Cat Ownership...

(This obviously is a post I started a while back, 2ish months ago to be more precise)
(At least I'm getting to it... right?)
(Anyway)

Last week was my birthday. 

I'm now 28. 

Does that mean I'm an adult now?

I sure hope not because I still fail to feel like one.

Oh well there's always next year...

So you're probably saying to yourself... "Gee Karen that's great and all but where have you been? What fascinating things have you been up to? Have you run away to live on a hippie commune yet?" To which I reply, "The more things change the more things stay the same." Which more or less means no I haven't run away to a hippie commune.

I am now a cat owner. You read that right. As of June 23 I own a cat.
(Well I guess technically "we" own a cat)

This cat to be specific. 

His name is officially Uncle Andy but that's not what he always gets called... For the first days I'm pretty sure he thought his name was "No". It's a very long story (not really) in which I called Husband at work, cried a lot, and saved this cat from a very early and unwarranted death. 

(That's not to say I haven't told the dogs to eat him when he won't stop screaming at 3am...) 

(However, he always manages to redeem himself right before I decide that he will in fact be living outside)

The dogs are terrified of him.

 (Don't be fooled, they will lick you to death)

My big, scary dogs are terrified of a cat that weighs less than they do and is front declawed.

It's all very tragic really. 

I've found cat ownership after a 10 year hiatus is far more difficult then I remembered....

So now that we're verging on 3 months of cat ownership let's update shall we?

The dogs are still terrified.
Despite all the hissing, spitting, growling & swatting... I think Andy secretly loves the dogs. I can't figure why else he would stare out the sliding-glass door and cry when they are outside.
That's not to say I don't still tell the dogs to eat him when he's being difficult (i.e. being a cat).

However, since becoming a stay-at-home wife Andy and I have developed a new bond.

I'm beginning to think I might actually like him.
Our relationship is very similar to the relationship I have with Husband. (Disturbing I know but let me 'splain)
When I'm home and he can choose to ignore me he's happy. He's also extremely happy when he can lay across my hands while I try to type on the laptop. When I try to do something, like clean, he follows me around screaming his head off and generally be annoying.
I'm sure this is pretty similar to how I act when Husband tries to get anything done. (And no, I don't scream my head off or lay across the laptop per se) I constantly ask him questions or ask the oh-so-not annoying, "Whatcha doing?" or the even more popular "try to proposition him to do something else like watch a movie or get coffee" maneuver. (And yes I still bitch that nothing gets done around the house... it's not my fault he can't resist my feminine charm, or whining)

Anyway, upon realizing this I have a new fondness for the cat.
(when I'm not busy trying to get the dogs to eat him).
I guess maybe we were meant for each other, at least he likes to think so. 

Besides how can you resist all this sexy?

Death of a love affair?

Dear iTunes,

Why in the world would I pay you an additional $80.98 to upgrade my current (downloaded) library (313 files) to your "new" DRM-free ,256kbps files? Specifically because most of those files were free files to begin with...

In addition, why would I pay you an extra $.30 for individual files (bringing the grand total to $1.29 per file) when I can buy the complete album for under $10? It doesn't make sense.

What if I don't want an entire album? What if I just want the one file? More importantly you really suck for only upping the prices on radio "singles" or other files that you seem to deem popular.

This is unacceptable. After all the money I have spent with you over the years I deserve better treatment then this. I would say that I look forward to you remedying this situation but we both know that it won't happen. I shall miss you, or not, that depends on you.

Sincerely,
One seriously pissed off customer

P.s. I really miss Napster.

Missing...

Ellie
(or Smelly as she was affectionately referred to)
Loved from June 27th 2007 - March 24th 2009

Time heals all wounds:
At least now I can look at photos of her without being reduced to a sobbing pile of Karen. (yes that was *supposed* to be funny.)
At least now I feel a little less guilty.
At least now I know in my heart that I gave her the best life possible for the time we had together.

I kept picturing her in my head.
The way she used to peek her head around the corner of the house when you'd call for her.
The way her whole body would shake with joy when she saw you.
The way she'd cock her head to the side when you talked to her.
The way she'd scratch her back on the patio.
The way she'd bark and growl while scratching her back on the patio.
The way she'd wake herself up from farting.
The way she played with her toys with the abandonment of a puppy.

Husband was working night shift the week leading up to and the week that we lost her. I was a total mess. I would call him at work sobbing into the phone about what a horrible owner I was. I couldn't sleep because every time I closed my eyes I saw her face and couldn't seem to convince myself that we'd done the right thing...

Her hips had been bad since the day we took her in off the streets. I thought she was just having another one of her "bad" days... Then one day she laid down and wouldn't get up. I tried pumping her full of supplements... Then one day she refused to eat. That's when I knew... Even though I knew in my heart that we were doing the right thing... It hurt. It still does.

Before Ellie I was afraid of Rottweilers.

I miss her terribly.
I imagine I always will.

Camera goodness

I guess I was becoming a little unbearable to live with. What was me whining about my lack of camera-ness all the time because last weekend Husband broke down and bought me this shiny new toy. Isn't it wonderful? I like to think so.
Hurray for Husbands!

Happiness unbounded...

I've blogged about it before but I'll continue to say it anyway... My life would not be complete if it wasn't for the unbounded love and happiness of my four legged friends. I'm glad I'm finally finding some time to enjoy it again. And hopefully I'll find some time to blog substantially again in the coming days.