Ten Things Tuesday (Edited)

At the request of my sister, here is an update on the new kitten; she insists on call him Saki, though his name is Max. He's been with us for a little over two weeks now and he's adjusting quite well.

Ten Things We've Learned About Max

1. He loves the shower. We haven't let him in it when it's running full blast, but while we're in the shower, he cries to be let in and tries to open the door. At first, we thought that he just wanted to be near us, but the second we open the door to reach for towels, he jumps into the shower and spends about five minutes inside. Then, he gets out and shakes off his paws (it's funny watching him do the Hokey Pokey)...about a minute later, he jumps back in for round two. Yep, he takes two "showers" after each one of ours. Every day.


2. He hasn't figured out how to slow down or control his little body. He just runs full speed around the house and then...SMACK! Right into dressers, tables, the wall, etc. He has a little bump/cut above his eye, which we figure is from one of his fits of excitement. Could this be a plot to get Kitty Protective Services after us?!?

3. He talks. All the time. He talks when he wants something or just when he wants to hear himself. He talks as he's scratching an itch and he talks when he is cleaning his face (which is hilarious). I especially love when he talks while also purring loudly; it comes out as a vibrato meow. I don't like when he talks while I am sleeping.

4. He likes to drink. Ok, not really (don't call KPS on us!), but I thought it was funny when he kept reaching for my bottle of Captain Morgan from underneath the bed. It's actually pretty funny when he tries to sniff at one of our cocktails because he doesn't like the smell at all and takes a few very quick steps back. Which leads me to #5...


5. He doesn't know how to turn around. At least not very well. When he wants to go a different direction, he goes into reverse and then angles his body from there. It looks like a car pulling out of a parking space or something.

6. He likes the toy that Crazy Lady (formerly known as FMIL) bought for him better than any of the toys that we bought. I figure this is how our future children will be as well; the toys from grandma will be WAY better than toys from mommy. I won't take anything too personally, though, since he also loves zippers and shoelaces.

7. He enjoys watching football on Sundays. And his favorite seat is directly in front of me, blocking a portion of the screen. Good thing he's small.


8. He gets in the way of properly making the bed. You see, we have a down comforter and a duvet cover, so after we washed the cover, it had to be put back on. He didn't agree with that plan, so he jumped inside the duvet cover. I guess he didn't agree with that either, because he pretty much flipped out once he was inside. It was all pretty interesting, but we took him back out because we don't like a lumpy bed.

9. He likes exploring our closets, more so than anything in the entire house. I've taken to calling him Lola, since I have no doubt he'd crawl right into our clothes if we let him. And I just like singing the song.

10. As much as he may be a handful, he's so adorable when he sleeps. Peaceful Max seems to make me forget Wet/Insane/Loud/Drunk/Lazy/Cross-Dressing Max.


Edit: Apparently, Max does like to drink; he just waits til we're not looking. We heard a suspicious noise downstairs and found a little surprise.

Surprise(s)!

Yesterday, while Jersey was at work, I told her I was planning a surprise for her and that it would be ready when she got home. She was a little nervous about what I might be up to, but she was a good sport when I told her to stop outside the bedroom door and close her eyes. I guided her into the middle of the room and told her she could look around. Around the room was a scratch post, a cat bed, and a couple of toys...she squealed when she realized I had adopted a kitten. The kitten in question was hiding under the bed when she first arrived, but I was able to take some pictures this morning:
After Jersey stopped squealing, I told her that the kitten was hiding under the bed and that I had taken the liberty of naming him already. She reached under the bed to pull him out and look at his tag...this is what she saw:Jersey thought it was a joke and started to giggle, but then she looked up at me and saw a ring in my hand. I got down on one knee and she fell backward onto the floor. I still don't remember if she actually ever said yes (she says she did, but I don't know), but there was an awful lot of shaking, crying, and kissing going on!
By the way, I went through a little bit of hell earlier in the day when I called Jersey's dad to ask for his blessing. I wasn't actually that freaked out about asking him, but I am terrified of the phone. It's irrational, but I can't stand the phone in the most normal of situations. This definitely didn't qualify as normal. Being the freak that I am, I wrote out exactly what I wanted to say, rehearsed it a number of times, vomited, stared at the phone for about 15 minutes, and then dialed. I caught her dad while he was grocery shopping with her four-year-old brother (not the best timing, but oh well) and went through my mini-speech. When I ended with "I would love your blessing because I would like to propose to Jersey tonight", he said "You got it." Wow, that was simple.

Much of last night and this morning was full of phone calls to excited friends and family. Oh, and the kitten's name is Max and he'll be four months old on Tuesday (he was born on July 4th!). He kept us up most of the night with his talking, but he's adjusting pretty well to his life outside the shelter. So, now Jersey and I have a kitten and a wedding to plan! Yay!