Tabs loved Halloween, as you know. We would get RSVPs to his annual Halloween party six months out, and I kept all of his Halloween treat and beverage recipes, like the following…

Shrimp Catnip Cocktails

Catnip Jello Parfait

Gravy Shooters

Rosie upping her modeling game

While Rosie’s really found her lane as a cat scientist, she’s definitely learned a thing or two about a thing or two, which includes kitty modeling.

I guess that should come as no surprise, considering the company she now heads.

As an academic, that girl sure can study. She watched thousands of hours of footage featuring Tabs at the height of his runway career, picking up pointers and the nuances of kitty supermodeling.

One of Rosie’s PhDs is in biomechanics, which is probably why her muscle control is out of this world. Basically, when you understand the science behind the poses, you can really “next level it.” Or rather, that’s what she tells me when she slow blinks.

As a pet assistant, I normally have to work on Halloween, but I told Rosie I would leave the house/office if she wanted to throw a small get-together this year.

I’ve yet to get an answer.

She goes back and forth. She isn’t the social butterfly Tabs was, but I think she wants to spread her wings… We’ll see.

To be safe, I’m stocking up on fresh catnip anyway. You never know when your cat will pull a last-minute diva move and say, “Meow!” (translation: Let’s throw a party!)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

So, Marnie Mae’s internship here at Tabs the Cat Industries is unpaid.

Luckily, she boards here on the corporate campus rent free, but there are a few things she likes to purchase from time to time…

Like the other ladies in the house, she buys some beauty products. She’s also saving for a Labubu and a trip to the dog spa (gotta get her nails done!).

To that end, she relies on her weekly allowance for her spending money, and this week she made bank!

She did double her normal chores and made an extra $5!

Yup, she barked at three dogs and spent an extra 10 minutes looking out the window.

The big question now is what’s she going to do with the money??

What do you think she should do with it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Man, this inflation is crazy, isn’t it?

Rosie’s been doing everything she can to help. I can’t say I have much job security, though, because Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC isn’t quite the plus-size kitty modeling powerhouse it once was.

We’re getting by, but it’s tough.

At least Rosie’s trying new things and coming up with new ideas to keep the business relevant, like her collaboration with FASA, the Feline Aeronautics and Space Administration.

We got a lot of good sponsorships from that one.

Yup, that one paid for a lotta chicken, if you know what I mean.

I gotta say, though, things have been tense around the office. Poor Marnie gets the brunt of it, too. Being an intern, she isn’t used to Rosie’s intensity, and it bubbles over every once in a while…

Today Rosie spent five hours exploring the company garden, where she says she does a lot of her best brainstorming work.

That’s funny because Tabs used to say the same thing, except that he coupled gardening with deep-tissue kitty massage…

I mean whatever, right? Tabs was a boss’s boss. He was such a business genius that he could pretty much do whatever he wants.

I guess that’s the cross one bears for greatness.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Man, some of the neighbors around here used to have no respect for authority. Everyone knew that Tabs was the head honcho. He was the CFO (Chief Feline Officer), for meowing out loud!

Like the local turkey troupe? They were always monopolizing the corporate salad bar. One day, Tabs wanted to grab a quick bite before he started some intense kitty modeling negotiations with Dior, but he couldn’t because of these guys…

The nerve!

There was a lot of unsanctioned outside activity. Everyone should have known that the so-called golden hour first thing in the morning was when Tabs liked to take his walk, so there shouldn’t have been any unsanctioned horseplay or activity.

This guy even had the unmitigated gall to dig a big hole right next to Tabs!

Can you even imagine? Some gophers are so disrespectful…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

It’s all fun and games till a mouse takes over your patio.

That’s what happened here at Chez Tabs this week. Rosie used to call the shots here at Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC, and for the most part she’s been a benevolent dictator, but a few days ago a tiny tyrant of the rodent variety moved into, or onto to be more accurate, the patio where the staff (basically, just Marnie and Rosie) take their lunch.

For the most part, Marnie and Rosie work fairly well together.

I mean, Rosie tells Marnie to do things, and Marnie tries to oblige… Bless her heart.

They’d reached a form of detente, and it had been pretty effective until that mouse showed up.

Now every time one of them goes out there and tries to nap underneath one of the wooden lettuce or tomato planters, the mouse starts scratching or sneaking around somewhere in the area, must be underneath the wood, and Marnie and Rosie can hear it, and it drives them nuts.

It’s a shame because Tabs would have never allowed a usurper to … usurp his authority like this.

There’s just no way he would have shared power.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Despite being incredibly busy, Rosie had to put a critical research project on paws this morning because of something unusual.

Earlier this week she took some pictures of Marnie for the company newsletter to announce her as our new intern, but when Rosie was processing the images she noticed something…

She pondered it during a jam session on her keyboard…

Quantum mechanics and superposition!

Rosie thinks she knows what’s going on. Somehow the office here in Novato has become entangled with another dimension.

This changes everything!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Rosie should have known better than to trust Marnie with Rosie’s investments.

After all, Marnie doesn’t have any background or credentials or expertise in financial planning.

There was no reason to think Marnie would be able to manage Rosie’s assets, but Rosie wanted to give her a chance.

Oh, well. Bad move on Rosie’s part.

Even someone of Rosie’s intellectual stature screws up sometimes.

Sure, she may understand quantum physics better than any other cat on the planet, but that doesn’t mean she understands compound interest.

Sigh…

Now Rosie has to think of a way of to recoup all those losses. Hmm… What could she invent?

I’m sure she’ll think of something.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

This time of year, Tabs was always pretty stoked about showing off his summer bod, which as you know, was curvy, Rubenesque and voluptuous.

With this being the official weekend of the summer solstice, this morning I asked Rosie if she had any big plans for summer, and she just stared at me blankly and meowed something under her breath that sounded like “science waits for no one.”

I took that as a “no.”

Marnie’s sure been enjoying these longer summer days. In fact, she insists on waking me up at the crack of dawn so that she can go running with me, and by running I mean sprinting circles around me as I shuffle along…

I believe she thinks that I am her sheep.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Heya, friend! Happy late Father’s Day to ya! Hope you had a great one. Except for a brief drive out to visit the fam in the East Bay, we stayed around the house. But it was fun. Lots of high-intensity lounging, TV watching and chillaxin’…

Rosie, purr usual, spent the day working on her science experiments.

That reminds me…

Tabs wasn’t particularly interested in science or genetics like Rosie is, but he was interested in acting as a father figure to at-risk kittens and a mentor to up-and-coming kitty supermodels.

Despite his busy schedule, he always made time for the kittens in his foundation. He would read to them, do homework with them, teach them how to strut and strike poses on the catwalk — all the basic life skills.

Rosie

Rosie’s view of Father’s Day is a little different. As an introverted, more science-minded cat, she’s more interested in the genetic aspects of parentage. She was recently tapped by Genentech to lead a study into inherited traits that get passed along from father cat to kitten, so she’s been working on that all week long.

She has a theory that vertical leaping ability is closely tied to torbie fur pattern… Why Genentech is interested in that, I have no idea.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen