peek-a-boo stu

yes, stuart, we see you.

busy girl

so, i've been a busy girl, although i'm not really sure what i've been doing. training has been a failure--i've been uber exhausted, my legs have felt tired and achy, i'm not really sure what's going on. work has been really busy, so i've been working late and laying low in the evenings. i feel like i've sort of neglected the blog, but mostly ben and stu on the blog! it's not because they haven't been up to cuteness and mischief, either. i haven't captured a picture yet, but ben has been jumping on our flat screen tv nightly, which has been his go-to bad cat behavior as of late. when this happens we quickly whisk him into the bedroom, at which time he cries and cries and cries until we let him out. he usually has to go in a few times, but it seems like he's learning...maybe. stuart has been..well, stuart. the loaf/walrus/blob of the house, he wallows around, rolling on his back, squeaking when he hears plates clanking around. everyone want to join me in a round of "ooooh stuuuuuuuuu..."?

anyway, i finally uploaded some pictures and also took a few of these devilish boys showing their softer side...

group groom





and now, a little video showing why one of stuart's nicknames is growlypants...

cat saga

so. on friday, the bed we had ordered arrived, and friday night i decided to assemble it. alone. brandon was in iowa for his brother's graduation, so i decided to tackle the assembly--i am known to decide to take on feats like this, which usually end in tears and frustration.

first off, i come home to find a champagne glass shattered in the kitchen, and a vase knocked off the counter, prevented from plunging to it's demise only by the corner of a stool which was holding it up. great. first task upon arrival from work--clean up the glass that is all over the kitchen. literally ALL over the place.

so clearly the cats were already going bonkers, confused because brandon wasn't home. on top of that, these big boxes and packaging set them into a flurry of activity. i would have taken photos had i not been so focused on finishing the bed. imagine stuart chewing on cardboard, ben chasing his tail in a pile of bubble wrap, the cats running up and down the mattress which is leaning vertically against the wall. at one point stuart decided he was king of the castle--he was lounging on top of the mattress, laying on his back, lolling about. ben would run up, stuart would bat him in the face, and then ben would run back down. repeat 4 or 5 times. more tail chasing. then stuart would try and run off with the allen wrench. you get the picture.

two hours, some sweat and a little blood later, i was done with the bed and it was time to put on the mattress and box spring. the latter was down the hall in the bathroom, to help prevent the cats from climbing up and down it. i tried to slide it out of the bathroom vertically, which it turns out is a bad idea, because it didn't fit all the way through. the box spring is vertically half way through the door, stuck, and ben decides to climb up the box spring on the inside of the bathroom. while i'm trying to get him down so i can slide the box spring back into the bathroom and flip it, stuart climbs up on the outside of the bathroom. i now have a cat on either side of the box spring, neither really knowing how to get down, both pacing and meowing. because the thing is in the doorway, i cannot get a stool into the bathroom to help ben down. i try a number of tactics but none work. i then work on stuart, who just clings on for dear life when i try and pull him down. total failure. fast-forward 15 minutes, both cats are still there, i'm begging them to get down, it's midnight, i'm exhausted and on the verge of tears. i even try beckoning with treats and that doesn't work. ben FINALLY got down (dug his claws in, threw his back legs around and shimmied down), and about 10 minutes after that stuart got down the same way. hilarious now, infuriating at the time. i swear--do i have cats or toddlers?

good morning!

happy monday morning from ben and stuart!

it's that time again!

for some of you it's probably been too long, for others maybe not long enough, but i decided it was time for some more ben and stu. i feel these lil guys have been neglected on here, though just from a lack of me taking time to photograph them--not for a lack of them being naughty and cute. anyway, today started out with me babysitting my boss' daughter so he could take his wife out to a nice mother's day brunch (i was at work on saturday, he had mentioned they hadn't found a babysitter and i volunteered since i did my mother's day thing yesterday). after that i went to work for a few hours, then headed home. i stopped at the pet store and picked up a new toy for the boys, and then photographed them as they played with it. ooooh silly ben and stuart.

first, i'll start with what brandon and i have dubbed stuart's "senior portrait"

heat wave continued

the cats really don't know what to do in the heat. i mean, these are san francisco boys. they know fog and cold. when it gets hot, they definitely have a significant drop in energy. this was stuart's latest attempt at keeping cool



who wants to rub that tummy???

heatwave '09

the first heatwave of '09 has officially hit san francisco. we had temperatures in the 90's today, which is insane for this city by the bay. it's been a very sticky but sunny and beautiful day! too bad i had to spend it indoors behind my desk. the kitties do not enjoy this weather...they loll about on the floor, lethargic and hot. here are some snapshots of them surviving the heat:

first, we have stu hogging the fan

then stu, coming out of the sink after he went in for a drink

and finally, the boys lounging on the floor


tomorrow is supposed to be hot again, but by the end of the week we're supposed to have rain. ooooh san francisco weather, how crazy you are!

pippy & timmy break

so, i have become flickr friends with someone in rome--our common bond is our pair of ridiculous kitties. a few of these latest antics are just too good to pass up--i had to post. countering ben and stu, let me introduce a pair of beautiful orange sisters, pippy and timmy!

first, we have timmy-in-a-box

pair in a pair...who knew kitties liked skinny jeans!

for this next one, you have to click on the photo and see the second picture...ooooh silly kitties!

last but not least, pippy the musical kitty! first, her singing debut

and then a little air piano!

thanks to pippy & timmy's mom for giving me permission to post her adorable girls! it definitely brightens my day to see new pictures of them...what cuties! brandon even asked me the other day if i secretly wished that i had pippy and timmy because i'm always showing him their pictures...teehee...i told him there's no way i would give up ben and stu, but they are awfully cute!

more cats

so, first off thanks to everyone and their comments regarding my pain-in-the-butt cat. i know it's probably a phase, just a longer phase than i'd like. ben takes opportunities like this to remind me of my commitment to being a pet owner, and remember that he has needs too, and our relationship can't always be on my terms...oooh how it's not on my terms.

and yes, i realize having kids is like this times 10, and i also realize it sounds like i'm talking about human kids, not cats.

anyway, i digress. i just HAVE to say, all you cat--and even non-cat--people out there, head over to edyta's blog today. i found her post today SO hilarious. just to give you a snapshot...the post starts out with the following text:

"Friday! Is it a dress, lingerie or a jogging suite? Oh Boris, it’s a bag."

and has this picture at the top:

photo courtesy of edyta szyszlo photography

so head on over there to see what boris' mischief is all about...ooooh boris.

i need a cat trainer

i need a cat trainer, and no, this isn't an april fool's joke. in fact, this is the opposite of funny. as you've seen from my bad cat behavior posts, my kitties can be naughty. however, most the time it's semi-cute naughty, like awww, those goobers. the side that you don't see as much is the pest side of ben. i feel bad, because he clearly wants SOMETHING, but i have no clue what it is. i play with him, he gets bored. i pet him, he gets tired of that. he makes a distinct whiney meow noise (oftentimes sounding like he's saying "raoul"), and if no one responds, you just brace yourself for bad behavoir, whether it be wine glass bumping, cord chewing, or picture frame moving. i love this cat to pieces, but every night he drives me insane. i frequently can't get things done because he's causing trouble every couple minutes.

i've tried playing with him until he tires (the down time doesn't last long), we've tried ignoring the bad behavior (we end up with broken wine glasses)...i just seriously don't know what to do. pretty much every evening i end up getting upset and telling him that i don't know what he wants, and asking him if he could PLEASE just one night be good. sometimes we're so lucky as to have him nap in the evening, but most of the time he doesn't.

the worst part is, i feel like it's just because he's ridiculously smart, and so he gets bored. i get new toys from him, we try and entertain him, but i just don't know what to do...

so, in conclusion, anyone know a cat trainer? i don't know what else to do...either a cat trainer or a cat wheel...anyone want to donate a cat wheel?

sick sunday

well, our fantastic weekend in vegas ended with a not-so-fantastic plane ride. i was expecting a little bit of turbulence as we departed vegas and flew over the mountains, but i was not expecting 45 minutes of it. i wasn't hung over or anything, but man did i get sick. i get motion sick extremely easily, but i've never actually gotten sick. i guess there's a first time for everything! our fasten seatbelt sign was only off for about 15-20 minutes, and multiple people on the flight were ill. it was awful. at least i have good friends who still like me after sitting next to me. the flight attendants were so sweet and kind, so that was nice-- one even checked on me when he walked through the cabin. thankfully we landed safely, but i was obviously feeling a little under the weather. brandon took the opportunity to snap a photo of me while i was napping...then i woke up but we snapped a few more of the kitties because they were being so cute.

bad cat behavior, ep.7

i know i've mentioned ben's habit of batting at pictures on the wall, but i finally captured it on camera. seriously, at times the pictures on our wall are like at 30 degree slants because of him...it makes my blood boil, especially because he comes up behind me while i'm sitting on the couch and does it.

notice how BOTH pictures in this photo are skewed. thank you, interior decorator ben. on a happier note, the framed picture on the right is our wedding haiku. it looks much better when it's straight, but i love it even when it looks like it's about to fall off the wall, thanks to our cat.

thankfully stu hasn't quite grasped this habit...yet...(knock on wood)

more kitties

oh the cats...these were taken over a couple days...i can't resist taking pictures of them!

the paw! it kills me every time...they are so tender and sweet to each other sometimes! edyta, does this make you want to jump in their kitty cup again?

stuart, the loaf

so lately the cats have been "stealing" brandon's chair. literally, he'll get up to grab something and SWOOP. his chair is occupied by a furry friend or two. we've decided to let it slide because it's been preventing them from being total pests, but it is a funny trend. last night i looked over, and saw this:

immediately i said "awww..." and then i noticed what was really going on...

adelie and the orca giveaway on moderncat

image courtesy of moderncat

toys, clockwise from top left: parisian mouse from 4 paws, knit fish cat toy from adelie and the orca, binkie sweetie toy from osha, catnip donut from catzilla crafts, woodland friends organic hemp cat toys from the modern pet, and mink catnip body pillow from kitty of mine.

so this week is toy giveaway week on moderncat, and there have been tons of amazing giveaways! i offered up a knit catnip toy (via adélie and the orca), and today you can have a chance to win! check out the posts from the week--some amazing etsy shops to discover, and tons of giveaways! if you have a feline friend who could use some spoiling, head on over and enter to win! thanks, again, moderncat for 1. being an amazing website and 2. featuring my kitty toy (and stu's tooshie)

good morning

so this morning i decided to snap some photos of the kitties...a little mid-week pick-me-up.

so, a small funny note. i took these pictures, went into the other room to grab something, came back in, and the cats were in the same position but facing the room this time, instead of the window. such weirdos.

i left the room again and came back, and this time ben was 2 rooms away, sitting on the counter. literally i was gone 30 seconds, and i did not hear him at all. stealth kitty!
so i know it's been semi-quiet on the blog, but i've just been busy. not overwhelmingly busy, but enough where i haven't really taken a lot of pictures and the stuff i'm doing isn't overly exciting. in a nutshell, i'm working on things for some upcoming activities with friends (will be shown later), running, nursing sore legs, and crafting a little here and there. i promise i'll show that stuff later on...

ben and stuart break

well, i feel like it has been a little while since i've put up some kitties. i'm guessing it's been more like 3 days or something :::::checking archives:::::: wow! no! it's been almost two weeks! time for some ben and stu indeed...

this morning i was attempting to take a picture of my newest kitty toy for etsy...the cats were helping

and here are the kids, waiting for me to put the toy back down (yeah right i'm going to put it down)

the boys eating...this was the cute moment, before stuart threw up because he gorged himself on the food.