Fortune(less) Cookie.

We often eat Chinese food, and whenever we do, they throw in like 6 fortune cookies. I love them, not only for the anticipation of discovering what lies written on the paper within, but for the tasty cookie itself. I often break them up and sprinkle them over ice cream. It’s delicious. We save all the fortunes in a large bowl, but somehow they often wind up outside of the bowl, in random locations.

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Found on the coffee table this morning.

Anyway, Wednesday has been exposed to our Chinese food meals for a couple of years now, and never has expressed any interest in any part of it. Berlioz, on the other hand, seems to think we have ordered it all for him. Last time we ordered some, he put his head in the bag, tried to eat a veggie out of my shrimp with cashew nuts, and kept jumping up on the table while we were eating. Finally, he stopped. We were happy that he had for some reason given up on trying to eat our food right out of our hands, so much so that it didn’t occur to us to wonder what he could be doing instead that would have captured his full attention while we ate in peace.

So, I was done my meal, I got up to bring my plate into the kitchen, turned the corner, and there he was, caught in the act:

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Caught in the act.

He had discovered the fortune cookies, pulled one down to the floor, ripped through the packaging, pulled the cookie out, and broke it into pieces. Upon further inspection, all of the cookie pieces remained intact and uneaten. However the fortune inside was nowhere to be found.

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Fortune thief.

Berlioz had eaten the fortune. He went through all that trouble to get through the plastic and the (delicious) cookie to get to a small piece of paper, not because he was anxious to see what the future might hold for him, but so he could eat it.

I don’t know what’s wrong with him sometimes.

 

Jeanine1 Comment

The Great Gumdrop Caper.

I had just fed the #catsquad and was preparing my own dinner. They were both milling around, like they often do after they’re finished eating (hoping for more food I guess?).

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hangin’ around.

Anyway, I was at the counter with my back to the rest of the kitchen, when I heard a small “thump” behind me. It didn’t sound like anything major, and when I turned around to investigate, there was nothing on the ground anywhere near the table, and nothing had fallen over. Berlioz was under the table and Wednesday was all the way across the room, so I brushed it off and went back to getting my own meal ready. I finished up, and turned around with my plate, ready to go in the other room and enjoy my leftover pizza, when I noticed Berlioz apparently eating something under the table. I put my plate down, and walked toward him. As I approached, he looked up, surprised, and inadvertently dropped what was in his mouth onto the ground.

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A pumpkin-shaped gumdrop. THIS was what the mysterious thump was that I heard earlier – the gumdrop being dug out of the CLOSED container, and dropped to the floor. Once Berlioz realized I was going to take it from him, he quickly scooped it back into his mouth and started running. I’m still bigger and faster then him, so I was able to grab him, and wrangled it out of his mouth, much to his chagrin.

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post-gumdrop-snatching shame.

He did manage to lick off a bunch of the sugar before I caught him though. I’m still trying to figure out how he opened the container without me hearing that part. I guess I’m so used to the noises of bad behavior, that I’m starting to become immune to them.

Jeanine3 Comments

Cats in Wine Boxes.

I love wooden wine boxes. Whenever I find a cool one, I bring it home. I don’t always have an immediate use for them, so sometimes there are small stacks of them around the house. The cats love them equally as much as I do. Whenever I put one down, they jump in, so when I got my hands on a really cool one that formerly housed Opus One, I decided to convert into a high class bed for my fancy felines.

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I also scored a really dainty Jadot box, that is the perfect size for a kitten. I brought it home, put it down, but the kitten was no where to be found. Instead, this happened.

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Again.

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And again.

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Finally, she allowed him entry into the box.

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But not for long….

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Big sister is watching you. And that box, just like all the other boxes, is hers, and hers alone.

 

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. ― George Orwell, 1984

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Berlioz vs. the Watering Can.

I have many house plants. Wedensday never once gave them a second thought. She climbed through them every now and then, but never knocked any over, or ate a single leaf. Berlioz has knocked at least 5 of them over, ate almost all the leaves off of one, and killed another one. He finally seems to be settling down, but I still find teeth marks on the leaves of one of the bigger plants.

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Definitely a cat-sized bite.

So I was watering the plants, and Berlioz was very intrigued. He followed me around, and every time I poured water into one of the pots, he tried to put his face in, or attacked the leaves. It was quite frustrating, and I was beginning to get annoyed. I shooed him away for the 100th time, and he finally left the room. At this point, I made it to the plant he had eaten most of the leaves off of. I decided that I would trim it, with the hopes that it would not only look better, but grow some leaves again (it did). I put the watering can down (still about a third full) and began trimming away.

After a few minutes of highly focused trimming, I heard a foreign sound behind me, like nothing I’ve heard before. I turned around, still in a somewhat zen-like state, and I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on at first. Suddenly, I realized what was happening and started screaming. Berlioz (I assume) had wondered what was inside the watering can I put down on the floor. As he peered inside, his head got stuck and he lifted it up, watering can included. It was at this point he made a sound, and I turned around to find him with the can upside down on his head, and him freaking out, crashing into everything and pouring water all over himself and everywhere else. I tried to get it off his head, and at first I couldn’t. He jumped up onto the coffee table, and proceeded to dump water onto my iPad, my books and my papers, then knocked over my half full cup of coffee onto the rest of the papers and the floor. I grabbed him, and finally set him free of his temporary waterfall prison. He bolted out of the room, and left me standing there, sobbing hysterically, surrounded by the carnage he left in his wake.

Thankfully, my husband came in the room, and cleaned up most of the mess. I was in a state of shock from the entire thing, paralyzed and sobbing. Finally, I calmed down, and helped finish the clean up. As soon as order was somewhat restored, guess who came strolling back into the room, like nothing happened?

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It wasn’t me.

Soaked, but not scarred, and definitely not sorry.  Although he hasn’t gone near the watering can since.

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