Frank update

I feel like Frank needs an introduction- now that he has come out of hiding, we are seeing lots of his personality.

This is Frank. As previously mentioned, he is huge. His mom is Maine Coon (though when doing some research I found that purebred Main Coon owners are kind of snotty about people using the name- that true Maine Coons are very rare, and how dare you think that your simple large tabby cat is one of these greats...so, I am ignorantly claiming the name). Maine Coons are known as 'gentle giants', are very smart and rainable- they can be taught tricks. They are supposed to be very loyal and great companion cats.

Frank is cautious- still a little skittish. He prefers me to Brian right now, mostly because Brian tends to make quick or abrupt movement...I'm slower when Frank is around, so he trusts me a little more, plus Brian vacuums. But he loves playing with Brian- they play with a baseball, a laser pointer (Frank goes crazy for that). He licks our hands and fingers all the time. He also nips and bats at our hands- his bites are always gentle, and he never scratches us. I read that the licking and gentle biting is what mom cats do to their kittens, and is how he learned to show care- and that he is claiming us. Sounds so sweet...we are probably creating bad habits. He doesn't like being picked up, but he does love to sprawl out on our laps. He 'holds' things with his paws, like our arm when he wants us to pet him. He has round eyes, which I have never noticed on a cat before...it gives his face a very innocent look. He has a big raccoon tail...when you only see him from behind, you could mistake him for a small raccoon.

He is teaching Millie some habits. Here, Millie is watching Frank eat out of the bowl...she just sat there and

watched. Millie has been much better with the litter boxes. She also doesn't use her claws hardly at all anymore...that might have just been her figuring it out, but I like to think Frank helped her. Millie has also started biting a little bit- she isn't as gentle with her teeth as Frank, but it seems like she is trying to do it like Frank does. The two of them play together now- though sometimes I worry about Millie because Frank is SO much bigger, and seems like he is a little bit rougher when they play...Millie meows sometimes, but there isn't any hissing...that means she is okay, right? We are also a little worried that maybe Frank is a bit

of a bully. Whenever Millie is sitting on one of our laps, Frank squeezes his way in between, and gives Millie a little shoulder push away. When Millie starts eating, Frank will start eating out of her bowl, even though he was just eating out of his own bowl. Normal or concern?

They are no longer locked into rooms when we leave...they have free reign of the downstairs- they aren't allowed upstairs at night or during the day when we aren't here. They are much happier being free (obviously), and it makes me feel better when we are gone for a long time. 

I have to say, they are REALLY good kittens- very sweet and easy. They are super distracting to my studying!

Millie and Frank

On Saturday morning, we drove down to Kitty Harbor in West Seattle, with our cardboard cat carrier boxes in hand, to adopt a couple of kittens.

Meet Millie. Her name is Amelia, after Amelia Earhart, because she likes riding up in the air (she rode around on my shoulder most of the time we were at the shelter), and she is quite the explorer...she has made her way around to just about every corner of our house. She is 9 weeks old and was found in a parking lot in Burien. She doesn't have a timid bone in her tiny little body. She made herself right at home as soon as we opened her carrier in our house. She moves between the two of us constantly, like she is so overwhelmed with being pet, she can't decide who she

likes more. As soon as one of us gets up and walks to another room, she is up and following them. Brian will walk back and forth just to see how long she will follow, and he definitely tires of the game before she does. Her claws are out pretty much all the time- she doesn't know how to retract them yet, so she gets stuck in everything...the carpet, pillows, my skin. She knows how to use the litter box, but generally chooses to go right next to it. She takes pieces of her food out of the dish, lines a few of them up on the floor, and eats them one at a time. She likes to sit on Brian's computer, preferably while he is using it, but anytime it is open. We keep her in the bathroom while we are out and at night, and she knows how to do the guilt meow...oh, she sounds SO sad when we shut that door.

And this is Frank. The second we walked in the door, he took off and managed to find a small hole in the

wall behind the dryer to hide in. Since he went into hiding in the wall, we named him Frank. Anne Frank. He is 11 weeks old and is about twice as big as Millie. His mama is a Maine Coon, so we are guessing he is
going to be a monster sized cat. We checked on him a few times in the wall, and realized he wasn't only hiding, but was stuck...unable to get out of the wall. We tried all kinds of things, and only when Brian pulled out a saw- to make the hole in the wall a little bigger- did he jump up into a position that I was able to help him maneuver through the pipes and out. After which he immediately hid behind the couch in our extra room.

Every so often, I pull the couch out and sit back there, and pet him, and talk to him...hoping he warms up a bit, and isn't so scared. It doesn't help that every time I give him a little attention, Millie is RIGHT there. He FINALLY came out of the room on his own...slowly and cautiously, he has made his way around the room, smelling everything. And finally, FINALLY, he sat next to me on the couch for about two minutes, before tearing back into his hiding spot. He is great with his litter box, eats his food. He stays in the extra room when we are out or sleeping...and he is thrilled with that.Since he hasn't been out much, and runs with every movement we make, we don't have many pictures of him yet.

They had previously showed mild interest in each other- Millie more than Frank, obviously. There has been some hissing. And only tonight, in the last hour, have they started playing together! Yay! They will be friends. And soon sweet Frank will get comfortable and hang out with us. And maybe he will teach Millie how to retract her claws.

I promise I won't blog about them much...probably the occasional picture.

The Week in Review

We had a semi-busy week last week...

1. Monday we went and saw the new Star Trek movie at the IMAX at the Science Center. I didn't see the first new Star Trek in the theater, so Brian got it from Red Box a few weeks ago in preparation for the new movie. It was great- fun action, good characters. And you just can't beat seeing a movie at the real IMAX. Plus, we always go to the Armory (the food court at the centerhouse), which is pretty great now. We got pizza and beer at MOD pizza, and then I got a mini peach pie from PIE to take in to the movie. I love those little pies...so much crust, which is my favorite. Yum.

2. Tuesday we were supposed to have our first kickball game of the Summer season, but it was cancelled because of the one hour of rain that happened that day (so weird, it was a beautiful day otherwise)...so Brian bought some last minute tickets to the US Men's National Team game at Century Link. Brian and I both realized that we hadn't ever been to a United States sporting event. There is always a certain amount of pride you have for your own home team...I mean, we love those Sounders. But it's a whole different level when you have many-a-people showing up in stars and striped pants (how do so many people have American flag pants?)...it was a super fun game- we won, which always helps. On to the World Cup!

3. Wednesday we considered going to the Mariners game, but decided to stay home and use the grill. I had some salmon to bbq, and Brian got a delicious steak from Trader Joe's, we had some corn on the cob...yum. We watched some more of the new Arrested Development season, some Fringe. Was nice. My Thursday and Friday evening were similar, as Brian had plans.

4. Thursday I got off work early, it was the 2 yr old's last day of pre-school, so there was a party that the parents went to. I drove down to the eff dub, and visited my sisters and the twins. Jessica got a new kitten, so I was excited to meet her. Darling little thing. And very sweet with the twins (at least while I was there), batting at their little hands without any claws out.

5. Saturday was a big day...we adopted two kittens! Separate post on them...but the adoption process wasn't as intense as they made it sound. We adopted at a little cat shelter in West Seattle called Kitty Harbor. We filled out the paperwork ahead of time, and got there 20 minutes before it opened. I hadn't slept well the night before, anxious that there wouldn't be enough kittens for us. Once it opened, they had the group go in and play with the kittens and decide which you wanted- they require that you adopt two if you are getting kittens...and really, once we were there, they didn't ask us any questions- it seemed like they were just happy to have nice people taking their cats home...which is how I felt like the whole experience should be!

We went to a show at the Crocodile that evening- one of the guys Brian works with is in a band that did a Bowie cover night...was fun! And they were great.

6. On Sunday, Brian's dad came over to West Seattle and we went out to Brunch at Endolyne Joes. We came home for a little bit, and then went down to my dad's for a bbq with the fam. Busy, busy! 

But more on the kittens!

Warning...sheep brain pic

I have the day off today...my nanny family went on a short vacation, so I had Thursday and Monday off...which was awesome timing because I had my final on Saturday, and we had our BBQ party on Sunday. There was so much to do- so great to have a little extra time at home.

1. We celebrated Brian's birthday and the cleaning of our house on Sunday with a little BBQ at the house. I wish it had been a little warmer out, but it didn't rain so that's certainly something. Brian and I both love to host and have people over, so we were so excited to finally have the house in order. Hopefully we will be able to have more events this summer. We had such a smattering of friends- from all kinds of different areas

of our lives...sometimes that can be nerve wracking...when people don't know each other...but luckily, we have awesome friends that are friendly and great, and are happy to chat with and make new friends. Plus, all the delicious food...we have so much stuff left over here...we are going to be eating well for days! Here is Brian blowing out the candles (from a distance) on his gorgeous cake (that I didn't make- it was randomly donated to us).

2. My Spring quarter is OVER! Yay...I have two weeks before Summer

quarter starts up. I'm pretty sure this was the hardest class I have to take...and as previously mentioned, it was a bit of a frustrating class...but it is done, and for the Summer I have part 2 of Anatomy & Physiology. I will actually be going to class...I'm not doing that crazy hybrid- learn it all on your own- stuff anymore! Our last lab of the quarter, we FINALLY got to dissect something...we dissected a sheep brain. Most of our labs have been filling out worksheets with fill-in-the-blanks from the text...I always completed the assignment at home before even going to lab...so, I was pretty excited to have an actual activity. Here is the brain...sorry if it makes you squeamish. :)

3. Our kickball team started playoffs last week...our game was scheduled for 9:45pm- which is late and awful as it is...but then the game before us was late getting started AND went into extra innings. We didn't even start playing our game until around 10:30...and then all of the lights went out at the end of the second inning...argh. SO, we have to reschedule the game...though we were up 8-0 in the second inning, so that is promising. Summer league starts this week...

4. We had a great trip to Iowa/Chicago. I had a brief moment of panic as we stood in the security line at SeaTac airport, and I pulled my drivers license out only to realize it expired in May...would they let me travel? Yes, the TSA guy let me through with a 'you should get this taken care of' comment. Next concern was the rental car in Chicago. Brian isn't old enough to rent a car, and my license was expired...what would we do? Turns out Brian is old enough to rent a car in Illinois...and I guess since it was pre-paid, they didn't charge us extra for his age...phew! After flying the red eye, we were EXHAUSTED, and then had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. We made it, checked into the hotel, Brian left to pick up his tux, I took a nap...and apparently while I was sleeping, the tornado sirens went off on a bit of a warning. That night was the rehearsal dinner, which was great- it was at a 'Supper Club', which sounded super exclusive. Then Friday, Brian had to be at the church in the morning to start pictures, so I was on my own in Dubuque for most of the day. I finished my lab assignment and emailed that in to my teacher, found a little house to get my nails done, went on a massive search for coffee- only to end up at a grocery store Starbucks. Then headed to the church for the ceremony. After the ceremony, we rode around town in a trolley, and then on to the reception. We did some dancing, ate some cake, fun times! We had an awesome time hanging out with Dan and Sarah and their super cute and funny kiddos...I haven't spent much time with them, so it was great to hang out! We headed back to Chicago Saturday morning...boy, we ate some delicious and terribly unhealthy food! We went to my favorite breakfast place- Orange. I always have a hard time ordering here- do I go with an old favorite or try something new- I haven't ever had anything that I didn't LOVE. I happened to have seen a 'best burger in the US' article, with one of the spots being in Chicago...Au Cheval...not only was it amazing, but they were SO NICE. We got there about 1 minutes before the kitchen was closing, on the day that we were flying out...the hostess told us there just was no way we would be able to get in- they were packed and the kitchen was closing...as we walked out with our shoulders slumped, she followed us out, and said she would sneak us in. And then continued checking up on us and kept saying 'Thank YOU' to us, every time we thanked her. We also went to a Cubs game (obviously), with a two hour rain delay...late night! Not nearly enough time in that great city, but we got a lot in.

5. I was planning to spend part of my day today adopting our kittens. But, it looks like the weekends are the best times to do that, as the shelters aren't open, and pet store adoption events happen on the weekends. I have been looking on craigslist, but I keep seeing three kittens, and it makes me sad to think about separating one of them. I also look at pictures and want to adopt the least cutest, because I feel sad that maybe they won't get adopted because they aren't as cute. Sigh...I'm the worst.