Halloween visit to H. on 10/19/11

Tabby writes:


I got to wear my candy-corn witch costume to H. on Wednesday!  It was our last visit to H. before Halloween, so S. suggested that we both dress up in our costumes.  Yep, that's right!  Mommy dressed up in hers, too!  She and I have matching candy corn witch costumes.  :)  >^..^<

We got a lot of attention on the bus and MAX train.  But there was someone way more worthy of attention who was riding our first bus.  There was a mobility puppy-in-training on her first bus ride ever!  She was soooo well-behaved, lying down under her trainer's seat, although she got up a couple times to sniff my stroller.  I just stared at her and went back to sleep, and she settled right back down.  She's going to be a good service doggie for someone who needs her help!

There was another service doggie, fully trained, who got on the bus after the puppy got off.  The guide dog wanted to pay more attention to me than to his person, which was a no-no.  I know it's more important to pay attention to your person than other animals, but that doggie needs some more training on that.  He wanted to sniff me the whole time he was on the bus, so his person had to keep him on a very short leash and hold on to his harness to make him sit down.  Mommy and I felt sorry for the person!  Most service doggies are more well-behaved than that around me, so I think this one just hadn't been trained around kitties originally.

On the MAX train, we sat next to a man who spoke a few words in Hungarian and one who spoke Vietnamese.  Everyone was talking about words and translating them into those languages, English, and Norwegian (which Mommy knows).  That was a fun conversation to listen to!  I learned that mao is Vietnamese for kitty and cica is Hungarian.  Norwegian is katt, and I already knew that one from Mommy.

We stopped at a store to get pencils to do reverse trick-or-treating.  In normal trick-or-treating, you go around to people's houses and collect candy or other small treats.  Reverse trick-or-treating is not usually done, but Mommy likes to do it to surprise friends!  Instead of getting candy, she gives people something small as a treat!  Since people at H. are sometimes on restricted diets, we chose to give out Halloween pencils instead of candy.  :)  >^..^<

H. was all decorated for Halloween!  There were fake spiderwebs over the vases in the lobby, pumpkins on shelves and tables, and indian corn next to the pumpkins.  It looked great!  We went into the human litter box room, because Mommy needed to use it, so I sat on the couch while she did that.  All the ladies who walked by were exclaiming over me, making a fuss over how cute my costume looked and how well-mannered I was.  I loved all the attention and comments, and the petting, too.

 S. took a couple pictures of Mommy and me together, in our outfits.  Mommy's kneeling because I didn't want to be held in her arms when she was standing up, but she's got striped long stockings on and black shoes.  I wore my hat for the pictures, but I don't like wearing my hat.  It's got a chin strap that I don't want.  I wouldn't mind it so much if it just sat on my head or ears, but I want that chin strap off.  After the pictures were taken, I glared at Mommy until she took the hat off me again.  S. thought I was a chicken originally, because the hat was almost over my nose!  *giggles*  Nope, I was a candy corn witch!

We got our pictures taken again once we got to the floor we visit.  One of the nice nurses there (everyone's nice there) took our picture with her camera phone.  I forget the nurse's name.  That's not the one that's posted on my FB page.  My friend Crystal took the picture that's on my Facebook page when we saw her after I got done visiting.  :)  The other one, the one that was taken while we were visiting, is of Mommy standing and holding me.  I wanted to get down and walk, though, so I kept looking away from the camera.  Sorry, lady who took the picture!  It's just so much fun to walk down the long hallways there and see all my friends!

I visited with some of my friends, but others were sleeping or off doing other errands while we were there.  I'm glad I got to visit with some of my friends, though.  I went into the physical therapy room, where the bike and a mirror are.  I thought the bike pedals were interesting when they moved, so I started toward them, but then I saw myself in the mirror.  Wow, is that what I look like in my Halloween costume?  I just had to admire myself for a few minutes, while J. and the others watched me watching myself!  Then I went over to one of the ladies for pets and to look out the window.  J. rolled over a small stool, and I thought it was some kind of a monster!  I'm used to rolling things, but I'd never seen something that small roll before.  I walked past it once it stopped moving, looking back at it to see if it still was stopped.  Then I disappeared behind my stroller to hide from it!  I didn't stay scared for long, once there were more people to visit, though.  Mommy handed out pencils to everyone who wanted one, which they all liked.  Many people thanked me for their treat, and I purred at each of them!  You're welcome, everyone!  Happy Halloween!

After we were done at H., we went to "my" store:  Furever Pets!  That's the place the Halloween party was at last year.  We won't be able to go to the party there this year, because we've got things scheduled for that day already.  Furever Pets has a video showing on their tv screen of last year's Halloween party, and I'm on it with my costume!  A couple times, because there's one of my costume and then one of the doggie sniffing me!  It was very strange to see myself on the screen.  The lady there said I was famous because I had the picture on there.  Really?  She also said that I was the only one allowed to try out the scratching posts, because I don't scratch them.  I just sit on them and admire the view.

I got a new, pink harness!  I'm outgrowing my old one, and so it doesn't fit right in the shoulders anymore.  The new one is very comfy, and easy to wear.  Once it got on and adjusted, I started purring to let Mommy and the lady know that it was fitting properly.  Then I got to wear it home!

On the way back home, we listened to stories of a cat and kitten who are being harness-trained.  The mama cat slips out of the harness, but the kitten likes wearing it and keeps it on.  The mama cat knows where home is and always comes back, but the kitten likes climbing trees!  So it's good that the kitten is the one who likes the harness.