Cat Stuff: Shape Up!

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! Hope life has been good to you this week. I had a very productive week. After all those get-togethers with my friends, I found I had added a few pounds to my delicate frame. Since I always strive to look my best, I decided I must do something about it! I decided to start an exercise regimen.
Since I wasn’t the only one feasting on the goodies at my parties, I figured some of my friends might have found themselves in the same situation as I was in. I put the word out that anyone interested in slimming down was welcome to come over to my yard and burn a few calories. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I wasn’t the only one interested in looking fabulous!
I figured that before anyone arrived I would do a few exercises to warm up. My Mom let me borrow her dumbbells to work on my arm tone. Those little things were heavy!! It was also hard for a thumb challenged feline like me to hold on to it! But I did my best and by the twentieth rep I was really working it!!

Once my arms began to feel like rubber, I thought I should move on to my problem area – my tummy. I thought a few sit ups would do the trick, so I pulled out an exercise mat and hit the ground.

I never imagined my top half weighed as much as it obviously does. The first couple of sit ups were great but it didn’t take long for me to be straining to get up. My hind legs kept coming up as I tried to sit up. I decided I would wait for one of my friends to arrive so they could hold my feet down to make it easier for me.
Just as I was about to take a water break, I heard the chirping of a cardinal. Then another and another and another. This was not a good thing. I looked around to see if there were any eggs in the yard – maybe I had missed picking up an Easter egg – nope, nothing. I couldn’t imagine that the cardinal vigilantes had any reason to scold me today. I took a deep breath and turned to see what I had done wrong this time. I burst into laughter when I saw what the cardinals were up in arms about!

I greeted them warmly and asked how they were on this fine day. The nicer I was, the madder the head avian seemed to get. “I told you we were going to keep an eye on you and yet you continue to behave badly!” the grumpy cardinal tweeted hoarsely at me. “ I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I said as I tried not to laugh – they just looked so silly! He told me that there must be a giant bird somewhere running around frantically looking for her giant egg. He then insinuated that I had stolen it to make a giant omelet for me and my friends. I tried to explain to him that it was an exercise ball, but he wouldn’t listen. They started to roll the ball toward the gate and evidently intended to try and find the giant bird to whom it belonged . I jumped in front of them and told them I could prove it was just a ball. I reached for the air plug and pulled it out. The ball started to deflate quickly and the birds freaked out. One of them even fainted.

I ran and brought some water to help revive the passed out cardinal. When they all calmed down they went over to the deflated ball and pulled on it with their beaks. They then got into a huddle to discuss the situation. When the huddle broke up the head cardinal came over to me and said they had decided that the big orb was not an egg after all and was indeed a ball as I had said. He again reminded me that I better be careful – they were watching me! He made squinty eyes at me, then turned and flew away. I have no idea why the cardinals distrust me so!!!
After that drama was over, my friends started to arrive. Cali, Felisha, Lucy and Bobbi came for a serious workout. They hit the machines and worked on the ball with great enthusiasm. Malcolm showed up a little later, but he didn’t seem interested in improving himself. Corny also stopped by for a minute to offer encouragement before he had to head out to his job at Walmart. Corny has really turned into a good friend. See, you never know where your best friends will come
from!

We kept at it until we could not lift another paw. We agreed that we needed to do this at least 3 days a week. We did it this past week, and we’ve already planned our days for next week. Between that and not eating lots of cake and tuna on a Ritz, we should be in shape in no time! I must say I slept good that night – I fell asleep watching TV and slept through until morning!