us in March of 2009, that is a story for another day.  Anyway, in early July of 2011, Rudy-cat was just over two years old.  And boy, was she a handful.  She was very demanding, and had some anxiety issues.  Every time we left the house she would sit and cry at the door.  And if we didn't come back right away, she would leave us throw-up presents.  It was awesome.  So we started thinking that Rudy-cat needed a kitten.  Some company. 

Rudy-cat under a pile of socks

I started looking at the petfinder sites.... I was looking for a very specific new baby-cat.  I wanted a little girl-kitty, one that was still definitely 'kitten'.  I found one that was the PERFECT little bundle of kitten.  She was siamese in color and just a little fluff ball.  So on a Saturday afternoon, Bently and I put the cat carrier in the car, and off we drove to the place where this little siamese kitten was supposed to be.  We got there, and walked in, and asked about the siamese kitten.  The rescue place told us that she had already been adopted, and I was momentarily heartbroken.  (I know, these are tough words to hear).  But then we started looking at the other kitties there....

And there you were.  Maybe 4 months old, and napping.  You opened your eyes and looked up at us.  Immediately, I wanted to hold you.  I looked at Bently and said "how about we look at this one."  He was pretty much resigned to the fact that we were bringing another cat home.

They brought you into the little play room, and I sat on the floor.  You walked around me three times, then crawled onto my lap, flopped down, and started purring.  You have the loudest purr EVER.  That was it.  You were ours.  We completed all the paper work, put you in the carrier, and away we went.... the long drive home.  On the drive, we changed your name, they had been calling you Raven.... but we thought Sami was a better name for you.

We got home, and Rudy-cat didn't like you at first.  She hissed and growled, and her tail was very angry.  You?  You were completely oblivious.  You just bopped around the house, checking things out.  You were a very good little kitty.

You were also the funniest looking kitty I think I have ever seen.  Really.  You aren't quite shaped right.  (It's okay, it's part of your charm).

Sami-cat the day she came home. 

You would purr and purr and purr.  In the evenings, you would jump up and sit on a lap.  And within a few days, you won Rudy-cat over.  Rudy-cat is a good big sister.

Sami-cat (see, not shaped right), and Rudy-cat.  Napping.

Two little circle-cats.  Awwwwwww.

You have been with us a year now.  And you are still a sweet little kitty.  I watch you and Rudy-cat run around the house and wrestle and play.  You are the best addition to the household!

You have grown up a lot in the last year.  Now you and Rudy-cat are about the same size.... but you are still funny shaped.  You have a small pointy head, and your front legs are a little too short (it looks like you are always walking downhill), and your tail? Yeah, your tail is goofy.  But you are cute.  And we love having you here.

Sami-cat.  Funny looking kitty.

Sami-cat.  See, you do walk downhill!

So anyway, happy One Year of being with us.  Here's to many more years of happiness.  :)

Dear Cat-cat:

Here are all the previous "Dear Rudy-cat" and "Dear Sami-cat" letters I have written.  I wanted them all to be in one place. 

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Dear Rudy-cat: Thank you for not yakking while we were gone. I really appreciate that. You get extra snacks tonight.

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Dear Rudy-cat: last night when you were trying to save Bently & I from whatever scary monster was in the house and you were working on digging a tunnel under the closed bedroom door to get to us? Yeah... we weren't in that room, but I appreciate the effort. Oh, and don't feel bad about the carpet - we need to replace it anyway.

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Dear Rudy-cat: Although I am impressed with your dedication to training for the Kitty-Triathlon (running, jumping, toy-mouse fighting) - I would appreciate it if you could schedule your practice times for, say, any time other than 3:30am and 5:30am. Thank you.

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Rudy-cat likes to lick vegetables. Rudy-cat likes to lick her butt. Therefore... vegetables taste like cat butt. :) I always KNEW there was a reason I didn't like vegetables.

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Dear Rudy-cat: I think cats are supposed to be stealthy. You are not stealthy. I can hear you walking from across the room... how do you ever expect to sneak up on a bird or a mouse when you are noisy like that? We will schedule time for 'stealth training'. You will soon be ninja-like.

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Someday... someday we will be able to put the toilet paper actually on the toilet paper holder without Rudy-cat unrolling all of it.
What's odd is that she leaves the paper towel roll alone.
Note to self: toilet paper is much more fun to play with than paper towels.
Which also explains why kids "t-p" things rather than... "p-t" things.

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Dear Rudy-cat: I am so happy to see that you know how to open the kitchen cupboards. This is fantastic! You are SOOOO smart!. (Note to self: get those cabinet clasps to kitty-proof the cupboard doors.)

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Dear Rudy-cat: Thank you for yakking while I was outside on a walk. That is the bestest present EVER to come home to. Also, thank you for not yakking on the easy to clean kitchen floor. I really appreciate cleaning carpet SO much more.

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Dear Rudy-cat: What is wrong with you? I mean... what is wrong with your eyebrows? Why are you losing your eyebrow fur? You look kind of creepy. Maybe you should stop washing your face so much.

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Dear Rudy-cat: STOP!!!! Don't like the knife! Knives are sharp. I know you don't understand the concept of 'sharp' yet, however, let's not start with cutting your tongue off, okay?

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Dear Rudy-cat: Hiccups? How can you have hiccups? BOO! Are they gone? No? Okay - how about I help you hold your breath? Okay, not a good idea. Maybe you should just run around the house for a while.

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Dear Rudy-cat: That is an exercise band, NOT a chew toy. Please don't chew my exercise band in half... that would make it even more difficult for me to want to work out.

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Dear Rudy-cat: That is a lamp, not a tree. There is no reason to climb a lamp. Trust me.

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Dear Rudy-cat: Why does your fur smell like maple syrup? Really, cat, why? I kind of think we should wash you.... but you smell kind of good. I guess you aren't sticky like maple syrup... so it's probably okay.

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Dear Sami-cat, those are fish. You can't get to them through the glass. Trust me. But keep circling... It is kind of cute.

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Dear Rudy-cat: Why do you have such an angry tail? I pet you and your tail becomes angry and whips around from side to side. Sami-cat doesn't have an angry tail... I pet her and she rubs and purrs.

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Dear Rudy-cat: Why are you staring at the door and meowing? Both your people are home. Did you think one of us left?

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Dear Sami-cat: Why did you put your nose into my powder makeup then exhale? You do look really cute now that you have makeup on though.... oh wait, you don't like it? Okay, let me wash your face.

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Dear Sami-cat: Please don't lick the soap. Icky. Oh, and chewing on the razor is probably a bad idea, too.

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Dear Sami-cat: Why are you in the washing machine? Did you jump in on purpose? Or did you fall in?

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Dear Rudy-cat: NOOOOO!! The TV is NOT a tree! Do NOT climb the TV!

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Dear Rudy-cat: If you could talk, you know, really talk out loud with people words. For some reason, I think your voice and phrasing would sound a lot like Mitch Hedberg.

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Dear Rudy-cat: Thank you for chewing through ANOTHER set of earbuds. Do you hate it that much when I leave to go for a run? If so, I can stop exercising. I would do that for you. :)
          Dear Mama-Nancy: Can you please buy me a cat leash and take me when you exercise? I promise to leave the earbuds alone. Please.....and ps please leave Sami-cat at home .

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Dear Sami-cat: Thank you for the wonderful conversation this morning as I was getting ready for work - you sure were talkative. If only I knew what you were saying... I bet you were telling me about all the fun stuff you were going to do today while I am gone - chasing Rudy-cat, napping, eating, pooping. Either that or it was your plan to take over the world.

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Dear Sami-cat: You cannot be a successful hunter if you keep meowing and giving everyone a play-by-play account of what you just did and the next moves you are going to make. Learn from Rudy-cat, she is a good QUIET hunter.

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Maybe tomorrow...

Maybe tomorrow I will fold the clothes
Maybe tomorrow I will vacuum the floor
Maybe tomorrow I will study more
But today I am going to smile


Tonight I will enjoy the quiet of the house
I will be patient as the cats ignore me

Practice makes perfect, right?

If that saying is true, I should probably start 'practicing' this whole blog thing.  :)
I need to do some 'figuring out of stuff', such as:

Added a photo, but it didn't put it in the place I wanted.  Maybe you can't put a picture in a list.  

• How to insert photos and videos.  I mean, really, there may be some family members not on Facebook (crazy, right?) that may want to see some of these things.
• (interesting, I just learned you cannot have an unnumbered list and do a [shift-enter] to go to a new line - what's up with that?)
• Templates.  What happens if I change a template?  Does everything get all goofed up or does it stay relatively okay.  I should probably figure that part out pretty soon.
• Readers.  Can ANYONE look at what I post?  Or is there a way to limit certain things to certain people?
• How does each font look?  Which is going to be the most readable overall.  
• This is the default font
• This is Arial font
• This is Courier
• This is Georgia
• This is Helvetica
• This is Times
• This is Trebuchet
• This is Verdana
• Labels.  I need to stay organized.

Guaranteed, the first year of this blogging attempt will be a whole bunch of nothing.....