Zero had a very fun Christmas holiday!
He asked that I apologize for the delay in a blog post! We are no longer supported by a professional development perk through work, which included time set aside to maintain this site (as it was the project as a part of a BCIT program), and so now as reality kicks in, we persevere, powered by our good old fashioned labour of love. Unrelated: why isn’t web hosting free?
December Advent
Zero spent all of December blindly ignoring his diet (as we all did in Yellowhouse), and received a daily treat because he’s been a good boy all year (escapes excluded).
I was actually very proud of his advent this year! He’s done one every year, with daily posts on his Instagram story, but this year I was able to create a really nice little cover!
Year 1 – 2022
The first year I had Zero, I was so excited to find and buy an advent at Pet Smart. It ended up being pretty disappointing, as each gift was 3 small, square treats. Every. Single. Day. They may have been different flavours, but I still thought “Well, I could have made something better”.
The worst part was that the 25th slot was giant, and I figured at the very last he would get a toy on that day. But guess what? 3 small treats. Actually, when I looked back on this. There was a silica packet on the last day. I think the treats slipped into other pockets somehow. So, I supplied the final day’s treats in 2022.
One thing I learned from the first year of doing this, was that mornings were the worst idea for advent. Zero woke me up earlier and earlier every day in December because he learned to expect a treat when I woke up. In the following years, I chose evenings which really made everything nicer. I really liked taking a little video each day. It was fun playing with different angles and setting a new scene every time.
Year 2 – 2023
In 2023, I kept the plastic frame and loaded it up with fun toys and better treats so that Zero could get a variety and have an exciting December. I put the gifts in then wrapped it in gift wrap. I used tiktok to help edit my videos and I think production value really went up this year.
Year 3 – 2024
This year, in 2024, I was able to level up and I cut the doors out with a Cricut! I did a little measuring and set up a file and perforated the little doors. They worked so well! You can see my surprise in the first video of 2024. I was less extra this year as far as the contents, but still not stingy! He’s on a diet so he was limited with treats. I had cat food, treats, pipecleaner creatures and cat nip (which he eats up like a monster).
Random Guy was an incredible cinematographer, who did an amazing job behind the scenes to make sure the star was as immaculate as ever. And also Zero! :0)
This year Zero also got a lovely branch installed in the wall. You’ll notice in the final days I was training him to climb up it. He’s been slowly using it more and more but we’re brainstorming ways to make it more comfortable for him. The shelves helped. I think we realized that cats are great at climbing up but aren’t huge fans of climbing down. This makes sense, as their claws only dig in one way. This is how they get stuck in trees (my theory).
Christmas
Zero came to each of our families houses for Christmas. He’s still not a fan of the car, but he is doing much better. It was nice to have him join us for Christmas and not have to worry about leaving him alone. It’s nice to be a unit that is able to all stick together.
When we got to my parent’s house in Duncan, he was under the tree within 15 minutes of sniffing around. I heard some paper rustling and figured he was eating someone’s present so I went to investigate. I picked up the gift he was playing with and saw the tag read “To Zero. Love Grandma and Grandpa”. “He’s a genius!” I shared with everyone. And we opened his gift.
Grandma got him a lovely collar which he thrashed around in until I removed it (I guess collar vs harness is a different feeling), and some cat toys with catnip. Likely how he sniffed it out! He got to wear the Santa suit gifted from his favorite cousin for the final day of advent.
Zero was happy to get home and relax… until the following week…
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