A real Crackberry

Did it really have to happen this way?

A while ago, you learned that I had splurged for a new phone. A Blackberry Pearl, no less. So it's been riding around in its case in my pants pocket to various events recently. Like a thousand or so high school basketball games.

Umm, I guess I really have to be more careful when sitting down. At one gym, I sit on one end of the stage, lifting myself up by my hands and turning around to a sitting position. (Should someone my age really be doing that?) Evidently I wasn't as careful for my pricy new possession as I should have been. When I got home, I took it out to admire it ... and this is what I saw ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-crackberry-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

The phone still works normally. It just looks a little cracked. I'm sure you have heard of all those people addicted to their Blackberries, madly texting messages all day long. That's why they call them Crackberries. Well, I think I have the genuine article.

****
Recently I promised some new photos of the kitties. I've been taking them, just not posting them (or much of anything else). Well, what can I say? The weeks have been long and demanding for me, and I'm pretty worn out over weekends. My wife and I typically sit on the couch on weekend afternoons, after doing something like lunch or shopping, and it's time to relax. Really relax.

And we do. We doze off together. In winter, when the living room is a little cold, we have a quilt over our legs. She leans on my shoulder, and soon she is dozing. On this day, Charlie came around and invited herself up into my lap. Pretty soon she was taking a nap, too. So I had two sleepy females next to me ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-sleepyheads-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

You know that Charlie is very special to me. Over the last few months, Max and I have been getting to know each other better, too. When my wife goes to bed, Max is in the hallway ahead of me, meowing, and goes into a spare bedroom. I follow him, and we play Pet the Kitty. Max is all happy and purring loudly ... but he just can't sit still. We are sitting on the bed, where he usually sleeps, as I pet him, but soon he hops onto the floor and then up into the window. I get up to pet him in the window, he enjoys it, but then he hops on the floor and back on the bed. And then it's time for another round of Pet the Kitty. Sooner or later Max decides it's time for a wash, and I depart around then.

Max's favorite place seems to be sitting in windows, looking outside. Day or night, he likes his windows ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-Maxwindow-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

Charlie likes to visit me late at night, often settling in my lap as I pet her. Recently, though, I noticed that pens were disappearing from my desk. Was I absentmindedly pocketing them? Was my wife taking them?

One night, the real culprit struck ... and my camera was in reach ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-Charliepen-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

She pulled the pen down to the chair, grabbed it in the middle, hopped down to the floor and walked out the door with it. Carried it down the hall. At other times we have come across pencils with a host of tiny little toothmarks on them. Think we know who is doing that.

Sometimes when Charlie is visiting me late at night on the computer, Max enters the room. On this night, Charlie went behind the monitor--and Max followed, creating this coming-and-going shot ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Catscoming-3-09.jpg[/IMG]

and this one, after Charlie turned around and walked back ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Catsgoing-3-09.jpg[/IMG]

Back in early February, we saw a catnip mouse at the store. It was a larger and more realistic-looking mouse than usual, and we said what the heck. The cats will enjoy it. That's what we thought. Understand one thing: We're not cats.

We let Charlie get the first chance at it. She played with it for a while ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-Charliebigmouse-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

Then Max came around. Whatcha got now, Charlie? ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-2-1mouse-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

After a while, Charlie went back to her other mouse. It seemed more interesting ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-Charlietinymouse-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

And how about you, Max? Aren't you interested in the new mouse, either? ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Cats-Maxyawn-2-09.jpg[/IMG]

Apparently not. Must be time for another nap.

****
Basketball season rolls on. On of my teams, the one that lost 10 straight games during the season and finished 5-15 after winning its final two regular season games, won both its district games and will be going to Houghton for the regionals next Monday. They beat a 16-4 squad last night. Hey, playoffs: You never know.

So that's where I'll be next Monday night. Let's hope the weather behaves. It was -10F this morning. But they're predicting highs in the 40s this weekend. I'm ready for it.