Mandy: And Then There Were Two

On of the few good pictures of Mandy.
She hates cameras, and loves to foil any
photo attempt.

Approximately three years after we got Thomas, it was decided that the family needed another cat. My parents decided to surprise my younger sister, Jenni, and adopt a cat for her birthday. Our dad picked out a cute little gray striped kitten.
All of us were thrilled with the new kitty, and immediately sat down to decide on a name for her. Jenni liked Mara. Nobody else did, and thought that name sounded weird and yucky, so everybody quickly began suggesting similar names, and we all agreed on Mandy.

Mandy was a little shy at first, but she warmed up to us, particularly Jenni and I. We did EVERYTHING with Mandy.
We had tea parties, we watched TV with her (Dora the Explorer was her favorite) we put her in a little plastic shopping cart and pushed her around the house, trained her to sit in a doll's high chair for treats, and even played board games with her (Mandy would sometimes move her own piece by slapping it around the board).
Mandy LOVED it.

One her favorite things to play with was marbles. We had a whole jar full of glass marbles, and we'd dump some out and watch her play with them. Sometimes she would get bored of playing with it in one room, so she'd pick it up in her mouth and trot into another room to play there.
  Thomas would sit and watch the marble game with a regal and dignified expression, looking as though he considered marble games beneath him. One day, though, he decided that, as Mandy played it so often, it might actually be fun, and worth a try. He selected a deep blue marble, and began batting it joyously about the hallway. Because Thomas was so large (He weighed about twenty-five pounds. O.o), and usually concentrating on looked kingly and dignified, he looked really stupid skipping gleefully through the hallway with a marble.
He looked even more stupid when he ran head first into a wall.
He never touched another marble again. Mandy again had aaaallll the marbles to herself.

One year, my family planned a big ol' month-long trip. One week from Texas to California, two weeks in California visiting family, staying in my grandparent's mobile home, and doing touristy things, and then one week back. Dad would be traveling separately, as he could only get two weeks off of work. There was no way Mandy could stand to be separated from her beloved girls for a whole month, so Dad would board Thomas (Who couldn't stand trips) and take Mandy with him when he drove out to join us.
Mandy didn't like the trip so much, but she was delighted to be with Jenni and I again, after a whole week apart.  We couldn't bring her shopping cart with us, so we settled for spinning her around in a spinny chair, and running around with string for her to chase.
And at night, Mandy would play one of her favorite games: Slam the Kitchen Cabinets Repeatedly.
She'd hook her claws around the cabinet door, pull it open a bit, and then - *BANG!*. And again, *BANG BANG BANGITY BANG*
*BANGITY BANG BANG*
And never just one cupboard. She'd go  around the whole kitchen, and slam ALL of them, so none of them would feel left out. God forbid a cupboard feel left out.

After a few years, she finally stopped slamming the cupboards (Ah, blessed silence! LOL/JK. This house is rarely silent) and decided to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. We call her "The Blob" or "The Galloping Hippo", in the event that she decides to gallop around the house. She prefers to sit, and watch life go by her. Or trip over her. Mandy's fur is the special magic blend of muted grays that allow her to camouflage anywhere. Carpet, sofa, bed or shelf. She manages to blend with it all.

Mandy never gets sick, and will probably be one of those cats that lives forever. Which nobody would mind, since she never does anything aside from sitting in her high chair for treats and love, and occasionally trying to shove people off of chairs, or out of bed.
And howling at people. O.o Mandy howls in a most disturbing manner.

Oh, I feel deliciously evil right now. Here is a picture of Mandy that will haunt you for the rest of your days.

I had a terrible time getting this picture where I wanted it. It kept jumping up to the kitchen paragraph, and refused to come down. Sort of like Mandy, when she finds a ladder.