Life on the Mason Dixon Line » Cats

We heart sandwiches

Susan — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:36:09 +0000

Subway sandwich picnic on Easter afternoon hike

Barton and Maggie like to help make sammiches too.

Take your dog to work day

Susan — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:47:28 +0000

May 4, 2011

Not sure why Paul didn’t take Maggie, Katie, Jake and Sam all to work with him, but now that Maggie is our #1 canine, she gets special treats. Like “Take your pet to work day.” Not sure why he is not claiming Bluesy and Barton right now…

I AM AT WORK W MY PERSON YES I AM THE FAVORITE PET DID I TELL YOU I AM WITH MY PERSON AT HIS WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Paul walks during lunch so of course, Maggie tagged along (WHATEVER MY PERSON IS DOING!!!!) and loved it.

Supervising my Person is soooooooooooo tiring...

Yo! Adrian!

Susan — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:12:59 +0000

I’ll admit that Bluesy is a little inbred.

And an abandoned sewer cat.

That was found chillin’ on a car tire. And we wanted to move the car. And he didn’t care.

Needless to say he fits in well with our family.

Very well.

Problem is, Bluesy likes to fight. Actually, the problem is not that he likes to fight, the problem is that he is a crappy fighter. And weighs 7 pounds. And he is dumb (see above, I don’t mean in a mute, can’t talk kind of way). And deaf in at least one ear–from a fight of course. Here are some of his current nemesises (nemeses? nemesisae? I mean nemesis plural):

Maggie
Paul’s flip flop (just the right one)
Barton
Ponytail holders
Shelby (a neighbor dog who is one of Jake’s puppies, comes around often when we are outside)
The school bus
Wind

We have spent hundreds of dollars getting him patched up post-bout. Lately, I just patch him up with whatever is in the first aid cabinet. Note the gash on his “lip” in the photo above. You feel sorry for him. Until he jumps on your head in the middle of the night because your breathing is blowing your hair a little bit. And he considers the moving hair a new nemesis.

L a z y days of winter

Susan — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:47:06 +0000

I don’t know where the phrase “lazy days of summer” comes from. Our winter days are MUCH lazier. I think its partly because of the manic December we always have, but in January life comes to a screeching halt. I am too lazy to even write more or add captions to these photos!

Did you hear I got a new camera for Christmas!?

Susan — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:50:38 +0000

THEN I GOT A NEW LENSE THIS WEEK! Look how great this photo is:

Anna very generously shares her rubber bracelets with Bluesy.

Recovering from the holidays

Susan — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:21:56 +0000

Most everyone who reads this blog knows what insanity exists in our lives in December since Paul and the kids all have their birthdays in a 2 week stretch, then Christmas and New Years. The last couple years we have started the year by bringing our lives to a screeching halt in January. We plan nothing, do less and love it. Until I get antsy and start making lists. This year was no different.

Fido the Fit before his much needed---and deserved-- trip to the spa after keeping us safe through 14 hours of snow and ice on our trip back from Indiana at Christmas after only 12 hours of visiting (really 6 b/c we slept some too).

The house and pets took a beating too. Check out this picture of Bluesy amongst the chaos of leftover Christmas crap-o-la. No matter how ruthless we are at cleaning out before the holidays (and the kids were REALLY thorough this year), there is never enough room for all of our treasures. We are very good, after all!

Waiting for Santa was exhausting!

Paul takes a much deserved nap. So tired--this is even DURING a Carolina game with the kids playing all around him.

The pets have to handle so many schedule changes: Paul staying home from work, then the kids are there all day of some days, then all of us leaving for days at a time to travel, coming home late from parties (ok, late for us). Their whole world gets turned upside down. Barton and Katie even forgot they were not supposed to like each other!

Sign the Apocolypse is upon us.

I started feeling the old twinges of needing to make a list today though. This year we are not going to take on any major new projects. More like just finishing up that last 2% of the projects that never get done. We will keep you posted of course! Stay tuned.

Bluesy has a screw loose

Susan — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:18:24 +0000

Now, I love a nap as much as the next cat, but I at least pick a comfy spot. Not so much w Bluesy. My mom brought us this cactus from FL b/c it would be “pet proof.”

Pet Proof does not = Bluesy proof.

I feel like a prickly pear!

The unofficial start to summer

Susan — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:24:05 +0000

Corn salsa with feta cheese burgers as chasers

Even the compost pail looks tasty!

Cats settled in for a long summer nap

Action packed Saturday

Susan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:54:49 +0000

Its 7:40pm and we are all lying on the couch wiped OUT. Here is a rundown of our day:

4:50am–alarm goes off

5:50am–leave house w kids and Paul

6:30am–triathlon training w Team in Training heroes @ Belews lake (what the kids call Quiet Lake b/c when we go at dark o’clock they have to be quiet since all of the locals are asleep.) We swam 1 mile, they road 4 miles and ran 1 mile. I ran 3 miles after the swim instead. Tyler found 2 more clams to bring home to join Clammy, the clam he found at Quiet Lake 2 weeks ago. Yes it is still alive and lives in his trash can. Did I tell you a nuc. power plant drains into this lake?

8:45am–left the lake, McDonalds for breakfast, drove home

10am–it takes all 4 of us three attempts to get Barton in to the cat carrier. Bluesy sat in the driver’s seat of my car with a dog leash on him. I take the cats to the vet for their check up. They are fine, Paul and I are $200 poorer.

Noon–home, kids play outside, Paul and I whirlwind clean, give them lunch and clean out my car.

1pm–pile in the Fit. Yes, 300 pounds of dog in the back, 2 kids in their car seats in the back, then Paul and I in the front.

1:30pm–return home, we forgot a wallet; back on the road everyone naps, except poor Paul.

2:30pm–arrive in Burlington for the Dog Splash, the dogs and people can swim in the Aquatics Center pool. It was CRAZY FUN until Maggie and Jake’s toe nails started bleeding from climbing out of the pool.

4pm–leave pool with kids in dry clothes and dogs w bloody feet.

5pm–arrive home, drop off dogs and fix dog feet to stop bleeding. Leave again for dinner

Losing track of time–Ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Natty Greene’s Golden Ale and Ceasar Salad pizza is my new favorite food.

7pm–home, pass out on the couch

We will ALL sleep well tonight. HOPEFULLY kids and dogs will sleep past 6am….

I love my life!

Susan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:52:40 +0000

As you know, Paul cooks dinner, not me. Tonight we had homemade corn tortillas w our chicken tacos. They were SO good. I cannot even describe it! We have enough leftovers for breakfast tomorrow…AFTER our 4 mile run. Huevos rancheros anyone?

This is a really cute picture I found on Paul’s phone when I took a picture of him on the gurney. I love my boys! Life is good.

Barton cuddled on our bed in the mid morning sunshine. This is the siren's call that lures me back to bed many times.

Fun With Laser Pointers

Paul — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:00:09 +0000

I have discovered that the laser pointers that cats and dogs love to play with work great on 5 year old boys also. We recently got one for the cats and dogs to play with. Tyler saw the dogs chasing it around and started chasing with them. He was determined to catch it and was crawling all over the floor to get it. So next time it is rainy or cold out and the kids are restless break out the laser pointer for hours of energy draining fun!