I'd like you to meet.....

Ishkabibble.......

Yes, his name is Ishkabibble.  Interesting name for a cat right?  He's Ishy for short.  The previous owner's named him and he knows his name so we decided to keep it.  Although I am spelling it differently than they did.  I had googled it to find out just what it meant and the other spelling had some connections with smoking and drugs so I decided we'd change it up.

This one basically means "whatever, who cares".  I guess it was started in the 1930s.  My aunt tells me my grandmother used to say it all the time but I'm not sure I remember that!  Maybe she's the one who led us to this cat, though I don't remember her liking cats much.

Anyway, we got him from a local family.  The woman had gotten him as a kitten for her son.  Turns out she was allergic and she just couldn't take it anymore so they decided to give him up.

  

We were originally going to give it a few weeks or more to find one at the shelter but my hubby is all about Craig's list lately.  He decided to look to see if anyone was selling the supplies we'd need like litter box, toys etc.  Well, he ended up looking at the cats available and found this one.  He was listed the day before our little anniversary trip.  He told the kids if it was still available when we got back we'd call.  He got re-listed the day we got back so we called on Friday morning and went to meet him Friday afternoon.

He's now a member of our family.  I've actually been taking to the whole thing quite well.  He likes a bit of attention but he's not a touchy feely snuggly cat so that works out well for me!!  He usually just wants you to throw his ball around or dangle his toys so he can bat them around.    

Here Kitty Kitty..........

My daughter's birthday was a little over a month ago.  If you saw that post you know we told her we were finally going to let her get a dog.


I thought I was OK with that.  But no matter how I tried I was still concerned that I wouldn't be able to deal with it.  All the training and barking and walking............. oh my!  


In the mean time we've had some things come up financially that have worried me and was I concerned as to whether we could afford the dog.


We decided all we could do was sit her down and try to talk to her rationally and let her know we'd have to delay the adoption until we had some bills paid off.  She was crushed.  We broke her fragile little heart.  I was crushed for her.


We told her we still owed her a birthday gift for this year because of it but there was nothing she wanted.  Could you think of anything if your heart was just broken?  So I suggested the cell phone she's been asking for.  We went out that day and she picked one out.  It perked her right up.  She loves that phone.


Hubby noticed she was taking photos of some cats she has on her calendar and putting them as her phone's wallpaper.  So he asked if I'd be OK with a cat.  The fee to adopt them is lower and we could possibly get some of the supplies we needed from his mom who has had cats all her life.  It would be kept indoors, we wouldn't have to worry about walking it, they are much quieter and from what I've seen of the cats my family members have had less needy for attention than dogs are.  


Yeah, just my luck we'll get the most needy, psycho cat alive!!  


Anyway, I agreed.  I think I can handle a cat.  I'm feeling much better about that decision.  We ran it by her and she took to the idea.  So now we are planning to adopt a cat.  

We have a "cat fund" started that she's been putting most of her allowance in.  We even went to the humane society yesterday to fill out the application form.  We looked around at the ones available and she fell in love with about 5 of them.  

We aren't quite ready to adopt yet.  Hubby and I will be out of town for a couple days for our anniversary.  Plus we need to look into getting all the supplies and take a while to add to that cat fund before we actually take the leap.  


I'll introduce you all to our new family member as soon as it's a go and we pick one out!  

We love the zoo!

Another gorgeous day in Wisconsin today! So we took a little time and went to the zoo again. This time to check out the little tiger cubs that were born back in July. They are on display for a couple hours a day now.

Isn't she cute???

Let's see, highlight of the day (besides the cubs) was when we were checking out the lions. They were outside today and there is a viewing area where you can get up close behind glass. The male was relaxing on a rock and the female came over and at first just looked like she was going to lay down next to him. Well he get up, she lays down..........do you see where I'm going with this??? LOL It was funny because then as soon as he started to straddle her me and about 3 other parents were like OK time to go, let's move on!

We love going to the zoo. Well, this zoo. I think Milwaukee County Zoo is one of the nicest we've ever been to. Every time we go somewhere else we always compare it to MKE. But while we love the zoo and think it is one of the best as far as animal exhibits and activities, their food service leaves much to be desired! We decided to eat there today and afterward also decided that it would be the last time!

So, if you've never been and have the chance to go we highly recommend it. But we also highly recommend packing your own picnic lunch or heading somewhere before or after for lunch!

Meet Pepper and Tanner

Our house guests for the weekend.

I'm guessing you can figure out who is who! We are not normally pet people. Well, hubby and I aren't. The kids would love to have some sort of pet. I think they were a little surprised when we agreed they could take them in for the weekend while Skowt's friend is on vacation. I figured we'd give it a trail run for a few days and see how it goes knowing we can send them home on Tuesday!

Day at the Zoo

We spent the afternoon at the zoo today. It was a perfect day for it, sunny and low 70s with a nice breeze. I think this penguin agrees. He was chillin' and sunning himself. You can't see it but there was a light stream of water spraying him.

I took quite a few photos so I'll be posting some over the next few days on my photoblog

Photo Hunt: Bad Hair

Or should I say bad fur? This was taken last year at the zoo. I always think of polar bears being pretty white animals. These didn't look so white, lots of green in their fur. I'm guessing from the algae in the water.

I think next week I'll be moving my photohunt over to my photoblog. When I started doing this I wasn't sure if I was going to keep up the photoblog, but I've decided to keep it going.

To see more photohunters go to tnchick.com

Whole lotta ducklings

Check out the trespassers we had in our yard tonight. They ran away quickly into the neighbor's yard and hid. I had to squat behind a tree so the mom would bring them back out. You can click on the photo to get a little better view. We counted 14 little heads!

Dueling polar bears

Hit the zoo yesterday, one last time before school starts tomorrow. As did about a gazillion other people! I hate crowds. Lucked out though and got a front row view as the polar bears got into a little spat. Seemed as though the big one in the water didn't want to let the little one in. They were growling and biting at each other for quite some time. Usually they do a whole lot of nothing when I've seen them before.

Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and had a nice Labor day. Back to 20+ hours a week for me now that the kids are back in school.