Wake up call

Early this morning, I received a wake up call from my cat. He was on my
back, claws dug into my hair, chewing on my ear. At least I know what it is
like to have a lion cub eating me. Post later. Bye!

Cloud 9

I am so excited today no grouchy people will be bringing me down. I emailed the shelter holding my 2nd kitten last night about when they estimate I can bring him home. They answered back today that I can take him home tomorrow. He has been neutered, but still has yet to have his final shots (like rabies). If I took him in tomorrow, I would have to pay for his final shots. That's ok, I can handle that. I'm so happy Precious will finally have a playmate. Post later. Bye!

Cat offer

I don't know why I bothered adopting a kitten from an animal shelter, I'm having cats thrown at me left and right. A friend from the car rental next door offered a kitten to me. But I already reserved a kitten from the shelter. I'm just waiting to take it home. I don't need 3 kitties. But since Precious badly needs a playmate and has been banished from my sister's house, I said I could foster it for a month until I get the other kitten. She guessed it was a girl that weighs about a pound. Mother cat is a stray roaming around down by the river where my friend's brother was feeding it. My friend has 2 dogs and a ferret so she can't take in this kitten. It is roaming around lose in her yard. She said she will find another home for it while it is at my apartment. Hopefully it won't get chased up a tree or hit by a car before I get my hands on it. If she can't find a home for it, it will be going to the animal shelter where I am getting my kitten from. Post later. Bye!

Buried treasure

I was cleaning out my Precious's litterbox and found a green ball. I tossed across the floor into the living room and Precious comes back with it, dropping it in the litterbox. Weird cat. He also drop balls in his water bowl. Well he is sleeping so I better go try to clip his claws. Post later. Bye!

Weirdoes

Guy comes to my counter asking for flight info. I point out the flight arrival screens hanging on the ceiling. He says it states it will arrive at 10:30 (So why is this bozo bothering me?) He has never done this before so he would also like to know how long it takes to fly from this city to here, commuting the time zone change in that assessment, because the flight has not left yet. When it is coming?!

Don't know, sir. He says, "You people are suppose to know these things". Sir, this is a car rental. I point the direction the airline counters. There is nobody at the airline counters, he claims. I point out again the flight screens hanging on the ceiling and he finally leaves. Weirdoes.

Tip of the day: If I am not standing in front of a airline logo nor wear a airline logo on my uniform, I don't work for the airlines. Plus not having staff visible at the airline counters is not my problem. OK?

Thinking

I have been watching the news coverage about the bombings between Israel and Lebanon. And so far the American President has not asked for a cease fire. Why is that? The Secretary of State Rice is talking to everyone about humanitarian aid for the Lebanonese people, except to Israel. I'm sorry for not saying this sooner, I have been expecting someone else to say it.

To Israel: Can we please have a cease fire now?

Post later. Bye!

Lance Armstrong is here

Lance Armstrong has arrived in Ames by private airplane, going by the news camera point of view. He rides in the annual bikeride across the state of Iowa called RAGBRAI. It has already begun and half way done. Yesterday the town of Waukee welcomed riders with leis for their themed overnight stay, Hawaii. They even had a photographer take pictures of riders wearing grass skirts and straw hats in front of a tropical backdrop. Each overnight stay has a theme and a beer garden. Lance Armstong will be present in Newton today to speak about cancer research in the town hall. It is expected that 10,000 people will come just to see him. They even set up large screens for people outside the town hall. Then Mr. Armstrong will ride the rest of the route of the bikeride with the 6500 plus other riders. This bike ride has become so popular that they had to only accept 6500 riders to ride the entire route while more are allowed to ride parts of it. At the beginning the riders place their tires in the Missouri River. At the end, they place their wheels in the Mississippi River. My friend's son is riding this year with his YMCA club. Post later. Bye!

Caught in the rain

Yesterday I took my niece and Precious outside for a walk while my sister ran to the store. It was barely sprinkling when we came outside. Under the trees, we got no raindrops at all. After 20 minutes exploring the backyard, it poured. My niece was screaming but I couldn't see her. Precious jumped into the bushes. I found my niece behind the grill under the eave calling my name. I tied up the leash to the bushes and guided my niece back inside. I told her I had to get Precious. Then I called for Precious to come out of the bushes (fat chance of that) so I had to stand in the rain dripping wet waiting for him to come out. He did come out and jumped on my sister's plant box. I grabbed him and went inside. I dried us off, even Precious. I stuck in some sing along videos my other sister left behind since her girls are too old for them. My niece loved the sing along tapes. She didn't even notice my sister came home until she told her she smelled a poopy diaper and paused the tape. Post later. Bye!

Precious is banished

Through the cat fights with queen bee cat and nervous cat hissing at Precious, Precious had been alowed to come back to my sister's house. Today after jumping on top of my sister's brand new leather chair for the first time and puncturing a hole with his claw, Precious has been banished from my sister's house. That should make her cats happy. Funny, he has jumped on my leather/vinyl chair a dozen times and never punctured any holes. His nails need clipping again I suppose. Anyway, he was getting to be difficult to put him in his carrier. Today my neighbor picked him up and asked if this was mine. My Precious is turning into a weasel. One more month for his playmate from the shelter to arrive. Post later. Bye!

Surprise package

When I filled up my kitty's freshly cleaned litterbox, Mr. Kitty batted a bunch of litter on the floor near the box. He usually jumps in the litterbox digging around when I add new litter. I didn't think much of it until today when the pile on the floor was getting bigger. With my litter brush and dustpan, I brush up the extra litter to put back in the box. Guess what, there is poop in the pile. Bad kitty pooping on the floor. So the pile went into the bag for disposing. Post later. Bye!

Mad as a wet cat

I started the faucet in the bathtub to take a shower. Mr. Kitty jumps in and lays down on the shower mat comfortably. He probably thought I was going to just run the faucet like when I cleaned his literbox the other day. No, I'm taking a shower today. So when I turned on the shower he jumped out and shook his body on my clothes sitting on the toliet lid. He bit and pawed at me for that as I tried to pet him to see how wet he was. Just the top coat of fur is wet. Post later. Bye!

What was that?

I show up at work today to be asked to step into the backroom immediately after clocking in. "Am I in trouble?" I naturally asked. No, I'm not in trouble. I'm just causing trouble (more or less) between the owners and some employees, which means half the people I work with are angry with me. I had no idea one email explaining why I made the outside crew stay longer than their scheduled time would cause such an uproar. I thought it had blown over by now. No, I'm a serious bad judge of people.

Problem is communication. Some employees only wish to be contacted by coworkers they like, which is bad news when the one they like is not there and the hate list victim needs something from them. I found out I'm on the hate list today so I should not go out of my way to help a customer get what they want, because it will not be delivered.

Let's see, what else was there. Oh, yes. I'm not to contact the owners under any circumstances. I guess I made them mad too. OK, I can handle not emailing a happy birthday greeting to them.

Then the person speaking to me informs me that she is new person in charge so if I have problem with how she handles things, I should go directly to her to complain. Excuse me? Go to the person who can fire me if I disapprove of the way they handle things. Guess I will be walking on egg shells for a while trying to not anger anymore coworkers. And here I thought I got along with most people. I was wrong. Post later. Bye!

Fun day

During my nieces' visit, we went swimming in my apartment pool. There wasn't too many people there, just a few adults standing along the edge sunbathing and talking while standing inside the deep end of the pool. One group brought a dog, radio, and baby. They had a baby inner tube that holds the baby while they kick their feet in the water and has a tree-like thing over the baby kinda like an umbrella. Then my baby niece got fussy and needed a nap. Precious tried to lay down with them, but my niece would not have it. Then we barged in to eat popicles. My one niece tried so hard to play with Precious, but Precious wanted to rest. My sister had to the TV so loud that I had to point out that I do have neighbors who might not like the volume of the TV. My Mom called to get the update of what we are doing and my nieces talked to Grandma. Then we went to a restrauant with a waiter. Next we went back to my sister's house because our aunt wanted back the mattress she lent them for the visitors. That loaded up, my sister brought me back home. We planned to go bowling, but my sister is not suppose to drive in the dark. She missed the exit on the freeway because it is closed, so we took the extra long scenic route back. Today they are at an amusement park and tomorrow is the Science Center. There is a Titanic exhibit here. Post later. Bye!

Why me?

Why do people keep asking if I know the new Superman, Brandon Routh? I even
got asked if we went to the same school together and was I invited to the
invitation-only movie showing. This only proves how well my friends and
coworkers do not pay attention, our hometowns are no where near each other.
The answer to all questions is no.

But my coworker lives next door to Superman's parents and has known him for
years. She doesn't have much to say about him though. Pity no one asks her
about Superman or if she was invited to the invitation-only showing.

Post later. Bye!

Bye Bye Doggie

I asked my coworker what the baby did to the dog for the dog earning a one way trip to the animal shelter and make his wife upset. The baby did nothing, the problem is the dog does not get along well with children. He got this dog from his brother when he had his niece because they can't get along. His brother thought maybe it was abused as a puppy by children to behave this way. He knew they would have to get rid of the dog when his wife and him had a child, and now it is time. He can't find anyone to take the dog, so off to the shelter it goes. My coworker said children are more important than dogs. Sadly, that is true.

My sister and I made a pact long ago that if anything happen to her or her future children were allergic to her cats, I would take in her cats. I hope that goes for me now that I have a kitten. Though, I would consider my future children equal to the cat in importance and try all possible solutions to keep both. I got a kitten to be with me until it dies, not until it is inconvenient.Post later. Bye!

Weird dreams

I am the master of weird dreams. If someone thinks they have better weird dreams, please share. Last night I dreamed up a boy with 2 younger sisters receiving a phone call that their parents have been in an accident and they will need to stay with the neighbor until thye are well recovered. The neighbor is a sweet old lady who always smiles and lives in a spooky old house. Every piece of furniture is covered with a dusty sheet, ghosts walk about (one is Emily who is quite mean to the youngest sister), and 2 cats talk to the siblings. The night they come over is the lady's 400th birthday and changes into a younger self when she was a teenager. The brother falls in love with this red headed beauty out of a fairytale. Soon her father finds out of this romance as they party in costumes in her backyard garden. as the couple sleeps and she returns to the old lady form, her father barges in and shoots the couple's bed frame with machine guns. The old lady gets up and pleads for her lover's life. Remaining still in the bed he pretends to be dead. She cries and cries to her father how wonderful this boy is and her father grunts and leaves. The boy is hit with a few bullets, but doesn't die. The boy gets up and kisses the old lady. Next the go out in town in 1920's outfits cause it is Halloween. Then I woke up to hear my kitty purring pressed up against my back. Post later. Bye!

Missing cat

I came home without a greeting from my cat Precious. He was eating his treats as I flew out the door to work. I hear a meow, a "Help me" meow off in the distance of my dark apartment. Where is Precious?, I ask myself out loud. Another meow. I discover the bedroom door shut. Open it and out jumps Precious meowing like crazy as I pet him. Must have been chasing a ball behind the door to close it. I have no idea how long he was there, but he did not rush to the litterbox. Post later. Bye!

Visitor

I received a visitor at work today. My sister and niece were picking up a passeneger at the airport and stop by to see me. My niece was so surprised to see she grabbed my arm saying my name, I was real. With a big smile, she pointed at me and looked at my sister squealing my name. My sister took our picture in front of my company's sign. I tried to show her off to my friends, but my niece was not cooperating and wanted down. I chased her around the baggage claim area (which was empty for the moment) and got my exercise for the day. My sister then had to go get her passenger. I gave my niece lots of kisses and a hug. Post later. Bye!

Weird

Weird, I poke in the website to do a cat lover's survey I got off my Petco receipt and I get connected to a screen full of naked women called million something girls dot com. I was horrified looking at women's private parts. Once I exited out of the disgusting site, there is my survey. Is it not safe to do web searches without visiting porn sites? My apologies for not loving to look at naked women, I'm not a guy nor a lesbian. Post later. Bye!

Bad kitty

I took my kitty over to my sister's house as usual for the kitty playdate with her cats. The first hour was quite intense with my Precious jumping on top of my sister's cat, thus starting a catfight. Bad kitty. Though it is almost funny watching him jump in the air spread eagle and land on the cat. I lost count how many times I separate the 2 cats. This time I had to go in and physically break up the fight. He just wants to play with the other cats so badly and they won't play with him. When the other cat hides under the coffee talble, Precious would dangle his paws over the top in attempt to play. Once I caught Precious laying on the floor with the other cat's fur pieces in his toes. Real bad kitty pulling out fur. After a while, he calmed down and laid near the other peacefully. No more catfights.

I do wonder if I had remembered the harness and leash and taken him outisde when he got excited, if that would have calmed him down better. I think I'll leave Precious at home next time I go over. Post later. Bye!

It's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a boy!!!!!!!!!

I went over to the animal shelter and picked out a playmate for Precious. He is currently named Elton and has 5 sisters, he is the only boy of the litter. I plan to call him Frodo, after Lord of Rings books. He is gray with black stripes that are hardly visible and has white paws often called socks. He has shorter fur than Precious. The adoption person let me play with the 8 kittens they had, one had been reserved already. She recommended 2 boys play together well, from her experience.

I was there for an hour and 20 minutes letting the kittens climb over me and attack my shoelaces. Precious did lots of sniffing when I got home. One all black kitty I thought was the runt climbed up my shirt and got up into my hair. I still feel the scratches on my scalp. I have scratches, red and white, on my arms and legs. 2 tuxedo kittens took a nap on my lap as I sat on the floor pretzel style. Precious likes the cubby hole when I sit pretzel style too.

There was a male orange tabby like my sister's cat, but I had concerns. He and his sister were found at a construction site and rescued. They were bottle fed when first came to the shelter. My sister's 1st cat was found under a car and ever since gorges on her food to the point they had to hide their 2nd cat's food. My sister thinks it might be from that starvation period. Then the tabby still had its blue eyes (the others had yellow eyes) and quite tiny compared to the other cats, well maybe the size of the black runt. I knew I would have to wait longer for him to take home. They have to be 3 pounds and 16 weeks old for spaying and neutering before thye can be adopted. I picked the bigger male that endlessly attacked my shoelaces. I could tell he was the boy of the group of sweet girls. He also got up on my shoulder twice. He is marked as reserved until I can adopt him hopefully by the end of the month.

Post later. Bye!

I don't believe this

Once upon a time I worked at a retail store chain where it was forbidden to speak negatively about any "guest" in our store. Some managers can't understand why we hate customers when they support our paychecks.

This is why I hate customers:

Lady calls up complaining the seat her daughter was sitting on in her minivan shook loose after about 100 miles and they just rented it. We should make sure all the minivan seats are secured before we rent them out to people. I offer an exchange of vans. No, she is in another state. I look up quickly the sole location in that state and it is where she is. I inform her that she can exchange cars in her city if she is uncomfortable driving it. No, she secured the seat herself. She just wanted to let us know that we need to secure all seats before renting them. OK, I will tell them that (Yeah, right). As I start to hang up, I hear her talking to her husband and hear her say, "What a bitch". Please explain how I was a bitch to her.

After dealing with people like like that every day, one will learn to hate customers. Post later. Bye!

> I had a magic moment with my kitty this morning. He got up on my tummy and
> collapsed on me with his head hitting my left shoulder. Then purred right
> in my ear and I could feel him twitching as cats do sleeping. Next he got
> up on my chest and kneaded his paws on my neck. I need to clip his claws
> again. Then laid down again and stretched out with his head under my chin.
> He got up a 3rd time, kneading his paws on my chest and laid down with his
> head right shoulder, tail on left shoulder. Then he flipped over and
> rolled off of me. Aaaah, an hour of contentment before he jumped off the
> bed to drink some water.

Quote

I received my book publishing quote in U.S. $s.

$23 to convert my book into their format
$32 to add barcode to sell book
$112 for template book cover design
$895.60 for editing and proofreading
plus the 10 book minimum purchase and shipping for that
I decided to take care of the copyright myself at about $40, plus shipping to send it to the copyright office in D.C.

So I'm looking at over $1000 to make my dream come true, which I will do even if it kills my family to watch me fail. I'm guessing about over 200 books must be sold to get my money back at 40% royalties from the publisher. Post later. Bye!

Library card

Today my coworker complains how she can no longer use her library card, even
though she is reading a library book at work. Her husband has been let go of
his job, along with all his coworkers, and has yet to find another job. He
borrowed some movies from the library since it is free, using my coworker's
library card without her knowledge. Library movies must be returned the next
day, he holds them for a week. The overdue charge is 50 cents per movie per
day. He owes the library $18, thus my coworker can no longer check out stuff
at the library anymore. Now she is avid about him finding another job. Post
later. Bye!

Food machines gone

I do not believe this, the airport took out the food machine with chips and
candy bars. All there is drinks and more drinks. Don't these people know we
have to eat too. What weirdoes. Post later. Bye!

I did it

I sent my completed story to a Print on Demand publisher. Now I will find out how much their editing/proofreading services cost. I sent an email to my family and friends stating if they would like one of the 10 book minimum purchase, send me a check for $12. Only my nieces and people under 18 can have a free copy. I also plan to donate some to libraries and write newspapers and magzazines to ask if they will review it. I will see how many I have left to sell to friends and family. I doubt I'll get rich from this adventure, but perhaps get some attention to form an audience reading my books. I included in the email how if they wondered why I was charging them when I'm giving away free copies, I listed the prices they give for services to emphasize that this is costing me a lot of money, even if the book is free to others. I don't feel I'm unreasonable asking for $12. They will be asking themselves I'm sure if they really want to buy my book to be nice. I suspect if I gave away free copies to everyone I know that most will sit on a bookshelf unread and gather dust as they come up with excuses why they have not read it. Hooray! I finally will have feedback I have been searching for. Post later. Bye!

Strange phone call

I got a call from Mom a few hours ago. She called to make sure I understood why she packed up the parade candy she didn't want yesterday stating it was meant for my coworkers, not for me only. OK, will someone please explain my Mom's concern on giving my coworkers free candy. They are the last on my priority list. I told her I picked out what I wanted out of the 2 ziploc baggies and gave what I didn't want to my coworkers. If my friend was at the airport like she said she would be, I would have given her the baggie for her family as a thank you for her generous invatation. But she wasn't there, so I gave it to my coworker present and said it was for everybody, not just him. I'm not that nice. My sister has a box of candy from her job so she didn't need more. I think she still has Easter and Valentine's candy in there, but I could be wrong. Well I better go to bed. Post later. Bye!

Happy 4th of July

Today Americans celebrate America's declared independence from Great Britain. I went to my hometown to see our small town parade. The marching band for the school has shrunk so badly there were only about 8 students in regular clothes sitting on a float playing their instruments. Usually the band marches with the band teacher blowing a whistle from the side along with flag twirlers and someone holding a banner with the school's name on it. And they all wear the same clothes.

My baby niece loves the horses and picking up candy. She is not allowed to eat any of it. We ate leftovers for lunch and took naps afterwards. I got up in time to get ready to leave for a day out with my friend at her friend's house. My niece was sound asleep when I left so I kissed her cheek softly and tip toed out. My friend was not at work like she said. I call her a bitch and shared the reject parade candy with my coworker surprised to see me. I don't really chew gum. I go back to my car and call my friend. I have her # on my cell phone. She left a message on my answering machine, but I have not been home to hear it. As I drive, she give me directions and I park my car.

Her friend had been fighting with her boyfriend so she didn't want to visit her today. The guy my friend's friend thought was so perfect for me, my friend thought was not my type. I do require more than being single and having a job when deciding if I'm interested. My friend grilled chicken and grilled corn on the cob. She also made macraroni and cheese. After supper, we took the kids to a nearby park with rides and goodies. I had cotton candy and popcorn. It is just like my hometown's celebration on a larger scale. And my hometown does not sell beer. Next we drove around to get a good spot to see the baseball stadium's fireworks display. It was about the same number as my hometown's, except they had 3 exploding at once whereas my hometown shoots off 1 or 2 at a time. It seemed shorter than my hometown's too. Finally I come home to a meowing cat badly needing attention. He is on my lap right now. Poor thing probably wondered where I went all day.

For firecrackers and such being illegal to shoot off there were a lot going off for a few hours, like one exploding every 5 seconds. It is quiet now. Everybody must have gone to bed. Happy 4th of July. Post later. Bye!

My poor sister broke her tooth and required a crown like Daddy has. Then her crown came off and she had to visit the dentist again today. Their fridge is still not working. They called a repairman, who said it was the compressor. Well, that is under warranty so to have to have it fixed by the company they bought it from. They came out last Thursday, fridge went out the Saturday night before, and repeated that it was a broken compressor. They need to order parts to do the repair, so maybe this coming Thursday or so they will have their fridge working again. Their food is at 3 neighbors' houses. Good thing too because they will have a foreign visitor coming next week. This adoption agency gets orphans together with people looking at adoption to have a guest in their house for a week doing activities with the other orphans and organization leaders during their stay. Kinda like summer camp with a host family to experience the wider world and have fun since they are living in an orphanage and don't get out much. They are not told that they may be adopted, just having fun. For the host families it is a trial run. My sister and her husband will test their skills on handling foreign kids who are not privaledged with top education and loving environment. Nightmares and abandonment issues come attached to many of these kids. Many older kids adopted into foreign countries have problems adjusting and never feel like they belong so they end up having drug and behavior issues when they become teenagers. Many run away from home. Their visitor will be an school-age boy. I am not allowed to come along on the adventures because they didn't put my name in for criminal background check like all the host families have to do. I said I will come do my laundry as usual and go home that week. They probably will be gone when I come over.

We had fun today with my baby niece. We read books, did laundry, took Precious outside, played ball, and ran away from my sister chasing my niece down the sidewalk. I was holding the cat leash so I could not help chase her down. Then waiting for burgers to cook on the grill there was a loud bang and the electricity went out in 4 houses. Someone found a sqiurrel dead on the road under a utility pole. We think the squirrel hit something causing a flash of light and taking out the electricity. 2 people called the power company. All the neighbors came out and conversed by the dead squirrel. Then it started raining so everybody went back inside. Inside, we watched the rain pour down and let my niece sit in her stroller for a while. Then she wanted to go outside. No, it's raining. She has a crying fit over not going outside. She rocks the baby asleep and baby starts crying again when she wakes up. She always cries waking up. Today, I noticed my cat is getting more aggressive with the cat that likes to eat my Precious's food I leave out for him. I call its name and take away the food dish, then Precious paws at it as if saying get away from my food. Otherwise he lets the cat eat it and helplessly sits aside until I intervene. Precious doesn't like their food so I have to keep them out of his. I caught my sister cuddling with my cat on the couch in the basement, it is cooler down there with the air conditioning off. I taught my niece a new word during laundry, Khakis. I have to wear khakis to work. Well, that is today's news report on babysitting. Post later. Meow!

Special Olympics in Ames, IA

These past few days the Special Olympics have brought a great deal of
business to the car rentals at the airport, in fact they nearly wiped out
the inventory available to rent at my company. People are very proud to
announce their child or grandchild is in the Special Olympics. The lucky
ones get hotel rooms in Ames where they are taking place this week. The
unlucky ones have rooms in nearby towns and the northside of Des Moines. I
have seen many teams walk though with same t-shirts advertising Team Indiana
and Team Ohio.

I also had to explain why we have a small selection of cars to choose from
to people without reservations. One guy said he is here for the Olympics and
still angry I have only 2 cars for him to choose from because he is a club
member of our company and never had any problem like this before. Another
guy looked confused asking, What are the Special Olympics? His wife answered
him so I didn't have to. A coworker claimed to never have heard of the
Special Olympics before. I asked what planet does he live on. Today I
announced that the newspaper said they were founded in 1968 (a year after he
was born).

A son of the founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Timothy Shriver, won an award
for his longstanding support of the Olympics last night. If you didn't know
this, Eunice Kennedy Shriver is a sister of the infamous President JFK; wife
of Sergeant Shriver who ran for president, founder of the Peace Corps,
founder of Headstart, and died of Alzheimer's causing their daughter; Maria
Shriver, the journalist who married the bodybuilder-turn actor-turn Governor
of California to write a children's book about the disease. I guess the
Special Olympics needs better advertising if there are people walking around
who have never heard of them. My coworker didn't even know who Eunice
Kennedy Shriver was. I think I work with an alien even if he was born in
Boston, MA. Post later. Bye!

Cookies for sale

A coworker asked if I wanted to buy some cookies from his fundraiser. He
didn't say what fundraiser this was for, and he doesn't have any kids, so I
do wonder what this is for. I said no to cookies. I am still working on my 4
boxes of girl scout cookies from my nieces. Post later. Bye!

Delivery

I got my new folding chairs yeasterday so now I have a proper dining room set. They are black with seat padding. My folding table is dark brown wood with black vinyl in the center. My cat loves them. I placed my Mom's free old chair with wheels to the side in the event she visits and has a rolling seat. Each chair was in its own box and felt so sorry for the guy who brought them to my door. He took 2 trips and when he went out the fire door, my cat got his head stuck in it wiggling like crazy. I opened the door and then stuck cat in the bedroom. I think one is suppose to give tips to delivery people, but when I'm paying $25 in shipping and handling I skip the tip. Now I need guests to cook for. Post later. Bye!