Sophie the Fierce

We like to have our cat shaved in the summer because she has such long hair. She sheds so much when it starts to get warm! So today was the day. I took her to Petsmart and asked them to shave her to look like a lion!

On the way there, Sophie meows the whole time... I have started wearing headphones because it is so sad.

She looks so pitiful!

When we get home she always sneaks around and acts a little embarrassed.

Then she decides that it feels good, so she relaxes a little.

How cute is she?? They didn't leave much of a "mane" on her, but I love the little puff on the end of her tail!

A Restful Weekend

After a very hectic week, and with another busy week ahead, we are planning to enjoy a very restful weekend.

This is what the weekend will look like:

Sophie is enjoying a nice nap. Can you believe how big she is? She is the length of half our couch, and our couch is BIG!

A Disgusting Dinner

Last night we had an absolutely disgusting experience at dinner. I had prepared the meal and put it on the table in the dining room. Before we sat down we noticed that a huge fly was buzzing around the house. I'm serious, this was not your average-weight flying insect. We got the fly-swatter and ran around trying to kill it. Sophie, our delicate, prissy, girly-girl cat, also jumped around trying to help us catch the fly. Dustin and I laughed at how high she jumped, each time coming nowhere near the racing insect. We talked about how funny it was that she was trying so hard because "it's not like she could ever catch him." She would not give up. Each time the fly passed her she jumped into mid-air and then sprinted after him.

After a while, Dustin and I gave up on the fly and sat down to eat before the food got cold. When we sat down I noticed a spider on the floor near the window. Dustin, my resident spider expert (he knows what alot of spiders are supposed to look like), bent to check him out. Well, this spider was not just an ugly little house spider. He was a Black Widow. Yes, I repeat, he was a Black Widow. Just as I was about to call 911, Dustin got his shoe so we could kill the intruder. We stood there for a while and stared, first at the spider, and then at each other. We debated what would be the best weapon with which to kill him. I didn't want spider guts on Dustin's shoe, but he didn't want spider guts to squirt on him through the holes in the fly-swatter (which was already handy because of the fly that was still buzzing around us, with Sophie still in hot pursuit).

We finally decided to use the shoe method, but then we had to decide how to make the kill. Dustin absolutely hates spiders because of a bad spider-bite that he got as a child. So he kills the camel-crickets if we see one (I feel nauseous every time I see a camel cricket because of a bad splattering-death that I inflicted on one a few years ago), and I kill the spiders.

Just as I was about to end the life of the unwelcome dinner guest, Sophie came running over, still chasing the fly. We watched in amazement as she trapped him in one corner of the dining room, right next to the black widow. Our mouths dropped as she stopped the fly in mid-wing-flap with her fluffy little paws. Then we heard it. Apparently our cat is not as delicate and girly as we thought. The fly CRUNCHED between her teeth, and she chewed him up with great satisfaction. Meanwhile, Dustin and I ran from the room, covering our faces and shrieking in disgust. Our stomachs were feeling a little weak because of the gross event, but now they were hurting because we were laughing so hard. We really had not given Sophie much credit, but we now know that she is a priss AND a huntress.

Now that the fly was gone, it was time to get rid of the onlooking spider. I grabbed Dustin's shoe and made a bank-shot off the air vent. Dustin was kind enough to get rid of the corpse while I went outside to rub his shoe on the grass. After studying the victim as he floated around in the toilet, we both washed our hands and sat back down to a cold dinner. Then Dustin said exactly what I was thinking: "It's amazing how quickly you can completely lose your appetite."

I'm glad we were just having leftovers.

Moments of Insanity

Sophie has no claws. One of the reasons we took her home was because she had already been de-clawed. It is great because we never have to worry about her tearing up our furniture. And Dustin thinks it is great because he can annoy her and not worry about getting scratched.

Have you ever seen cats sharpen their claws? They stretch up and dig their claws into something over and over again. Well, Sophie does this every now and then, even though she has nothing to sharpen.

Sometimes Dustin and I will be sitting on the couch and Sophie will walk in slyly, look up at us with disdain, and attack the ottoman. You can see her doing this in the picture above. She puts her ears back against her head and looks really angry! Once she is satisfied with the sharpness of her non-existent claws, she abruptly jerks away and takes off running at full speed into another room. Sometimes it is so abrupt that it startles me.

It is hilarious! Apparently Sophie is either taking her cat-anger out on the ottoman, or she is having "a moment of insanity."

Boxes and Tape

I love packing!! Don't bother telling me that it's weird; I already know. There is just something great about a big empty box just waiting to be filled up. I love to try and fill each box with as much as I can, positioning everything perfectly so more will fit. It is like a puzzle to me. Then when I am satisfied that the box has fulfilled its potential, I fold down the flaps and tape it up, happy that I have made a perfect package. Then I get to find another empty box!! One of the parts I like most about packing (and unpacking) is that I get to organize everything! I think I would call organizing one of my hobbies. It's just fun to "make a place for everything and put everything in its place."

In honor of my love for packing, I have asked Dustin if I can do all of it. He was very willing to let me have my way on this one! However, I did tell him that he could load all of it up on the truck (and I'll help too, of course).

The problem with my packing is that I'm a little over-zealous. This past weekend was great because I got to pack the whole time, but now we feel like we're camping. We still have two weeks before the actual move, and we've already missed a few things that I figured we would not need before that time (besides, I had the perfect space for it in one of my boxes!).

Sophie has been very helpful in this whole process. You can see below that without her the couch would surely start to drift toward the ceiling.

Not Quite a Foot...

Last Thursday night Dustin and I were watching the weather on our local station. We had heard that we would get some snow over the weekend, but Greg Fishel (our favorite meteorologist), was saying that we would get more than everyone originally thought! Our section of the map was forecast to get SIX to TWELVE INCHES of snow!!! Dustin and I LOVE snow and cold weather, so we were beaming when we heard the forecast! I was praying inwardly that God would give us a whole foot of snow.

So on Friday night we went out and bought the regular staples: milk, bread, and candy. We stopped and got some movies from Blockbuster, and then we came home and got our warm clothing ready, hoping to wake up to a foot of snow! Well, Saturday came, but the snow did not. We waited and waited, and looked out the windows every few minutes. Finally, just as the sun started to go down the snow began to fall. We were as happy as two pigs in the mud (I love that expression!). But unfortunately the forecasts were wrong. We got some snow, and you will see the extent of it below. It wasn't quite a foot, but it was still beautiful!

When the snow started falling
Dustin's car at dusk
It's snowing! It's snowing!
Icy branches... I love it!

My car the next morning
Look at that sky! Proof that there is a Designer!
When we woke up on Sunday morning, Sophie was snuggled up on the couch looking out the window. She must love snow too!

The post below shows a picture of my handsome husband enjoying the snow.

Miss Priss

I guess since we don't have a child, we feel compelled to post pictures of the creature for whom we house and feed. Sophie is a sweet cat who has no idea how easy her life is. Imagine having a schedule like this (if you can): Wake up, eat, watch the birds from the window, sleep, watch birds again, sleep, try to catch a bird from inside the house and knock your face against the glass, sleep, eat, get snuggled as you nap, play fetch, and then, wow! It's time to go back to bed. What a long day... The most strenuous part of her day is playing fetch. We throw a little green ball and she actually runs after it and brings it back to us! She loves it, and it is hilarious!

Sophie

Here are some pictures of our kitty, Sophie. We found her on Craigslist! She is a himalayan, about 3 years old, declawed, spayed, litter-box trained, and best of all she was FREE! She is very sweet and we have enjoyed having a little friend running around the house. She loves to lay on the arm of the couch, play with her feather toy, eat treats, and sit on the window ledge. When we got her she had not been brushed in a very long time. Her hair was so matted and tangled that it was impossible to brush it. The knots were so tight in some places that they pulled at her skin, making it painful for her to be touched. So that is why all her hair is shaved off in the pictures. She looks like a little tiger!