Arrivederci Novembre!

This wonderful week was filled with blessings. Our little Grigio visited daily, and even used the shelter mamma built for him. 

Grigio still won't come inside the house, but we remain hopeful that soon he will trust us enough to. 

Also this week, mamma had a couple days off from work, which made us so happy. We got to nap in peace and play more than usual. 

November is ending and we are about to greet December. I like December because I get to follow mamma into the basement to retrieve all our Christmas decorations. One item in particular is my absolute favourite - an actual tree for the house. 🌲

Coolest thing ever for housecats. 

Each December we celebrate a Christian holiday - but we also celebrate me! More about that next week. I know you will look forward to reading all about it. 

The title of this week's blog bids "farewell" to the month. As our names suggest, you might have guessed we are bilingual kitties. One thing that is awesome to us, no matter which languages you speak, everyone smiles in the same language. 

Hope this week brings lots of smiles.

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali. 🐾

A simple smile. That’s the start of opening your heart and being compassionate to others. -Dalai Lama.

Lazy days of summer

The lazy days of summer have consumed us. All we want to do is nap, nap, and nap some more.

How do you get motivated when all you want to do is sleep?

We have a list of things we want to achieve but no motivation to do any of them. Our list includes eating, exercise, bird watching, and playing.

Exercise supposedly is the best thing to do to overcome laziness. Mamma does squats while she is washing dishes, and lunges while she is watching television. Just watching her makes us want to sleep some more. She tells us that if we can overcome the lazy feeling with exercise our brain will naturally follow.

But it is summertime, after all, and the days are made for being lazy. My brain likes to just relax. 

She tries to tempt us with ribbon to chase, and cat nip toys to force us in to exercise masked as "play time". She insists that exercise helps motivate her to put effort in her dreaded to-do list.

I think we will stick to napping...

Hope your Sunday is filled with love, peace, and naps.

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali. 🐾

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. - Lao Tzu.

Motivating Tips for Getting Through Winter

Happy Sunday, Readers!

Mamma was reading this article to us, How to Stay Motivated in the Cold Weather, and Pasqua and I agree that it may helpful to all of you.

Here is our cat-recap:

1. Love your mornings - we like to cuddle in bed with mamma and make her relax with us before getting ready for work each day. On weekends, we make sure she ignores the alarm clock, and only pays attention to us.

2. Write motivational post-it notes - since we cannot write notes to mamma, we do bring her toys, and move them around the house for her to find. Sometimes, I leave her "surprises" when I am missing her too much. Mamma does have a couple of motivational mantras on her mirror but I have no idea what they say. I assume it has something to do with loving us. 💗

One of ma's motivational notes - what does it say? 😻

3. Listen to podcasts or audiobooks - I know mamma listens to books in her car while commuting (and we don't get in that car with her much). At home, she does read out loud to us, and it is so nice to hear her different voices for characters, and to listen to whatever it is she is reading from. The article says reading is motivating, and I must agree, it motivates us to either pay attention to ma's voice, or to take a deep cat-nap.

4. Warm up with exercise - every morning, mamma does yoga. We like doing it with her. It is invigorating! In the afternoons, she will do a dance routine to some video she has, and that one is very funny to watch. We will chase after balls and toys to keep up with the music and to get our exercise in, too! It certainly warms us up.

5. Show up for yourself - this one lost us a little bit, because, as cats, ummmm, we definitely show up. In order to sustain motivation in the winter months, the article suggests to challenge yourself, set small, attainable goals, and reward yourself every time you crush them. Ummm, okay, does this mean we get more cat treats? Mamma gives us treats each time we "sit", "jump", "give paw", and "high five". Is this us showing up for ourselves? 😹

6. Enjoy the winter festivities - the last tip seems like the easiest one! Each season brings seasonal foods and festivities - something for all of us to look forward to during the calendar year. So, what's your favorite winter festivity? Ours is watching snow fall from our windows. If mamma would use the fireplace, I think we would really enjoy warming our fur by it. 😸 In November, mamma goes out pumpkin picking, orders pumpkin lattes, and buys presents for us and all her loved ones to celebrate Christmas. I can't wait to see what we get this year!

What do you think of these tips? What tips would you add to stay motivated in the cold weather?

We are big on relaxing in the winter - well, in any season, really.

Me working on my blog writing.

Have a wonderful week!

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali. 🐾

Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

New Jersey's Cutest Cat - to us! :)

Well, the votes are in... and we still say we win.

According to New Jersey Monthly's cutest cat contest, the winner is "Berry" - seen below:

We appreciate them sending us this adorable mock-cover of Pasqua winning the contest, because to us, he is the winner:  

We had a wonderful week despite the disappointment of finding out we did not win the contest. We napped, we played, we watched birds and deer outside. We had multiple visits from Grigio, and enjoyed watching him, too.

We thank all of you who voted for Pasqua and supported us in our endeavor. Here's to another great week ahead for all of us and all of you. 🐱

Purr & Paw,

-Stivali.

You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing. -Arthur Ashe.

Pasqua is 11 months old!

Happy Sunday! 

Yesterday marked ELEVEN months since Pasqua was born! 

We are not sure where he was born, or who his kitty parents are, we really don't even know much about how he ended up at Tabby's Place Cat Sanctuary. All we do know is mamma met him and he stole her heart right away! 

Our foster adventure began on November 21, 2018. Little "Chip", as the shelter named him, weighed under two pounds and was a fuzzball of energy.

Look at him now though! He thoroughly enjoys napping anywhere. Case in point #1:

Case in Point #2

We are very happy he liked our home (and us) so mamma felt comfortable at being a foster fail, haha, and adopted him officially a month later.  It has been an exciting nine months with him, and we look forward to many many more.

Can't you tell how excited I am to celebrate Pasqua turning 11 months? 

Maybe I will celebrate without napping at his one year mark.

Being a Princess is very hard work. Sunpuddles make it easier.

I wonder how we will celebrate Pasqua's first birthday next month... I hope it includes catnip cake and salmon kitty treats. 😻

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali.

Let me love you a little more before you’re not little anymore.

Me-WOW

Happy Sunday, Readers,

We do hope you had a wonderful week and that your week ahead is even better.

Each day is the best day! We nap!

You can kinda see our primordial pouches here. We both have them. Primordial pouches are the flaps on our tummies that sway back and forth when we run. People may assume we are overweight and that is why we have these flaps. But that's just not true.

The flap actually acts as padding and protection during a fight. Have you ever seen cats kick each other in the belly with their hind legs? The flap protects us during those fights. We have loose skin on our bodies so we can wiggle loose when grabbed by an attacker.

Our primordial pouch also helps us stretch (we do that a lot!) and jump (we like to jump!). 

Pretty interesting, huh? Me-wow! 

Purr & Paw,

-Stivali. 

Time spent with cats is never wasted. - Sigmund Freud. 

June closes - graduations - proms - and Pasqua turns 9 (months)!

Hello Dear Readers,
We are surprised at how quickly time passes. Here it is June 23rd already. Our last full week of the month of June. From our window we see lots of prom and graduation festivities. School is out for all the neighborhood kids, and the start of summer is here!

Our cousin, Emma, graduated high school this week with all of her friends and classmates. We are so happy for her as she ends one chapter, and embarks on her next educational journey at the end of the summer. Education is our most powerful tool we can use to change the world! Congratulations to all of the graduates!

Also this week, we celebrated Pasqua as he turned 9 months old on the 17th.

He likes the boxes his gifts come in more than the gifts. I know a lot of you are thinking "typical kitty"! 😼

I share two photos of me since I shared two photos of my lil brother. I am a very blessed kitty, with a mamma who loves me unconditionally. Blessed to be able to live in a warm, safe, love-filled home, to have as many treats as I would like, to always have a bowl full of crunchy cereal, and another filled with fresh water. Yum! I guess I can add to my list of blessings the little Pasqua kitty, too. 😼

We had a good week. Filled with naps, snacks. playing, and snuggling mamma. We hope you all had a good week, too, and that your summer is off to a purrfect start.

As you enter the summer months, remember to list your blessings - we believe if you focus on them you will be blessed with even more!

Purr & Paw,

-Stivali.

"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." - Henry James.

This kitten is staying, and I don't understand why.

I thought this kitten was a temporary thing. I looked up the word foster and I did not think it included the possibility, the most-likely permanency of the plan. 

We are keeping a safe distance while napping.

I move away from him when it becomes too stressful.

He is cute, I will give you that. Mamma couldn't find him (inside the house, we are not permitted outdoors) one day this week, and she searched and searched. She heard a noise and began to follow it.  The little kitten decided to nap inside the empty garbage pail. Ummmm, so maybe he is not the smartest kitten. Or is he? It was empty after all. Weird kitty. 

Recently awoken from a garbage pail nap.

He also has realized the awesomeness of the cat tree.

So that is the week in photos here at our home. We are happy and enjoying our little life. ❤ 

Purr & Paw,

-Stivali.

Happy February!

Happy February, Readers.

There is still a kitten in our house. I don’t think he is going back to wherever he came from.

Witnessing first snow of his life.

Hearing a snow plow for the first time. 

He is 4.5 months old, with a lot of energy, and likes to play. He likes to eat my adult food, and that is fine with me, because I like to eat his kitten food. Ma has all about given up trying to separate our food respectively during feedings.

He also sleeps a lot, which is great because once he sleeps, I can nap, too. We nap often on the same furniture but not too close. I am not there yet. He wants to be next to me, but I need my space, so I move my nap place every time he gets too close. He seems to get the hint, in the moment, but forgets my imaginary border that exists around me every time it is nap time. Strange.

I nap here, on this side of mamma.

He naps there, on the opposite side of mamma. 

I still carry Topino Verdi to mamma twice a day, she has yet to capture it on video for us to share here. For the most part, the little kitten has an understanding that Verdi is mine. On the occasion, when Pasqua doesn’t remember, Pasqua receives a light swat of my paw for touching my beloved Verdi.

Co-existing is working for me. We both sleep in the same bed through the entire night (not cuddled next to one another, of course!).  We play, we nap, we eat, we sleep, we give mamma love, and she gives us her love.  That’s all any of us seem to need.

 Purr & Paw, 

-Stivali. 

Happy 2018

There was a lot of noise outside and I decided to jump on a piece of furniture to investigate.  This is more proof that I am not ill.  You see, I insist I cannot be that sick if I can jump up still, free of complaint or pain. I take my medicines three times a day, and now weigh 15 pounds.  Most days, I sleep a lot (unless there is noise interrupting my nap!). Some days, I wheeze and have difficulty breathing. Other days, I feel like playing and jumping.  CHF is strange and scary. 

Pretty sure the noisy neighbors don't know the importance of a cat nap.

Happy New Year, Readers. May 2018 be filled with joy, laughter, peace, and health.  If you pray, please keep me and my health in your prayers. Thank you!