FIRST!

And seriously, the cats were the ONLY thing you got in the divorce? Who on earth was your attorney? Mr. Magoo?

Laurie,

You SOO make me laugh!!! I look forward to your posting everyday!!! I'm Like ADDICTED! LOL

I too live in a good neighborhood but very close to the bad side and sometimes I see real life "COPS" go down in the neighboring streets!!!!

In fact, yes, it was Mr. Magoo! And let me tell you, he is EXPENSIVE.

if you don't post everyday, would you at least put up repeats of your favorite posts ever? For how can we survive without regular infusions of CAP?

The mind boggles. :>

Hang in there, sweetie. The dreaded Holiday Season will be over in exactly 14 days. Not that I'm counting or anything.

Pass the wine, please. And keep it coming!! ;o)

Hey, I for one love the lists! You just post whatever you feel like. The same way I would watch certain actors read the phone book, I will read whatever you write.

I hope that doesn't stalker-scary...

I need the crinkle thingie for my two cats...is there a website for such a miracle item?

When I was wrapping gifts last night, my youngest cat kept trying to eat the tissue paper. Perhaps a crinkle thing would help prevent under the tree nibbling.

Thanks for the invaluable information, Laurie. You're such a great resource.
*grin*

At least you KNOW what your cats will like. I my cat loves hidey-holes, like the backs of drawers. She is always burrowing to them, so I thought she needed a tunnel (or wanted one). I spent $50 on a cat tunnel, put it on the floor and waited for the laughs and the gratitude. She looked at it with incredulous contempt. Her attitude as she walked along beside it was something like, "Well...THIS is stupid! Why do I need this when I can obviously just cross the livingroom at any point in the open space?" She never went inside it. Fortunately my boss took it off my hands for what I paid for it and her cat thought it rocked.

I searched EVERYWHERE online this morning to find the crinkle cave for folks to buy! I couldn't find it. I got mine at Target in the cat aisle, it's in a little plastic package ... the tent itself folds up very small, kind of like those windowshades you buy for your car that expand big enough to cover the whole windshield but fold down very small. It's nylon and I guess the "structural supports" are plastic or something.

I'll take a picture for tomorrow :)

Have I mentioned that I wear long johns (and not the silk kind, either, the thick cotton-wool kind for maximum sex appeal) from October to May? You probably don't need to do this in CA, but you might want to have a set handy for those occasional days when the temperature goes below 75 degrees. Extra Added Bonus: no VPL!

my cat lurves the crinkle tube. best. thing. ever.

re: taco smells...after i read the jungle by upton sinclair, i went on a wackadoo ham eating binge.

Today I came into work wearing khakis, loafers, a wife beater, short-sleeved sweater, and a light corduroy jacket. I broke a sweat. I am in DC. Laurie, I think DC stole LA's weather!!

I, too, have been craving Taco Bell since approximately 5 minutes before I heard the first news story. I am crave-y and ESP-y.

Laurie, the cats are totally worth the money and are more deserving of presents than most humans of my acquaintance.

Very sorry to hear about Mr. Magoo! I hope you didn't get totally screwed in the divorce process. I got mine for $1,000, mainly because A) we had no money or assets and B) the ex- picked the cheaper (read: dumber) attorney and C) I was living in Kansas, not L.-freaking-why-does-everything-cost-twelve-times-as-much-A.

Sample convo between me and my ex-:
Him: No alimony.
Me: (Puzzled) Well, no, why would I ask you for alimony?
Him: No, you make more money than I do, I could ask YOU for alimony. (I think his bimbo girlfriend put him up to that one.)

Needless to say he didn't get any alimony, we split everything 50/50 and if I win the lottery, he can't come back and demand $$$.

I sent my attorney a dozen roses after the hearing, and her assistant a half-dozen. She did a good job; I slept like a baby once the papers were signed.

Yeah, OtherLisa? What you described? Was the very opposite of my divorce. It's back there in the archives, though, I'm not planning on re-living it today :)

Or ever.

I mean, really. LOL.

I have a pile of crinkly tissue paper in the middle of my dining room. All three cats like to race thru the dining room from either the living room or the spare room and EXPLODE into the pile, scattering tissue paper everywhere which they then try to burrow under. Right now I have a pile inside a long box top I converted into a tunnel. The kitten likes to run thru the tunnel trailing tissue paper behind him. I also got a $30 cat tree from Wal-Mart that the cats LOVE. It goes to the ceiling and has 3 levels they can hang out on and attack each other from below. As you can probably tell, I live by myself with 3 cats so my house is basically RomperRoom for Cats!

I know this is not something anyone wants to look forward to, but around 50 you probably won't need long-johns anymore...even in Michigan, should you go there, or the arctic. I live in California, too, albeit the Northern part. The people I live with are always cold. I don't kow why that would be...just because I leave all the windows open and keep turning the heat down. I am always, always too warm. I don't know how I go to be 52. It's some horrible joke nature has played on me, although being dead would suck way more.
.
I had never read your blog before, Laurie. I don't even remember what the search was that landed me here. Oh...it was "Rawhide!" I'm trying to find one of those truly huge rawhide bones like were in Wal-Mart for about 4 seconds...multiple feet long. That's the reason my cat hates me and spends dawn to about 9 p.m. outside in the underneath-bowels of the ancient mobile home we live in...I just had to have a dog. A dog who I gave half a raw knuckle bone to day before yesterday. I woke up 90 mins later and all that was left were two pieces the size of quarters and a bunch of crumbs all over the carpet. I've had to feed her white rice since then to help her pass this crap. Speaking of crap, she has gas from hell.
.
If anybody knows where to find an enormous rawhide bone, please let me know.
:)
bex
P.S. I am sure before long you will be "discovered" and have a lucrative career as a writer, seriously!

Enchiritos! Yum. Just so you know, *my* personal favorite Taco Bell items are the Mexican Pizza, the Grilled Stuft Burrito, and the tried and true Bean Burrito. I'm sure I'll go back, e. coli be damned!

You know we're going to need some pictures of the doings in that Cat Cave!

Seriously, I have 4 cats also and I can just picture the fun. When they get a new toy, all the little-kid sibling rivalry just comes out!

Mmmmm, I love Taco Bell! My kitty is hard to please. I've bought so many cat things and sometimes he'll seem to like something for a day or two and then will have nothing more to do with it. I got a faux leather with sheepskin lined cat bed (free from a manufacturing plant here locally after I put my name on a list; they are extras with minute defects) and he loved it for the first few nights. Now he won't even go in it anymore but instead hogs my pillow at night; my 16-pound furry pest.

OOooooohhh!!! Thanks Laurie, I'll check out my local Tarjay and see if they have it. I'm pretty certain Manny would love it. (He's the cat.)

Until then, they will just have to do with hiding in the paper grocery bags I bring home. They seriously believe that no one knows they are in there when they're in there.

Silly cats.

Congrats on buying an actual cat toy that your kitties enjoy. I have yet to purchase a cat toy that interests my kittens. They play for hours with a twisty tie from my bread bag, they whooop it up for days playing with a tupperware cup, the Christmas tree has been a non stop source of fun and merriment but when I gave them real live cat toys they both gave them a little tap and looked at me with a face that appeared to be saying, "Please get this hideous piece of garbage out of my house, oh and we will be tearing up your yarn when you are not looking."

Hi, Laurie,
Since you know about all things cat-related, I was wondering what would you suggest for a cat that finds electrical cords tasty? I have tried the yucky tasting spray(well, not personally, but you know what I mean) and that doesn't seem to work. I just had to throw away a USB cable that someone had gotten a hold of and I would like to cut back on these kind of expenses. So any help would be great!

Love your list Laurie!
I bought my cat a tunnel and a crinkly fish ( jaw open with toy hanging inside) he has no interest in them at all! Brand new and not even looked at. Been packed in the closet ever since. I would love to find a home for them! Any takers? I'll even ship them. Damn fussy cat. Ahh I still love though. : )

I'm glad Yul won, for in addition to being a damn good Survivor player, he was also pretty hot. Which we all know is the important thing.

La la la... skipping your post about Survivor... have it taped, haven't watched yet.... avoiding all public places where I might suddenly be exposed to the outcome...

I too have succumb to the wacky I suddenly want Taco Bell despite the radioactive warning signs staked out around the place.

If you got them the boring silent cube, it would be like they were at work. And they'd hate that! Good kitties, gettin' some crinkle action.
I agree with the Survivor winner, though I was rooting for Ozzie - after all, his heartfelt speech about his biological dad made me (and my gay friend, over to watch with me) get all snuffleupagus and stuff. At least he got the car!

It got to be 75 degrees in my little corner of the world today - it was supposed to only reach 68, but, well, the temperature kept rising. Average for this time of year is 44. The fields are so confused, they've started to sprout for spring...and tomorrow the predicted high is 48!

Sorry you are cold. Wish we were! :)

JaylynR -
You might want to put the cords in cardboard tube (like a few paper towel tubes stacked up together) or buy those cord protectors (for when you need to attach them to the wall) to cover up the cords. My kitten likes to chew on them but with him all I have to do is use one of those loud noisy hand-clapper party toy/favors right next to his fuzzy little head and it seems to be nipping this potentially dangerous behavior in the bud. Course, now that I have said this, Murphy's Law is going to have to prove me wrong.

Oh, and it's 75 degrees here in Richmond, Virginia, which is definitely putting the "zots" on my holiday spirit. A spirit which right now is flimsy at best.

Jalyn -- you just need a cord keeper, or some kind of cord management thingy. I got one from Ikea for about five bucks, it hides the cords away from the cats.

here are some links:
http://cableorganizer.com/cord-protector/

and
http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/sc/shopexd.asp

But you can find these cheap at Ikea or any kind of computer store.

Or what Samantha said, and that one is cheaper! :)

And the only reason I didn't want Ozzy to win is that he threw a challenge VERY early on, which I thought was weird and dumb, since Billy never could have lasted in the game anyway. And I'm just not someone who can get behind the idea of throwing a challenge.

I am SO glad you had your list titled. I haven't seen the Survivor finale yet....... I almost got the surprise ruined!

And heck yeah, Yul was HOTTTIE MC HOTPANTS!

Do you know it is colder in L.A. than in Philadelphia (land of the e-coli infected Taco Bells, should you still have a craving). Lord. It does not feel like Christmas is coming at all.

And I hear of a reasonably cheap cat toy? From the Target. It sounds like the Ginger Ninja might be in line for a gift and boy will he deserve it after being forced to spend a week with my sister and DOG whilst I visit family in Floriday. Poor poor cat. Although this is the cat who likes to chew cardboard boxes, so maybe I should just save any and all gift boxes and call it a day.

Love ya and enjoy the arctic conditions while they last.

Living in South Carolina we don't have allot of police helicopter's either. So when my son goes to visit his Grand parents in Los Angeles he thinks it's so cool when they fly around and search.

UMMMM NO!!!!!

I think Ozzy should have won.

JaylynR,
Tape wrapped around sticky side out worked for my cats.
Laurie,
Please please PLEASE tell me at some point you will be checking the Studio City mailbox??!! Some of your adoring public is sending you small tokens of affection. Or yarn. Or something related to yarn. Or may have been in the presence of some yarn.
My cat Doorjamb doesn't care much for crinkly, but give the fat #@%& a piece of watermelon rind and he will love it all day long. Dorky cat.

Living in South Carolina we don't have allot of police helicopter's either. So when my son goes to visit his Grand parents in Los Angeles he thinks it's so cool when they fly around and search.

UMMMM NO!!!!

I was voting for Ozzy all the way! It was 16 degrees when I got up this morning.... brrrr. At least I get to wear some of the stuff I have knitted. I am sooooo ready for the 40s! Come on spring!

Thanks for all the great suggestions y'all! I really like how thrifty-minded y'all are. Off to go rig up all my cords...

Ya know, we heard about that Taco Bell thing...and within 2 hours of hearing about it, where was the 'chick? That's right - in the drive thru. Having completely forgotten about it. THEN hearing it was the green onions, all was well, right? WRONG! It was the LETTUCE which was all over everything. We ate it anyway. Cos we like to live dangerously.

I miss the 59-79-99 Taco Bell promotion--way back in the late 1980s, when everything on their menu was 59 cents, 79 cents, or 99 cents. Sure helped keep my belly full when I was a poor (but clearly not starving) grad student.

I just got into a screaming match with a woman who completely boxed me into a parking spot and sat there cursing me out instead of just backing out of the way. Public transport from here on out!

Kitties deserve Giftmas presents just as much as people. My wee one gets the pleasure of sitting on the wrapping paper and messing with ribbons while I attempt to wrap gifts.

OOH! Thanks for the kitty gift tip. We've already gotten the gift for ours, but I'll get one for my sister's two demon possessed children. They enjoy destroying her apartment--maybe this will give them something else to do. At least for a while.

Oh, and in the NC mountains? Not cold at all. Wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, with the windows open. Doesn't feel like Christmastime at all!!

as hard as it might be to believe, but i think it's colder in LA these days than in boston. it's like friggin' summer!

the weather is all fucked up this year.

It was 28F this morning and you'd have thought it was the end of the world. Have you been to the grocery lately? Those people who only leave home this time of year are all driving to the grocery store where they will gather around the dairy case and discuss the shocking increase in the price of milk. No, I'm not kidding. Entire families shopping together. I had such high hopes for Survivor this time, but stopped watching when they changed the teams around. It was wonderful to have a limit on vapid chickies in skimmpy swim suits, though. Hopefully, we'll see more people of color in the future. Oh, and isn't it fun when the copter makes your house shake? I live around the corner from a high traffic area. You know you're in trouble when you know what hours there's air cover in your county. o.0

Love to the kitties!

hello? it isn't Christmas yet, why have the kitties already opened their present? giving them their present early does not make the season end any sooner :)
and I too am craving Taco Bell and Olive Garden. But I am contrary that way...
Happy Holidays Miss Laurie!!! stay warm!! it is 70 in Chattanooga...

Ah...that same thing happened to me and Taco Bell, too. Weird advertising ploy.

Right back at you!
1. It’s 4 degrees Celsius in Vancouver today and I have not experienced sunshine in at least two weeks, not cold enough for a scarf, wool coat, or my new boots but certainly depressing!
2. I don’t think we have a Taco Bell here. I will have to ask around.
3. I have not watched survivor since the very first season. I still hate Richard.
4. While visiting the beach in Australia I saw a helicopter flying up and down the coast. I said “wow they must be looking for an escaped convict or something”. I later realized that they were patrolling for sharks. I did not go in the water.
5. My cat, Simon aka the Simonator, has a ‘tunnel’. She runs through it as fast as she can. She claims to be trying to break the sound barrier. She is also very much looking forward to wrapping presents.
6. Need a break? Check out wavelit.com. You can either watch two grizzly bears hibernating or a watering hole in Africa. I saw a lion and a lioness taking a drink the other day… very exciting (no helicopter required). Also, if you check during the African daytime there is tons of wildlife (and sunshine!).
Take care.

The crinkle cave sounds great, but my cats would get tired of it fast or they would freak out. They like killing moths and things that move fast and are alive. But for a minute there, you almost convinced me that I should get the cave.

I live down in the South and its surprisingly warm right now. Suppose to change though. I cant go out of this region because I can't stand cold of any nature.

I live almost close to the ghetto and I know that feeling of cop drama going on in the streets. The ghetto bird used to come by every now and then, but not so much anymore. A good thing or bad thing?

I have an idea for a cord thingey. If your cord needs to go a distance, maybe you could get some small diameter pvc pipe from home depot. If the plug won't go through, maybe you could cut a notch the length of it then, slip your cable through, and put the cut side down. I'm not sure if you need an electrical pvc pipe or not. Just a weird idea. It should be safe, but I do not make a guarantee.

I caught the very end of the final suvivor. I guess I shouldn't have canceled the TV guide because I didn't know it was going to be on this Sunday. Oh well. I'm glad Yul won but Ozzy was awesome to watch and I want to run away with him to a deserted island.

honestly, b/c of the heat, now is the safest time to eat at el taco bell. you know that the kitchen is certifiably clean.
but anyhow, i'm surprised that you eat there, liking cats & all.

it was 46 here in buffalo today and i ditched work to go to the spa with NO COAT on! :)

no.coat.in.buffalo.on.december.18.

while ill be hoping for snow real soon i am enjoying this global warming xmas season!

s.

those are boring quiet cubes. I bought a cheap one at Kmart thinking if the heathens liked it, I'd go back for more. Well, the littlest loves it! but not because it's a boring quiet cube, but because you can roll and pounce and play in it and end up on your head. I swear the only time that thing is upright and where it "belongs" (HA!) is when she's sleeping and I've just put it up.

Two things struck me with this post, Laurie. First off, it is really weird that in Southern California it is 44 degrees, while in Maryland, we have been having 65 degree days! I think Mother Nature has her shores confused.
Secondly, my kitties hated the crinke cave, so it has retired to the basement where they give it half a glance on occasion, so I'm very happy your cats enjoy it so much! Maybe I should post you mine so they have two! For Christmas, the six cats here are getting many catnip toys which they can already smell (they are in a bag in the hall closet and two of the cats have already tried to hijack the closet and take the bag as hostage!
Did you get my very late gift from last Christmas yet?

Holy Cow! That is cold for LA! It is 12F at my house. I do not look fashionable when it is this cold, not that I do normally. Anyway, the skiing is good.

I kind of liked the (police and news) helicopters when I was living in LA. I either knew to look out the window for the car chase or I knew I should turn on the TV to find out what was going on out there. Like the day the helicopters woke me up. I checked the news and a sinkhole had opened up at the end of my street. That Hollywood metro tunnel was entertaining, wasn't it?

There was one time where I looked out to see where the helicopter's light was focused and saw two LAPD, guns drawn against the wall of my apartment building. They were obviously looking for someone right there! I decided it was a good time for me and the kitties to look at stuff under the bed.

On September 11, 2001, just after the second plane hit the World Trade Center I took off running (in my pajamas and slippers) the quarter mile to my kids' elementary school to bring them home. I was out of my mind. As I ran I looked up and saw (and heard) a small, olive-colored military plane RIGHT OVER MY HEAD and he was so close that I could see his face looking down at me! I was a bit mental at the time and just kept running. It wasn't until much later that I thought about it.

What the hell was that about??? I still wonder to this day.

You know that mentioning our bit of strangely cold weather & the resulting hysteria it inspires just makes all the people who live in places that have weather with a capital W curiously gleeful; that's OK, they get snow up to their armpits EVERY year and what do we Californians get besides the occasional earthquake?! Knock on wood....

I, too, started craving Taco Bell after reading about the e-coli. And now, I am kind of craving Olive Garden.

Hubby thinks it's safer to eat at Taco Bell now than before all the fuss. His reasoning is that with all the media attention, TB's have never been so clean or paid so much attention to quality. He may be right. Personally, I'll let him eat there first & if he's still alive - or not praying to the porcelain god - tomorrow, THEN I'll try them again. I miss my Crunchwraps.

So Survivor, was that the LAMEST ever fire challenge? Lord, Jeff P. should have thrown those two woman out when they couldn't even light a fire with a match!

remember when sex was dirty and veggies were clean?

now they're both hazardous to your health!

bah, humshit!

It was 70 degrees here in DC today. I had the air conditioner on. Messed with my X-mas spirit big time. I want my hot chocolate. ::whines:: My cat is living in the box the artificial tree came in. I didn't have the heart to put it away after seeing how much he loves hiding in it.

I lived on Taco Bell's value menu in college. It is always kind of a gamble. It tastes so good but my digestive system is not always happy.

Chulupa, Baby! So been craving one since they started talking about TB every other news story.

You nailed it with we all live "this close" to a bad neighborhood. Thank heavens for the big fence and security guard that keep the residence of the craptastic apartments next door on their side of the fence! Cuts down on the necessity for Cop-ter fly-overs.

When I lived in Phoenix there were people that would huddle in their winter coats with gloves on at about 65 degrees. Makes me not roll my eyes so much at the Californias who think 45 is cold.

And finally... Sister, the traffic is evil right now and has been for about 2 weeks. Heaven forbid your journey takes you within 3 miles of a mall or school. Some of these people are straight out crazy. Of course, so was I when the train crossing in front of me stopped moving and didn't go ANYWHERE for the next 20 minutes. Thank you Burlington Northern for bringing me quality time with the traffic!

I can totally relate to the police helicopter experience. For one, when I lived in Barstow (yes, I lived in Barstow for two years, everyone can stop laughing now) we would get weekly live car chases direct from LA (yup, we got LA network stations). WEEKLY. They were always the same too, they always interrupted whatever crappy TV show was supposed to be on, and the live coverage would sometimes last for HOURS. And, when I lived in San Diego, not a city really associated with a lot of police chopper activity, we would regularly get the giant spotlights. (Once there really was an escaped convict somewhere in our neighborhood - it was really scary!)

umm...yeah...cold weather is relative....

temp outside in my city: 34 (supposedly but somehow NOT a little higher than freezing)

temp INSIDE my office (where I have on basically the same layers you do): 44 degrees.

Laurie ... sometimes you are the only thing keeping me in my right(ish) mind. Thanks for the humour!
L.

I had a very similar elevator conversation with someone this AM here in San Francisco (where it was about 39 F). Although it was actually below freezing in the 'burbs, which was causing mass panic.
I also had to break it to someone (who lives in said 'burbs)that putting hot water on your windshield to defrost when it is actually below the freezing point? Not wise.

I have to say that this Survivor was the most peaceful one out there with the exception of Jonathan, the big rat of the game. The others have been bloody and people wanting to kill one another. Only this time, only one person cut themselves enough for the paramedics to come calling on the island.
I want your cold weather, we are hot and sunny here. Yesterday the high temp was 81F. I am running around in shorts. sigh! It doesn't feel like Christmas at all.

Heh- I'll be back in the City of Angels for my annual Christmas visit on wednesday, and I'm hoping it warms up- Christmas never feels right for me until I step out into the bright LA sunshine and see the short palm trees outside of LAX wave at me...

It was 75 degrees today here in North Carolina- 75! I wore a short sleeved shirt, lightweight trousers and a denim jacket in the morning. 75! What the heck is up with this???? (its supposed to be in the low 50s this time of year)

(And I am sure the crinkle cave rocks- Milo has a Walmart version of the cat cube and he loves it.)

Heh- they sell those cube things for kids too. And long tunnels. And small tents. I've gotten the tents for my kids, but not the cubes or tunnels (I kept picturing my kids in a hamster habitrail, so...uh-uh). My girls have always wanted those tiny tents they have at Wal-Mart, Costco, Cabelas, etc that are mini display versions of full size camping tents. Poor Barbie has to camp in a shoe box or a teepee made with sticks and a bandana.

We watch COPS all the time, and it's pretty bad when you try to recognize where they are at......
needin.a.life..... my dog jethro chases the "ghetto birds" that fly over the house...funniest thing I have ever seen.

Here's something for you to think about with the whole Taco Bell thing (and Taco John's, too, for that matter). do you remember the Jack in the Box incident oh so many years ago? this was in the late 80's, or early 90's. and some children died. i went to culinary arts school not long after this incident, and one thing my foodservice teacher said, that made sense (of several things, but this one stuck with me, lol). jack in the box is probably now one of the safest places to eat. do you really think they'd let another outbreak happen? same with taco bell. the other thing you need to think about is that no matter how hard the USDA and DoA try to keep our food supply safe, incidents like this are going to happen. the difference between when we were kids and now is the media's willingness to report bad news. if you're healthy, you take your chances. otherwise, you better cook everything to a crisp, unless you've grown it yourself, and you're sure your ground and water sources are not contaminated (i'm getting off my soap box now, got a crinkle tent i can borrow?)

The weather's nice here today(in Minneapolis)--37F

Your weather and mine got reversed. I live right outside DC, and the high today was 75 degrees!

With sun!

The weatherman apologised and promised a high of 55 tomorrow, and I believe him because it suddenly got CHILLY.

If you need a little Christmas spirit, check out my post from Tuesday.

B&N have the crinkle bag. One of the neighbors gave it to us about a year ago. They love it. One will crawl in and then try to protect the fort.

I live close to LA too. When we were kids and we'd get the copter fly over, my sisters and I would wait for the spotlight to shine on our backyard and then we'd dash across the yard and hide under the picnic table.

Good times...

So in Celcius, which is the scale we use here in Northern (and the rest of) Canada, 44 is 8 degrees. That sounds much colder, doesn't it? I bet it does feel really cold. I am a carpenter, working outside. Today it was minus one and that felt so much warmer than the minus 30 it was two weeks ago, we thought we were in the tropics. I shall cross my fingers for warmer weather for you. Can you keep warm in the crinkly cave with the cats?

Yul, Yul, Yul. Love him. Do you really think Becky was not attracted to him? What's up with that? Poor Parvati with everyone calling her Poverty.

Jalyn, loosely wrap masking tape sticky-side-out on the thing you don't want the cats to fool with.
Do not leave them unattended, however, so do this while you are at home. Cats HATE HATE HATE sticky surfaces. Take the sticky paper off before you go to bed or leave the house.

Likewise, put contact paper sticky-side up to keep them off countertops (tape the edges down with masking tape so the cat can't get wrapped up in it and suffocate).

Do this unpredictably, once in awhile, and they will avoid those objects.

To make a crinkle-toy on the cheap, slide some bubble plastic into an inexpensive zippered fabric thing like a pillow cover. Zip it closed and let the cats pounce all over it.

Laurie, thanks for giving me something to think about besides tragedy when I hear helicopters overhead. We worked in the animal recues after Katrina and I'm afraid that for the rest of my life, whenever I hear helicopters overhead anywhere, I will find myself in a blur of heat and fur and paws.

Oh girl sometimes you make me so darn homesick. How I miss those helicopters buzzing around at night now, I never did appreciate it as a kid though. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, they sort of freaked me out. My brothers had me convinced that they could see through buildings and walls just like Superman so I was always trying to hide - and would totally freak out if I was in the bathroom or something. But now, after living forever in NY I miss those blinding spot lights when your trying to go to bed.

Hope you have a wonderful Chrismas and thanks for the memory.

Oh yes, my cat loves his "cat racket tunnel"..also made of that crinkly stuff. I mean, he LOVES it:) Roy has good taste in cat toys.

Mmmmmmm.....enchiritos!!

My hubby made mock at me for getting one of the kitty tunnels that are "just like a paper bag"... but he was just jealous he didn't think of it first!
Mmm, nachos bellegrande...

1) We got your warm weather right here -- got to 75º here today. Nice!
3&4) Boy, do I miss Taco Bell -- I usually eat there once a week. Love that they now have chesadillas. *Sob!*
7) I think I need to knit my two kitties a Kitty Pi -- tonight I found my littlest one asleep, not once, but twice, on top of my knitting. She loves the wool, apparently....

Rolling around in laughter here at the police helicopter and the 48 car-jacking suspects :) Oh, and I bought my cat a present too - a christmas stocking filled with 'cat treats'.

I have absolutely been DYING to have Taco Bell since it's been plastered all over the news. Plus they've really been flogging the new chicken enchilada burrito thing, which somehow sounds delicious to me.

I completely understand the Taco Bell craving. When it was first reported, half of the ladies in my office (including myself) headed out for burritos that lunch hour. We ended up at Taco Time (which I thing is only in Canada) as we figured it was a touch safer than the Bell.

The cubes are, in fact, non-crinkle cubes. But they still provide hours of amusement for cats.

I'll have to be careful not to let mine hear about the crinkle cave or they will want it too--and I've already gotten them a kitty jungle gym, which is not put together because I am a bad cat mamma, and also because I'm getting ready to go home to North Carolina and it doesn't make much since to put it up before I go. And maybe I also can't find a spot on my floor because maybe it is covered with yarn. Oops.

'Tis a balmy 71 degrees here in Hotlanta - four the 5th day in a row!!!! The bulbs n such think it's spring, but it HAS to be below 50 for Santa to come, I think that's written somewhere in the Book of Santa Law.

Merry Christmas from my kitty to yours!

and even though I have three upright-walking-two-legged children, my hubby and I still make stockings and buy treats for the furry four-legged ones!

My only comment about Survivor is "how did those two women spend 39 days on an island and NEVER learn how to start a fire?" I do realize that starting a fire with flint and steel takes some practice but crimeny they had over a MONTH to perfect this technique! And then they gave them matches and it still wasn't enough for one of them!!!?? I weep for the human race.

OK, it's around 30 degrees here in MN and it's really warm to us. It's usually around zero in December. Since I know it will be 20 below in February, I am savoring this.

I too, have been craving Taco Bell since I heard and I haven't eaten there in at least 14 years. Why do I want it now? Do I have a death wish?

Helicopters...we have them buzzing around out house too lately and we live in a good neighborhood, pretty far from a bad one. But I just pretend that they're those medical airlift thingies bringing sick people to safety.

"There was one time where I looked out to see where the helicopter's light was focused and saw two LAPD, guns drawn against the wall of my apartment building. They were obviously looking for someone right there! I decided it was a good time for me and the kitties to look at stuff under the bed."

They were after the cats. They are fugitives you know....;)

Your words are truely a joy to read and I mean truely you make me laugh.. not that I dont ever laugh.. cause I have 4 kids 2 dogs 2 cats and now 4 fish cause apparently my fish like sushi. Whow knew Goldfish would kill and eat another goldfish..not I.. anyway.. Just wanted to wish you and your police helicopters a wonderful Holiday.

I ate at Taco Bell today using the logic that with this issue so "fresh" in their minds they probably have "their shit together" better than anyone else right now.

I "can't" stop using quotation marks. "Help!"

I was just on vacation in L.A. this last weekend, planned as a warm respite from the chilly Pacific Northwest ... and I had to go to a thrift store to buy warm clothes! At least Wasteland on Melrose had some cool retro jackets.

Somebody else mentioned how they initially found your site. For me, it was doing a Google Image search for "Chairman Meow," because I thought it'd bring up lots of cat photos. (I was bored at work, yes.)

I would take 42° and snowing outside vs. 42° inside! Seriously, we lost our power here in Kirkland (WA) Thursday night and didn't get it restored until late Sunday. It was actually THAT cold in my house. I braved the outdoors with all of the trees down everywhere and headed North where power still existed. ;) It was warmer inside my fridge than it was in my house!!