Girls' Day Out

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! Hope you had a wonderful week. Mine was especially calm and relaxing. After all the planning, coordinating, entertaining, spinning, flying and convalescing I’ve been doing, it was time for a week off. I thought it would be fun to get some of my gal pals together and have a girl’s day out. Okay, well maybe I didn’t give up planning altogether, but one must plan to make an adventure successful!
It wasn’t hard to find some gals interested in some “me” time. Bobbi, Cali and Cami all jumped at the chance to go somewhere relaxing to be pampered. There is a great day spa not far from my house, so we made a date to go do whatever they do at spas.
When we walked in we immediately began to relax. There was soothing music, a gentle waterfall and absolutely no catnip toys. After I handed over Mom’s magic plastic card for a few runs through their machine, we were whisked to a back room where we were given towels to wrap around our ears. The spa people didn’t want any oils, water or mud to get in our ears. I did a double listen when the spa lady said mud. How in the world would mud get in our ears?!?! I was not going to mud wrestle – well, that’s the only thing I could think of! It was explained to us that a mud bath was very soothing and good for your skin. Oooooooh! Okay, I was up for that. I know when it’s really hot outside it feels good to lay in the cool, damp dirt. This was the same concept I supposed.
Cami was the only other critter who was up for a mud bath. The two of us were led to a room with two big tubs of mud. Though I was tempted to do a cannonball into the mud tub, I refrained and instead slid myself slowly down into the warm, moist mud. It seemed to envelop me and I immediately relaxed. The soothing music playing helped to enhance my calm and I decided that mud baths were great! Aaaaah, this is the life. Cami eased herself into her mud tub and let out a little sigh as she settled in. Out of nowhere one of the spa ladies appeared with some food. I was trying to figure out how I was going to put food in my mouth with muddy hands when the lady reached down and placed a cucumber slice on my eye. Just as I started to say “excuse me”, the cool of the cucumber kicked in. That felt wonderful! The warm of the bath and the cool cucumber felt soooo good. I looked over at Cami. She had the cucumber slices on her eyes as well. I started to giggle because she looked like some kind of alien!





After a while, the spa people dragged us out of the mud bath. We met up with Bobbi and Cali who had opted for a massage. They both looked quite refreshed. We decided it would take a dip in their heated pool. I ended up being the only one who went for a swim. The others were so relaxed that they wanted to take naps on the lounge chairs alongside the pool.





By the time I finished my dip in the pool, it was time for lunch. They had a lovely area set up outside with tables and chairs and a buffet! You know how my friends and I love a buffet. They had some lovely salmon and tuna salad, so I was happy! There was quite the variety of food, and everyone was able to fill their bellies.







After lunch we went back to poolside and took another round of naps. I joined them this time. A full belly after much relaxation makes for one tired kitty! I drifted off to sleep hoping I wouldn’t start drooling all over the nice lounge chair.
The spa lady came and woke us up to tell us that if we wanted pedicures we were going to have to get started. We were ushered into the pedicure room. There were enough chairs for all of us to get pedicures at once. What fun!




We each picked out a color for our nails – I wanted red, Cami thought pink would look nice on her, Cali opted blue and Bobbi wanted gold. We also received a complimentary drink with our pedicures and we all enjoyed a nice big, icy cold glass of lemonade. We kept the towels on our heads even after the threat of something getting in our ears had passed – they were sort of like hats and we like hats!!!! We had fun just chatting and laughing while the pedicurists did their work. We were disappointed when they were done because that meant it was time to leave. I could have stayed there all day and night and still not have had enough!
We were so relaxed and mellow, we did not feel like walking back home. I called Tristan and had him come pick us up. When we arrived back at the house we agreed that we need to have a spa day more often. I think we’ll wait and see what Mom says about her magic plastic card statement before we plan the next one!!
Have a wonderful week. Make sure to make some time to relax!!!

Love & licks,
Josie

Catty Shack

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! Happy happy tail!! I am happy (that’s a lot of happys!) to report that my tail is just about back to normal. It still turns a little to one side and has one spot that is still out of my control, but for the most part I am able to express myself once again. I did not like walking around looking unhappy – that is so un-me!!
My friends and I were sitting around finishing up the last of the food that I had accumulated from my well wishers the week before, when Corny came flying out of the sky and landed clumsily on the deck railing. He started telling us about the men with sticks beating a small defenseless white creature in the green field at the end of the block. We all agreed what an outrage that was and we asked Corny to lead the way to the scene of this injustice.
When we arrived on the scene, the vigilante cardinals were already taking action. They had surrounded the poor defenseless white creature to protect it - but I didn’t see anyone with sticks.





We asked the cardinals what was going on and they eyed me suspiciously. “Who wants to know?” the head cardinal sneered. I remembered then that they did not like me. “A band of concerned citizens,” I replied. The cardinals told us the same story that Corny had relayed but they called it an egg instead of a white creature.
I went over to the egg/creature and sniffed it thoroughly. I poked it with my nose and then gave it a gentle tap with my paw. I started to laugh as I told the others that this wasn’t a creature, it was a ball. It was a special kind of ball – a golf ball.
Evidently, none of my cohorts had watched golf on TV and had no idea how the game worked. Both my Dad and brother play and they had explained it to me when we watched it on TV. I looked around and saw a golf cart with a couple of sets of golf clubs just sitting on the fairway. There was no one around so I thought perhaps the course was trying to drum up some business by offering free cart and club rentals. I asked my friends if they were up to learning a new sport and they enthusiastically said YES!
After I spent several minutes convincing the vigilante cardinals that the golf ball was not an egg, I asked for a volunteer to take the first swing. Jibbers said that he was the first out of the airplane when we sky dived… sky dove… skied dived… went parachuting, so it was someone else’s turn to be the first to try something.
Bobbi volunteered to be the first and she grabbed a club and addressed the ball. “Hellooooo ball” (sorry I couldn’t resist.)






She’s a little thing but she smacked it with all her squirrel might and it flew through the air and landed on the green. We all clapped in appreciation of her skill and decided we would ride down to the ball in the golf cart.
We had a small problem though. None of us was built to drive a golf cart. Several of us tried to stretch way out and reach the gas pedal while holding on to the steering wheel, but it didn’t work. Even Cali with her long legs couldn’t do it. We put our heads together and came up with a plan. Skippy would steer the cart while Jibbers worked the pedals. Most of us climbed aboard and waited to start our fun ride. I think Jibbers got confused and pressed on both pedals at once. The cart revved up but did not move. Then Jibbers figured out what he had done and released the brake. That’s when the wild ride began. The cart popped a wheelie and we took off on two wheels.




Clubs and cats went flying!! Woooohooooo! Hammy and Skippy were just giggling away as Cali, Tank and I were flung in the air.
It didn’t take Jibbers long to get the hang of it, and we were sailing around the golf course with ease. Every now and then someone would get out of the cart and hit a golf ball, but we really never got serious about the game.
After we spent a while in the heat, we all started to get punchy. Somehow Malcolm had gotten his hands on some chicken – I don’t want to know how – and had made a chicken kabob with a golf club. I told him to take the chicken off the golf club – it was going to make the club all greasy! He ignored me so I started to swat at him with a golf club of my own. He swatted back and we started a sort of sword fight. Cali and Jibbers were getting bored with golf and climbed a tree. Corny was fed up with the whole thing and decided that the only way the little white golf ball was going to end up in the hole was if he put it there. He picked it up and flew over to the hole and dropped it in.





It was getting late so we all climbed back into the golf cart and headed back to the hole that was at the end of our street. We left the cart and clubs (some greasier than others) where we found them and headed home.
I hope you have a fun weekend! Drag your friends out to try something new!
Love & licks,
Josie

Tail Tales

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! How I miss my happy tail!!! I have had quite the strange week. There are just some things in this world that you don’t appreciate until they are not working right. This week has given me a new appreciation for my wonderful tail.
It all began last weekend when I awoke with an odd malady. My tail was hanging straight - and I mean straight - down. I couldn’t lift it, I couldn’t swish it, I couldn’t even move it out of my way to sit down!!



Evidently, I use it to balance when I jump on top of things, so I did not have my usual cool feline prowess. Mom and Dad thought I was mad at them, but it didn’t take them long to start worrying. They then thought maybe I was sick. They lifted my limp tail and looked around and concluded that there was nothing outwardly wrong with me.
I dragged my tail around all day. I was feeling fine. I ate, I drank, I was merry. I played with Vuvu and Cali in the yard during the day and cuddled up with Mom and Dad at night. I figured it would come back eventually so I wasn’t worried about it. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad were.
Monday morning while Mom was still at work, Dad grabbed his car keys and me and headed to his car. I was very excited. I thought maybe we were going to meet Mom for lunch at a seafood restaurant. Nope. When the car stopped we were in front of a place that looked vaguely familiar to me. I had been here before. When I walked in I could smell other cats and dogs. A lot of them. There was barking and meowing and suddenly I realized where I was. I turned and made a beeline for the door, but Dad had anticipated that and was waiting to scoop me up. I joined in on the meowing.
Mom showed up a few minutes later. That couldn’t be good. She was supposed to be working. How were we going to pay the bills if she was hanging out at the vet’s office with me. I tried to convince her that we should all go and perhaps stop for a nosh on the way home. She didn’t buy it so we sat and waited to be called into the “room.”
It was finally my turn and Dad plopped me down on this cold, hard metal table. I was not happy. Now my mood matched my tail.





This very nice doctor came in and tried to make friends with me, but I was having none of it. She poked and prodded me. After all that she stuck a needle in me for something called Distemper. My temper was just fine before I was jabbed! Now I was in a state of distemper!!
The vet took wanted to take my temperature. I turned and opened my mouth, but that’s not how she wanted to take it. Yikes!!!! That was unnecessary!
The only good thing was the fact that I lost a pound since I was last there. As to my tail, the vet told me to take it easy and not move my tail at all if possible. I shook my head no, I couldn’t possibly. which was not a smart thing to do. A short time later my parents were carrying me out of the vet’s office with a cast on my tail.
I decided if I was going to be an invalid, I might as well be an invalid all the way. I had Mom borrow a hospital bed from her friend at the hospital and I had it set up outside so I could still see my friends.
It didn’t take long for word to spread that I was confined to bed. Of course Bobbi was the first to arrive on the scene to offer aid.




Bobbi figured I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed to get something to eat so she brought me one of my favorite things – shrimp cocktail. She was very surprised at how many get well presents I had received already. She told me that some friends would be stopping by shortly to check on me. Oh goody!
It didn’t take long before the stream of well wishers began coming up the deck steps. I was touched that so many of my friends were concerned about my health and evidently my hunger. Every single friend brought me something to eat. So much for that pound I had lost!




It was great!! Hammy and Skippy baked me a squirrel cake that was absolutely delicious! Handsome Rocky caught a huge tuna just for me and Jibbers baked me an adorable cupcake decorated with a band aid. One of the most touching gifts I received was from Malcolm. He actually gave me an entire bucket of chicken – and it was all there – he hadn’t even eaten one piece! I guess he does care after all!
Cali found the biggest bottle of milk that I’ve ever seen! Felicia paid attention to what I’ve said and knew that I love Friskies Party Mix and she brought me a big old bag of that. This was turning into a party! I chatted with each one of my friends and assured them that I would be as good as new in no time. After a while, Bobbi decided that I had had enough excitement and needed to nap. She shooed everyone off the deck and told them they could return later. I told them I had enough food so next visit they could just bring themselves.
As I drifted off to sleep I smiled at the thought of all my generous friends. I thought how much fun it will be to get the cast off and once again run around and play with the diverse group of creatures that are my friends.
Have a great weekend and a wonderful week. Do something nice for a friend – I know they’ll appreciate it!

Love & licks,
Josie

Kitties Ride

Happy Friday! Happy weekend! After all the daring adventures of the past few weeks, I was looking forward to a nice quiet week so I could recharge my kitty batteries. I was lounging on the deck with a cool glass of lemonade when Bobbi stopped by. She sat down next to me and asked what grand event was in the works. I told her I was taking the week off, and she nodded in agreement. She told me that she and all our friends appreciate all I do for them. How sweet! It’s always nice to know you’re appreciated!
Bobbi and I just lazed around sipping our lemonade and chatting about all the fun things we’ve been doing lately, when along came Skippy and Hammy. They had decided to drop in and surprise Bobbi. She was so excited! She told me not to worry, she would entertain her guests. I told her that I wouldn’t mind throwing together some chunky peanut butter on crackers – the crustless bread is only for special occassions – but I would have to go to the grocery store for more peanut butter. The squirrel contingent offered to accompany me to the store. Everything is more fun with company, so I gladly accepted their offer.
It was a nice day, so we decided to leave my poor brother alone and walk down to the grocery store which was not far away. I grabbed my mother’s magic plastic card and we headed out. We picked up more friends as we walked along, Malcolm and Rocky were busy debating the pros and cons of original recipe versus extra crispy. They were surprised to see me leading a parade of squirrels down the street. I invited them to come along with us, pointing out to Malcolm he could use a nice long walk. One can’t eat buckets of chicken and stay healthy without doing lots of exercise. Malcolm rolled his eyes at me, but when he heard we were going to the grocery store, he fell in with the rest of us.
When we came to the big highway, we were careful not to wander into the street. As we walked along we made a list of what we needed from the store. I let everyone pick one special thing for themselves. Bobbi wanted some pistachio nuts, Hammy wanted pecans, Skippy had a hankering for hazelnuts, I was going to grab one bag of every kind of the Frisky’s Party Mixes, Rocky wanted a fresh tuna, and Malcolm wanted a whole roaster chicken. We were all getting hungry just thinking about all those delectable delicacies!
As we turned off the highway toward the little strip shopping center, a splash of color and lights hit us! Wow! What was going on?!?!??! In the big parking lot and open field next to the shopping center someone had set up a carnival complete with rides, games and FOOD!
We all looked at each other, paused a few seconds, then ran as fast as we could toward the carnival. Much to our delight, Mom’s magic plastic card worked at carnivals too! As we were trying to decide which ride to go on first – we thought the food should wait until later, much to Malcolm’s chagrin – we met three of our dear ferret friends, Brutis, Jibbers and Cami. They had seen the pretty lights and had come to enjoy the carnival. I invited them to join our ever growing party and they were happy to have more friends with whom to go on rides.
We thought we’d start out slow and go on the teacups. Malcolm refused to go on such a sissy ride. Rocky, being the gentleman that he is, agreed to accompany me into the teacup of my choice. Bobbi’s escorts were equally gallant and did not hesitate to climb aboard with her.





Brutis said he wasn’t much for spinning around, so I asked him if he would keep an eye on Malcolm for me and keep him away from the food until we were finished going on rides. He was very sweet and agreed to do so.
The ride started and Rocky began turning the metal wheel that makes it spin. Wheeee! I had to hold on to my hat! The more I yowled the faster Rocky made it spin. We both started laughing so hard neither one of us could turn the wheel. That gave me the chance to see how my friends were doing. Cami and Jibbers were turning the wheel just as fast as they could. They were going so fast they were becoming a blur of fur and hats. I could hear them chirping with glee as were my squirrel friends on the other side of me. You know Hammy and Skippy didn’t want to be outdone, so they turned that wheel with all their might. I do believe both the ferrets and squirrels maxed out those teacups!
When the ride ended we all spilled out of our teacups. It took a minute or two for the world to stop spinning. We looked like a pack of drunkards the way we were weaving when we walked! We sat down for a minute to get our bearings and pick our next ride.
There was a yellow submarine ride that looked interesting. I had to assure Rocky that there was no water involved – it just looked like a submarine, it wasn’t actually an underwater vessel. This time Cami and Bobbi volunteered to look after Malcolm who didn’t want to ride on anything so yellow. Boy that cat has some hang ups!!





We buckled ourselves in and then it started. It went round and round, faster and faster – I was thankful I had not eaten anything yet! We all screeched every time it swung down. It was fun.
Despite all the spinning and swinging around we were getting hungry and decided we would go on just one more ride and all of us would go on it. Since Malcolm hadn’t gone on any rides yet, we let him pick what he wanted to go on. He picked the roller coaster. Not the big scary one but the kiddy one – he thought it was a “kitty” roller coaster. That was fine by me – I didn’t want to go on the big one!
We all climbed aboard except for Cami. She said she was still spinning from the teacups. That worked out great because we needed someone to hold our hats. We were afraid that they might blow off and get dirty, so we took them off. The ride started slowly and as it got going it was really loud and bumpy. For all the adventurous things I’ve done you would have thought this would have been tame, - but it was scary. I did all the appropriate roller coaster things you’re supposed to do. When we went down a hill I put my paws up in the air and just screamed. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!





When the ride was over I noticed Malcolm looked a little shaky. I asked him if he was feeling okay. He mumbled something about being hungry and stalked off to find food. The rest of us were also hungry so we feasted on corn dogs, peanuts and giant turkey legs. Once our bellies were full and we no longer needed to go to the grocery store, we headed back home. We didn’t want to leave without Malcolm so we split up to try to find him.
I heard Skippy call from the other side of the carnival and I ran over to find Malcolm in all his glory.





He was having a nutritious meal of funnel cake and fried oreos! He was washing it all down with a humongous bucket – yes, bucket – of Kool Aid. All I could think was, boy was he going to be sick tonight!!
It felt good to walk off some of our dinner. We ended up having quite the activity to amuse our guests! We were glad I had run out of peanut butter or we would never have known about the carnival. See, you never know what the day has in store for you!
Have a good weekend and week, my friends. I hope you find some unexpected fun!

Love & licks,
Josie