Concatulations to Park View Little League!

Logo of the 2009 Little League World Series

Park View Little League: 2009 LLWS CHAMPIONS!

Grandad hasn't been doin' much nappin' or hangin' out with us 'cuz he's been glued to the television watchin' the 2009 Little League World Series. Local team ... Chula Vista's Park View Little League ... out-played Chinese Taipei's All-Star team this afternoon in a 6 to 3 win to take the 2009 series. Lots of folks in San Diego have flooded local sports bars an' movie theatres to see the games. Efurryone is awfully proud of the Park View "Green Machine" ... even though they became known as "West" an' wore pale blue ("Blue Bombers") uniforms.

The players on the team ... at least the ones in middle school ... attend schools in Mom's district. They'll return to Chula Vista to heroes' welcomes in a day or two. Then, it's back-to-school for them: Mountains of missed assignments await!

We're happy that the whole thing's over 'cuz we missed nappin' with Grandad.

Concatulations to all of the players, coaches an' famblies who gave it their very best ... Your efforts paid off an' your city couldn't be prouder of you!

Hot enough to BBQ!

Here in San Diego, we've been taken over by the HOTS! It's too hot to cook inside the house, so we're gonna grill stuff instead on the Weber BBQ. Here are the photos that Mom took awhile back when she built the grill-thingy an' smacked herself in the face with one of the parts. I'll bet if you biggify you can see the blood from Mom's mouth when she ripped her upper gums open.

Anyway, efurryone knows that a nice big BBQ box is a great way to spend the day ... Charmee claimed the box for himself.

An' here's the photo from Mom's school. They let the grass die 'cuz it's gonna get dug up an' replaced with a ginormous two-story building that will house a new library full o' books, a new art studio with tons of room for fine arts, an' some classrooms. The new building will even have an elevator an' two new restroom facilities 'cuz Mom's school doesn't have nearly enough student litter boxes for all of those kids!



It's gonna take about eighteen months to two years to get efurrything built an' renovated, but the first hole was dug yesterday with a golden shovel an' some pretty neat hard hats. Mom didn't get to go to the ceremony 'cuz she was teachin' her classes, but Uncle James was there an' he took bunches of photos of ... his own art work. Drat that Uncle James! He should have taken more photos of the ground-breaking instead. Blast!

Good-bye, Percy ...

Our furriends, The Cats Stephens, lost Percy tonight as he made his way to the Bridge. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him in the blogosphere. Please stop by his fambly's bloggie to pay your respects.
With sadness,
DMM & Feline Americans

World's Best Cat Litter coupon!!!

Hey, Efurryone! Our furriend Drew from World's Best Cat Litter sent us an email yesterday invitin' us to try a bag of their litter (made from corn kernels!). Of course, we jumped at the chance 'cuz Feline American Pumpkin keeps gettin' scoopable clay litter bits in his paws (an' he doesn't like it when Mom has to remove the clumps) an' Mom has been tryin' to find something that might work better for him (an' us).

Our furriend Drew told us that we could provide a link to his website for all of our furriends an' readers to click on to get a $4.00 off coupon to try this company's litter. Sounded like a furry good deal to us!

You can click here! to access the coupon link or you can click the link in the upper right-hand corner of this blog.

Just remember that the link expires on August 29, 2009!

Calling All Patriots: 9/11/2009 is coming ...

I know that efurryone in the Blogosphere is good 'bout spreadin' information 'bout important stuff, so when I heard 'bout this year's Patriot Day project, I zipped on over to Dale's bloggy an' got myself signed up to write a tribute in rememberance of one of our countrymen/women who perished during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

If you wanna participate, use the link above an' get yourself signed up ... but HURRY!

DaisyMae Maus
Feline American an' Patriot

Award on Wednesday: From Mark's Mews

Our furriends, L.C., Ayla, an' Iza at Mark's Mews, gave us this award. The text is written in Portuguese an' says somethin' like "Your Blog is Sweet." We're supposed to award it to five other blogs, but Mom's swamped with work from her job, so our time on the 'puter is limited. We'll make awards to others when Mom gets a free moment (or ten).

Thanks for the wonderful award!

Truthful Toozday

Victor Tabbycat asked me how I knew that it was Charmee who put the bitey on Puffy an' caused the infection ...

I can tell you all for a fact that it was Charmee 'cuz he has a personality conflict with Puffy an' bites on him all of the time 'cuz he's a MEANY (he's tried to bite me, too). But for sure it was Charmee 'cuz Mom saw him do it.

Mom's kids got upset when she told them how she spent her weekend. They said that Charmee was a bad boy an' that he'd attempted to murder Puffy. I'd like to think that Charmz was tryin' to TASTE Puffy an' just got carried away.

Puffy Update: He's home.

After Mom an' Grandma dropped Puffy off at the v-e-t, he was prepped for surgery. The v-e-t put in a drain to help the remainder of the infection to leave through the evacuated abcesses an' while he was under general anesthesia, she even cleaned his teeth. He was proclaimed to have barely elevated kidney levels, an' Mom thinks that an' the slight dehydration might be due to the fact that he wasn't able to climb to his usual drinkin' spot on the side table.

The v-e-t gave Puffy some medication to take for pain/inflammation an' some pills (with Pill Pockets) to take as antibiotics to heal the infection. He purred the whole time that he was awake an' didn't resume the "Meezer YOWL" until Mom loaded him into Grandma's SUV for the ride home. Puffy said "Weee-owwwmmmmhhh" the whole way home an' frustrated Mom an' Grandma so much that they joined him in his siren song for home.

Mom took a couple of kinda gross photos of Puffy's injuries in case you're curious ... (Biggify if you dare).

The Feline Americans an' I (as well as Mom, of course) wanna thank efurryone for the pawsitive healing energy that was flowin' toward us today. Mom is sure that this story wouldn't be havin' such a happy outcome without all of you! Thank you, Cat Blogosphere!

Cocoa Puff is in the hospital!

Feline American Puffy is in the hospital havin' some surgery to put in a drain near his left flank. He was kinda lethargic yesterday an' didn't eat furry many Temptations with his usual enthusiasm. He felt a little warm, so Mom gave him some extra attention, but didn't think much of it 'cuz it was hot yesterday.

This morning, he was lookin' a little flaky, so Mom thought that she'd brush him an' then give him a bath with his wipes. She sat with him on the couch an' he got excited about a nice brushing. Mom was usin' the Zoom Groom down his back when one of the "bristles" opened a scab and set forth a river of stinky beige pus down his back. Mom immediately called Grandma for her help with mopping up the mess. It turns out that Charmee had sunk his teeth into Puffy's flank a few days ago and the puncture wounds had become infected. Mom an' Grandma used alcohol-soaked cotton pads to clean Puffy up an' then shuttled him to the Banfield v-e-t in a pink Kennel Cab.

At the v-e-t, the pet nurse an' the v-e-t looked Puffy over, weighed him (22.8 lbs!!!), an' checked his vitals. Puffy calmed down quite a bit after the harrowing car ride where he YOWLED the entire trip. He's gettin' drains put into the abcesses an' he's also gettin' his teeth cleaned. Mom remembered to ask the staff to put a dose of Feline Advantage on him prior to his release so that we don't get fleas in our house. He's gonna wear one of those Elizabethan collars so he's gonna be a floodlight! He's also gettin' parts of himself shaved (!), so he's gonna get teased a bit.

Please keep your paws crossed an' say a couple of purrayers for Puffy. The v-e-t mentioned that if Mom hadn't caused the flood of pus to be released today an' he hadn't gotten his antibiotics, there's a good chance that our boy Puffy would be crossin' the Bridge a week from now. Wheewwww ... We don't wanna lose our Cocoa Francis Puff before his time.

Yay! It's World Cat Day!

Since we're celebratin' World Cat Day 2009, I wanna know where Mom's hidden all of my presents?!? (An' we wanna wish our furriend, Bruce, a happy birthday!)

Let us all celebrate ~ World Cat Day.

Celebrate kitties in your own special way.

Those here and near, and those now above,

all the kitties so dear, all the kitties we love.

Thanks to Zoey an' Maggy from Zoolatry for another pawesome graphic!

Is it Friday, yet? "In Step With: Charmee"

Mom does a project with her students as a part of the getting-to-know-you weeks of school called "In Step With ..." modeled after the Parade magazine feature that the late James Brady used to do. Students write questions and interview their partners while Mom snaps candids with her digital camera.

This year's kids in her English 10 Support class aren't very motivated, so Mom did a sample. Rather than take the pressure off a student in the class by interviewing him/her, Mom interviewed ... Charmee. Yep. She didn't interview ME even though I'm far more interesting, talented, an' gorgeous than Charmz.

For your viewing enjoyment, here's Mom's "In Step With: Charmee."

VITAL STATISTICS:

Name: Lucky Charmz

Nickname: Charmee

Birthday: June 20, 2003

Age: 6

Weight: 13 1/2 lbs.

Eyes: Blue

Fur: White, brown and black

Ethnicity: Feline American

Siamese mix (Wanna Meezer)

Siblings: DaisyMae Maus, 16 (F); Cocoa Francis Puff, 12 (M); Sparky K. Fuzzypants, 11 (M); Pumpkin, 8 (M)

Education: Princeton '13 (dual major: Pre-med/Biotech)

Marital Status: Single, neutered

I sat down recently with the youngest J****n cat to ask him why he was so willing to spend his precious coin collection -- Charmee is a notorious money-hoarder -- to buy spiral notebooks for a group of tenth graders at M********* High School.

He got SO angry with me that I feared he'd bite me with his sharp white teeth and leave the interview in a huff. But he sputtered, "Mom didn't even ask me! She just robbed my piggy of the $50.00 and took off for Target." But, "[t]hankfully, the students paid me back because I was running out of Temptations!" Temptations? The '60s singing group? No. Temptations are an addictive cat treat that Charmee purchases by the case with money that he earns by recycling bottles and cans. What type is his favorite? Seafood Medley, of course. When he's not snarfing down oodles of Temptations, Charmee likes a cat candy called Lickittys that are eaten after being stuck to a wall. He can stand and lick for a half hour or more!

Charmee has distinctive blue eyes that are common in cats of Oriental breeds, so I asked Charmee about his ethnicity. He proudly stated that he's a "Feline American," but shyly indicated that he's a Siamese mix also known as a "Wanna Meezer" because he has incomplete "points" (the dark color patches and masks found on purebreds).

Since he's a cat, and by nature, lazy, I asked him how he spends his non-sleeping hours expecting to hear about lounging in the cat condo and hunting for toy mice. I was surprised to hear that Charmee fetches. Isn't that something that dogs do? I asked. That got an immediate hiss from Charmee loud enough to make me flinch! He doesn't fetch rubber balls or Frisbees. He prefers plastic "cause" bracelets, especially the cancer awareness ones that are pink: His favorite color.

Charmee strikes me as a cat who knows what he wants and knows exactly how to get it: Force and intimidation. But I was surprised by his response when I asked him what was in his future: Do you believe that Charmee plans for a career in medical technology? He's enrolled with a dual pre-med and biotechnologies major at Princeton University as a member of the class of 2013. Meeeoowww!

Wordless Wednesday: The HOTS + the Humids = Lion Cut?

Tuxie Toozday: Mom likes ME best!

Last month when Mom was away (... sniff ...) from us on her vacation, she shopped at a store called MudBay. She bought lots of nifty stuff including some Yeowwww! Catnip sardines called "Stinkies" an' a ginormous 'nip rainbow that she puts as a tiara on Sparky Fuzzypants' melon (!) ... But the furry best-est thing that she bought was a planter. Yep. A planter is the furry best-est present. Why? Well, 'cuz it is a planter for cat grasses. The planter has its own dirt an' four different little squares for the different kind of seeds. It cost $9.99 at MudBay, but you can get one for about $12.99 at Drs. Foster and Smith.

Mom didn't want to plant it in the house 'cuz Charmee snoopervises EFURRYTHING an' the seeds wouldn't have a fair shake to grow into anything edible. She thought an' she thought 'bout places where she could stow the planter so that the seeds would become grasses for us to eat. Then, it came to her .... The PURRFECT place to take the seeds where they'd have access to light an' plenty of CO2 (carbon dioxide) to grow big an' green: SCHOOL.

The seeds were planted ten days ago an' they were kinda huge just after a weekend in the classroom. Today, she cut the blades of rye, oat, wheat, an' barley an' packed them into a zipper bag to bring home to ME!

Mom sprinkled those blades on the floor an' I ate 'em up just as if I were a vacuum cleaner! I LOVE grasses an' I love the taste of "green"! There weren't many blades left for the Feline Americans, but that's okay 'cuz I got mine!

We have a NEW COUSIN!

Our cousins, Zoey, the Furballs, an' Cha-Ching, have a hero-mommy an' a hero daddy who saved a kitten that had fallen from a speeding truck onto the freeway! They saw him fall an' risked their lives to run across the road an' capture the injured kitten as it tried to climb the median separating the east an' west-bound lanes.

The kitten, a feral tabby boy, was bleeding. They took him to the v-e-t for an evaluation an' it was determined that he'd sustained a broken jaw. The kitty boy was bundled up with some painkillers for the trip home with the intention of surgery on Monday to correct the broken jaw.

The curious Furballs watched while the new boy ate some soft kitty food (with great enthusiasm) an' he even accepted some pets with actual purring!

Mom's cousins are searchin' for a name for him ... We're suggestin' a name kinda like Mackenzie 'cuz he looks so much like their brofur who went to the Bridge.

Oh, an' here's his first baby picture: Isn't he a cutie?


Zip on over to Zoey an' the gang's bloggie an' offer some CONCATULATIONS on their new bundle of joy!