HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yes, once again it’s Thanksgiving week… that wonderful time of year when we all stop and give thanks for all the wonderful blessings we have. Yes, even in these difficult economic times, most of us have much to be thankful for. But still, let’s not forget those who don’t have as much as we do and hope that their lives improve for the better. And let’s also remember those who have given so much over the years so that we can continue to have the lifestyle we so enjoy today.

Now right about here, you’re probably thinking, “Hey, Quasi, those are very nice Thanksgiving sentiments and all that, but what does Thanksgiving hold in store for us cats?” Well, for your edification and enjoyment, here’s the Thanksgiving section from the “Holiday Fun (& Danger)” chapter of The World Is Your Litter Box…

Thanksgiving: A good holiday for cats, even if it’s not so good for turkeys. At Thanksgiving, human families get together to gorge themselves and good feeling is in the air (as are an abundance of good cooking smells!) In most households with male and female humans, the male usually spends the day watching football on TV while the female toils in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner. In addition to providing engrossing tension and lively, entertaining arguments, this situation will afford you a good lap to sleep in, unless your male human becomes over-exuberant and spills beer on you, and plenty of interesting activity in the kitchen. Once the table is set, you might want to jump up there and make sure all the silverware, plates, and glasses are properly arranged. And when dinner is finally served, be sure to go from person to person looking as cute (and hungry) as possible. There is nothing better than Thanksgiving turkey. Yum! Then, when dinner is over and everyone is sated beyond the point of decency, including you, you can go into the bedroom and have a nice snooze on everyone’s coats, just like on New Years Eve and other holidays during cold seasons. Yes, there is much to be thankful for.

Along with Steve and Judy (my humans), I want to wish everyone - cat, human and otherwise - a very safe and happy Thanksgiving!

CAT CRUSH ON TAYLOR SWIFT

A couple nights ago, from my usual spot on the back of the couch behind Steve and his female, I watched Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by Taylor Swift, the very talented (and very cute) singer. About halfway through the show, I came to a startling realization, and that is… I have a BIG CAT CRUSH on Taylor Swift.

Now I know this is just a crazy fantasy and that nothing will ever come of it, but I find myself dreaming of Taylor Swift’s gentle touch as she rubs my tummy and her sweet, juicy lips as she kisses my nose and cuddles me. OMG, it makes me purr just thinking about it! I wonder if Taylor Swift is a cat person? And, dare I even think it… I wonder if she’s read The World Is Your Litter Box?

Oh well, like I said, probably nothing will ever come of my kitty crush, but hey Taylor… if you ever come to Burbank, there’s a great big furry white tummy waiting for you to rub! And if Kanye West ever bothers you again... just let me know and I'll give him a big, scary hiss!

STILL FLUMMOXED BY TIME CHANGE

Am I the only cat who’s still completely perplexed by the time change? Normally I adapt within a few days, but this year, for some reason, I just can’t seem to get my internal kitty clock synced up with human clocks. Maybe it has to do with global warming or sunspots or something. All I know is, when I wake Steve and his female at my formerly normal time of 7:00 a.m., it’s now 6:00 a.m., which makes them very angry to be awakened so early. Oh, well. If I get hungry at 6:00 a.m. (or what used to be 7:00 a.m.), they just have to get up and feed me, and that’s that! Hey, can I help it if my circadian rhythm is all messed up?

As far as I’m concerned, this whole concept of setting clocks ahead one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall is one the worst ideas humans have come up with yet. It’s VERY confusing. I think all humankind should adopt the much-easier-to-use international kitty clock system, which is clearly divided into “awake” time and “nap” time. And since “nap” time lasts for around 20 hours a day, the remaining “awake” time would be much simpler for everyone to manage. Do we cats have to think of EVERYTHING?

Anyway, until humans come to their senses and quit monkeying around with their clocks twice a year, I guess we cats will just have to continue to “spring ahead” and “fall back” as the time change reminder goes. Just don’t blame us if we wake our humans up an hour early in the fall and let them oversleep one hour in the spring.

THE BACK-HOME-AGAIN DAMAGE REPORT

Steve and his female FINALLY arrived back home from their visit to Savannah GA and Charleston SC. Even though they were only gone six days, it felt like a lot longer. Of course, of those six days, I spent approximately 120 hours asleep, so mostly, I only missed them in my dreams. And, as usual, I was able to con my pet sitter into giving me an overabundance of kitty treats. Still, when humans leave cats alone, they MUST pay, and Steve and his female are no exception. Here’s the teach-them-a-lesson-for-leaving-me damage report:

• 45 minutes of serious kitty scorn (I tried for an hour, but I couldn’t hold out any longer)
• 1 unraveled and finely-shredded roll of toilet paper
• “Accident” outside litter box
• Demolition of the female’s favorite houseplant
• 1 kacked-up hairball on coffee table, with fallout spatter on the DVD remote
• All Tivo’d shows deleted and replaced with programming from Animal Planet
• Uber-shredding on the arm of the couch
• All books pushed out of the bookcase and onto the floor (except The World Is Your Litter Box)
• Overwhelming smell of cat throughout the house
• Cat hair on everything

And one final thing… Steve and the female said they only saw two kitties in Savannah and NONE in Charleston. I’m guessing that my fellow cats in the low country were sleeping off huge meals of kitty food and grits and were just too full and sated to go outside. Regardless, y’all, here’s a hearty shout out to every one of my kitty compadres in the South.

HOME ALONE 2009

For one week, Steve and his female are taking a vacation, which they seem to do every year about this time. This year, they’re going to Savannah, which is in some place called Georgia, and Charleston, which is in some place called South Carolina. Why they want to go to these two cities is a mystery to me, but I hear they’re both very beautiful and historic, and that they both have lots of opportunities to eat indulgent amounts of delicious Southern food (now THAT’S something I can relate to!).

Nice for Steve and the female, but not so swell for yours truly. For you see, fellow cat, for one week, I’ll be home alone and left in the care of my pet sitter, who comes over twice a day to feed me and cater to whatever whims I might feel at the time. Now, right about here, you’re probably thinking, “But Quaz, in The World Is Your Litter Box, you talked about all kinds of ways to take advantage of your pet sitter. That can't be so bad.” Yes, that’s true, and I plan to do just that. But still, there’s nothing like having your own humans around to suck up to you 24/7, and when they’re gone, I’m forced to WAIT for things like food and attention. Unacceptable human behavior if you ask me.

So, fellow cat, as I always do when Steve and the female leave me home alone, I will make them pay dearly (as only a cat can). I haven’t yet determined the level and scope of household damage I intend to inflict, but you can bet it will be – shall we say – noticeable. And, of course, when Steve and the female return, I’ll scorn both of them (for a little while, anyway) to teach a lesson they shan’t soon forget.

Anyway, I hope Steve and his female have a nice vacation in the South, but they better bring me back something nice. Perhaps some catnip-flavored grits or a replica of Fort Sumter that I can lie on and crush. Please, God, just don’t let them come back talking like Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara!

THE END OF BASEBALL SEASON

Today, according to my human, Steve, is the saddest day of the year. For you see, today, the words “Final Standings” appear on the sports page of the newspaper. This means that the regular 2009 baseball season is officially over, and for Steve, this is a tragedy on the magnitude of the Great Plague. Put it this way… in addition to being a cat nut, Steve is a MAJOR baseball nut. Steve grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and even though he lives in Southern California (home of the hated Dodgers), his favorite team has always been the SF Giants.

But forget Steve. What I’m sure you REALLY want to know, fellow cat, is how does the end of baseball season affect your ‘ole pal Quasi? Well, in our household, we have a very workable arrangement that allows Steve to watch zillions of baseball games without incurring the wrath of the female. Steve has MLB.TV, so he can watch all the Giants games on his computer in his home office (yes, I know… he SHOULD be helping me work on The World Is STILL Your Litter Box instead of frittering his time away watching humans running around on a baseball diamond). This leaves the TV (and the Netflix cue) free for the female so she can watch all the nauseating chick flicks and reality TV shows she wants. And when the female is happy, we’re ALL happy. Anyway, when Steve watches baseball games on the computer, he props his legs up on his desk, which creates the perfect lap space for yours truly. Yes, that’s right… hours of baseball watching translates into hours of high quality lap time and petting for ME!

During the Giants games, when one of the opposing players strikes out, Mike Krukow, one of the Giants announcers often says, “Grab some pine, meat.” For me, I’ll have to wait ‘til next spring for Steve to look at me, pat his lap and say “Grab some lap, meat.”

It’s going to be a long, cold winter.

The World Is STILL Your Litter Box

Lately, several erudite kitty (and human) readers of The World Is Your Litter Box, my ultra-hilarious how-to manual for cats, have asked me about the status of the follow-up, The World Is STILL Your Litter Box… so, as a means providing an update (and take advantage of yet another opportunity to shamelessly promote my writing career), let me first tell you that barring any last-minute complications, The World Is STILL Your Litter Box will be out in the spring of 2010. We don’t have a firm release date yet, but when we do, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Meanwhile, here is a partial list of chapters from the new book that are finished so far…

• How to Tell If Your Human Is a True Cat Nut
• What to Do If Your Human Puts You On a Diet
• Breezy Excuses for Unacceptable Kitty Behavior
• Cat Sounds and What They Mean
• Fun Things to Do When You’re Buzzed On Catnip
• How to Live with Multiple Cats and Alpha Males
• Good Fighting (and Survival) Techniques
• How to Baby-sit Guest Kittens
• Why Cats Are Smarter Than Humans

Let me also apologize for being somewhat missing in action on the web lately, but as you can imagine, writing a book is very hard, time-consuming work… especially for a cat with a multitude of household responsibilities and a need to sleep 20 hours a day. But rest assured that Steve and I are working very diligently to complete The World Is STILL Your Litter Box, and when you finally read it, I think you’ll agree that it will have been worth the wait (if I don’t say so myself!).

WHY CAN'T HUMANS BE MORE LIKE CATS? (CIVILITY LESSON #2)

Just when I thought humans couldn’t be any ruder and nastier to one another, yet another incident occurred that made me wonder why humans can’t be more like cats. On the MTV Music Video Awards program a few days ago, Kanye West interrupted an acceptance speech by Taylor Swift, grabbed the microphone from Swift’s hand, and proceeded to tell the whole world that Beyonce was more deserving of the award. (To Beyonce’s credit, she graciously ceded some of her time on the program so Swift could complete her acceptance speech.)

Have humans (other than Beyonce) gone completely mad? Has it become fashionable for humans to yell and scream and interrupt one another? I know that hosts on talk radio and cable TV do it, but does that mean that all humans have to act like louts and oafs to make their point?

Here’s what I think humans should do to become more kind and courteous… in other words, to become more like cats. First, all humans should give at least one other human a kiss (which is the equivalent of our licking). Then, all humans should give another human at lease one delicious treat. And finally, all humans should take a nice long nap so they wake up refreshed, and hopefully, in a better mood. Hey, it works for us cats.

WHY CAN'T HUMANS BE MORE LIKE CATS? (CIVILITY LESSON #1)

From my usual spot on the back of the couch, behind Steve and his female, I watched President Obama’s speech on health care reform, and quite frankly, I was stunned by the behavior of certain human members of Congress. Throughout the speech, I heard cat calls (and I don’t mean meows), and I saw several humans texting or Twittering while the President was speaking. Tres rude! One white male congressman even shouted out, “You lie.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the President of the United States the leader of the free world and deserving of a certain amount of respect, even if you disagree with him?

Now what occurred to me while watching the speech, among other things, is… why can’t humans be more like cats? Let me give you an example. When I disagree with one of my fellow felines, I merely hiss at them and… well yes, sometimes a whap or two on the head are also required to drive my point home. But I don’t call other cats liars or Nazis or Commies or whatever. Even with enemy cats, I try to show a reasonable degree of courtesy and respect. After all, what are we? Animals?

Now I’m not suggesting that humans hiss at each other or whap each other on the head, but a little civility would be nice. All this screeching and name calling is getting humans nowhere, and for the rest of us, it’s mighty unpleasant. Disagree if you must, humans, but please try and keep the level of discourse out of the gutter. And it would also be nice if you could disagree more quietly. Hey, some of us are trying to nap.

FIRES IN CALIFORNIA

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that some very serious wildfires are burning in California, primarily in Southern California where it’s very hot. The largest one, known as the Station Fire, is burning out of control in the Los Angeles area. We live pretty close to the fire… not so close that we’re in any immediate danger, but close enough that we can see and smell the smoke in the air. It’s pretty nasty.

It seems that all the states in the good ‘ole USA are plagued with some kinds of natural disasters, whether it be hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts. In California, from roughly August through October, it’s fire season. That’s because in most of the state, we get no rain between June and the late fall, so everything becomes tinder dry. Combine that with extremely hot weather, and you’ve got very dangerous conditions that all too often become disastrous.

At times like these, in addition to concern about humans, I worry about all the forest creatures and house pets (yes, even dogs) who are in so much danger. And, of course, emergency situations like this put a significant strain on all the animal shelters and rescue organizations. I know things are pretty tight with the economy right now, but if you have a few extra bucks, you might want to make a donation to the shelter or rescue organization of your choice. You’ll find a list of some of the more well-known animal organizations on the Litter Box website.

Meanwhile, here’s a big meow out to all the human firefighters who are doing so much and risking their lives to conquer these horrible fires. We can’t thank you enough.

CAT VIDEOS RULE THE WEB!

The August 7 issue of Entertainment Weekly has an article of interest to all cats and cat lovers everywhere. I’m a little late with this information, but I didn’t know about the article until Steve’s female nicked a copy of the magazine from the gym. Anyway, the story is entitled “Hello Kitty,” and its all about how cats are the undisputed stars of the Internet. Yes fellow cats and cat lovers, according to the article, cat videos are the most watched videos on the web… in fact, some videos have been viewed over 4 million times. Let’s see dogs, politicians, movie stars and the Kardashian sisters top that!

As a public service to everyone who loves cats (and who doesn’t?), we’ve assembled the crème de la crème of the best (and funniest) cat videos on the web… all in one place for your convenience. Simply visit the official The World Is Your Litter Box website, click on “Fun Cat Videos,” and get ready to laugh your tail off. That’s entertainment!

CHILD PORN DOWNLOADED BY CAT? I THINK NOT!

Here’s a story that made the news last week, but bears repeating, I think. In Jepsen Beach, Florida, a human named Keith Griffin was arrested on child pornography charges after the police found over 1,000 illicit images on his computer. Griffin contended that he left the room while downloading music and when he returned, his cat had walked across the keyboard and downloaded “strange material.”

Nice try, chucko. Hey, I acknowledge that many cats (myself included) enjoy an entertaining stroll across our human’s computer keyboard from time to time, and I also acknowledge that I occasionally surf the net looking for racy images of Hello Kitty. But this allegation is completely bogus! If Griffin were truly downloading music, there’s virtually no way his kitty could have walked across the keyboard and brought up an entirely different web page. And furthermore, to bring up 1,000 images (according to mathematical probability statistics), his kitty would have had to walk across the keyboard no less than 978,432 trillion times!

Needless to say, the police did not buy Griffin’s explanation and took him into custody. His kitty, an innocent victim of blind justice (like Dr. Richard Kimble in “The Fugitive”) is being cared for by a family friend.

NEW BOOK

Work on my new book, The World Is STILL Your Litter Box, is progressing nicely. As of now, Steve and I are a little over halfway done with the book, which will be out in the Spring of 2010. Some of the completed chapters include, "How to Tell If Your Human Is a True Cat Nut," "What to Do If Your Human Puts You on A Diet," "Fun Things to Do When You're Buzzed on Catnip," and "Breezy Excuses for Unacceptable Kitty Behavior." If you liked The World Is Your Litter Box, you'll LOVE The World Is STILL Your Litter Box. Who says literary lightning doesn't strike twice!

That's me in the photo, resting from an exhausting writing session and cooling my feverishly-creative kitty brain.

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Have you ever wondered where the phrase “dog days of summer” came from or what it actually means? Well, with the hottest, sultriest days of summer upon us (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway), ‘ole Quaz decided to do a little research and find out.

Being a cat, I originally thought the “dog days of summer” meant that the weather was so hot, it turned dogs into panting, drooling oafs that just wanted to lie around and sleep all day (hey, wait a minute… the lying around and sleeping all day part of that sounds a bit like a cat!). But no. The term actually dates back to the olden days and has to do with the star Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens, which is also known as the Dog Star.

Sirius was nicknamed the “Dog Star” by the ancient Egyptians in honor of a god named Osirus, whose head resembled that of a dog (poor sap!). For around 20 days beginning in late July, Sirius actually rises and sets with the sun, so the Egyptians and Romans put two and two together and concluded that Sirius added its heat to the sun and made things extra hot… hence, the name “dog days of summer.”

Now this is all fine and good, but I DEMAND equal time for cats! Since we kitties are so cool, I think the powers that be should pick out a period in September or October, when things begin to turn a bit chilly, and call it the “cat days of fall.” Don’t you agree?

QUASI'S COOL CAT iMIX #2

Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the streets (as Martha & The Vandellas so eloquently sang back in the 1960s), so once again, for your enjoyment, I have created Quasi’s Cool Cat i-Mix #2. Yes, it’s another fan-tabulous mix of cat songs with classics such as “Cat Scratch Fever” and “China Cat Sunflower” alongside treasures including “Kitten I’m Smitten,” “Cat-A-Tonic,” and “Big Electric Cat.” Here’s the complete mix:

Put Your Cat Clothes On – Carl Perkins
Alley Cat – Bent Fabric
Cat Scratch Fever – Ted Nugent
Kitten I’m Smitten – When I Was 12
This Cat’s On a Hot Tin Roof – Brian Setzer
The Cat Song – Ray Stevens
China Cat Sunflower – Grateful Dead
The Siamese Cat Song – Peggy Lee with Si & Am
Cat-A-Tonic – Laurel Canyon Animal Company
Grey Cat – Peter Feldmann
The Kitty Cat Song – Lee Dorsey
The Cutest Kitten – Anthony Paule
Big Electric Cat – Adrian Belew
The Cat Came Back – Trout Fishing in America

Here’s a link…

Quasi's Cool Cat i-Mix #2

Proving, once again, that CATS ROCK!!!!

DAVE & PIPER'S NOT-SO-EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (PART 3)

After spending two disorienting nights in a hotel in Burbank, after an ultra-scary plane ride to New York, and after a couple weeks in discombobulating temporary living quarters, Dave, Piper and their human, Paula, are finally ensconced in their new home in lower Manhattan. Whew!

Dave and Piper now live on the 45th floor of a new apartment building on Liberty Street. For you kitties who can’t comprehend how high 45 floors is, it’s around the same height as Mt. Everest (trust me!). From their window, Dave and Piper can see the Statute of Liberty and the Hudson River, not to mention thousands of antlike people and cars down on the street. Yikes! I get vertigo just thinking about it! In fact, the other day, Dave chattered at a passing helicopter, thinking it was a pterodactyl or some other type of very large bird. And because the air is so thin at this altitude, Piper has to take frequent rest breaks when cleaning and preening for a hot night of clubbing (well… not really!).

Fortunately, all the furniture and household items (and cat toys) are now in place, so Dave and Piper are starting to feel right at home… in fact, that’s Piper in the photo dozing peacefully on the couch. Dave, meanwhile, has made his presence felt in the Big Apple by shredding the majority of Paula’s Sunday New York Times.

So after their not-so-excellent adventure, things seem to be returning to “normal” for Dave and Piper. And, hey, let’s face it… when you’re a kitty with a comfortable home, good food and a compliant human to love you, life is pretty good wherever you are.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

For your pleasure and amusement on this 4th of July weekend, here's my personal take on the holiday from a cat’s perspective, from the “Holiday Fun (& Danger)” chapter of The World Is Your Litter Box...

4th of July: The birthday of America with lots of patriotic razzle-dazzle, but not a good holiday for cats. Most Americans celebrate the 4th with backyard barbeques that fill the air with noxious, cloying smoke (Fools! Don't they realize that all this smoke is contributing to global warming?) Then when it gets dark, after gorging themselves and drinking copious amounts of beer, they go and watch explosions in the sky. While some of these explosions are quite pretty (and quite psychedelic if you’ve been sniffing catnip), they are loud and VERY SCARY. Apart from seeing homes festooned with American flags and hearing off-key versions of the Star Spangled Banner played by horrible high school bands, and the possibility of eating leftover BBQ, there is not much for a cat to look forward to on the 4th of July except the return of sanity on the 5th. NOTE: The 4th of July is a time you outdoor cats should stay inside. Believe it or not, some twisted humans will actually go out of their way to torment cats with fireworks. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Here’s wishing everyone (cat, human and otherwise) a safe, happy and fun-filled 4th of July! And remember... DON'T play with fireworks!

A KITTY HOSTAGE SITUATION AND HOW YOU CAN HELP

Here’s a story about a fellow Burbank kitty in a very bad situation and a chance for you to make your voice heard on his behalf.

Last February, a very cute Seal Point Himalayan cat named Kitty Pants, shown in the photo, slipped away from a house sitter and found himself lost in the big bad world (or, the wilds of Burbank anyway). A few days later, Kitty Pants was found by a neighbor and taken to the Burbank Animal Shelter, and here’s where it gets dicey. Although Kitty Pants had been reported missing by his humans, Jim and Amy Roach, the attendant at the shelter failed to check the lost pets book. As a result, Kitty Pants was placed in the “general population” and subsequently adopted by another family. And here’s where it gets even dicier. Because the new family adopted Kitty Pants legally, they refuse to give him back to Jim and Amy. The family was offered a reward and another Seal Point Himalayan from the same breeder, but as of this writing, they are still refusing to budge. So this has become, in effect, a kitty hostage situation.

Naturally, Jim and Amy are devastated and want Kitty Pants back. The Burbank City Council has become involved and the Kitty Pants story has found its way into several media outlets, so hopefully, the new family will bow to pressure and relent. Still, a few words from other kitty lovers would be extremely helpful, so I call on my fellow cats (and their humans) to raise your voices and help Kitty Pants find his way home. Contact the Burbank City Council (citycouncil@ci.burbank.ca.us) and/or The Burbank Leader (gnp@latimes.com) and let them know your thoughts. Also, I’m sure any ideas you might have as to how to resolve the situation would be greatly appreciated.

Meanwhile, check back from time to time for more information on Kitty Pants. Hopefully, this story will have a happy ending.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

This Father’s Day, I want to send a very special meow out to Steve, my human “dad” (shown here with me in the photo). Here are just a few of the many reasons why I love him - even though I may not always act like it…

• He gives me attention whenever I want it
• He gives me food whenever I want it
• He pets me and makes me purr
• He gives me 763 cat treats a day
• He “lets” me claw the arm of the couch and the screen door with only minor protestations
• He doesn’t care if I leave my cat toys scattered around the house
• He leaves his shoes out so I can bury my nose deep inside and enjoy the delightfully-pungent aroma of human feet
• He always makes himself available for quality lap time or chest time, regardless of what he might be doing
• He lets me sleep on the bed at night and take up most of the room
• He rescues me when I get into inextricable kitty jams like being trapped inside a closet or stuck up on the roof
• He helped me write The World Is Your Litter Box… well, he typed it, anyway
• He gives me unconditional love, no matter how much I might exasperate him

So, thanks Steve… you’re the best human dad a cat could have! And while I’m at it, I want to extend Happy Father’s Day wishes to all the other human dads out there, and to all our kitty dads, wherever (and whoever) they might be.

DAVE & PIPER'S NOT-SO-EXCELLENT ADVENTURE (PART 2)

Dave and Piper (and Paula) arrived safely in New York City, although the trip was not without its share of excitement. Dave and Piper made it through airport security without too much difficulty (they were pretty zonked out on kitty tranquilizers, luckily for them). Also, Paula was flying with Dave and Piper’s pet sitter extraordinaire Laura, who came along to help wrangle the kitties and provide much needed comfort. Once on the plane, though, Paula and Laura had to mash Dave and Piper’s kitty carriers under the seats in front of them before the plane could take off. It’s a good thing cats are pliable! Then, about halfway through the trip, Dave came out of his tranquilizer-induced kitty haze and tried to chew his way out of his kitty carrier. Now THAT would have been an adventure if he had been successful. “Snakes on a Plane” would have paled in comparison!

Once in New York, and after taking a fairly non-eventful taxi ride into Manhattan, Dave and Piper were ensconced in their new home… their temporary new home, that is, because until Paula’s furniture arrives in about a week, the whole gang is staying in temporary housing. Dave and Piper seem to be acclimating pretty quickly, though. When Laura woke up the next morning and went into the kitchen, Piper followed her and loudly demanded breakfast. After all, to Piper, Laura is the food lady. And Dave is working on changing his laid back Southern California “meow” to a more New York-like “me-YO!”

We’ll have more on Dave and Piper once they move into their permanent home. Meanwhile, we send our love to all.