So… We got a new papasan cushion! After, you know, the old one was ruined by Jasper’s sheer panic over CK’s brief residence here. The old one had been a clearance find. It was like $15. My triumph was epic. EPIC. …As was my ensuing sadness.

Anyhow, I managed to score yet another clearance-priced cushion, and this one’s a little funkier, too. I love it so far, and have explained to my beloved furball that if a single drop of ANYTHING unsavory touches this cushion, I swear on everything holy that I will call Animal Control.

…Jas remains unconcerned.

I was taking some house shots yesterday when I was able to snap this:

Jasper Hale is as cute and cuddly as can be these days, especially since we all decided that CK, the adorable monster-kitten, would be happier living with our good friend Lisa. And playing with his own toys and sleeping on his own bed, instead of trying to take over Jasper’s. Jasper may or may not have ruined a papasan cushion in his quest to MAKE MY FRIEND GO HOME NOW, MAMA.

As well as recovering from his threatened sense of Alpha Male, poor Jas is just getting over a double bout of kitty pink-eye, and his mini asthma attacks have been acting up, too. He is right tired of the vet, please and thank you, and he would like another cat nip toy, WITH THE BELLS LEFT ON THIS TIME, stat.

So! This is my first post via Cloudwoven.com directly! …Well. Okay. Circa-2011-Cloudwoven.com. Because let’s face it: I’ve had lots of “first posts” on Cloudwoven.com over the past 12 years. (TWELVE YEARS OMG.)

I did just use “omg.” I do have a little bit of shame.

Anyway! Since I’m sort of re-christening this place, it’s pretty lucky that I have something so gosh-darned cute to write about. Like KITTENS. Which are ADORABLE. Right up there with PUPPIES. And who doesn’t love PUPPIES??

(If you don’t, you’re dead to me. Seriously. I can’t even deal.)

So for the last two years, this has been a one-kitten household. A VERY one-kitten household, because Jasper Hale is 14 pounds of HANDFUL. And really, even he was a fluke, because while I adore animals in general, I’ve actually always been a dog person. But show me a three-pound ball of fur stuck in a tree and wailing like a banshee, and I’m apparently hooked.

There’s been this super-friendly little kitten wandering my neighborhood for weeks… Orange and a polydactyl, just like Jas. I’d gotten to know this little guy fairly well, and started looking forward to seeing him in the front yard of my house or the house next door most days when I got home from work. I fed him treats. He chewed on my hands a lot. It was a good relationship.

…Yes, that weird, fleshy thing in the second photo from the top is actually my hand. Don’t judge. At the very least, focus on the cute green shoe in the corner. (Cute, right?? I KNOW.)

I stopped seeing him right around the time we started having some crazy weather here in the Northeast, and I feared the worst — but hoped he’d been kept inside by the family I thought he belonged to. Lo and behold, on Wednesday of this past week, I got a text message from my downstairs neighbor telling me that not only was my little Cider Kitten hanging around, but he apparently didn’t belong to anyone, and boy, was he hungry.

…

Listen, friends. You can’t tell me these things. Because I will bring that kitten inside, and I will feed him and give him blankets and Jasper’s toys (don’t tell Jas), and I will hug the crap out of that kitten, even though he’s covered in fleas. (HE LOOKED CLEAN. I had about 70 heart attacks when I realized he wasn’t. …He’s fine now.)

And so that’s exactly what I did. And I brought him to the vet, and he is healthy and flea-free and well-fed and well-loved. And warm. And surrounded by toys and treats. I avoided naming him, because hellooo, attachment… But when he busted out of our sub-par fabric carrier in the busy veterinary office parking lot, I found myself shouting, “CK! Come back here!” (he did) and so CK he is — in honor of both my “cider kitten” nickname and “CK Dexter Haven,” from one of my favorite films.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about having my Jasper AND a 10.5-pound, 4-month old monster kitten living in the same house… And we’ll give a try, and maybe it won’t work out. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this one-kitten household will transition happily into a two-kitten household, and that little CK will end up doin’ just fine.