Crunch Time

I'm pretty much in melt down mode now (par for the course for me when I move), but am better than I was four hours ago.

When I picked up Miranda in July, I didn't have the tow pins, so I couldn't hitch up the car. The previous owner was going to be out of town for several weeks, so I set all thoughts of the pins aside until he got back. When he did, he questioned if the pins really belonged to me or came with the base plate. By the time I got an answer about that, and learned that no place in town has the pins in stock and they would all take at least two weeks to get some in for me (!!!), the PO was unreachable and... it was 4:30 today. I came up with several contingency plans for getting both Miranda and Pommette back in town by Saturday. None were pretty. Then the phone rang at 4:45 and it was the PO, out of town, but back tomorrow. I can pick up the pins at 5PM. Crisis averted. PHEW.

I woke up at 6:15 this morning in full panic mode and made up several more boxes before leaving for work an hour and a half later. I really don't have that much left to do, but it's all spread out and looks worse than it is. I've also essentially 'lost' an evening. Tomorrow, I'm driving out to North Gower to pick up Miranda, and I'll drop her off at the mechanic's where she'll undergo an oil change on Friday morning.

Friday afternoon, I'll go pick her up and drive her here to fill her up as much as I have time for. Then I'm going to a sports arena a few blocks from my place that allows overnighting in an RV at no charge!!! How convenient is that?! I was surprised to find not only this option, but also TWO Wal-marts within a ten minute drive. Ssh, don't tell Gatineau! They'll shut down that practise if they get wind of it.

So, Friday night I'll sleep in the moho at the arena with the catkids and be back here bright and early on Saturday morning. I'll have time to clean the house before my friend shows up to help me with the mattress.

Then, it's off to the municipal dump to get Miranda weighed, the grocery store for supplies, and, finally, the campground for some well deserved downtime and BEER.

This is my seventh move in ten years. One would think I'd have such an event down to a science by now, but I'm not. Each move has been very different. I'm just so tired of it and hope that I can RV for a few years.

Things are so rushed right now that I have to remind myself that this time next week, I'll be trying to wind down in preparation for the big departure the next morning. I might not feel ready, but "There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go." (Tennessee Williams)

Eight sleeps left!

There's Not Just Me To Think About

I brought Tabitha and Neelix to the vet's this evening to get their shots up to date. I need a valid rabies vaccination certificate for them if I want to cross into the United States. Both were due for their shot this year, conveniently enough, and the certificates are good for three years so I don't have to think about this again for quite some time. Even though both of them are microchipped, I was advised to get them collars on which to put a rabies tag provided by the vet, which is traceable back to them. So, if either one of my kitties (ie. Neelix) manages to escape, I have double protection since it's not just anyone who can read a microchip, but anyone can call a number on a tag.

Truce

Background to picture:

1) Tabitha has no use for Neelix and is always hissing at him when he gets too close to her.

2) When the weather's nice, I like to open the backdoor to let in fresh air and light. Tabitha and Neelix will take turns lying by the door. Lately, the weather has been so crummy I've only been able to keep the door open perhaps a day or two in the past month. So yesterday, when I awoke to the first non grey day in recent memory, I threw open open the back door while I puttered around making breakfast before work. Tab and Nee must have known that the door wasn't going to stay open for long so...



Tabitha must have been desperate for some fresh air because she didn't even try to put any space between them!!!

Cats again

1001 Petals requested a picture of my furbabies. I put up a picture of them back in November.

I've debated whether or not to share their names because He has an unusual one that would be an immediate identifier of me, then I decided, bah, I've given away more info than that.

So, here are two more that actually show their adorable little faces:



This is my girl, Tabitha, who turned ten, or will be turning ten, this year.



And this is my boy, Neelix, who will be eight later this month.

Kitties

Back to more mundane topics. :-)

My cats have been insanely cuddly since I got home on Saturday. My catsitter says that she did not see my girl at all when she came over. Soon as I was through the door, though, said girl was in my arms. Obviously, my cat recognizes me. She pines when I'm gone. She's very affectionate (more so than usual) in the days after I return from an extended absence. And, still, people say that I could give her to someone else and my cat would never know the difference. Yeah.

My boy has also been behaving strangely since I got back, jumping into my lap (something he's only done a couple of times since I got him last July) and talking to me (he's normally the strong silent type).

It's nice to be loved and it feels extra special to know that not many people can see that love.

Okay, now I'm spamming

But I couldn't resist sharing this picture of my darlings:



Hard to tell that they spent the day growling at each other, isn't it?

All creatures great and small...

Anyone who claims that an animal cannot love does not deserve the love of an animal.

My cat-daughter and I have a relationship that goes beyond master/pet, human/animal, mother/daughter... it is a visceral dance of souls that I can hardly comprehend and hold dear.

How we came together is a convoluted story, but suffice it to say that I was invited by the good folks at the humane society to meet their 'mascot' because I was not bothered by black cats. If a certain amount of affinity between us could be witnessed by as many staff members as possible, I might be allowed to take her home. Otherwise, I would have to wait until they got in more cats. They invited me me to see her to appease me, but they were certain that she was going nowhere seeing as she wasn't (and still isn't, for that matter) too sociable.

She was standing on a window ledge, looking out at the snow, when I came in. I gently whispered her name (which changed promptly upon adoption) and she turned to see who owned the strange voice and... jumped into my arms.

An hour later, she was home with me.

That was almost six and a half years ago.

We were always close, but our relationship changed somewhat when I brought home her brother. She became more distant and I found it very difficult to balance the love that came naturally for her and that which came through duty for him. I consider her my 'planned pregnancy' and her brother my 'accidental pregnancy.'

At any rate, her brother died suddenly just after Yule last year and I have to admit that I was grateful that if I had to lose one, it was him, not her. I love him and miss him, but our relationship was only beginning to blossom in the weeks preceding his death.

Since then, my cat-daughter and I have experienced a renewal of our bond. I'm home so little these days and she must be lonely. When I am home, we spend hardly a moment apart. She's a snuggler and loves it when I hold her against my bosom, her paws and chin resting on my shoulder, her little body pressed as tightly as possible against mine. At night, we sleep close. Usually, she's on her pillow next to mine, with my face buried in her sweet smelling fur. Then there are the nights like yesterday when she sleeps at my feet, a few inches away, with just one paw resting on me to remind me that she's there.

Oh, I love her. I love her so very much. I've been accused of being abnormal for holding a cat in my highest affection, but she has earned that right. She loves me as much as I love her, of that there is no doubt in my mind, or even in that of those few who have seen us together.

We understand each other well, I recognizing her various meows, she recognizing the things I say most often to her. It is that way when you live so closely with another soul and spending so much time together.

There was another cat before her with whom I had such a relationship, and her death was a cruel blow. I truly doubt I'll have another after; I need to learn to build such a bond with people.

But for now, we have days ahead of us, years I hope, for she is still spry at age eight, and for all the sacrifices I've had to make for being her mom, all the lost job opportunities because she couldn't have come with me, I cannot resent her. I made the decision to accept her choice of choosing me as her human mother and it is a decision I honour, no matter how much it costs me. The rewards are richer than any lost opportunities.