You really know the best places when you sleep for 23 hours a day.

[slr2moons]

Ever since it turned colder, Spicer-kitty has been utilizing two sources of constant warmth for sleeping purposes. Of course, he's liked the nook between Utena and Tsukushi's monitors for quite some time, but apparently that isn't as warm and cozy as laying on top of Utena's tower.

I keep a folded pillowcase on top of Utena, both for kitties and to keep my keyboard from sliding off, since that's where I set it when it's not in my lap. (I have no desk space for Utena's keyboard.) Periodically I remove the cat hair from it. Anyway, Spicer-kitty is a rather large cat, so Utena is just long enough for his body to lay comfortably lengthwise, leaving his legs and tail dangling off the sides. (Like right now, for instance.) *pauses to pet the kitty*

However, Spicer's first choice of warm winter bed is not between the monitors, nor on Utena. It is on top of my laser printer. I do understand, since the printer is a nice square shape, fairly level, good for curling up into a contented serving-plate sized ball of kitty. And it is indeed warm. Both of these apparently trump Utena's pillowcase padding and the safe nook that is between the monitors.

I find this rather surprising because I use the printer. Many times a day, as both our cats know. It's a rather noisy machine, and makes rumbles for 4 seconds before it spits out a manga page. The pages come out on top of the printer. You know...right where the cat likes to sleep.

To give Spicer-kitty credit, it only took one rude awakening for him to figure out that sleeping on top of the printer when it is actually printing is Not a Good Idea. He was so terrified by the experience that he left a little surprise for me to clean up. I was laughing so much, I didn't mind. ^^; That was last winter, though, and by now he's over his fear of the nasty tail-eating printer, b/c the nasty tail-eating printer is warm. Unwilling to relinquish his heated bed, Spicer-kitty has adapted in true kitty form. The moment the printer begins to power up, he jolts awake to leap for safety upon the top of Utena. I remove the page solely for his benefit, and Spicer resumes his happy heated nap.

I usually take pity on him, and if I see he's curled up on the printer when I've just told a page to print, I'll reach over and gently wake him up. No one likes to be jarred out of a nice snooze by growling bed, after all. ^^ I'm wondering how much longer it will take for him to associate the blinking green light with an impending print job. Of course, since he's 1. usually asleep when the light starts blinking, and 2. laying on top of the light where he can't see it anyway, I doubt it will happen. But I still wonder.

Braveheart, on the other hand, doesn't use the between the monitors nook. This is because Braveheart has hip problems due to being hit by a car when he was a kitten and still an outside cat, so he cannot jump up onto my desk. He also does not care to sleep on top of Utena. I'm quite sure this is because he's rather large. Being marginally smaller in height and length than Spicer-kitty, but about twice as wide, Braveheart doesn't exactly fit. ^^;;; As for the printer, well....Braveheart is also rather fond of sleeping on the couch, on our beds, and in his padded kitty basket, so I don't think he cares much for sleeping on hard surfaces like the printer, warm or not.

About once a week, Braveheart will try out all three spaces. He is the alpha kitty, after all, and Spicer-kitty can only have the places that Braveheart has deemed either beneath his dignity or not worth the effort involved. Apparently the first disqualification applies to the printer and Utena, and the second applies to the monitors' nook. Though that last one is mostly due to me, since I have to pick Braveheart up and place him on the desk in the first place. My weightlifting routine: cat curls. Though I rarely let Braveheart up onto my desk. I pick him up when he wants in my lap. For Braveheart, at least, the ultimate heated bed is still a human's lap. ^^ Probably due to the convenience of being at said human's fingertips for petting. :P

Ah yes, warmfuzzy kitty stories are perfect for telling on cold wintry nights. Ne???