Second Blogoversary on Mancat Monday

It's our second blogoversary! We started blogging back in 2006 after being inspired by our friends Kismet and Skeezix. Our first post was rather lame, but our secretary was thrilled just to be able to upload photos. Our dear friends Rosie and Cheeto were our first visitors. We have made the most wonderful friends across the US and around the world. This is such a great supportive community. I have a beautiful girlfriend cat DaisyMae Maus in San Diego and Bathsheba even found a nice mancat Bubbles to like and admire her. (Why, I'll never understand.)



As most of our friends know, I like to hang out on the deck. Here I am with a pot of cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), and I am just waiting for a tasty ruby-throated hummingbird to alight.

Why don't they ever seem to visit when I'm standing here? Mom recently heard some cool hummingbird facts from a dear friend that she wanted to relate, but I told her no because this is MY blog and is supposed to be all about ME.









Well, if no birdies are going to come by when I am out in the open, I must go undercover and await them. You may think that I'm asleep, but this mancat is always on alert.






P.S. From Bathsheba: Jake, this is a joint blog, and it's NOT all about you. I want to let all our dear friends know that I really appreciated all the birthday wishes and hope to visit all of your blogs soon to thank you personally. I was overwhelmed by your sentiments.






P.P.S. We accepted Karl's challenge in memory of Anastasia and we encourage you to do the same.

Five Things Meme

Adan tagged Jake for the five things meme, and Luxor tagged both of us.

Five Things that Changed Our Lives:

Jake: Mom fostering my biological teen-aged unwed cat mother. A kind woman from my mom’s office found my cat mom on the streets on a very cold winter day. She took her in temporarily, but was going on vacation to Arizona. Mom agreed to foster my biological mother and even named her Katerina Kitty. When Mom’s friend returned from vacation, they found a permanent home for Katerina—with a guy who worked for their IT department. Mom had noticed that Katerina had a voracious appetite, but she had never been around a pregnant cat before. When the new guy took her to the vet for a checkup, it was confirmed. Mom agreed to take one of the kittens so that’s how I got my home.

J&B: Having Dad move in with us in August of 1994. He worked from home so we were very fortunate to have someone home with us during the day. Plus, he believed in FREEDOM. Mom had only let us outside under CLOSE supervision until that point, but Dad let us in and out as we pleased. It was great!

J&B: Having Dad move away last month. That makes us sad and we miss him a lot. It hasn’t quite sunk in, though, that this is permanent and not just one of his long vacation trips.

J&B: Reading the interplay between Kismet and Skeezix on Kismet’s blog last summer. Mom introduced us to reading some cat blogs (actually her former political blogger brother told her about cat blogging), but we were hooked after following the witty comments on Kismet’s blog. We’ve met so many great friends on the web.

J&B: Skeezix’s valentine contest. DaisyMae Maus, my beautiful girlfriend cat found me, Jake. And that wonderful Bubbles produced the most awesome Valentine video for me with the Monkees’ song “I’m a Believer.” We both were very lucky in love. ~Bathsheba

Proverb Meme

I'm honored that the immensely popular cat fashion idol Skeezix tagged me for the proverb meme! The rules are: Make up a proverb!

A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of mankind. They are often metaphorical. Skeezix's proverb is "A kyoot owtfit a day keeps the Fashun Police away."

Here's mine:

It's no use crying over spilt milk when you can lap it up off the floor.

Now I have to tag some other cats. I will tag a few of those great man cats out there:

Kismet

Cheeto

Jack

Bubbles

~Bathsheba

Balance

My lovely girlfriendcat DaisyMae tagged me for a meme about balance in our lives. She said that she was tagging both Bathsheba and me, but we all know she really meant just me.

Here’s what I’m supposed to do:
To participate, write a post about balance in life and link back to this post. Answer any or all of the following questions or simply share your thoughts about life balance.

How do you achieve balance in your life? I could say that I’m very graceful and automatically balanced because I can walk along the deck rail or garden timbers without falling off, but I don’t guess that’s what the question is asking. I try to balance my life between eating, sleeping, loving, and adventuring. I’m coddled by my mother, but I like to balance that mushy stuff with hanging out with Dad and going on my adventures in the great outdoors—in my own backyard or the little woods beyond.

What is your biggest challenge in balancing your life? I think the biggest challenge is getting people to do what I want and attend to my needs. Sometimes it’s just a matter of communication and knowing the power of a cute face and expressive eyes.

What are your priorities? Number one is EATING, of course. Sleeping is very important too. And it’s very important to me to have my freedom in the yard. That might not work for all cats, but I would go stir crazy if I had to stay cooped up in my house with my sister.

How have your priorities changed over time and why? When I was much younger, I think that playing was more of a priority, but today sleeping is much more important. Now don’t get the idea that I’m dull or something, because I’m not, but a man’s gotta take some important naps between prowling and patrolling.

What advice can you share to help all of us balance our own lives? Don’t get stressed out about stupid people things like going to a JOB and making money. People make life too complicated. Just relax, look cute, and allow people to cuddle you. Everything will work out in your favor. People will beg to wait on you.

Now it’s my turn to tag five others. so I’m tagging: Rosie and Cheeto (together or singularly), Bubbles, Eclair (when her lady recovers from her surgery - Best Wishes!), and Chase.

~Jake

Letter to Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad,

We are tired of pretending to hate each other and have decided to run away to the tropics together. Now that we’re older, we think that year-round warm air and sunshine is the best thing. It’s been a good run in Virginia, but we just can’t keep up the pretext of hate any more. We’re actually secret lovers. You tried to raise us as brother and sister, but we’re not really related, after all! Please tell DaisyMae and Bubbles that we didn’t mean to hurt them, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

By the time you wake up, we will be all packed and gone. We took one of your credit cards so you don’t have to worry that we won’t have any money. You’ve been great parents, but it’s time for us to leave the nest and be true to ourselves. Maybe once you get over the shock of what we have done, you can accept us and even come visit.

Goodbye!

Love,
Jake and Bathsheba

Five Reasons We Blog

Our friends DaisyMae, Bubbles, and Chairman Mao all tagged us for the "five reasons we blog" meme. (Thank you, all!) We were going to do "Five for Friday," but Mom decided to watch one of her new Jane Austen DVDs instead of helping us blog last night! Imagine that! She loves Jane Austen's novels and became obsessed with her favorite Pride and Prejudice when Dad gave her as a Christmas present the 10th anniversary edition of the BBC miniseries staring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Seeing how pleased she was with that gift, (and the fact that she likes to play some of her favorite scenes before going to sleep at night at least a few times a week), he decided that he was on a roll. For her birthday he bought her Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson. She watched Emma for the first time last night though she had seen it in a movie theater about ten years ago.

Anyway, enough about Mom and back to the subject at hand. Why we blog was once the subject of one of our Thursday Thirteen posts, but we actually had more than 13 reasons. Here we'll try to narrow it down to five:

1. To make new friends and learn about their lives.


2. To keep Mom from watching all those murder shows on TV: Law & Order, CSI, etc.


3. To give Mom a reason to take hundreds of photos of us.


4. Because it's fun.


5. Because it's addictive, and we can't stop!

We think most everyone has been tagged on this by now, but if they haven't been yet, we tag the Famous Five in Wellington, New Zealand: Orb & Jupiter & Mitten the Smitten Kitten & Poppygirl-AKA Princess Poppygirl & Teeny Tiny Tottie Mctabby - AKA -tottie. They've been going through a rough time lately, but we've always enjoyed reading about their adventures in such a faraway land.

Mom told me that I have to report on Jake. He did something to his right paw and has been limping around on it since this morning. Mom couldn't find anything obviously wrong, and he didn't cry when she touched it. Hmmph! I think he may be faking just to get Mom and Dad's sympathy. It didn't deter him from successfully begging for pieces of roast chicken at dinner tonight. (Yes, I did get a little, too.) Mom will take him to the vet if he doesn't improve by Monday.

~Bathsheba

Bonnie's Meme - Jake's Turn

Now it's my turn! My Valentine DaisyMae Maus tagged me. (Thanks, DaisyMae.)

A. Name four places you have lived:
1. A townhouse in Centreville, VA where I was born.
2. My house with Mom and Dad.
3. The back deck of my house
4. That’s it! My life has been very stable.

B. Four things I love to watch
1. Birds
2. Squirrels
3. Butterflies in the summer
4. Mom when she's making food.

C. Four places I have been outside my home
1. In the yard and outside our fence!
2. The Vet
3. Grandma and Grandpa’s old house (where Mom grew up)
4. The nursing home where grandma is now.

D. Four websites I visit daily
1. DaisyMae Maus – she’s my lovely Valentine
2. Skeezix
3. Daisy the Curly Cat
4. As many cat blogs as I can

E. Four of my favorite foods.
1. Most flavors of Fancy Feast except some of the sliced varieties (though I will eat them all)
2. Temptations, of course! And I’ve started horning in on Mom’s bedtime Temptation ritual with Bathsheba. I can hear that nightstand drawer and the crinkle of the package from all over the house.
3. Bathsheba’s food or any other crunchy cat food
4. Chicken
Do I have to stop at four? I like SO MANY things.

F. Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Lying on Dad’s legs as he stretches out on the sofa.
2. Lying on my throne in the cat/computer room.
3. In the refrigerator – as long as the lunchmeat and cheese drawer were open.
4. In front of my dish filled with food.

G. Four toys I have owned and played with:
1. Fishing pole toy
2. Crinkle ball
3. Catnip mouse (I need a new one, Mom!)
4. Feathers on a wand.

H. Four nicknames people call me
1. Jakie Boy
2. Little Man (I want to be BIG Man, but that would be Dad.)
3. Jakula
4. “The Baby” (I HATE this. It’s just because I’m the youngest in the house.)

I. Regarding catnip:
***Love it***
It’s nice.
Could take it or leave it.
Don't like it or can't have it.

J. Regarding cat grass:
Love it
It’s nice.
Could take it or leave it
***Don't like it*** or can't have it. (I like the REAL stuff that grows outside, especially those tasty clumps at the edges of the lawn. The crop isn’t very good this time of year, though.)

K. First things I buy after winning the lottery:
1. This is too hard. I would have to let Mom and Dad advise me since I’ve never had any money.

L. Four things I do besides eat sleep and litter box:
1. Cruise the Jake Highway outside.
2. Keep my deck safe from pesky raccoons.
3. Intimidate Bathsheba with just a look or a little pounce on her back.
4. Hang out on the deck with Dad.

M. Four things I want to do this summer:
1. Catch a squirrel.
2. Take a nap in the cool shade of a bush.
3. Hang out on the deck.
4. Visit a certain someone in San Diego.

N. My four most prized possessions that have limited value to anyone else:
1. My dirty cat bed out on the deck. (I don’t like it as much when Mom washes the cover. I also think my scent keeps Bathsheba out of it.)
2. My crinkle ball.
3. My torn up purr pads.
4. My luxuriously soft fur coat.

O. What I am going to do before tomorrow is over:
1. Eat at least two square meals, plus whatever else I can scrounge up or beg.
2. Sleep on top of Dad’s long legs.
3. Bother ‘Sheba.
4. Let Mom kiss and cuddle me and give her some purrs.

P.Which of the following is your favorite place to hide and play:
***paper bags*** (I LOVE empty cat food bags.)
plastic bags
boxes (These are fun too, but I have to go with the paper.)
Other (explain)

Q. Four other pets that Momma has had with me
1. Bathsheba (ugh!)
2. Wonderful Precious, a Maine coon
3. Zoe, Mom’s sister’s cat, who lived with us for a few weeks. She pretty much stayed in one room and didn’t bother us.
4. That’s it!

R. Four furiends I tag to respond:

Bubbles
Cocoa
George of The Crew
Catzee

Bathsheba was right. That was exhausting!

~Jake

Bonnie's Meme - Bathsheba

Rocky tagged me to participate in Bonnie's meme. Here are my answers:

A) Four places I have lived:

1. Under a porch at a farm house in Fairfax that was totally encroached on by suburbia.
2. Here in my house in Manassas, VA.
3. On the back deck of my house in Manassas.
4. In a place or places when I ran away two different times. It's a secret so I won't tell here either. I only ran away for a couple of weeks in the summertime.

B) Four things I love to watch:

1. Birds
2. Squirrels
3. Jake, but not because I LOVE to, but because I HAVE TO so he doesn't pounce on me.

4. Mom, when she dishes out my meals.

C) Four places I have been outside my home:

1. The woods behind our house.

2. The Vet where I have THREE STARS on my file because I am so ferocious.
3. The house where my grandma and grandpa used to live.

4. Around my neighborhood.

D) Four websites I visit daily:

1. Yahoo for my email.

2. Skeezix (of course!)

3. Bubbles and Mrs. B (Bubbles is my Valentine.)

4. As many of the jillions of great cat blogging sites as time and my secretary will let me.

E) Four of my favorite foods:
1. Science Diet Senior (I don't like Stinky Goodness.)

2. Temptations (any flavor).
3. Milk (Mom gives me a tiny taste every time she pours a glass for herself.)
4. Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese (but NOT Swiss).

F) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. On Mom's bed.
2. On my kitchen chair with the comfy pad.

3. In the bathroom sink getting a nice drink of water from the faucet.

4. Just hanging out with Mom.

G) Four toys I have owned and played with:
1.Dangly strings.

2. Handmade crocheted catnip mouse (hey, Mom, maybe it's time to make more; it's been ages since that one!)

3. Bottletop caps - great hockey pucks.

4. Aluminum foil balls (but that was also a long time ago).

H) Four nicknames my staff have tried to assign me:

1. Sheba

2. Sheebie
3. Shebola

4. Badsheba (I don't like this one, but the others are okay.)

H) Regarding Catnip:
***Love it***
It's nice
Could take it or leave it
Don't like it or can't have it

J) Regarding Cat Grass:
Love it
It's nice
Could take it or leave it
Don't like it or can't have it (I'll occasionally nibble REAL grass that grows outside.)

K) First four things I'd buy after winning the lottery:
1. A new home for Jake - far from me!
2. A giant greenhouse so I can pretend I'm out in the garden even in the wintertime.
3. Whatever Mom wants because I love her very much.

4. ??

L) Four things I do besides eat, sleep, and litterbox:
1. Blog
2. Smack and hiss at Jake (Bonnie and I view our brothers the same way.)

3. Drink from the bathroom sink (Here Bonnie and I are also the same!).

4. Hang out with Mom.

M) Four things I want to do this summer:
1. Sleep in the sun out by the bushes.

2. Sleep in the shade out in the bushes.

3. Catch a wild animal. (I was quite the hunter when I was much younger.)
4. Help Mom in the garden.

N) My four most prized possessions that have limited value to anyone else:
1. My bottle caps.

2. My strings.

3. My extra toes.
4. My tortie and white fur coat.

O) What I’m going to do before tomorrow is over:
1.Eat crunchies for breakfast and dinner.
2. Hiss at Jake.
3. Greet Mom when she comes home from work late. (She has a long meeting tomorrow so she'll be late.)
4. Eat Temptations. (Mom has created a bedtime ritual of Temptations. She keeps them in her nightstand drawer.)

P) Which of the following is your favorite place to hide and play?
Paper bags
Plastic bags
**Boxes**
Other (please describe)

Q) Four other "pets" your staff have kept with you:
1. Jake, unfortunately for me

2. Precious, a wonderful Maine Coon kitty

3. Catarina, Jake's Mom, who stayed here a few weeks while we helped find her a home and before we knew she was pregnant.

4. Zoe, Mom's sister's cat, when she was between houses.

R) Four furiends I tag to respond:

I think just about everyone has been tagged, but, if not, we'll include the all-purpose:

Anyone else who wants to play!

Whew! This was long and exhausting! I need a nap.

~Bathsheba

Then I Saw Her Face

Here's the photo that inspired Bubbles' Valentine video.

And here's one where I look a little more demure.

Happy Valentine's Day, Bubbles.

Love,

~Bathsheba

And a Happy Valentine's Day to DaisyMae Maus. I would share my throne with you.

Love,

~Jake

Vote for Bubbles and Bathsheba

Bubbles' great video Valentine to me is a finalist in Skeezix's Valentine's Day contest! It's both touching and funny! You'll laugh, you'll cry! You've just gotta watch it! And vote by midnight PST Monday, February 12! Hurry, time is running out.

~Bathsheba

Even I endorse this Valentine, so vote now! There may be no living with 'Sheba if her boyfriend's Valentine does not win. In that case, I may have to teleport over to San Diego permanently for the warmth and understanding of my lovely DaisyMae Maus. Vote for Bubble's Valentine for peace in my Virginia home.

~Jake

A Dusting of Snow

Brrr. It's been bitter cold lately, and last night we got a little snow. It was barely a dusting, but the schools around here closed anyway. You cats from the north may not understand this, but in the Washington, D.C. area, the joke is that schools close when there's a flake of snow. Like last week, Mom tried to get a photo of me in the snow, but I had already done my business before she came after me with her camera. She had to content herself with taking a picture of my pawprints. Once again, her camera has the wrong date, because she took the pictures TODAY.





It was much more comfortable to just look at the white fluff from the back of the chair in the living room.

Mom is disappointed that there isn't enough snow for cross country skiing in the battlefield park. It was warm for so long this winter, and now when it's finally cold, the air is too dry to produce much snow. Whenever there's too much snow, I don't like to leave my deck, and I do my business by spraying the grill cover. Dad doesn't like that!

I'm still looking for my special Valentine. We're having computer problems at home so Mom is using one elsewhere just for now. That probably means that I won't be able to post a Valentine in the contest by tomorrow evening. Some nice lady cats indicated some interest in me! DaisyMae Maus seemed to flirt with me, but I think she prefers Rocky. She is about the right age, though.

Stay warm, you cute kitties.

Love,

~Jake

P.S. Today was our Grandpa's birthday. He died nearly 10 years ago, but we all still miss him. He really loved kitties, especially his Siamese cat Marcellus followed by Toby, another Siamese. We're thinking of you, Grandpa.

~J&B

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

Beautiful spicy vixen DaisyMae is my Valentine! I am the luckiest cat! Maybe I can escape the cold by teleporting over to San Diego!

~Jake

No, I am the luckiest! Bubbles picked me! And he produced the greatest Valentine video. It was both funny and romantic. I was embarrassed by the hula costume when Mom dressed me in it for Halloween, but Bubbles must have liked it.

~Bathsheba