calicolovestorm

Typing With Wet Paws: New Journals Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It has been a big week around here, and most of it involved me, so it was mostly a good one.

photos by Mama Anna

First of all, this week marks Aunt Linda’s birthday. She does not like to have her photograph taken I have no idea why, because think she is beautiful. Here is a picture of the Sim version of her, instead. She loves to knit. I love to make biscuits on the things she knits. She gives me belly rubs every night, and breakfast every morning. My cat tree and crunchies barrel are in her room. So is the best sunbathing window. Probably some of my toys as well. Try looking under her bed. Her earbuds are probably there, too. She still loves me even though I steal them a lot. She is obviously a very important part of our family, so the anniversary of her getting born is a special holiday.

Sim made by Mama Anna

Second, this is an important week for Mama Anna because journals. Not only did she finish a whole 240 page journal, she started another one immediately and is already over ten pages into it. Here, you can see the okd journal (red) and the new one (green.)

Exceed A5 journal, lined.
(it comes in lots of colors)
Here is the front of them.

The pen is from Staples and has plain black ink. Mama Anna still needs stickers for the front of the green journal. I think she should get calico cat stickers.

As if that were not enough, she also got a surprise journal from Archer and Olive, which she will talk about later. This one has white pages. She is still getting to know it, and hoping it plays nicely with the other Archer and Olive book she has, which has black pages. I think she should get one of their books with black, white and orange (kraft) pages. Then that could be her calico journal, because it would be colored like me. The journal Mama Anna got came in a box. Aunt Linda told me not to sit in it. Hmph. Who does she think is in charge here? Mama Anna was cool about it. She understands the appeal of a good box. Also, the box came in a padded envelope, and that sucker is mine. Crinkly and soft, 10/10 would sit on again.

This blog does not have enough pictures of me. I don’t even mean only the blogs I write. I mean all of them.

There is also the planner I am looking at today, which is actually not a planner. It is set up like one, but it is for Mama Anna to record the media she consumes. This includes books she reads but is also for TV shows and movies she sees on streaming services, and You Tube and that kind of stuff. She says that will be useful in seeing what kinds of things go into her whatever it is where those things go. It probably has something to do with writing. I will be interested when it has something to do with belly rubs.

extra picture of me, because I am awesome

Did you get any boxes this week?

Typing With Wet Paws: Yes, You May Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. The humans were pretty sick (they said it was flu) for a while there, but they are better now, and I am free from the ardous labor of round the clock nursing to once again address my public.

In case you did not know this already, my Papa loves coins. He got some coin related stuff in the mail yesterday and wasted no time in getting it out of the box, which was clearly for me. Fits like a charm. He also got a special coin hat is not even money but is just for pretties. It says “Lucky” in English on one side, with writing that I think might be Japanese, too, and some koi fish on the back. It reminded Mama Anna of the Japanese money cat statues, which are always calico. I agree; having a calico cat makes humans feel very lucky indeed.

Mama Anna does not do the whole coin thing, but that’s okay. She loves stationery and has been doing a lot with it lately Right now, she is super excited about filing the last forty pages in her current catchall journal and then starting a new one. Would you be interested in her sharing her process for starting a new journal? Le me know in the comments, and I will tell her. She’s kind of thinking about making more videos, and I would like to encourage her. Especially because it means a chance for me to video bomb her. When she has been on the glowy box for too long, I crawl across the desk and up onto her shoulder and head bonk her head. So far, everybody I have videobombed her on have been one hundred percent paws-itive.

Mama Anna also loves pink. Pink is good, stationery is good, pink stationery is very good. Especially if I can lie on it. Some of my nose and paw pads are pink (some is also black, her other favorite color) so this works in my favor. Anyway, here is one of the planners Mama Anna has set up for the coming month. I will tell you a secret though – not all of the planners she sets up are for actual planning. She sometimes just brain dumps into them and then figures out where she is going when she gets there.

She is turning over a bunch of her stationery to flowery spring/summer themes. Her version of those seasons may be different from what other people use, but that’s okay because she likes being different. Same with me. Did you know that no two calico cats’ splootches (what we call my colored areas) are the same? Chaos, baby.

Okay, about the writing. Mama Anna and Aunt Melva are still looking forward to finding out the next steps for Queen of Hearts and Drama King, and Mama Anna is creating a notebook section for when she and Aunt Melva are ready to think about new writing projects together. Aunt Melva has given a thumbs up to Mama Anna’s back forty outline to Her Last First Kiss, so now it only remains to break things down into scenes, and then get a-writing.

As for the reading…it is not happening a the moment. Mama Anna is not pleased with this, but what does please her (and will help to fill the remaining pages of her current journal) is to write about why the reading is not happening. Well, actually it is happening, but very slowly Mama Anna likes her reading nook very much, and even though she likes the chair that is there now, she is going to measure the area to see if a comfier chair will fit there. Either way, it will really be my chair. Every chair is my chair. I love chairs. Also boxes. I will happily sit in either one. Or a box in a chair. That would be awesome. Ooh. Paper. In a box. On a chair. Yessss. with catnip in it. In a sunbeam. Mama Anna, make that happen, please?

What’s your favorite place to sit?

Typing With Wet Paws: About Time for April Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. I would apologize for not posting as much as the schedule says, but, well, I am a cat. Sunbeams exist. Deal. Windows have been open. I know my priorities. Anyway, I’m back now. You’re welcome. Here is a picture of me in the midst of daily activities.

photo by Mama Anna

Mama Anna says I also should shear the whole picture, to show how hard I work, and some of the things I help her with as she refines her planning and journaling process. I am always up for new pictures of me, so here it is:

also by Mama Anna

What you can see here are a case where Mama Anna has put the washi that she uses most in one place, and me in the box from her first (but not last) Archer and Olive journal. I don’t exactly fit, but I sit anyway. Mama Ana says that I make a really good paperweight. I like to think of it as keeping her on task. She ccan’t put the journal away while I am in the box, so why not write in it? Right? It’s a fair strategy.

In case you want a better view of the washi, here it is:

Mama Anna likes the general assortment of tapes here, though she does need some more dark florals. She used most of the ones that were there. She doesn’t do cute or too bright. The tapes that are not turned so that the pattern shows are, my left to my right, second row: blush pink with white line art of people; two different purple dreamy celestial stuff. She has other washi, but it is stored elsewhere. This is the stuff she wants to grab if heading out the door for spontaneous journaling outside or something.

Mama Anna is working on getting her reading back on track, because it has been very much off track. She is not too happy about that. Journaling helps with that, and also with the writing. She and Aunt Melva will hear about Queen of Hearts in a few weeks, which is not that long. Mama Anna is pretty chill about it. Her outlook is that her boos are going to get out there. If it’s trad pub, cool. If it’s indie, cool. I have to say that is very cat-like of her. I am proud. She’s learning.

Soon, maybe this weekend, maybe later, she is going to set up a special journal or notebook to organize future book ideas, so that they are all in one place. She really really really does not like chaos. That is why we are doing a lot of rearranging and organizing these days. That’s fine by me because I can explore things as she moves stuff. Since we have a lot of boxes, that’s a lot of boxes for me to sit in and on; no need to choose.

That’s about it here this week. We have had the fan on, when necessary, which is rather nice. Wind in my fur, but still inside. Best fo both worlds. What’s awesome in your life this week?

Typing With Wet Paws: Almost April Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Today is the last day of March, and tomorrow is April. Mama Anna is excited to get down to a bunch of things that will be new in April, and I am here to help her with all of them. Especially the ones that come in boxes. Mmm, boxes.

I am excited today because EVERYBODY who lives with me is home today. I get to spend the biggest chunk of the day with Papa, while Mama Anna and Aunt Linda go hunting. They bring home some great stuff, but it doesn’t smell like me. Fortunately, I smell like me, and I can fix that right away.

If you look closely at the picture above, you will see a black notebook. I am sitting on it. By the time you read this, Mama Anna will have it filled and will be starting a brand new one tomorrow. If that one comes in plastic wrap, it won’t smell like me right off the bat, so I’ll have to take care of that. If the cover is leathery, then I cna do the pricky pricky on it with my claws and then there will be no doubt that it’s Mama Anna’s book. That approach worked very well for me when it came to her pink leather office chair. Also um, other things with extremely inviting textures.

This week, we got some packages in the mail. They did come in boxes, which I of course love and have to investigate. One of them was smelly stuff for Mama Anna. I don’t get humans and smelly stuff. I already scent her with my headbonks. . Anyway, it’s a really small smelly stuff that she can carry in her makeup bag, but it came in a box big enough for me to sit inside, packed with big sheets of crinkly paper. Hmm. Boxes and crinkly paper; why do I even care what is inside them for the humans?

Windows are not open here yet, even though I keep looking at Aunt Linda’s window with a look that tells her very clearly what I would like. She says it is “cold.” I say I have a built-in fur coat. I will be fine. She says the people don’t. Sigh. Anyway, I know spring is coming and I am helping Mama Anna get ready for it. This spring should bring a lot of writing. That means both the journal kind ant the fiction kind. All I know is that it’s going to involve notebooks and I can sit on those all day. More than that, I do. Keeps Mama Anna on her toes. Sometimes because I won’t give up her desk chair. A girl’s got to nap somewhere, am I right?

Where’s your favorite nap spot?

Typing With Wet Paws: Weekend Prep Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This week, I want to start with congratulations to Mama Anna for being on track with her Goodreads Challenge. Starting strong, that’s what we like to see. Also whatever she is doing at a given moment, because, you know, I am a cat.

This picture of me from one year ago is proof that I am a cat, and also that Mama Anna needs to take more pictures in general, and of me specifically. We are working on that. Everybody loves cat pictures, and if the pctures of me happen to be of when I am sitting on or near her planner/journal supplies and/or other stuff, the pictures can cross-post to special interest groups. I like to multitask.

The book Mama Anna is focusing on this weekend is Lisbon, by Valerie Sherwood, who is one of her top tier historical romance authors. This was Ms. Sherwood’s final book, as far as we know, and Mama Anna hasn’t read it again since she read it the first time, when it was new and she and Papa just starting their lives together. She still has her copy in storage, I think, and it is very special to her, because Papa went out and got it for her in hardcover, because she was so excited for the book to come out and didn’t want to wait for paperback. This copy is from the library, and they will want their copy back at some point. I am especially fond of Mama Anna reading hardcovers in bed, because A) I get to rest on it when she falls asleep next to it, and B) I can cuddle with her while she reads, and rub my scent on it at the same time. I wonder if there are any cats at the library who will appreciate me annotating in that manner.

In other news, we are now on spring watch. This means that I in particular am keeping an eye on the windows and asking the humans to open them for me. Open windows are extremely important for neighborhood surveillance, which of course is one of my duties as a cat.

Other important duties come into play at this time of year as well. With Mama Anna moving her papers and pens around to make way for the switch to focus on new writing projects, my opinion and input is vital. I may or may not make off with the occasional eraser, pen cap, or bookmark, but I consider that due payment. Ditto my new habit of walking from my drawer (that is level to Mama Anna’s desk) onto said desk. If I go back and forth, that means that I want a cuddle and I want it now. It is then her turn to invite me into her lap, which I will accept. Then I put my head and front paws on her shoulder. Today, she gave in to the inevitable and paused in what she was doing and concentrated on cuddling me. She’s smart that way.

So, that’s about it for this week. The weekend should involve reading, cuddles, journaling and cuddles, maybe watch something on streaming and cuddles. Do you see a pattern here? How’s your week going?

Typing With Wet Paws: The Big Oh-Four Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It’s been a wet everything off and on today, because it rained sometimes. Other times it was just cloudy. Papa did not have to go to work today, so he stayed home with Mama Anna and me. She has been drinking a lot of tea and is now taking care of some writing stuff. She was going to do some in depth overhaul of her desk area but she will do that when Papa is not home. Our home is cozy, which means that it’s easy for the big humans to get in each others’ way. I, being the Calico Comet, can dart in and out at will. Also top speed.

Anyway, on to the important news or should I say mews. February fourteenth, what humans call Valentine’s Day is also the day when we observe not only my birthday but big sister Skye’s. I am very proud to share an observed birthday with her. My first mom, Mama D, didn’t say when my birthday is, and I am not sure she knows, so Mama Anna and those guys don’t know either, but February fourteenth is a pretty good guess. Happy purr-thday to me. While my exact birthday is shrouded in mystery, it is safe to say that as of this birthday, I have hit the big oh-four. I got lots of pets and belly rubs and Mama Anna is always good for bringing out my red dot when I ask her.

As a newly recognized four-year-old, I have learned a few things. Here they are, in no particular order:

  • Calicos can shed on every color of clothes, furniture, etc. This includes patterns.
  • I am an indoor cat. Never mind the awesome yearlong camping trip these guys took to celebrate my adoption. I did get out once, on my own, and I regret that. I had a few days living under a parking lot with the skunks and the possums. It was Not Great and pretty scary. 0/10 would not recommend. Indoors is where it’s at, and where I am, as well.
  • All furniture is cat furniture. No need to explain.
  • If you can’t find it, it’s probably in one of my stashes. Maybe you’ll see it again, maybe you won’t. Depends on how I feel.

I know more, but Mama Anna wants the computer now. Something about novel work. Or maybe Sims. Possibly both. Whichever, she is going to need my su-purr-vision. How’s your weekend going?

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Tales From the Deep Freeze Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We are staying nice and snug here in NY state, even though the temperatures are in the single digits today. Don’t worry about us, though. we are keeping warm. Mama Anna has fleecy clothes on, and I have a built-in fur coat, so we are good. Also, she drinks a lot of tea. I mean a lot. As long as it keeps her warm and happy, I guess it’s okay.

Anyway, it’s Friday again, and that means I get to take over the blog for the day. We will start with my most recent pictures.

Ahem. That is NOT me. That is part of Mama Anna’s everyday carry (EDC) traveler’s notebook (TN.) I guess I may as well talk about that for a minute. Mama Anna would be lost without this thing even though it’s not a planner. Seriously. Her planner is a different notebook. This is one notebook she writes in every day and then two others she hasn’t written in yet, but is holding onto because she will at some point. I don’t get humans. She actually has a lot of TNs, in different sizes (and wants more; whatever, I can sit on them and make them my own with claws and such) and only today figured out that the rando sketchbook she picked up at an art store is actually the size of book that is supposed to go in this cover, which is A6, not the pocket sized things she has had in there all this time. She does have a pocket sized book on hand so she tried moving the pocket size stuff into that one and then putting the A6 book into that cover, and then….well, she doesn’t have any other A6 inserts, so she did some checking around, also looked into making her own, and then :deep breath: figured out that if she put that A6 book in the A6 cover, she can’t carry as many pens at one time in the pen loop and back pocket, so it’s back to the original arrangement.

Now, this is me. Yes, I look a little rough here, but that’s only because I just that minute got up from a nap and Mama Anna put a camera in my face. She’s getting back into the whole picture taking thing and I seem to be her number one favorite model. She has good taste. I do question her thought process when she says I can’t walk across her keyboard while she is using it. I am trying to help here. Okay, I may or may not have deleted part of a PDF she was working with, and I did butt-dial a friend on Discord, but really, are those things so horrible? Counted against the sheer amount of cuteness I provide, these things can be swept under the rug with all of the missing earbuds and hair ties.

Speaking of earbuds, Mama Anna is trying out a new thing this weekend: wireless earbuds. She suspects that they will soon be reclassified as “cat toys,” which I think is very progressive of her. Everything is a cat toy when you’re a kitty. Anyway, things are going pretty good over here. Mama Anna and Aunt Melva expect to be sending Queen of Hearts off to their editor very very soon, and Mama Anna will be back in historical mode. I like historical mode. There are lots of cats in historicals, or there should be. Thinkn of it, all those birds and mice and other vermin. Who you going to call, hoomans? That’s right. Cats. You’re welcome.

Also, I have a new sign off picture. How is your week going?

Forest for the Christmas Trees

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Tails Up, storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re Awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This is coming to you in the prevening rather than morning because it’s a recovery day around here. Aunt N (upgraded from Neighbor N) has been around a lot, which is super cool. The more the merrier, I always say, which definitely applies to Christmas trees around here. Well, it kind of does. Let me explain.

Okay, so, irst of all, we have some math:

Number of Christmas trees we actually own: Four.
Number of Christmas trees the humans can locate: Three.
Number of Christmas trees technically in place: Two
Number of Christmas trees that Mama Anna has not yet located: One.
Number of Christmas trees the humans still need to put up and decorate: One.
Number of Christmas trees they actually intended to put up this year: One.
Number of Christmas trees I have knocked over so far this year: Zero.

To be fair, the number of Christmas trees I have ever knocked over is probably also zero. I was with Mama D for my first Christmas, because I did not know Mama Anna yet. I was really young then, though, so I don’t remember what went on with Mama D’s Christmas tree, though I want to say we did have one. I don’t remember if it was a big tree or a smaller one, but of the Christmas trees I can remember, They have all been tabletop or smaller. Mama Anna says that we will get a big tree when we are in a bigger apartment. I am okay with that.

Out of the trees we have, Mama Anna knows exactly where three of them are. It’s the tiny pink brush tree that she’s only sure of where it generally is, but she will probably track it down tomorrow, and then it can go on the windowsill where it belongs. Out of the trees technically in place, there is the miniature ceramic Christmas tree that has its own lights. That one is on top of Mama Anna’s desk hutch. It’s about half the size of the green ceramic one that her mama had when Mama Anna was a people kitten. It’s also pink. The newest one came tomorrow, because we are helping Aunt N move. This one is another tabletop tree. It’s cone shaped and made out of green tinsel. It doesn’t have any lights on it, but Mama Anna might put some on, later.

The Christmas tree that isn’t up yet is the rose gold tinsel one that was going to be the only tree, until the other trees happen. Now, Mama Anna is well on her way to the Christmas tree forest of her dreams. When Mama Anna was a people kitten, she spent some awesome Christmases with her Aunt S and Uncle G, who had three trees: one big one in the living room a small one in a different room, and then another one outside. The living room one was the one with the presents. Aunt S and Uncle G had cats, but Mama Anna doesn’t remember any of them climbing the tree. Eh, I can look it up on You Tube. “How to Climb Christmas Trees for Beginners” should be a good search term, right? I want to be ready when we get one of these bad boys:

Photo by Valeria Vinnik on Pexels.com

One thing Mama Anna has already decorated is her everyday carry traveler’s notebook (EDC):

Mama Anna is really, really, really into the whole traveler’s notebook thing, and decorating her notebooks and planners for the holidays. She plans to be done with the journal she keeps in this book by Christmas (pocket size or A6 hardcover; lined paper, ivory preferred.) She doesn’t really know what she’s doing with the blank insert she has in here, but it does take watercolor well, and her usual thing is to carry around an insert blank for a while and then she’ll know what to do with it when the time is right. I have learned to stay out of the way for this kind of thing, apart from sitting on open packs of paper. That never gets old.

I should probably say something here about Mama Anna’s writing. She and Aunt Melva are on track with their editing goals for Drama King and Queen of Hearts. When they are done with those, they will swap edits, probably say “looks good to me” on both counts, and then to the editor things go. That will put them both where they need to be for next year, where the first quarter is set aside for their solo writing. Aunt Melva will work on a humorous memoir, and Mama Anna will return to the world of historical romance with Her Last First Kiss. She is trying a new thing this year with a special writing planner/tracker, which I think is pretty cool. I’ve sat on it. It’s comfortable.

Anyway, about time for me to go stare at Mama Anna and wait for her to do the right thing and set up that last Christmas tree. It’s going on a table, which has chairs I can totally get onto, and once I am on the chair, that tree will be mine. Bwahahaha.\

Headbonks!

Storm

Typing With Wet Paws: Black, White and Orange Edition 2022

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Mama Anna’s excuse for not posting yesterday is that it was Thanksgiving, which was true. We had Neighbor N over. Papa mostly napped, and Mama Anna and Aunt Linda talked with Neighbor N a lot. They did spend a lot of time praising me, so the spirit of the holiday was fulfilled. I had crunchies, which is my favorite food. The humans had to eat people food. Apparently, lasagna is not a traditional Thanksgiving food, but this family seldom has traditional Thanksgiving anything. Whatever.

Anyway, Mama Anna will be hitting her revised Goodreads Challenge goal this weekend, by hitting her fiftieth book of the year. It hasn’t been the best reading year, so the bar is low for next year. We’ll see what happens. Purr-sonally, I am more concerned about when they get the Christmas tree up, because, well, you know cats and Christmas trees. Not that the humans are getting a full-sized tree this year. There’s no challenge with a tabletop tree. Maybe when we live in a bigger apartment. At least there will still be a lot of interesting Christmas preparations that involve things like papers and tissue and other crinkly things. Plus there is the issue of bags. Shopping for holiday stuff means stuff that comes in bags, and bags mean I can sit on those bags. Any way you look at it, I win on that front.

Now that the Christmas season is officially on, it does add a little juice to Mama Anna’s work. She and Aunt Melva are on track with their editing goals for both Drama King and Queen of Hearts. Mama Anna is trying out a type of writing planner that she thinks are working pretty well right now and may carry over into the new year. That new year will also involve both her and Aunt Melva moving their individual solo works to the front burners When those drafts are done, then they will start a new book together. Unless they manage to sell one of the abovementioned books, because then they have things like more edits and proofs and that kind of stuff.

Mam Anna is still working on what she wants for a holiday planner and next year’s planners, but she says she totally will be posting more about that here. I’d say about the time the eggnog and peppermint kick in, which should be any time now.

Headbonks!

Storm

Typing With Wet Paws: Resting Queen Face Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws.

This picture was taken by my awesome cat sitter, Neighbor N. Mama Anna doesn’t know yet how Neighbor N wants to be credited for their photo yet, so we are saying Neighbor N for now. They wanted to capture my “Queen Face” but said it was hard because I am flat out too cute. What do you think? The two can’t be mutually exclusive. I can be both.

Anyway, on about Mama Anna. She was going to write her own post (and still is) but later. A big thing happened this week and that is that she and Aunt Melva finished writing the first draft of Queen of Hearts, the third book in their Love by the Book series. the first one, Chasing Prince Charming, came out and then, well, live happened, A lot of life happened. They wrote another book, too, Drama King, and now they are editing both at the same time. This means Mama Anna is going ot need a lot of help from her Mews, so I am ready.

She is also back to working on Her Last First Kiss, doing some fixing to the second half, because babbling to one of her friends about the events that were keeping her stuck. This is where history can super help out when a historical romance writer isn’t sure what to do next. Because that’s one of the fun things about historical romance. It’s kind of like fantasy or science fiction, I guess, because the rules of the world matter to what the characters can do within the story. That’s how “augh, this thing is far too complicated, but I have to make it work can turn in an instant into, “wait, this other thing was totally legal back then; they could just do that. Boom.”

This is also the time of year when people who like planners and that kind of thing are getting ready to get next year’s planners and journals and stuff in order. That also means that it’s time when their cats get to sit on oh so much paper and play with the pens and sticky notes and clips and pompoms and…as Mama Anna would write, “happy sigh.:

In other updates, I got a new scratchy thing. That’s a thing made out of cardboard that goes on the floor and I can shred it with my claws. The humans tried to hang the new one from a doorknob. Can you believe that? I am, o course, completely ignoring that and still scratching the old one. I think they’ll get the picture soon enough.

What’s up with you guys?

Headbonks!

Storm