Articleis here. Note that the officer was not hurting the cat, just herding it. Or trying to.

Yeah, I like the picture a lot, too. It’s one of those one-in-a-thousand shots, where you take a thousand pictures, and get that perfect shot that makes you look like a really good photographer. In my case, trust me, it’s sheer accident.

But I like this picture, too.

I probably shouldn’t use my antique Chinese screen as a playground for my cat, but, well, what’s another scratch or two on an antique anyway, right?

But Tig does not.

Then again, I’m the one who encouraged him to play in the space under the screen. Because I was hoping for a picture like this.

Kitty pr0n.

I say, bite like a pirate.

This was from April 18, 2008.

First we have Gracie waking up from a nap that she decided to take on her back. This is one of those rare belly shots, and as you can see, her beautiful white fur has completely grown back. She was at the vet’s for her annual shots, and he reminded me that it’s been nearly three years since her bout with irritable bowel disease and the town’s worst vet (not the one we were at, obviously). In fact, she gained nearly a pound since last year, and, uh, now I have to cut down her food.

Next we have my hourly annoyance. Sometimes several-times-hourly. Gracie comes into the office and yowls at me to pet her. Her vocal range is pretty astonishing. There is what I call “the imperious mew,” which is a loud demand to leave whatever I’m doing and pet her. There is the long, wavering yowl when I’m busy working and she really, really, wants me to pet her. She does that often while I’m on the phone with Sarah, and it never fails to make Sarah laugh. There are the many different chirrups and burbles, elicited with and without petting. In this picture, she was merely purring.

This is what I see most mornings: Gracie curled up not far from me, lounging in the sun.

And this is Princess Gracie, deigning to pose for us mere mortals. She does this type of pose best. It’s what gained her the royal moniker. She is truly one of the most beautiful cats I’ve had the pleasure to own. And one of the sweetest.

Last week, when Sarah and the kids came over to watch Megashark vs. Giant Octopus, Gracie came downstairs, threaded her way among the four children, and sat down to wait for me to pet her. I love that she’s comfortable enough around the children that she’ll visit with them. She is, without a doubt, happier here and now than she has ever been in her life. And it seems I may have her for many years to come, if her heart murmur doesn’t get any worse. I’d like that. She’ll be thirteen in March. May she live to see twenty.

This is actually the first in a sequence of shots that I’ll put up eventually.

Also, if I have any time in the near future, I’m going to create a kitty slideshow for the kitty-addicted out there. I may have some time on Monday if all goes well.

I assure you, this isn’t what he was looking at.

He was actually searching for his mousie, which he had dropped.

Tig loves his mousie. Gracie loves being left alone by Tig. It’s all good.

First, Miss Gracie, doing what she loves most: Relaxing in the sun in my office (which I think is now her office).

Since I work from home most days, Gracie spends the bulk of her time with me in the office, or out on the landing within view. I keep my camera in the office now, for just such occasions.

Next, it’s Tig, posing on my newly-made bed.

Making the bed with Tig in the room is a challenge. Quite often, I have to kick him out completely, as he tries to get under the fitted sheet, then the flat sheet, then any blankets. He loves getting under things and has since he was a kitten. Then there’s the biting-my-feet-through-the-blanket thing that he has. Every so often, I wake up with Tigger’s jaws clamped around my toes, which evidently I was wiggling in my sleep.

Tig’s toys were restored to him after my horde of Latina women came and went last week. And Tig rediscovered the toys of his childhood (and young adulthood).

I caught him in a big stretch.

And then, when he was taking a break, in a shot that can only be called kitty pr0n. (Can’t use the real word; the spammers search for it and launch their commentbots.)

As for shots of Gracie playing, well, I bought a new toy for Tig. It’s a catnip toy (pictures to come later), and he loves it. Gracie likes catnip, so I showed her the toy, and she ignored it. And then, when she thought I wasn’t looking, she started playing with it. So you have the usual Gracie shot of her resting comfortably in one of her favorite spots. Here she is in her favorite corner. Notice how orange cats go so well with my decor.

Sometimes they both sleep along the railing. I have a wallpaper shot of them sleeping there shortly after I moved in (almost a year ago!). I’d like to get the two of them again so you can see how Tig has grown. But they are so far refusing to cooperate. I’m patient.

But the office started looking much better after the new bookcases were put in. I think I’m going to have to buy one more set of shelves, but I won’t know until the books go back in. Which won’t be until the weekend. Tig, of course, had to investigate.

And investigate.

And investigate. You know. Curiosity. Cats. That sort of thing.

If Gracie has set foot in the office since the bookcases arrived, I have yet to see it. I expect she’ll be fine by tomorrow, at least, until I start dragging boxes of books back into the office and putting them in the shelves. But she’s perfectly content in her spot by the railing.

I’m so excited. These are the first really decent bookcases I’ve ever had. They’re also the first that weren’t hand-me-downs. And just think, I get to alphabetize my books for the first time ever! Woot! (Actually, not so woot. Pain. But it will be done.)

Caturday is either late or early this week. Late, I think, since I didn’t post any kitty pics last weekend.