Arise, crypt keeper!

Well my birthday has come and gone. I am now officially old. Basically I just try not to think about it. I didn't get my cat wheel, man 2.0 made one, but it had too much friction to turn properly as well as it wasn't all that stable so I'm told. But he did assure me that I "WILL have my cat wheel", it's just a question of when I suppose. So instead of that he got me something equally as awesome: clubman bars and end mirrors for my bike. Right now bikey is getting a few things fixed on her, but I will (hopefully) be getting her back on Saturday. Then putting my delicious delicious bars on. Super yum.

Mom and dad got me 2 pairs of bike gloves, as well as renewed my CAA membership for another year. I locked my keys in my car ONCE in Ottawa a few years ago and since then mom has decided I need CAA. Clearly I'm a reckless child. My sister hasn't gotten me anything as of yet, I have to decide what I want, then she can buy it for me. I had a bonfire and dinner down by the river to 'celebrate' which was nice. Nothing too wild and crazy. Us old people can't handle that anymore dontchaknow!

Roland's been is same old crazy self. He likes to lay in my knitting when I'm trying to knit, and he recently has decided his blanket does not belong in his baskey. He likes to pull it out, which is kind of funny, and he makes this weird noise when he does it too. Yesterday he was trying to get under the blanket to hide. He still pukes semi-regularly (my poor bulimic baby) and bites your hair when you're sitting on the couch. Just the normal shinanigans!

Life's never boring if you have a Bengal!

These are the days...

As we creep ever closer to my looming twenty-faux birthday as I like to think of it (thanks Charlotte from SATC) I am still experiencing anxiety. It is beginning to annoy me right now actually. On top of that I'm feeling kind of down for other reasons that I can't address until the weekend. The more I think about them the worse I feel, and naturally, I make up fake scenarios in my head of what will happen, all of them bad. So I keep feeling worse and worse, and I know that I'm blowing things out of proportion. So I'm trying not to think about it.

Moving on, my bike is going in for a safety on Friday, so hopefully it will be done the same day. My dad is taking it to Woody, and as anyone who knows Woody knows, he works on his own time. So with any luck my bike will be saftied on Friday and I will be able to insure it and plate it maybe on Saturday. Maybe on Monday. I can't wait to be able to get out on it on the road, I just want to go out and spend all day on it.

Roland is his normal crazy kitty self. Meow meow meow in the morning. He hasn't thrown up in a while (that I've found...) which is odd, but good. He's liking the weather, I found him sprawled out in the windowsill yesterday just enjoying the breeze. Oh! And I had him out on the balcony the other week with Luke, which Rollie Baby seemed to like. He was a little unsure at first as usual, but then he seemed to relax a little. With any luck he'll get used to his leash and be a good boy when we go outside.

Well that's all for now, just thought I'd post a little update. And remember, life's never boring if you have a bengal!

It's almost that time of year....again

May seems to be flying by, and with it comes my impending birthday. May 27th.  This birthday is no ordinary birthday, I will be the big 2-5. A quarter century old. In the past (when I was young) I thought I wouldn't care about growing old. I figured I would embrace by old age and wrinkles should they come and live life as I pleased. Because of this obviously incorrect assumption my sudden anxiety at turning 25 has surprised me, to say the least. I find myself not wanting to even celebrate my birthday. No party for me please. I would kind of like to just forget it exists and go on living the glorious 24 that I am. Now I know what some of you may be thinking "But Casey, 25 is so young! I'd love to be 25 again!", and yes, I do understand that 25 isn't really that old, but to me it signifies something more. The moving forward with life and responsibilities. My insurance should drop because I will be 25 (bonus), which just reinforces the fact that I'm becoming more mature if you will. My youth is waning. Gone are the days of no responsibilities and in are the days of bills bills bills. Work to pay bills. Try to have fun on the side. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy my freedom of being an 'adult' but I do miss being young. It just seems to have all gone by so fast. I can still remember high school vividly and I think that's what scares me the most. I can remember what it was like to be younger and realize that those days are over. Gone. Forever. Never to come again. And that ladies and gents, sucks.

Now that I've went on for what seems like an eternity (wow, just about as old as me!) I will again discuss the coveted cat wheel. As of right now there is no cat wheel to my knowledge. I haven't heard much about it for some time, but I do have a birthday looming as we all know (ugh). So, I have a slight suspicion that I will be getting this cat wheel or my birthday. Which would probably be one of the best presents ever.

Roland is still the same old Roland. Crazy most times and sweet others. He is settling down a bit I think, and he lays with me more which is nice. We have Casey kitty cuddle time on the couch. I have become friends with the girls at the pet store where I get Roland's food, and one of the girls there suggested I bring Rollie-Baby over to play with her cat. We haven't done this yet, but hopefully in the next few weeks we can get them together. I'd like to socialize Roland more with other cats, so I think this could be a good thing. Plus he'd get a friend to play with. I hope he plays nice. Time will tell I suppose.

Other than that not much else is new in the adventures of Casey and Roland. Just the normal routine of cleaning up unexpected cat pukes, some of which I discover only after I step in them.

Remember, life's never boring when you have a Bengal!

Long Time No See!

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted! Well, for anyone insanely curious, yes I have taken Roland out on the front lawn. It appeared him and Grass had an old outstanding feud I wasn't aware of, and they didn't get along so well. He didn't really like Grass, probably too soft and green, so he was freaking out a bit. After a little while they seemed to reconcile a few differences, but Roland was still pretty uneasy. Maybe this summer we will try again.

So what's new with the adventures of Casey and Roland? Well currently he's being an ass by scratching the metal stove. He likes to try to 'bury' his food, but instead of scratching the floor silently like a good kitty, he scratches the metal stove immediately beside his food bowl. Like nails on a chalkboard.....uuhhhhh...... He also likes to be an ass and pushes everything off of my coffee table, just for fun. I admit, I do find this kind of funny though. He will jump up on it, look at you, then push something off. Right in front of you. What a dink eh?

My new and improved man 2.0 if you will has decided he will try to make Rollie-Baby a cat wheel (He's a keeper! The man....well...and Roland too I suppose...). So time will tell if that ever comes to fruition, but I'm pretty damn excited about it nonetheless. Roland will be one spoiled cat if he not only has a cat tree, cat shelves, but also a cat wheel! What luxury! All the other neighbourhood cats will be jealous! He'll be on the cover of Fortune magazine (cat edition!). Alright, perhaps slight exaggeration there, but yes, he will indeed be one spoiled boy. For those of you that aren't familiar with the cat wheel it's basically a glorified hamster wheel, just made huge for cats. It has to be big enough to give Roland enough room to take a proper stride inside it, and also study enough to support him while he's running with his 16lbs of cat-man muscle. Should this wheel come into being you bet your buns I will be posting pics!

Well that's all for now folks. And remember, life's never boring if you have a Bengal!

Back to my Kitty

Recently I took a little vacation to Mexico for a friend's wedding. I went for a week, and it was beautiful. The only thing I was a little sad about was leaving my kitty Roland behind. I had never left him for that long before. I didn't know how he'd handle being alone for so many days, even if my mom was coming over to feed him every day. He's a very social cat and needs lots of love and attention, and in return he gives you lots of love and attention. Turns out he did pretty well with only a few side effects.

There are things you learn over time about your cat. Things you know they will do and when. Roland, for example, likes the shred the toilet paper when he's mad at me. This normally results when I leave him for the weekend to visit my boyfriend, or when I'm not paying attention to him 23 hours of the day. He also likes to attack feet, and I have learned to anticipate it and dodge it. So I did a basic prep before I left. Put toilet paper in drawer so it doesn't shred. Make sure all his springs are out from under the fridge so he can put them back under there while I'm away. Give him treats before I leave so I don't feel so guilty for leaving him. That kind of thing.

So off I went to beautiful Mexico. It took us 13 hours to get there (including all the waiting time) but it was worth it. It was sunny and hot and more importantly, all inclusive. The wedding was beautiful, and I got a bonus by being there for my birthday as well. We drank all day and night, relaxed in the pool, and I even went zip lining and rappelling for the first time in my life. We also visited the Mayan ruins of Coba which were very fascinating, and enjoyed a dip in a natural pool in a cave.

Highest temple in Coba.

But everything must come to and end. The vacation was over and I went back to reality and my kitty. Roland was pretty good with the whole ordeal. He did, however, meow much louder than he used to. And meowed all the time. Meow meow meow!! It sounded like I was murdering him. He was just really freaked out and didn't know what was going on. Every time I walked out the door he thought I was leaving him again. Eventually, after about a week, he calmed down and is now back to normal. Mostly. He's developed this bad habit now of running out the door if it's open for more time than it take you to walk out it. Any door. Front door, patio door, doesn't matter. He doesn't know what to do with himself once he's out there of course, and just meows until I come get him, but he is persistent! I have taken him out on the leash a couple times now, so maybe that will be the next adventure with Casey and Roland: Roland goes on the front lawn. Until then!

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal!

My life, and everything else

Well, it's been a while and nothing particularly unusual or exceedingly funny has happened with dear Roland. He's just being his normal kitty self, playing with springs, meowing, doing poofy kitty. He does this to himself, gets all worked up and then does poofy kitty. While doing poofy kitty he enjoys walking sideways and meowing funny. His favourite times to do poofy kitty include looking in the mirror, seeing his reflection in a window, or randomly when I'm least expecting it. Maybe he knows I like it and does it to make me happy....ahh..what a man eh? A girl can dream.

Roland doing poofy kitty.

Aside from the everyday cat humor, my life has been pretty all over. I moved into my apartment not too long ago. While it came with a number of things I really enjoy (hardwood, lots of windows, claw foot tub) my appliances have been around since Christ was a cowboy. I didn't mind though, I was happy enough with everything else. Then one day I noticed my freezer wasn't really that cold anymore. I just thought it was old and maybe didn't freeze well. It's normal for an old fridge to be like that I tell myself, and move on. Within the next few days I find my fridge isn't keeping cool. My milk sours. I discover this lovely fact whilst enjoying a delicious and somewhat healthy bowl of Raisin Bran. Hmm, this doesn't taste right I tell myself...I don't think I should eat anymore. Upon further investigation I discover (to my noses horror!) my milk is no longer in its prime. That's funny, I tell myself, the date's no where near the expiry. This goes on for some time, and I am instructed to unplug my fridge to let it thaw out, could be ice clogging the vents they tell me. So like a good little tenant I do as I'm told, keeping my fridge items cool in the snow on my balcony while taking my freezer items to work and putting them in the freezer there. In the meantime I can no longer eat my freezer items at my leisure since they are several kilometres away enjoying the crisp coolness of a freezer that treats them right. Roland eats cat food that has frozen from being outside. The fridge thaws. I put my food back in. All is well.

...until the cycle begins again. I put up with this for another few weeks but enough is enough. I email my landlord (currently in the land down under) to arrange getting a new one. And yesterday, to my immense pleasure, a bright shiny new fridge arrived at my door! It's just under 6 feet of pure black, ice cube freezing, milk cooling pleasure. Roland is getting used to it now, after exploring the inside of the fridge briefly before running out in terrified horror at the sound he made on the vegetable drawer. He had a rather uncharacteristically quiet nap on top of it last night, which is a good sign. I think they will be fast friends soon. After all, he does require the fridge to jump up on top of the cupboards to watch me do dishes.

Now...to deal with the water spot on my ceiling...

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal...or ancient appliances!

Kitty Memories

Friday. Best day of the week. Made even better by a rather humorous and unexpected memory this morning about little Roland and his shenanigans. Now when I say 'little Roland' I of course mean Big Roland. He's not so small anymore but the name has stuck.

I was standing in the shower, waiting for my conditioner to sink in and do its magical work. I like to follow the recommended 2-3 minutes of conditioner application for optimal results, as I enjoy silky shiny hair. Much like a shampoo commercial, yeah that's my hair. So as I'm waiting I hear this crash. I peek out the shower curtain and here is Roland, on my bathroom counter, inspecting the recently knocked over flower candle holder and Pantene frizz reducing, silk enhancing hair goop (as I said, shampoo commercial hair). And this reminds me....hey...I remember when....

It was a day not unlike today. I was in the shower with my boyfriend enjoying the water while he had to wait in the cold air for his turn. We heard a crinkle and the soft thud of kitty feet hitting the floor in the bathroom and running off down the hall. Now, as anyone who knows Roland will attest, he never does that unless he's up to trouble. Actually, now that I think about it, when is he ever NOT up to trouble? Anyway, I peek out the shower curtain, and what is he enjoying in the hall? Nothing but the most delicious tampon he's ever laid eyes on! A new tampon (in wrapper). A Tampax super tampon to be specific. This tampon seems to be the  most exciting object he'd played with in days. The look on his face was one of pure satisfaction knowing that he was able to sneak my tampon away right under my very nose. Needless to say, I removed the tampon from his possession. After all, I'm pretty sure I needed that tampon more than him.

I had forgotten all about this until this morning. But looking back, I remember just how hilarious this is. Roland running down the hall with a tampon in his mouth! How unexpectedly, delightfully funny.

Life's never boring when you have a Bengal.