Sorry, No Photos For This Uncharacteristically Long-winded Post

       First off I'd like to thank Jan and everyone over at Mousebreath Magazine for publishing Cleo's interview, as well as all of you who read it and commented on it.  As if she didn't have enough attitude she now acts like she's some kind of diva.
     Actually, come to think of it she's always been like that.  Anyway, I suppose I should now address the exposure of her playful addiction that she let on about during her interview.
     Cleo's developed a handful of habits since she's been with us, and most often it's so funny to watch how she behaves in certain ways repeatedly.  Early on we had a small piece of carpet laying on the kitchen floor, and after sniffing it out initially Cleo just began her claw sharpening routine on that mat and has used it for scratching since then.
     That is now her mat and it's been against one wall in our living room since then.  We've (almost) never had a problem with her clawing at the carpeting throughout the apartment since she somehow instinctively knows to scratch only on that mat.
     As mentioned in older posts that's where we keep her assorted toys, and that is now also her home base of sorts.  An earlier play habit involved one of her fuzzy, jingly balls and a few butt spankings, which charged her into a playful frenzy.
     Switching her gaze back and forth between the ball in my hand and the wall above her she'd wait with unbridled anticipation for me to toss the ball off the wall where it would bounce and fly across the room.  Now and then she'd run and plop down on the ball, but most times she'd pounce on it, then immediately run back to her mat and await the next spank and toss.
     The old girl can get bored easily, and this play morphed into her current obsession.  She's enjoyed her brief spankings for a while now, but lately it's taken a turn.  I'll slap her hind quarters (not too hard, of course), pat her back a few times running a hand down the length of her tail, then get up and walk away, and she'll turn and lunge in my direction, letting out a growly cry and even taking a swipe at me as if to say "Hey, get back here!".
     As soon as I stop and face her she turns and runs right back to the mat, flattening herself down in anticipation of her next spanking.  We've captured her routine on video, but the quality's not spectacular, so we'll try again later.

     Cleo has been such a joyful addition to our home, and we've even gotten used to her often intense attitude common to her ilk.  As I tap out this post she's right here on the floor next to the chair, snoozing away.  During the winter months she chooses our laps, but while it's warmer the floor's her favorite spot.
     Being Saturday I was supposed to try to sleep in this morning, but I woke at 4:50 to her sloth-like habit of walking from one side of the bed to the other in super slow motion, cooing like a pigeon.  She'll sit with her face right up to ours, and if mom doesn't wake she'll come around to my side and do the same, repeating this until one of us gets out of bed.  Sometimes she'll want fresh food, and sometimes she just thinks it's time to get up.  I wanted to catch up on some much needed sleep, but I'm okay with the quiet morning time with Cleo, even if she's just laying here by my side.  I'm glad at least she's sleeping.  Yeah...