Remember that squirrel that randomly climbed all around my house? Well, here’s some video of it in action, first just trying to get away, then being too scared to move because my cat had spotted it (but quickly lost interest), then hanging on to the chimney despite the windy conditions that day.
squirrel climbing by roof from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
squirrel hiding from cat from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
squirrel on chimney from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
My cats sure know how to enjoy themselves in the midst of these summer days. 🙂
Hehe, they often mirror each other when they sit or lay around.
Oh she knows how to get comfortable alright.
She owns this sofa!
I’ve gotten to spend more time with my cats lately, since I’m working from home. One thing that has really proven itself time and time again is the fact that they don’t seem to think any position is uncomfortable. In fact, they often seem to prefer the most uncomfortable-looking positions… scrunched up in a tiny space, in a twisted position, or on top of hard objects (usually with sharp edges).
Check out some of the wacky positions I’ve found my cats sleeping in!
Take Missy for example – she climbs right on top of me and plops down, without a care in the world that my arm is pinned under her so her spine gets bent all weird. Or, of all the soft, comfortable, cozy sleeping spots I set up for her, she goes for the one place I didn’t prepare – bare, firm, and cold. She also loves to sprawl right on my laptop keyboard (meanwhile Molly prefers to sit right on it). Maybe it’s the heat? Oh, and don’t forget the times when it looks like they’re doing some sort of contortionist move.
It also doesn’t seem to matter if the position is tight and condensed, or more stretched out. You’ll find Missy curled up in a ball just as much as she’s belly-up, with her arms and legs outstretched. Temperature usually isn’t an issue either; one of her favorite spots is under the covers where she’s practically suffocating. Whether I sleep on my side or with my legs up, knees bent, she’ll mosey her way in if I lift the blanket, then settle in to a warm, dark corner.
Right now, Missy is laying half on me, half on the bed (she slid off me partly). Her feet are stretched out above her head and her paws are intertwined with her feet. Sometimes she’ll tuck her nose into that mess of limbs, and sometimes she’ll twist her neck so her chin is facing the ceiling.
This afternoon, Missy decided to make herself at home on the back of my thighs and on my butt while I lay on the ground. She slept in many positions for about two hours before getting up!
Position #1: all curled up.
Position #2: relaxing and letting the limbs dangle.
Position #3: cozying up and tucking in her face.
Using those photos, I decided to make a collage on Diptic that I then posted on Instagram.
Afterwards, I shot a couple more positions that she slept in…
Position #4: all stretched out.
Position #5: the dangle.
Position #5 from ground level.
Finally, she yawned, got up, stretched, and moved to a spot on the floor. I was free to move again!
Two nights ago, I was getting ready to go to bed at 3:30 when I realized that I hadn’t seen Missy for awhile. Usually she’ll come at night to sleep next to me or at least hang out in the room. I decided to go searching and remembered that the cat door hadn’t been closed, so I was pretty sure she was outside playing. After calling her for awhile, I started to get worried. We had lost a cat before and all the dread that I had felt then came rushing back.
It never took more than 15 minutes to call Missy back usually, so when it was approaching half an hour with no sign, I got really worried. I got a flashlight and went outside around the neighborhood, to see if perhaps she had gone far and just couldn’t hear me. I kept hearing rustling in the bushes and paused each time to see if she was prowling in them. No such luck. Back at the house, every time Molly came around to see what I was doing, I thought it might be Missy. An hour into my search, I was freaking out.
By then it was 4:30 in the morning and all sorts of horrible scenarios of what could have happened flashed through my mind. At the same time, I would go through periods of calm where I convinced myself that there was still hope that she was fine and I’d find her later. Eventually, I decided that I needed to get some rest and I couldn’t do much more until the sun came up. At 5, I lay down for a nap and set an alarm for 6.
However, I woke up on my own at 5:30 and instinctively called out for my cats. A shadow appeared in my doorway and I figured that Molly was there to see what I was doing. It was getting light out, so I climbed out of bed and went to see if I could track down Missy this time. When I got to the doorway to pet Molly though, I discovered that it was Missy! The relief that washed over me was fantastic and I immediately went to close the cat door. I probably hugged Missy a little too tight, since she jumped out of my arms (probably wondering why I was making a huge fuss).
Since then, every time I spot Missy I feel extremely happy. I decided to keep the cat door closed for now and only let her outside during the day when I am around. Luckily, she’s pretty good about coming back – I think she only goes further on her night runs, so as long as she’s back before it gets too dark out, I feel pretty safe.
It’s my last night here before my adventures start! I can’t wait to be flying around a bit and finding a rhythm to work in. As soon as the dust settles, I’ll need to start tackling the goals I laid out. I’ve been spending a lot of time with my precious Missy, who is just so fun to play with. It’ll be sad to wake up without her, but hopefully we’ll be reunited before long. I’m looking forward to change and that’s about all I can think about now.
We spent all day Friday out working on a Habitat for Humanity house as a company event, which was quite nice. Since it was overcast and a bit drizzly, we were limited to painting and cleaning. Originally we were supposed to help rip off the roof! Oh well, the guys still got to go to another house down the block that needed some demolition work.
One of the first things we enjoyed upon arriving was a wonderful backyard with a lemon tree and avocado tree.
This backyard was strangely reminiscent of China for me.
This picnic table in the yard served as a lunch table as well a commemorative item for the family that will eventually move in here. We all left our mark!
The garage was used as storage for all the supplies to fix up the house.
One Habitat employee and one of my company's engineers work together to get paint into cups.
A bunch of my coworkers begin to paint the side of the house.
These adorable little kittens were grooming themselves outside of a house just down the street from the one we were working on. I wish I could have them!
I am amazed by how much my cat sleeps. When I wake up in the morning, she is there napping away. If I don’t have anywhere to be, I like to stay with her and sleep a little more or work on the computer. Through it all, she keeps on sleeping, with a few positions adjustments here and there.
This weekend I spent the majority of my time laying with her since I don’t often get time with her like this. She’s just so cute and fuzzy and cuddly! Now how could I disturb her sleep? Plus, her presence is comforting to me. I feel more relaxed and happy to have her snoozing away on top of me. Unfortunately it encourages me to be lazy though! I wouldn’t have left the bed to eat or otherwise take care of myself if I didn’t have plans during the day. Still, it’s nice sometimes to take life at the pace of a cat and slow things down to enjoy them.
For some reason they both liked to sniff this pillow and would walk in circles sniffing!
My cat Missy is hilarious. For some reason, she really seems to like hot, cramped spaces. One of her favorite things to do is climb in under the blankets where it’s dark and warm. She’ll get right in and cuddle up, even though it’s got to be tough to breathe in there. Somehow, she manages to purr away, really enjoying herself in that little sauna. It’s great for me because she keeps my legs and feet warm, but occasionally I move and squish her a bit.
Back in the height of the winter days, when it got quite chilly in my house and we didn’t feel like turning on the heater, I’d sit in a sleeping bag with my body pillow for warmth. As I sat working on my computer, Missy would come along and eagerly crawl in under my legs. She’d spend some time positioning herself until she was satisfied, then would lay back and sleep all day. On the right is a picture of her back in one of those days. The blue things to either side are my legs and the fuzzy light blue thing up top is the body pillow. Apparently half-crushing her isn’t a problem either.
Everyday I marvel at all the seemingly uncomfortable positions she gets in, then falls asleep in. I don’t know how she got this way, but you can put her in just about any position and she’ll be fine with it. Maybe she just likes being smothered with love and affection, which I give plenty of. In turn, I get so much back I now get lonely whenever she doesn’t come around after an hour or two. Thankfully, it’s not often she won’t drop by within that time, so I get to sit with her nearby whenever I’m home. Companionship can’t get much sweeter.
