Congrats to elaing8, who won the copy of Deadly Obsession by Kris Norris!

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It turns out that for years, Jeanne has believed I stage those knitting pictures (well, back when I had regular knitting pictures!) in which Mayhem sniffs, gnaws, or lounges about on every single piece of knitting I place on the floor. Jeanne decided she needed to see for herself what really happened when knitting is placed on my living room floor.

So, when she was visiting recently, she waited until there weren’t any kitties in the living room, got up from her chair, and placed her gorgeous sock on the floor. Before she made it back to the chair, Mayhem appeared!

“Hey, what’s up? Did I hear knitting hit the floor?” -Mayhem

“Oh, look at that. Where did this stripey sock come from? Mom, I know you’re not knitting much of anything these days.” -Mayhem

(Ouch!)

“That’s it? Where’s the other sock? Where are the knitting needles? I like it best when there are knitting needles to chew.” -Mayhem

Anything else to add, Jeanne??

Congrats to Janna, who won the copy of Julia Barrett’s newly released steamy romance, Beauty and the Feast!

Oh! You only have until 8 pm today (March 17) to enter your picks for DA BWAHA! The grand prize is an iPad…

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• I wish I was kidding in the title about my tap water.

• Ewww!

• Minneapolis gets its water out of the Mississippi River.

• All hail the Brita pitcher!

• On Sunday, we hit a record-breaking high temperature of 64F.

• Very, very unusual for March in Minnesota.

• All the snow is gone, except for the biggest piles.

• The rivers are flooding, since the snow melted before the ground thawed.

• Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

• Is it weirder that my cats have their own email addresses and respond to comments directed at them, or that some of you carry on conversation with my cats in email?

• I wonder how long I’ll have this post-it reminding me to throw out the scary old eggs in the fridge before I remember to throw out the scary old eggs in the fridge?

• My SIL seemed fine about anticipating her belated birthday socks, whenever they’re finished.

• I continue to slog away on the leg of the first sock.

• Would you like to see the sock?

• Tough. You’re going to see it anyway:

“Oh, what have we here?” -Mayhem

“Needles or yarn, needles or yarn – which to bite through first?” -Mayhem

• Eeep! *rescues sock and needles*

• Maybe next time I’ll get a cat-free photo.

• Well, I can always dream, right?!

• I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that our two weeks of glorious sunshine have given way to a week (so far) of clouds and rain.

• I miss the sun.

• The snow is mostly gone, since it’s also been unseasonably warm.

• I think I’m preparing for the start of Daylight Savings Time this weekend by already feeling tired.

• Ok, I’m back. The previous reminded me that some of contests from yesterday’s linkity post actually end in EDT/CDT instead of EST/CST. All fixed now.

• I have started a new pair of socks.

• I’m already past the heel and into the leg on the first sock!

• Too bad my sister-in-law’s birthday is tomorrow and I’m sure she really wants two completed socks instead of one sock, 2/3 done.

• Earlier this week, I was sitting innocently on my couch, type typing away on my laptop when a yowling black blur of stench hurtled past me and shit-o-caust arrived in my living room.

• *blink blink*

• What caused this most horrible and inauspicious event?

• Chaos exiting the litterbox at high speed with poop attached to his butt by one of my hairs that he’d consumed.

• He was, apparently, fleeing in terror from the poop chasing him.

• I must have missed the chapter in the cat owner’s manual where it prepared you to have to chase down your pet as he fled from his own poop, hold him down, and clean his butt with toilet paper.

• Because? I’m pretty sure I’d have remembered that chapter.

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“Have no doubt that I will get you for sharing that, Mom. And also? It never happened.” -Chaos

Crazy Aunt Purl (aka Laurie Perry) is nearing the end of her blog tour to support her new book, Crazy Aunt Purl’s Home Is Where the Wine Is: Making the Most of What You’ve Got One Stitch (and Cocktail!) at a Time. Since Laurie’s probably answered every possible question there is to ask about her book at this point in her blog tour, her cats have stepped up to be interviewed… for the first time.

Today, Chaos and Mayhem are excited to welcome Bob, Sobakowa, and Frankie from Crazy Aunt Purl to Stumbling Over Chaos! Bob, Soba, and Frankie live in Los Angeles with Laurie.

Chaos: Excited? We are awake.

Mayhem: Speak for yourself, big kitty! Hi, other kitties!!!!!!!! Mom said you live far away. I hope you don’t live at the vet!! The vet is far away.

And May is a titch excitable… Perhaps you three can begin by telling us a bit about the book?

Soba: All I know is that I’m not on the cover – again – and she’s going to hear from my lawyer.

Chaos: So I heard that you actually wrote this book, Soba, but didn’t get any credit for it. Any truth to that, and if so, why do you let your mom get away with treating you so cruelly?

Frankie: I’m an airhead.
Bob: I’m scared. Or hungry. Or scared. Or hungry.
Soba: Obviously I have a more existential relationship with the manuscript, as my way of working is more self-directed, but I don’t need the recognition of a byline. Lesser cats may feel slighted by indignities like pooping in a box or having a stunt cat pictured on the cover of her human’s book, but I have loftier aspirations. Total world domination.

Chaos: Did you always know you’d be so successful at being crabby, Soba, and can you offer any advice to kitties who’d like to do the same?

Soba: I don’t think of myself as crabby. I think of myself as unfortunately equipped with claws but no thumbs.

Chaos: I feel your pain! The no thumbs thing really sucks, especially since Mom put locks on the cupboards. Hmph. Ok, Bob, you’re so laid back. Any tips for maintaining your boyish cool in a female dominated household?

Bob: Find a quiet spot in the closet.

Mayhem: Do you dye your fur, Bob? No one is that shade of orange!

Bob: I once ate half a bag of cheetos that I found in my human’s handbag. Maybe that did it?

Chaos: Are the rumors about Bob faking his dumbness true? Is it true he really has a degree in Economics, and it’s all an act?

Bob just fell off the bed, and is unable to answer this question.

Mayhem: Ouch. Poor Bob. I bet that hurt. Frankie, how do you deal with the pressure to be beautiful all the time? I myself find it requires many hours of napping to sustain.

Frankie: When you’re naturally gorgeous like me, you don’t feel pressure to stay beautiful because you just are. But finding people to appreciate your beauty nonstop is so hard! They always want to do things like “sleep” and “watch TV” so I have to stand on their stomachs or block the TV. It’s hard work being appreciated for your beauty.

Mayhem: Do you ever see ghosts? I do!!

Frankie: Not since we moved. Now we see more dust bunnies.

Chaos: Is it true that pets that live in California are all famous?

Soba: Only the ones with good representation. Our agent is with CAA….

Mayhem: What’s your favorite flavor of yarn? I like all kinds!!

Bob: I prefer knitting needles to yarn. Much easier to ruin.

Mayhem: Oh, yes, knitting needles are nice, too!!
Chaos: What kind of parties do you have when your mom’s at work?

Soba: I hate cats, so I spend most of the day trying to open the door and get to Starbucks so I can be with my own kind.

Mayhem: Do you have any suggestions on how to get our mom to quit spending so much money on yarn and buy more toys and treats?

Frankie: Have you tried throwing up on the yarn?

Mayhem: Oh, I’ll have to get the big kitty on that. He’s a very pukey kitty.
Chaos: What happens to you when your mom leaves for a while? (We’re pretty sure our mom stood in the hallway for two weeks when she said she was going on vacation, because even she wouldn’t visit the vet for two weeks.)

Frankie: We have a British nanny who stays with us. She’s like supernanny, only taller.

Chaos: How do you punish your mom for leaving you alone?

Bob: Hairballs.
Soba: Targeted furniture shredding.
Frankie: Constant meowing when she returns is really helpful.

Chaos: Oh yeah, I work the constant meowing, too. So very effective, isn’t it?
Mayhem: Is it true that fluffy white birds [snowflakes] don’t fall from the sky in California?

Frankie: We have lint. Does that count?

Chaos: I still miss Roy. Care to share an amusing anecdote about the Old Man?

Bob: He could actually open doors! He was so tall that if he stood on his hind legs and put his paws on the long type of door handles he could open all the doors. It was amazing.

Mayhem: Where does your mom buy your catnip? Does she have an inside line to a reputable source?

Chris breathes a sigh of relief that May didn’t bring up Frankie’s bust for catnip possession last summer.

Frankie: Living in California has its advantages, as we have legalized the catnip trade for medicinal purposes. Soba uses it for her “glaucoma.”

Chaos: Do you like it when your mom has visitors? How do you react? I stand at the front door after Mom buzzes someone in and I greet them with growling and hissing.

Soba: I enjoy discourse with new humans. The other cats hide under the bed and pretend to be invisible, the fools.

Mayhem: Thank you for visiting with us, kitties from faraway!!!!!
Chaos: Whatever.

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And thanks for letting your cats visit with us today, Laurie!

Laurie’s publisher HCI has offered five copies of Home Is Where the Wine Is for me to give away, so make sure you mention that you’re entering the contest when you comment.

Contest Rules

• To enter, leave a comment below stating that you are entering the contest. Leave your comments by 7 pm CST, Thursday, March 4.
• If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up!
• If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this just refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
• Winners will be selected by random number.
• You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
• Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
• If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
• Only residents of the US and Canada are eligible to win.
• No PO Boxes.

Good luck!

Congrats to Faren, who won the copy of The Guardian by Mary Calmes!

Many thanks to JessaLu – I won a gorgeous skein of sock yarn in her blogiversary contest! And thank you, Nicole, as it looks like your referral led to this.

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So apparently these were not quite the Eternal Socks of Eternity.

“Oh, what’s on the floor?” -Mayhem

“Hmm…” -Mayhem

“Mom hasn’t made one of these stripey kitty beds for ages!” -Mayhem

“Although I don’t understand why she didn’t make this kitty bed sparkly and pink! With feathers! Everything’s better with sparklies and feathers!” -Mayhem

“Woe. Woe. My life sucks.” -Mayhem