It was like any other afternoon at Yoda’s house in Downers Grove. Eat some food, find a sunny spot to nap for a few hours and peer out the screen door for any chipmunks making a move.

However, the past several days have painted a much different picture for Yoda’s owners, Valerie and Ted Rock, who have been busy shuttling television news crews and reporters in and out of their house and driving to and from radio stations. Not to mention fielding calls from People Magazine and a television station in Osaka, Japan.

Their friendly cat is causing a stir on the Internet and media outlets across the world after their son Glenn Olsen posted some photos of Yoda, the four-eared-feline, online.

From the blogosphere to The Associated Press, Yoda’s story has been making the rounds.

However, a small blip in the media attention hit the Rock house while Americans awaited for a big political announcement.

“We got pushed off the front page news by Barack (Obama) announcing his vice president,” Valerie said.

As the whirlwind starts to slow down the Rocks said they’ve thought about creating a cat calendar featuring 12 months of Yoda. Their real hope from this experience is that it acts as the “springboard for Glenn’s photography business.”

Valerie and Ted said Yoda, who will be two years old in September, has helped to open their minds to new possibilities.

“You really should be open to opportunities that come your way unexpectedly,” Valerie said. “Because he is a gift.”

The Rocks were watching a Bears game at a bar in Blue Island two years ago when their friend who worked there told them there was a litter of kittens but only one remained. Ted said Yoda, at six weeks old, was passed around to dozens of bar patrons but no one seemed interested in taking him home.

Valerie and Ted weren’t sure either. The cat they had for 20 years had just died.

But soon enough Yoda had snuggled onto Ted’s chest and fell asleep. Yoda had a home.

“I think there are two things driving this,” Ted said. “This is the most interesting cat I’ve ever seen in my life. He was cute. You look at him and laugh. Also, we were afraid someone would exploit him and we said ‘let’s get him home and keep him from getting hurt.’”