the life of an Indoor Outdoor Cat's staff

(This layout is for the Scrapbooker's Anonymous December challenge and for another prompt in the Blogging for Scrapbookers class.)

When we got our first indoor/outdoor cat New Years Eve 1997, I had expectations of sharing my home with a cuddly cat who would sit on my lap when I wanted her to and be outdoors each time I wanted to go out, too.  Ha! Ha!   I soon found out that it may say it MY house on the paperwork but when you invite a cat to live with you it soon becomes their house and you are just staff.

We had always had outdoor only cats.  Sure they came and went when they wanted to.  That's what cats do.  Now why did I think it would be any different with one that stay inside for several hours a day?

After Casey passed away, we got our second indoor/outdoor, Jasper and learned another lesson.  Every cat is different.  Jasper is good about sleeping in the garage all night without scratching on the door until sunrise.  Our challenge with Jasper is his insistence on going in and outdoors all day long!  It is particularly challenging on snow or rain days.  He is convinced that if we open the door for him just one more time the weather will have cleared and it will be fun outside again.  Doesn't matter if only 5 minutes have passed since the last time he came in.

The other challenge that I have with him is he won't necessarily go "Out' for me when I tell him to. At least he doesn't run and hide under the furniture like Casey would do - especially if I was running late already. We put him out when we go somewhere, yet there he is in the 2nd photo from the left laying on the floor clearly ignoring my "Out" command.  All Lenny has to do is say, "Jasper, Out" and he dutifully hops up and trots over to the door.  It is sooo frustrating!

So I guess we will continue to be door persons.  The cat loves the arrangement and we want him to enjoy the outdoors - more natural, less furniture scratching.  If only the job paid better...

Project Notes:

Scrapbookers Anonymous challenge ( Challenge Link ) was to use Rub-ons and boy, did I!  I used Sue's layout as inspiration and made borders from the black and white vines at the top and bottom of the page, using buttons for accents to add color.  A few extra rub-ons placed around the photo collage created in Photoshop Elements and that was it.  We also could not use designer paper - I nearly went through withdrawal.  (Thanks to Sue's Friday picks for leading me to this challenge  Sue's Picks)

The Blogging for Scrapbookers class (Shimelle.com) encouraged us to post and scrapbook about something routine from our day.  Opening and closing doors for the cat is about as routine as it gets around here.

Thanks for your visit today!

Ingredients:  Cardstock:  So saffron by Stampin' Up!; Black and white from Hobby Lobby
Rub-ons:  Love and Happiness from Stampin' Up!
Chipboard letters: Patchwork by American Crafts, Offbeat collection and Sweets undressed by Basic Grey
Buttons:  Fancy Pants, SU! and stash