Christmas 2013

I hope that everyone had a lovely and very Merry Christmas! Here are some photos from our morning!

These guys managed to resist the urge to open prezzies before morning…

Ready to dash into the living room!

New gaming console to share  

Honor gives the kitties some treats.

Brian gets a book that he’s been wanting and Honor and Pixie demonstrate toe washing techniques.

Honor is happy to get a big box for Christmas… silly me, thinking it was just something good to hold the used wrapping paper. Ninja was a bit jealous.

Fortunately, the box is big enough for both of them.

And then, grandma and grandpa sent MORE boxes for the cats… boxes that just happened to have a lot of nice stuff inside for us too!

Brad loves his new sweater and shirt, and you know that I’ll put my pretty new yarn to good use!

Brian LOVES his new slippers and the number keypad too!

Honor loved her new toys too. The soft plush kitties that look like our former kitties Misty and Ramses (she’s named them Mischief and Rambow) and she was very happy  to get presents to give to the cats too!

The cats LOVED their new toys too!

Merry Christmas!

Arr! I’ve got a parrot cat!

Little Pixie is a momma’s girl. She loves to follow me when I tuck the kids in at night, she’s decided she wants to sleep on my pillow even as her sibs continue to nest in the living room, and she is crazy about climbing me when I am standing still – especially in the kitchen. Ninja and Pumpkin will too, but Pixie is the craziest. I know we went through a phase of this with Misty. I can remember having him climb up and into my shirts, down sleeves, get stuck etc.! Fortunately, he outgrew it before he was a 20lb adult cat. I hope my jeans/clothes survive until these kittens find a new game! As distracting (and sometimes painful) as it is to be a jungle gym for rampaging kitchen (wannabe) panthers, there are some benefits. Ever have a headache that wraps up and around your head, from eyeballs to temples, across the skull and down the neck and shoulders? I blame the sinus/head cold I’ve been fighting the last few days. Anyway, Ibuprofen can kill the head pain, but it takes awhile to make it down to the stiff and sore neck. Wrapping a warm, purring kitten across my shoulders is downright medicinal. I should market this! It’s better than one of those strange-smelling rice bags you microwave and that only stays warm for about 30 seconds… it promises relief, but it’s all just a cruel lie. Kittens are self-applying, and provide a bit of acupuncture work as well, no extra charge!

Ignore the dark circles, my red eyes, and pink nose here.. this is my cold suffering look and not my best! At least I have a tropical shirt on to go with my pirate cat. All I need is a margarita. The kids’ school is having an International Day, and while I have no USA-logo-patriotic clothes to wear – a habit/practicality of living overseas so long where we try to be conservative and blend in - at least I can look like a Floridian.
If Pixie isn’t on my shoulder, I will often have a cat in my arms instead. These guys are snugglers! Pumpkin – inventor of the attack bear hug – is a big baby.

And just how am I supposed to get up now?

(unseen in this pic – Ninja on my shoulder!)
And it’s not like they have nothing else to play or sleep on. They have the run of the house, and we even bought them a kitty-climbing-scratching-fort-thing. They’re not sure about it yet, but the kids like it.

It’s a good thing we brought these cats in. They’d have never made it in the wild without all the cuddles and love they require for survival! 

And so the day starts

Honor is still fighting a fever and stuffy nose. I slept on the floor in her room again last night with my phone alarm set to ring every hour so I could check her temperature. I suppose that she is doing better because I only had to wake her once for medicine. The first night, I pretty much had to dose her every three hours, switching between Tylenol and Motrin, just to keep her fever down to a reasonable level. I was also making her drink a lot each hour. She was feeling ok yesterday, but tired. She’d get up and play awhile, then crash on the sofa… repeat all day. Her appetite and mood has been good too.

Last night, I gave her Tylenol at 8:30pm, which is (in our experience) the weaker of the fever reducers, because that was what was up in the rotation. I would have preferred Motrin as it lasts longer, but it was too soon. Still, I checked on her every hour and she was fine until 4:30am, when she had a fever of 101.5. I gave her the Motrin and lots of water… helped her clean her face because she was a crust  monster, and she went back to sleep.

I went back to my, now on auto-pilot, checking on her every hour schedule, which means that when my alarm to get Brian up and ready for school went off, I just stumbled out of my floor-pillow nest, checked Honor for fever – none – then went back to sleep! Good thing Brad had a back-up alarm set, although he is also used to me being on the ball and he didn’t get us up until 20 minutes before bus time! Amazingly enough, Brian got up, dressed, washed, etc. even ate breakfast; I got his backpack, lunch ticket, snacks and water bottles ready (I even started the coffee!), and we were out the door in time to sit around and chit-chat about things before the bus arrived. He joked that he had plenty of energy to move fast because he got to sleep in!

After Brian left, I went in and peeked out the window. The kittens were awake and playing. Rosy kept grabbing Posie’s tail and I thought they would tumble off the ledge! Silly babies! Yesterday I spoke with our bawwab and asked that he catch our gardener before he comes in to water the plants (we do not often see him) and ask that he leave the place where the kittens are alone so they will be safe. If momma cat does not move them, we may take two of the litter. We honestly cannot take all three. It is hard enough to travel with two, but cats need playmates in order to stay kitten-y as they grow. We worry about taking them too soon, but they look to be about 4-5 weeks (able to wean) and feral kittens face a lot of hardship. They also get wild if left un-socialized too long and it is harder to tame them. They look as big as Misty was when we were given him by a farmer who pulled him out of a hayloft and he did just fine. These kittens are walking around, ears up, eyes open, little tails straight up. They are MEOWing very loudly, and goofing off a lot in the nest. I have contacted a local vet who can see them as soon as we get them, and if momma cat does move these, he told me that he has some 6wk old kittens at his clinic that are ready to adopt.

Let’s see, what else? Brad’s gone off to work. I’ve read my email. I read some news. I cleaned up an exploding boiling oozing banana that was trying to take over the kitchen… it still had yellow skin, good camouflage, but had gone bad anyway. Most fruit goes off gradually, some just go evil. I checked on Honor – I kissed her to check her temp, and she woke up, but she just smiled at me and went back to sleep. 

I played some Sect.com. Not sure why I find it so addictive. It’s just one of those turn/time limited, ‘roll of the (virtual) dice’ chance game. As you win fights or buy items, you build your stats and strengths, etc. It’s not even animated. But I’ve been going in and rolling my ‘dice’ on this thing religiously all summer:

After I got my post-apocalyptic brawl fix in, I had breakfast and coffee. I’ve written this post… and it’s now 9:30am. After the too little sleep I got last night – and that was after staying up too late - I really should be tired and should go nap while I can… but I am not tired. I bet I’ll be crashing this afternoon…

My angels - proof

I've been trying to explain to the kids that our cats are not 'gone' but have instead, gone ahead. They were sweet and loving kitties and are 'angels in kitty heaven' now. A dear friend found the following artwork and sent it to us. Look and you will find our angels in this beautiful picture. (Thank you Leila! I love this!)

(Thanks to the artist - I am borrowing this without permission. I hope in this personal use, I can be forgiven.)

I do not have an answer to what comes after life - but I do not worry about defining it. I understand that some people take comfort in trying to define the unknowable, and that's a good thing, but to me, it doesn't matter. Why bother trying to put a label on it if there is no one to tell me if I am right or wrong? I'll find out when I get there. And, I cannot change it once I'm there. What will be, will be. Now, in this current life, I cannot see the afterlife, or touch it, or affect it... therefore I must believe that the only thing in my control, is this life, and I do believe that what I make of it, will translate into what happens in the next... because I do believe we have souls that carry on. I believe we have a responsibility to our souls.. and part of that responsibility is respecting the souls of others, even those who are not human.

I am not Christian, but I find a lot of lovely wisdom in the Bible. I believe my spirit should be inclusive, not exclusive, so I am pleased when I find solace in any religious and/or spiritual work:

From Genesis:

20 And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living souls, and let fowl fly above the earth in the expanse of the heavens. 21 And God created the great sea monsters, and every living soul that moves with which the waters swarm, after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply on the earth. 23 And there was evening, and there was morning a fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth living souls after their kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth, after their kind. And it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing of the ground after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

I have found variations of this verse using 'creature' rather than 'soul', but I also found this Hebrew definition:

Scofield Reference Notes

The sixth day: (1) the fecundity of the earth after the creative work of the fifth day.

[2] living creature

"Creature," Heb. nephesh, trans. soul in Gen 2.7 and usually. In itself nephesh, or soul, implies self-conscious life, as distinguished from plants, which have unconscious life. In the sense of self-conscious life animals also have "soul." See verses Gen 1:26,27 2:7,21-23. See Scofield Note: "Gen 1:26".

Anyone who has ever loved and been loved by an animal, knows that animals are self-aware and have souls, which should give us all a deeper understanding of our responsibility to our fellow creatures. I'm not suggesting we must all turn vegetarian or else go to hell! I believe that nature was created/evolved to be as it is and there truly is a food web that works... why fight our omnivorous place in it? But we should be responsible about our place in this web. There is plenty of room for conservation, and even more room for kindness.

The Holy Quran also speaks of the souls of animals and their afterlife:

There is no creature crawling on the earth or flying creature, flying on its wings, who are not communities just like yourselves - We have not omitted anything from the Book - then they will be gathered to their Lord. (Surat al-An'am, 38)

Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and earth glorifies Allah, as do the birds with their outspread wings? Each one knows its prayer and glorification. Allah knows what they do. (Surat an-Nur, 41)

Rather pretty to think of birds with outspread wings, in prayer.

I also liked this bit about animals in Islam:

The Holy Prophet(s) used to say: "Whoever is kind to the creatures of God, is kind to himself." (Wisdom of Prophet Mohammad(s); Muhammad Amin; The Lion Press, Lahore, Pakistan; 1945).

According to the learned commentators of the Qur'an Majeed….animals all live a life, individual and social, like members of a human commune. In other words, they are like communities in their own right and not in relation to human species or its values. These details have been mentioned to emphasize the point that even those species which are generally considered as insignificant or even dangerous deserve to be treated as communities; that their intrinsic and not perceptible values should be recognized, irrespective of their usefulness or their apparent harmfulness."

The significant point to note is that, physically, man has been put in the same bracket as all other species. The following Hadith leaves no ambiguity in the scene in which the Qur'an Majeed uses the word 'community': Abu Huraira reported the Prophet(s) as telling of an incident that happened to another prophet in the past. This prophet was stung by an ant and, in anger, he ordered the whole of the ants' nest to be burned. At this, God reprimanded this prophet in these words: 'because one ant stung you, you have burned a whole community which glorified Me'. (Bukhari and Muslim).

And while it is good to gain wisdom from those who came before... the wise and the learned and the time proven... wisdom can also be found, surprisingly, in some of the fluff-filled silliness that washes up in our email in-boxes. Take this example:

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveller asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveller gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. 'What do you call this place?' the traveller asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveller said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Caring for our kitty

We are missing our Misty cat...

...but we are coping as best as we can.

Misty's 'brother' misses him too and has been very demanding of extra love, attention, snuggling and playtime. The first couple of days after we lost Misty, Ramzi needed ALL of our attention, ALL of the time. He followed us everywhere and was awake most of the day... he's usually napping most of the time as he's an old kitty. He had to keep an eye on us I suppose. Make extra sure that we didn't leave him too. He's feeling a bit better now though, more reassured, and back into his routine of sleeping most of the day when the kids are out, although he is still being extra cuddly in the evenings when everyone gets home from school and work.

I'm doing a lot of 'hand/paw' holding:
Ignore the mess of boxes, please! We are preparing to move.

We got the cat carrier out to clean it up and get the cat used to it. He was actually very happy with his new fort. Especially when Honor got home from school, fixed it up for him, and played in it with him.
Ramzi trying to get in while Honor is trying to explain that she isn't done fixing it yet.
Mine!
Hey! Whose fort is this anyway?

Move over and let me in!

And yes, kid and cat both fit happily in the carrier together. Goofers. I am glad they have each other.

Angel Misty

On Friday morning, our 'big cat' Misty passed away. He was an old guy, over 13 years old and in declining health, but we had hoped he would pull through and stay with us a few more years. He's been with us through so much, and has always been such a good big brother to our non-fur-kids. We are going to miss him so much.

Bird of Peace? Ha!

I heard this thumping sound against the balcony window and wondered what was up. I walked into the living room in time to see Misty run face first into the window, repeating the 'thump' noise I'd just heard, so it obviously was not an accident. Silly cat.

Usually he is the coordinated one. Misty plays soccer with toys, chases a laser pointer dot, etc. He's the sporty feline in the family... Ramses, well, he tends to be the one who leans over too far and falls off the edge of the couch. The only sport Ramses enjoys is riding in the laundry basket. Misty ... usually.... has all the grace and style. So, why was he repeatedly ramming his nose into the glass? The glass is dusty (yay sandstorms!) and covered in safety film, with a sheer curtain right in front, not exactly invisible!

It was a bird. We do not have anything on the balcony to attract birds... no seeds, no water (I'd like to have feeders, but do not want to attract rats).... the balcony itself is rather useless. Barely a foot and a half deep. Nothing for anybody to do out there. Definitely nothing for a bird to do... except bug the heck out of our cat...little instigator... and the way he was hopping around on the floor. Coming right up to the window. Jumping from floor to railing and back again.... this was definite purposeful harassment.

The bird was inches away (through the glass) and Misty couldn't resist jumping at him... I do not have too much sympathy for his bruised nose though. He knows better.
Sitting up there on the railing, looking all innocent. Oh yea... we know what you are up to.
Now, Misty will be plotting and scheming and checking the windows for the rest of the day. He does not give up easily. Every once in awhile he searches around our freezer, and you can tell he is remembering his rat... he sniffs around, looks up to the top, meows some questions, and that was over a year ago. He has also been known to hunt earthquakes... he's been through a few good-sized ones and after each, he'd spend the rest of the day patrolling every inch of the house... sniffing and searching... trying to hunt down the invisible house-shaking monster. Good thing I watered the plants yesterday - I don't think I want to open the balcony now. A distracted cat on the edge of a 3-story balcony? Not a good idea.

Oh, and here's a question for those with cats. Does your cat have radar? I can always tell Misty is hunting something when I hear this particular clicking noise.... (and no, he usually does NOT signal his hunts with window thumps! He was just being a goofer today).... The noise is an open-mouth, kinda vibrating/rattling, "tch tch tch" sound. He's done this, instinctively, since he was a kitten. Funny thing is, when Ramses was younger and willing to join Misty on 'hunts', he learned how to use this click noise, that we call "radar", too. He doesn't do it anymore though. I have no idea what this noise is called or if it is common. I'm curious if others have seen this behavior?

Good help

The kids got home from school in a good mood yesterday. I pick Honor up from kindergarten, and we arrive home about 30 minutes before Brian - unless he has an after school activity which keeps him later. Honor wanted to eat her snack and wait for Brian downstairs in the courtyard, so we joined some friends on a bench and socialized. Brian came home and we went up to unpack, do homework, etc.

Brian also has to do some extra handwriting practice as this continues to be a weak spot. He HATES writing. I am trying to make him understand that the actual process of forming letters will get easier with practice and repetition - then, any assignments calling for writing work will not be so tedious. Rather than having to struggle to write neatly, he can focus on what he is actually putting into words. We're getting there. Last night he was very good. He sat down and filled a notebook page front and back in a reasonable time with no fussing - fairly neatly too.

After he finished - and I had even warned him, so I am doubly impressed with his good attitude - I had both kids do 20 minutes of cleaning up in the common areas. The living room, play area, bathroom, etc. Meaning, at this age, we probably only accomplished 10 minutes of the work an older child could have pulled off, but I don't push my 5 and 7 yos too hard! They like that I set the timer.

Then, we reset the timer for our bedrooms. I sent each to their room to pick up and put away, and me to my room to fold laundry!, and we had another 20 minutes of that. Honor actually got 25 because she kept leaving her room to do things she didn't need to do. This was an exercise on focus and following instructions, as much as actual cleaning. They both did a nice job. To finish up, we all worked together to put new sheets on each of our beds.

We had a little problem getting this big lump out of Honor's bed:

But eventually he crawled out.

Freedom Fur all

Unless they screw up again.

Gotta love our furkids, but it is frustrating when you cannot REASON with them or ask them questions. For some reason, when we went on R&R over the summer - one cat developed litter box issues and started leaving 'presents' around the house. Not urine, thankfully, but still NOT good! Why?! Different litter? Attitude about us leaving? (We've done it before!) They love the people who came by to watch them? Maybe it was a health issue? They are 11+ years old! It continued after we got back. What's up with that??

We can't ask them - they just look back at us and try to lead us to the fridge. Nor does showing them the mess, and taking them to the litter box work. We resorted to jail. Started out with strict confinement to the connected kitchen/bathroom area in the front - sometimes just the bathroom where their box is. Then they got out in the main part of the house with bedrooms closed... going back to confinement as needed. They were definitely confined at night. What a pain. Had to lock both cats up, when we knew it was just the one. Also, we like our doors open, and our kitties WITH us.

We've been working on this for 2 months now, and for the last two weeks, the guilty party has been very good. Yesterday, Honor pleaded for pardoning the cats and letting them stay out at night. We decided to give it a try. When we went to bed, we found Misty waiting in our bed, and Ramses snuggled up with Honor. I woke up with Ramses snuggled under my chin, sharing my pillow and under the blankets, Misty in his typical 'guard the hallway' position.

I sure hope this good behavior lasts... the kids like being 'tucked in' and kitty-guarded as they go to sleep (usually one cat per room), and I like waking up to purrs.

Kitty crack.. I mean, kibble

Well, no wonder I couldn't remember the name of that new food the cats like so much. It's "Purina One Special Care Advanced Nutrition Hairball Formula for Cats, chicken flavored, formulated with yogurt". So much easier to say "the hairball stuff in the blue bag". Well, they love it, and it seems to be much better on their sensitive tummies, so I think that I will love it too (although it smells icky... but I am not a cat). They BEG for it... the great thing about the video I posted previously is we have had Ramses over 11 years now, and have never seen him PUSH Misty out of the way for cat cereal! He'll assert himself for can food, people food, treats, and attention, but not cereal. Not until we finally found the good stuff.

How good?

So how good is this new cat food? Is it finger-lickin' good, just like the Colonel's secret recipe? That might be good for cats, right?

No, it's better than that! It's "shove your beloved brother's face out of the bowl so you can get more" good:

... and no, I can't think of the brand name right now. We threw the bag away! We bought it for the smaller sized kibble as our cats are elderly and Ramses hasn't many teeth left. I am sure we'll be able to find it when shopping tomorrow. I think it is Iams adult formula, but I could be totally wrong. Whatever it is, it's absolutely addictive to our felines!

Why the mess?

The kitchen filled with laundry room stuff....

The laundry room filled with chaos and a huge gaping hole...

(No Misty, I know you didn't do it...)

Why is this a good sign? The gaping hole is where one of the evil AC units used to live. It is gone now. Dead. Hopefully it has been tossed in the Nile, or buried with warning markers out in the desert somewhere. A new one has been installed - as the old one should have been - OUTSIDE the building, hanging off the wall, where it can breathe, have air circulating, and perhaps survive.

I am not sure who had the bright idea to install these units in tiny, barely vented cubbies. (You can't see it here, but there was a false wall over the gaping hole - the AC was confined in a space barely bigger than the machine - the grill covering the opening is actually a replacement and more open than the original. It got HOT!) One unt was inside our laundry room - like that is ever cool?? - and the other vented into an enclosed entry hallway (between apartments), where 4 other AC units were also venting, right outside our poorly insulated front door, so all the hot air poured back in the house... creating something of a vicious, and usually very dirty, cycle. That particular installation plan probably came from someone more concerned with the building's appearance, not any real functionality. Obviously someone who didn't have to LIVE in this building. These units have been a PAIN for all involved. Us and facilities. Finally, the technicians were able to hang them (and everyone else's) AC units OUTSIDE the building - like everybody else in Cairo does - and guess what? They work.

It will probably last until the next upgrade and then somebody else will probably think ... gee.. I bet the building would look nice if we could get rid of all this unsightly functionality. Sigh...

I missed you!

Misty reeeeeaaaallllly misses Brad when he is gone. When Brad gets in from work, Misty needs lots of love and reassuring. Kisses too - whether Brad wants them or not.

Placating the marauding invaders

Brian and Honor were trying to play Battleground. It's actually a very ingenious little war game set. You arrange your pieces on any flat surface - they usually take over a part of the floor - and use rubberband powered catapults and crossbows to try and knock over your opponents pieces with little plastic missiles before they knock yours down. I am sure there are more complex rules and scenarios for older players, but this is simple enough competition - with cool action - for Brian and Honor.

What makes it hard though, is when they set up on the floor, sometimes the battle is joined by giant-sized, furry forces. The rules do not quite cover who gets a point when your castle is knocked out by a cat. Ramses was determined to play, so they went away from the game and tried to call him off the battle field. Ramses came over to them... but brought in a reinforcement! ah well, it was game over, bed time, anyway.

Why he's a housecat

Misty was born in a barn. A old stone structure somewhere out in the dales in North Yorkshire. He's a big strong cat and would have made an excellent farm cat. Note, I said 'would'. That's past tense. He has always been our mighty hunter... for things he could get after in the house. Bugs, toys, insects, the red dot from the laser pointer, his brother, etc. He even made a huge effort to get our rat! He will even still play a mean game of soccer, and believes nighttime is the perfect time for yodeling. But after many years of living the easy life of a globe-trotting, but strictly indoor, cat, he's lost some of his instincts. Like the concept of stealth, or camouflage!

I was trying to get the kids in bed, and as Honor was brushing her teeth, I herded Brian into his room to brush his hair. Misty, all 20+lbs of him, snuck in after us, and although he were looking right at him, stealthily (he was quiet, but we did notice him!) snuck up on Brian's bed, and burrowed under a pillow... "They'll never find me here!"... oh yea? Nevermind that he is too big to fit under a standard pillow, he also forgot to pull in his tail.

oh yea Misty - you are so busted.

He was determined to play hide-n-seek though. We stole his pillow, but as soon as we opened the bed, he was burrowing in the bedcovers at the foot of the bed!