Thursday, December 17, 2009

The Search for the Perfect Gift - Virtual Advent Tour

In honor of the Virtual Advent Tour, I was prepared to share with you a few of my favorite holiday things: my favorite song and tradition, the most memorable Christmas, and the holiday movie I've watched the most. But I have so much to do! It's my furlough day, you see, and there's last minute Christmas shopping, vacuuming and dusting that needs to be done, and, the most important, a book to get back to. So, when I was approached about offering up this spot for a guest post today, I quickly agreed.

Please welcome today's guest to Musings of a Bookish Kitty!


Christmas is my favorite time of year. All the ribbons, bows, wrapping paper and boxes. Maybe a new toy or two. The sounds of Christmas carols fill the house as does the aroma of tasty treats. I have a great fondness for the colored lights and decorations. Santa's hat is a special favorite of mine, especially the puffy ball at the tip.

This year I knew I had to get the most perfect gift for my parents. Something that would earn me smiles and hugs. But what to get and where to find it? Should I ask my brothers to go in on it with me? Surely they would hog all the glory. I wasn't sure I could do it myself though. It wouldn't hurt to try, I figured. I could only hope that I would know the gift when I saw it.

My parents love to eat and what better place to find the perfect gift than in an eatery? The hint of cinnamon and nutmeg in the air made my whiskers twitch. The icebox was full of all sorts of treats, including some of my own favorites. I couldn't resist a little taste of whipped cream on a pie. And was that a turkey, I spied? No one would notice if I took a little nibble.

I slunk to the entertainment department where there were towers of DVD's and CD's. Josh Groban was singing Silent Night in the background. The choices were endless. In music there was everything from classical and jazz to rock and country. The movie collection was quite impressive too. I was sure I could find something that my parents would like. The best evenings are those when we all settle together in the living room to watch a movie. I always seem to fall asleep during the movies; the flickering lights from the screen and the sounds coming from all around me often lull me to sleep. It is the fault of that too soft pillow on the couch. It gets me every time.

I wandered by a cabinet of computer games that I just had to stop and browse. I don't play, but my dad likes them. A month's subscription to World of Warcraft would make him happy. And maybe my mom too. It would give her more time to read. She's always complaining she doesn't have enough time to read.

I still was at a loss for what to get them when I happened upon the bookstore. The door was already open, I swear. Books lined the shelves, some slid into their spots at angles while others were neatly edged. The books were arranged alphabetically by author's last name. Memories of bedtime and curling up in bed with a book sprung to mind. A bookmark with a little kitten charm attached caught my attention. One can never have too many bookmarks. Those little dangling tassels are fun to bat around. They don't always taste so good though.

I was no closer to finding that perfect gift than when I first started. It was impossible. There were too many distractions and sunspots to sleep in. I would have to enlist my brothers' help after all. Then I remembered that there was still one place I hadn't looked. And I headed for the entrance. My eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. I nearly bumped into a shelf of T-shirts on my way to the sleeping bag section. What to get, what to get . . . I decided to sleep on it for a while.

It wasn't until later that night when we were all together that it came to me. As I looked up at my dad petting Parker, I saw the tension ease out of his shoulders and the slight upturn of his lips. Mom leaned over to give them both a hug. "The purrs of an angel," she said as she turned to look for me. She scooped me up in her arms and held me close. I gave her the best gift I could think of. I began to purr.


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Today's guest: Anya, a short haired tortie of 18 months, is more likely to bask in the heat of a computer rather than use it. However when she puts her mind to it, her paws produce the most amazing things. At least when she's not distracted by the cursor.


Wishing you all a Happy and Safe Holiday Season!

Be sure and stop by the Virtual Advent Tour website for a list of other tours taking place this month!


© 2009, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved.
If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

28 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading this post, Wendy! Very well put and so creative!

    Hello, Anya! :)

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  2. I loved your story or rather, Anya's story. It was very creative and interesting to read. Great job to both of you.

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  3. Great post! And I love the photo of the bow-topped kitty :)

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  4. Anya looks so cute dressed up for Christmas! When does the dog get a chance to post?

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  5. Melody - Anya sends meows. She was quite excited about her post going up today. She wouldn't let me sleep in long this morning.

    Lilly - Thanks! It was something different, so I figured Anya and I would give it a try. :-)

    Molly - Thank you. Anya doesn't think the photo does her justice but she granted me permission to use it since it's the only festive picture of her I have.

    Kathy - Riley was asking me the same thing last night. I told him he'd get a chance to post this coming year, for sure. :-)

    Sassymonkey & Beth - Thank you. :-)

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  6. Ha, took me a second to figure out who the guest was. Thanks for the smile.

    My word verification is "cateaked" - CAT-teaked? Dunno, seems appropriate somehow though.

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  7. This post is so original! This was a great stop on the Virtual Advent Tour!

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  8. Kaye - I love it when my cats purr. :-) Anya's purrs sometimes sound like crickets on a warm summer night.

    Lisa - That's too funny about the word verification. LOL Thanks for sharing. :-)

    Jenn - Thank you! I wanted to do a little something different.

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  9. Anya, thanks for sharing your quest for the ideal gift for your parents. I think you picked the perfect one.

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  10. Anya, what a great story! I really adored this post!

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  11. So sweet! Adorable. Merry Christmas, Anya and parents :-)

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  12. That was VERY cute - and very true. Pets give the perfect gifts to us every day :-). Thanks for sharing, Anya!

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  13. Sprite, Serena & Aarti - Anya sends her thanks and so do I. :-)

    Florinda - They really do. Their gestures may be small in size, but they mean so much to us.

    Now to get Riley out of the TBR room. I put the package from my parents' in there and he keeps pushing the door open to go sniff it. I think he knows it's from them and that there's something for him in there.

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  14. Great story...you should do this more often, you're very creative!

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  15. Anya is adorable- and a fantastic blogger! :-)

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  16. Softdrink - Thank you. It was fun to do. :-)

    Marie - Maybe she'll volunteer to guest post again someday. She's presently sleeping next to my computer as I type. She's had a full day.

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  17. This was so much fun to read Wendy and very creative as well. I'll look forward to more guest posts by Anya :)

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  18. After reading this post, I am convinced that publishers need to seek out more stories written by animals. ;->

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  19. Violet - Thank you! Anya's hoping I'll let her write more. She's been bouncing ideas off the dog.

    Readerbuzz - Haha As long as it's not me writing them. :-)

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  20. I actually went to the bottom of the post to see the guest blogger!! lol then I saw the picture of the kitty and my disappointment changed to joy. Very fun post, Wendy. I love your cat -all the things she plays with! Christmas from a cat's point of view. Delightful! PS Bandit my cat would like to say something, but she's curled up on a chair near me sleeping. I think she's dreaming up how to inspire me for my advent tour post tomorrow (the 21st)....Happy holidays!

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  21. Susan - Haha! I was kind of sneaky, not posting the name of the the person at the top, wasn't I?

    I wasn't sure how it would go over, but I was drawing a blank as to what to write and wanted to do something different.

    I would love to read a guest post by your Bandit. Even if not tomorrow, perhaps another time. :-) Anya's curled up next to my computer purring and chirping at the dog who I'm playing fetch with in between keystrokes.

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  22. Aww, this made me cry! It's beautiful. I can't think of a better Christmas gift than a kitty's purr, either.

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  23. Ingrid - Thank you. I love hearing my cats purr. It's one of the sweetest sounds on earth. :-)

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