Friday, January 27th, 2006 and my friends' responses, too!

Hi Everyone,

Here's this week's diary entry for your enjoyment.
Mom's been under the weather and not at work
so she couldn't help me post until now :( She's
feeling a bit better, though. I told her that she'd
better get back to posting her news articles, because
someone might get sad or miss something cool.

I've been super busy with my tabby buddy, Nimbus.
We've been figuring lots of stuff out. One sad thing is
that the big toy that sings and has a screen, mom calls
it the Mac, hasn't been working. Mom tried to tell me
that Dad has been turning off the power strip. I guess
we aren't supposed to play with the Mac, but it is too
tempting. We like also to turn on something dad calls
the CD burner. It makes a funny noise like something
lives inside it.

On the sad side of things, skit-o-vision saw the
demise of Chinese Al. Mom thinks he got injured when
she moved some new live plants into skit-o-vision. Chinese
Al was a an algae eater. The rest of the gang are still happy.
We have the Neon Mafia, complete with the Neon Boss and
his second in command. The Boss stays busy keeping the small
neons in line. We also have the Von Rio Tetra Conspiracy,
the Harliquin Rasbora Triumvirate, Cory the Catfish, and
Lazarina the Ram Cichlid. A fun group, happy and active
in their constant negotiation for territory.

I had a real fun time trying to chew through my rabbit
when it was defrosting. Mom tried to foil my plot by putting a
box on it. Ha, I flipped off the box and almost got the
chubs of rabbit to the floor. She outsmarted me by putting full
jugs of water on top of the box. Meeeeearrrghhh!!!!

Ahoy maties, until the next time!
Dakota, Pixie-Bob


Hi Dakota,

Hope your mom is feeling better, we really rely on her
wonderful writing and your posts too. Just reading
them makes my day.

Guess what, my Serval, Kiva writes too, but she is not
allowed in the computer room because she chews on the
wires and tries to pull the power bar out and run
upstairs with it. However, she composes to me and I
later type it out. She is writing a little book and is
now on chapter 5. I have sent you a copy of the first
chapter, maybe your mom can read it to you. Kiva
would love a skit-o-vision but I am afraid she would
somehow get inside it.

Bye, Dakota

Donna

A Serval’s Story

By Kiva (as told to and typed by mom)
copyright by Kiva 2006 all rights reserved

Getting to know my family

When I was just a little baby I remember coming to my
new home. Mom stayed with me in our bedroom all the
time and cuddled and fed me and I felt so safe and
loved.

Very soon I was exploring the rest of the house and
discovered that I had two older brothers. The first
one I met was Tao and I knew immediately he was a cat
just like me even though we look so different. I
wanted to play and I went over and bopped him on his
tail. He gave me such a glare and spit and walked
away. Pretty soon I discovered if I ambushed him at
the bottom of the stairs he would chase me all through
the house – great fun! Eventually he has even let me
wash his face, which I just love to do. I am quite a
tease and very lighthearted while Tao is much more
proud and serious. He is called Boss Cat around here.

In our pet room all his ribbons were displayed until
one day I knocked them down and shredded them with my
teeth. Surprise, I hoped to make Tao a little mad but
he looked quite pleased. The only one who cared was
Mom and she picked up all the pieces and put them away
in the closet.

My second brother, Brondo I didn’t touch noses with
until a little bit later but I could watch him from
our windows running around outside. Big noisy
creature, I worried how I would handle such a thing.

One day Mom let him in the house. I streaked upstairs
to our bedroom, ready to dive under the bed if
necessary. I could hear Mom saying “good dog, stay.”
I peeked down from the top of the stairs. Mom was
feeding him some goodies and Tao was there begging for
some too. I decided I better check things out.

Brondo was sitting by the couch so I jumped up on the
back of it to be safe. I thought I better test him
out a bit so I bopped him on the head. He ducked! I
had not even bopped him very hard. He has great
respect for us cats and so it should be. Now I often
lick him on his ears and pretend that I might just
bite him.- of course I wouldn’t dare but just so he
understands my power.

Once I met my brothers I learned that they were also
allowed to sleep in our bedroom. At first I did not
let Tao on the bed but he is a very stubborn cat. No
matter how much I chased him off he just kept plunking
himself back on, lying there with one paw out as he
always does and giving me that look. Okay, so I
finally agreed but Brondo is not permitted on the bed.
I say this and so does Mom. He sleeps beside us and
he has a great big bone he is allowed to have in the
house – he chews away and what a racket he makes.
Dogs are so strange.

We used to have plant family living downstairs but I
jumped on the big one and tipped it over. Their dirt
was fun to dig in. I loved chewing on the leaves and
so did Tao, although I got all the blame. Now they
have their very own room and we are not allowed in
there.

All of us have funny nicknames. Tao is Boss Cat of
course, but also Punky and Pumpkin Pie. Brondo is
Bronny Donny and Pupper. I am known as Miss Stinky
Poo, Monkey Girl and Kiva the Diva.

Life is very good. I am the baby of the family and I
try to get away with as much as possible.

love,
Kiva


from Cathy (she has Chaos, the cute dummy Serval)

"She outsmarted me by putting full jugs
of wateron top of the box. Meeeeearrrghhh!!!!"

Mom's are supposed to be smarter and have eyes in the
back of their heads!!!

Get well!!
Cathy

Dakota, what is this thing???

Dakota
what is this thing??? !!!

Sounds like a large fish tank to me.
Catmanwho

Hi Cathy,

Catmanwho is correct. Mom says skit"o"vision
is a tank of fish. Sorry it tookme a while to
get back to you. Mom has been extremely
frustrated with her computer problems.
She has to do important things through e-mail
and it's broke. She also lost messages, pictures and
important information.

Skit"o"vision had a miracle. There was a resurrection
from Davy Jone's Locker .Mom had apair of fish to start
the tank and get it going. The male started chasing the
female and she went missing. She wasn't to be found
anywhere. The fish store said that the male probably
killed and ate her. About a week later the mean male
expired so mom thought"no more fish in tank". She quit
adding fish food and did some major water changes
without even bothering to let the very cold water sit and
allow the chlorine fade out. After many changes and
days, on Sunday she bought all new fish.

While the fish were floating in bags waiting to come out
in there new home, mom thought dad let out the tiny catfish.
When she looked closer, "ta-da", the female fish
was alive. How did she survive? That fish had no food for
over a week and drastic changes in water and temperature.
That's the big puzzler. The female looked skinny, but is eating
and getting along with her new tankmates. She doesn't even
bother them and they don't bother her. It is much more fun
to look at the tank now. Even Nimbus is interested.

It will be much easier for me to post after mom's computer
issue gets fixed.

talk to you soon,
Dakota, Pixie-bob

Mom tells of Mr. Snapper

Here's a funny exotic story from our family as told by mom:

The tale of Mr. Snapper

When my husband and I got together, he was a dedicated bachelor
that had never been raised with pets. He had self-promised never to
be dragged down by pets, kids, or marriage. When I came into his life
I had 2 boys, 2 dogs, 2 tanks of fish, a snake, some birds, a bunch of
plants, and an iguana. I'm not counting the chickens and bees here
because they did not go with me to my new home and actually my ex
hated my snake and the snake mysteriously disappeared one day when
he was visiting the kids. The fish ultimately did not survive the move.

Well my now husband, despite his anti-marriage statements, ended
up married to me with kids and menagerie anyway. He used to joke
(somewhat seriously) that if he ever got rid of us, he'd boot a kid
to the left, a kid to the right, dog to the left, dog to the right,
and the iguana and I would go up the middle. This was 17 years ago.

Fast forward 6 or 7 years. I have skipped over many funny stories,
an especially funny one involving the adoption (without my husband's
consent) of my now deceased silver tabby, Sage.

One day my youngest son came home with a turtle that had been
found in a friend's backyard. The family dog had been molesting
this poor herp and my son came to the rescue. Along with the turtle
was my son's plea of, "Can we keep it?" I knew that my husband would
not be pleased. My son and I took the turtle to the pet store for
identification. The pet store said that they thought it might be an
endangered desert tortoise and that these were illegal. We'd have to
take it to the division of wildlife for proper ID.

My husband came home that night and was not pleased to see the new
creature at our home. I promised him that it was probably a pet we
could not legally keep and that I would take the turtle to fish and
game the next day.

The next day rolls around and my son starts begging all the way to
the division of wildlife about keeping the turtle. He tells me all
about a program for families to foster desert tortoises. When we get
to the division of wildlife the herp expert tells us that no, this is
not a desert tortoise. This guy is an ancient box turtle that is
probably close to the end of his life span. She thought he might be
about 70 years old. My son was so happy! While there, she takes me
aside and asks if I'd be willing to sign up for their desert tortoise
foster program and be an emergency home, just in case. She said,
"Two turtles are as easy as one", and "It is unlikely we will ever
need you because we usually have homes waiting." She also told me
that they preferred to adopt to school teachers so that the tortoises
could be used for education.

Ya, right. Spirit sees and uses a softie animal lover every time.
You wouldn't believe the animals that have come right to our doorstep
looking for their owners or a new home. One time a zebra finch sat
right on my front gate and allowed me to pick it up. Of course, now
the finch had a new home.

I asked the herp expert if truly I wouldn't be called on because my
husband would probably be unhappy. She again reassured me. She told
me that she had 2 desert tortoises being held down south, but they
wouldn't be arriving for a few months. She said she'd have homes for
them by the time they were supposed to arrive.

The minute I finished filling out the paperwork, in walks a ranger
holding a big box. Guess what? Yep, it's the ranger from down south
and he has the saddest looking big desert tortoise that you have ever
seen. This poor guy was seized in a drug raid. The irresponsible
people that got raided had painted his shell hideous colours. He was
malnourished and in out-of-season tortoise heat (he wanted to breed a
female). He was really a mess. The herp expert takes me aside and
begs me to give him a home. She said that no teacher would want him
because he looked so bad. She got my son involved in working on me.
Finally I give in (my heart really did go out to this poor fellow and
I was willing to risk my husband's ire.)

She and the ranger talked about how big this guy is. The ranger
says, "Wait, you've not seen anything yet!" He goes down and brings
up another big box. He pulls out an even more enormous tortoise.
He's a male, too, and the two males start to joust. The herp expert
said that this was the oldest and biggest tortoise they had ever
seen. She estimated that he was between 125 and 130 years old. His
story was that he had wandered on to a golf course and couldn't be
sent back to the wild.

She goes to talk to the officer about our pending adoption. When she
returns, she tells my son and I that actually the poor painted on
tortoise had to be kept as evidence for an upcoming trial. She
wanted us to take the huge tortoise. She then micro-chipped him,
gave us a packet on tortoise care, a permit (we didn't even have to
pay for), and off we went with 2 turtles instead of the one my
husband expected to stay at the division of wildlife. The tortoise
was so big his box barely fit on to the floorboard of my little Honda
Prelude. My son was overjoyed.

The poor guy was so stressed he did a big stinky poop that smelled
horrible in the box (usually tortoise poop does not smell). When we
got to my husband's workplace, he asked if we had gotten rid of the
turtle at division of wildlife. I told him that he needed to come
out to the car because I had something to show him. When he got to
the car, his mouth fell open and he said, "Yuck, what is that
horrible smell?". At first he wasn't very pleased. My son and I
worked on him and promised that this foul smell was not typical. He
did give in and start to come around though when I told him, "Hey, 2
turtles are as easy to care for as one."

Mr. Snapper endeared himself in my husband's heart when we brought
him home. At this time we had a ferocious silver tabby named Sage.
He hated other cats and could and did kick any dog's butt. One of
his nicknames was Frankenkitty because every year he would get
abscesses on his head from fights. He would have to get drain tubes
sewn into the wounds to allow the infection to exit. You couldn't
keep him in the house. He tore every screen off the windows.

When we first brought Mr. Snapper into the house, Sage decided to
show him who was boss. Mr. Snapper was curious about Sage and
started going toward him. Sage whapped him a bunch of times. Mr.
Snapper kept on coming. He chased Sage around and around the living
room while our family laughed. He moved surprisingly fast for a
tortoise. Sage found out that he couldn't boss Mr. Snapper around
like he was used to doing with the dogs. Mr. Snapper was a star and
he's been happy ever since.

The ancient box turtle we named Old Man crossed the Rainbow Bridge
that winter. Sage crossed the Rainbow Bridge a little over 2 years
ago. Our other original pets crossed the Rainbow Bridge at ripe old
ages. We have new feline, canine, bird and fish companions. Mr.
Snapper survives to this day. My kids are grown up and out of the
home. I have grandchildren and more pets than ever :) My husband
has come around and is planning on keeping me company at our
annual Phoenix Exotics meeting. He has actually become an animal
lover and bought me a new aquarium and all the accouterments for
my birthday this past December. This will be my first aquarium since
I lost all my fish 17 years ago. He was also behind my new feline
companions because my heart broke when Sage passed. He said that
I was simply the kind of person that would not be happy without a cat.
I now have 4 fabulous felines including the irrepressible and
mischievous Pixie-Bob, Dakota.

Hope you like my story :)

Raven and Dakota, too

E-mail :)

Hi Dakota Sioux,
Yep. Momma Kitty does have her own mind. She is
laying right here on the desk above the keyboard
looking at me with one paw on my hand. The other
night she decided it was time for me to quit typing
so she got down on the keyboard and layed out full
length across my hands and the keyboard. It was real
hard to type that way because she weighs 11 pounds.
As for teaching cubs I sort of do it like a momma lion
or tiger would. When they get too rough or shouldn't
do something they are doing I just lay my arm and
paw across their shoulders and hold them down on the
floor for a while so they can't go anywhere just like a
momma would do with them. They don't like that at all
but if I hold them down so they can't go anywhere or
move very well for a couple minutes they get the idea.
They have a fit for a while but they know not to do it
any more and if they be still then I let them up and they
can go play again. They usually yeowl and growl at first
but get the idea pretty soon that it don't do any good
and they are being stopped from doing what they were
doing so they just lay still and when they do that I let
them up. Every time they do it again I put my paw on
them and hold them down just like a momma would
do again. I don't hurt them at all just make them stop
by holding them in one place for a while so they can't
go anywhere or play anymore until I let them go. The
Hook lives at my friends house. She belongs to both of
us and he has a lot of money and his house was designed
and built for her too. She has her own room inside and a
1/2 acre outside play yard that attaches to her room on
the outside of the house and she also has a big swimming
pool inside the house just off of her room and the main
living room of the house with big glass windows and glass
doors looking into the pool from the living room. Sometimes
we go swimming with her. She really loves the swimming pool.

My grandcub and I sometimes have long talks at breakfast
time before he goes to school about what scares furry friends
and makes Momma Kitty nervous and how he should act so
she will trust him more. He is only 7 so sometimes he forgets
and moves too quickly which scares Momma but he is learning
to be gentle with her. Even though Momma has been living with
me for about 10 years she spent the first 4 years of her life as a
feral so she can still get pretty nervous sometimes. It took me
well over a year to gain her trust enough for her to allow me to
handle her. Your Mom is right. People with furry friends are much
happier.

Lion Tim only lives about 9 miles from me and works at the
same zoo (where Hobbs and the rest live) where I worked for 8 1/2
years. I was the big cat curator there. Now I am helping out at a big
cat sanctuary in Fallon, Nevada. I don't know how long a drive your
Mom would have to make but I can understand that your Dad would
want to go along especially if it is a real long drive.


We are all fine but I am getting over a nasty cold I think I caught
from the Grandcub because his whole school seems to have it and
he does too. I think he got it at his school and then I got it but I am
doing much better now.

Catmanwho


Hi Catmanwho,

Sorry it took me awhile to write back. I hope that your cold is
getting better. You might have seen on the Phoenix list that
mom has been having computer problems. It makes it hard
for her to help me with my e-mails. I like to get up on the
keyboard like Mama Kitty. I do it so I can turn on the computer.
It is a mac and it makes a funny noise and lights up when I put
my paw on the button. Last night I turned it on 6 times while
mom and dad tried to sleep. Dad told mom that he is going to
turn off the power strip tonight so that I can't have this kind of fun.

It makes sense that you hold down cubs when they misbehave.
That's a great idea to be like the big mama cat. I can see that cubs
would get very bored and learn quick how to behave in a good way.
I get bored if mom wants to hold me when I don't want her to. I'm
real nice and she doesn't hold me long. I like to climb on her and
make sweetrolls. I'm not a big lap kitty because I have lots of
energy and like to run around and play. I like to get on the bed
to take naps and I follow mom around the house. Sometimes I like
to flop on my back right in front of her when she is walking around.
I like her to pet my belly and I grab her hand and lick and sometimes
kick and bite for play.


Wow, Hook sounds like she has a great place to live. It sounds
really pretty and fun. I like water, too. I've never been swimming,
though. I like to turn on the faucet and wrestle with the humidifier
and my waterer. I like to wait for the dogs to drink and get the
water holder bubbling really good. I bet its lots of fun for you
and your friend to go swimming with Hook. She probably loves it,
too. She probably eats lots and lots of meat. I can guess because
I eat alot and only weigh 9 pounds.

I get my meat then I run to everyone else's plate to see if I can help
them out :) Nimbus is a bigeater and mom has to make sure he does
not eat the food of Love Scoobs (Velvet). She gets special canned
food because she doesn't like raw rabbit. She tries to bury it! Silly girl.
There is no dirt on the floor to really throw on top of it. Still, she acts
like she is in the cat box and paws the floor.

Mom's computer is working now and she is feeling better and will help me
write. She continued this e-mail from her draft folder. Mom says that
when she visits Tim the lion man maybe she can visit with you if you have
time. Maybe mom can come and visit you at work.

I better go for now. I look forward to chatting soon.

hugs from,
Dakota, Pixie-Bob

Live Skit'o'vision: Diary for Friday, January the 13, 2006

Mom got me this cool present for her birthday in December.
I call it "skit'o'vision". It is a big thingy of water with plants,
bubbles, noise and 2 scoobing creatures. Well....it had two
swimming, scoobing creatures but they dissapeared. Dad told
Mom that they got sent to Davey Jone's Locker after they did
something called "expire".

Mom was sad. I guess she's had some problems with getting
skit'o'vision working. I still think it's cool with all the bubbles
and stuff. I keep going over there to see if I can see if the little
swimming snacks are just hiding. Mom told me that she was
working on these technical difficulties and when all seemed
in order there would be some new swimmers.

Isn't it just too cool that Mom got a present for me on her birthday?
I know that I'll have much more to say about this topic in the
future.

hugs,
Dakota, Pixie-bob

I've got e-mail and I sent one back, too :)

Dakota,

    I have to agree. I'll just bet you could do a real good job of
decorating a tree yourselves.

     No I am not sleeping with any cubs rigt now. Don't know,
maybe in april. Yes you can rough house with cubs a little but
you do have to be very careful to teach them not to hurt humans.
Of course, when they are little they don't pay very good attention. 
After all, they get real big later on and they have to know how to
play with humans and not hurt them. They have to know that you
trust them and that they can trust you and that you love them
very very much.

    The Hook is a real big girl now. she is almost 6 years old and
weighs around 170 pounds. Momma Kitty (the Landlord) weighs
only about 11 pounds. Actually she is laying right here on the
computer desk supervising everything I do, as usual. The other
day she didn't want me to be too long on the computer so she got
down and layed full out acorss my hands and the keyboard. Boy
was it hard to type like that. She kept giving me this scoldy stare
like I should quit typeing and just provide a warm lap for her to
lay in.

    I hope your mom finds a driving partner. That way she can have
her own car to get around with instead of having to rent a car or
depend on one of the other humans there to take her around.

    I looked at the link you sent an boy Iris and Fern sure had a
good time with that tree. It must be one tough tree if it has stood
up to that for 12 years. Actually, I am here now by myself with the
furry friends so I just don't even put up a tree anymore. Anyway
my cub invites me over to her house for holidays so they get to do
the decorating now. They don't have any furry friends because their
cub is kind of rough but when he is here at Grandpa's house he
minds real good - or else. Only one time he came to Grandpa's and
started to tear up the house but it didn't work because his backside
got tore up instead so he is very careful now when he comes to visit.
Even though he has learned to be very gentel with Momma Kitty she
still don't trust him and scratched him on the nose the other day. 
I laughed.

    When I send this out I will go check out your blog to see what is
new over there.

Catmanwho


Hi Catmanwho,

That MamaKitty sure sounds like she has a mind of her own :)
She does seem a lot like Velvet. I'd love to hear all about the
cubs when you have some new ones. It makes great sense that
you would have to teach the cubs how to play right. This must
take some good understanding of how much you can play and
when you have to say "no". Mom says "no" to us all the time.
Especially when we get up on the stove and into fun stuff she
thinks we shouldn't. I learned how to turn on the computer all
by myself. We have one at home that does not have internet.
It makes a song when it come on. Kind of like it is saying, "Ta
da!" I can also turn on the CD burner. Velvet, Nimbus and I
like to get on the keys. It's fun. Does Hook like to play?
Does she come in the house? My guess is "no" because of
MamaKitty (the Landlord).

It's nice that you can go to your cub's at the holidays. I think
that it's also good that you set limits for your grandcub, too. He
needs to learn to treat MamaKitty kindly and other furrys as well.
He will be a much better adult if he learns kindness for all living
creatures and that he can't run wild at Grandpa's tearing up the
place. Maybe he'll settle down when he gets older and can have
a furry friend live at his house. My mom thinks that humans with
furry friends are happier. Mom and Dad are adjusting to the
grandcubs. They came when the oldest cub got married in
September. Mom and Dad aren't used to being Grandpa and
Nana, yet. There are lots of furry friends at the grandcubs' house.
They still get a little silly with us, though.

Mom's friend can't go to Phoenix after all :( The oldest cub is
going to come take care of us and Dad is going to go with her
instead. He said, "No way!" to mom driving by herself. Mom did
want to have a car. It looks like they will be coming through
Reno on the way back. They will be stopping over at Lion Tim's
and seeing Hobbs and the other awesome residents. I hope
that they take some good pictures. Mom will have pictures of
me with her so that my Phoenix friends can take a look.

I hope you, Hook and MamaKitty are all well and have a nice
weekend:)
Dakota, Pixie-bob

correspondence 1/10/06

Dakota,

  Yes, we had a fairly decent holiday season
this year. I don't think I will be making it to the
Phoenix meeting this year even though it is just
down the road about 480 miles. But maybe one of
these years. LOL. Tell your mom she would have
been busy with you guys if she had put all those
special christmas balls on the tree. I know how that
one goes. The Landlord (Momma Kitty) sure does
like to get after them too. I call Momma Kitty The
Landlord because she owns the house and she just
lets me live here as long as I feed her good and
give her lots of lovin's and treats and fun toys.

Catmanwho

Nice to have you back up on the links.

Hi Catmanwho,

Even though the Phoenix meeting is in your
state, I bet it is hard to find someone to take
care of Hook and the Landlord. Mom's lucky
because she has Dad to stay at home and take
care of us. Maybe Mom will get to meet you
some other time. Mom's best friend recently
joined Phoenix's e-list. Her name is Julie and
she just got a Bengal named Scout. Mom thinks
he's cute and loves his spots. Her friend might
join her for the Phoenix meeting. They will get to
drive together. If Mom doesn't get a driving
companion, Dad's going to have her fly. He
doesn't want her driving all that way by herself.

Maybe I can talk Mom into the Christmas tree and
balls next year. She found this funny Christmas
tree decorated by cats. You can check it out at:

http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp

Mom thought it was cute, but I think that it
is rude that she didn't let me and Nimbus
decorate our own tree. I know that we could
have done every bit as good a job as those
two cats, Iris and Fern. In fact, I think that
we could have done an even better job.

Are you sleeping with any cubs? Mom sure
wishes she could work at a big cat sanctuary
and help take care of the cats. She'd especially
love to take care of the cubs. I bet it's hard not
to rough house with the cubs when they are small.
I know that you have to be gentle so that they
grow up not to hurt people by playing too rough.

Mom's cub came and tore up the house last night.
I have the full story posted today on my blog:)
I'm not going to post all of my entrys to the Phoenix
list because I'd like there to be surprises if someone
comes to my blog.

talk to you later,
Dakota, Pixie-bob

New arrangement of furniture, Meearrgh! Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Chaos, pure chaos, is reigning in our house at
the moment! Last night Mom had her youngest
cub over to help with making a huge mess. My
whole area is destroyed. I have lost my best perch
to look and plot to get those tasty bird-snacks! And
it is all Nimbus's fault. He is so big and clumsy that
he got us both in big trouble.

It all started on top of the buffet. The solid oak
number that we sneak on to watch the tasty bird-
snacks. Even though Mom tries to cover it so that
we don't have room to get up there, guess what?
I can get up on anything! I only weigh 9 pounds and
I can jump higher than a tall man's head. Hah!
Ya, I might be small for a male Pixie-bob but I make
up for it with a mighty attitude!

Nimbus is big, not fat, just big with a fat, fluffy tail.
He is also a clumsy doofus. I was up there minding
the bird-snack business when he decided to join
the party. We got in a tangle and almost fell into
the X-pen with Tucker. Ooops! Mom had a fit. She
told dad, "That's it, we'd best rearrange the furniture
before one of these fools gets eaten!"

So last night the cub, Trevor, came over and
started to tear the joint apart. My beloved bird-snack
observatory got moved to where I can no longer
drool over those potentially yummy snacks. It is so
unfair. Plus, there is a huge mess everywhere
because now Mom and Dad have to figure out how
and where to put stuff. Yucko!

They also have to rehearse with their dumb band
tonight and won't be cleaning it up as soon as I
want. Maybe I'll have to chew on some cables.
Meeeeeaaarrrrgh!

correspondence from the weekend of 1/7/06

Dakota,
 
    I enjoyed your diary for Jan. 6, 2006 and boy,
it looks like you had a wild couple months there.
Anyway maybe now things will be quiet for a while.
Glad to see you back and will be looking forward to
more diary entries when you can post them.
 
Catmanwho


Hi Catmanwho,

It really was hopping over the last couple of months.
I'm looking forward to more peace and quiet around
here! I hope that you had a very fine holiday season
with your girlcub and fur family :) My mom is still
planning on going to the Phoenix meeting and if
you go she can show you some pictures of me.

cheers,
Dakota, Pixie-bob

Friday, January 6th 2006

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope everyone's
holidays were fun and full of joy. I've been
frustrated that Mom hasn't had time since
Halloween to help me with my diary. She has told
me that she's been too busy with work and
perparing for Thanksgiving, Dad's birthday,
her birthday, Yule, Christmas and New Years.

We did have a fun Thanksgiving and I got to
eat lots of turkey. The other holidays weren't as
fun because we had strangers in the house. Well,
some aren't exactly strangers, but they don't live
here. The grandcubs were here a bunch and they
are loud and rowdy. I hid when people come over.
I don't like to come out when there is company.

I did hear about something called a Christmas
Tree. Mom said we weren't going to have one
this year because Nimbus and I would tear it up.
She said that one of Sage's nicknames was the
Bryan Avenue ball buster because of his Christmas
ornament antics. She was not going to have this
going on with me and Nimbus. I think that this is
pretty bogus and that we should have gotten to
play with these mysterious ornaments.

Velvet got in some trouble on Christmas morning.
The grandcubs were over and Velvet was presiding,
as usual. Even though Mom told the grandcubs not
to pet Velvet, guess what? The littlest grandcub
stuck his face right in Velvet's face and got bit
over the eye for his impertinence. He screamed and
screamed, even though there was only a tiny scratch.
What a baby. I'd be bawling all the time if I hollered
every time Velvet bit or scratched me. I hid from all
that cry-baby wailing. Maybe he learned something,
like he should listen to his Nana when she tells him
not to pet one of us.


The next insult was that Dad and Mom had company
from out of town. They even stayed for some days
and nights. Guiseppe and Lightening got in super big
trouble right before the company arrived. They figured
out how to excape from their area, ate all of our food,
got into our potty, ate you-know-what (Mom calls it
"kitty roca"), then got sick all over the house from
both ends. They were sick aaalllllll day! Even I had to
say, "Eeeeeeewwwwww"!

Mom had to put one of the living room chairs
outside because it got horked all over! It was so stinky
she couldn't even get the nastiness off of it. Mom
and Dad had to clean and clean and clean some more.
Mom was way frustrated by the time that nasty storm
passed. I heard her muttering, "Why does this stuff
have to happen right before company arrives?"

Our New Year's Day was much nicer. Company went
to their own homes and Mom and Dad hid from
people. They did see the new lion movie about Aslan,
the lion. They liked it a lot. It is called "The Lion, the
WItch and the Wardrobe." They give it 5 stars. They
got invited to parties and some other activities on
New Year's Eve but opted to stay home with us. Yay!