Me and My Boys

I've been incommunicado for a bit as it seems like there's a million things to do and never enough time to do them. Even so, you get a nice bit of rest every now and again.

What this blurry picture is showing you is me catching a quick 'cat nap' (pun completely intended and way over used) with Owen and Cass. Since we've moved to Baltimore and Cass stayed behind to continue enjoying the wilderness beauty at High Point with Joya, I rarely get opportunities like this to enjoy his company. This one was too good to pass up.

As soon as I sat down on the coach with Owen, Cass immediately jumped up, ran over, and climbed down into my lap. It's just too bad we couldn't lounge all afternoon.

Tribute Week - Highpoint 4

This week I'm writing five short tributes to endearing aspects of this quirky, charming little apartment that we've called home.  Five little things that we will miss so much.  Next week I'll do a series of things that we are so looking forward to in Baltimore - so stay tuned!

4) The Critters

We have three cats.

  

Casanova chose Jon.  As a bitty new kitten he chewed through a screen door and found Jon at his computer.  He has to be one of the nicest, most laid back, agreeable cats ever.  He is love in fuzzy cat form.  Exceptional.  And super, amazingly clean.  The cat is vain.  Vain.  His white fur is immaculate - even though he spends most of his day lounging around outside.   

We got Zoe as a companion to Cass.  I wanted a Calico after being smitten with our neighbor's cat as a child.  My sister and I picked her out at the shelter because she was so cute and feisty.  Later that evening she, in an effort to prove just how feisty she really was, bit down on my foot, hard.  So we named her Zoe:  life.  And she had abundant life.  Until she got older.  Now she just wants to sleep and eat.  If she could sleep eat she would.  

Some fool in a pet store told us that going from two to three cats was a breeze.  And that day they had an adoption drive and there was this adorable little tortoise shell that purred so loud it sounded like an engine.  One thing led to another and Inga came home to us and was renamed Mirabella - Bella for short.  She is a fire plug.  No doubt about it - this cat is a cat.  But she is a beauty and her bright yellow eyes and soft, soft hair can sometimes fool you into thinking that maybe a little cuddle wouldn't be so bad.   Which is when she reminds you that cuddling happens on her terms.  

The cats all love Highpoint.  Cass and Bella love the outdoors.  They are safe here - it is isolated from cars, no other pets wandering around, just sun and bugs and lizards to chase and snap the tails off of.  

They adore Joya.  They spend more time with her than with us.  They eat with her, sleep with her, take walks with her.  Seriously - when Bijou was alive a little line would form - Joya, Bijou, Cass, and Bella - all in a row - taking a walk around the neighbor's house.  They even wait for Joya at the bottom of the driveway when she goes for a walk on the canal.  

Cass and Bella are home here.  We can't bear to take them away from all this cat bounty to a city apartment where they would be stuck inside all day.  And Joya has lovingly accepted them into her life - so they will stay here with her.  And we will take Zoe.  

But they are a part of our family too - so we'll visit.  And if Joya ever needs us to, we would, of course, take them back.  

Our Cass

And Bella

I'm only a little jealous that they get to stay and I don't. 

Ice, Ice, Baby

And now...three random things.  

It snowed this week.  And then it rained and froze which created this ice sheet on our driveway.  You can see little foot holes where Jon cut out spots for me to step in as we...

..went on a date!  I don't have any dating pictures...just this one of me looking happy BEFORE we left.  It will have to do.  We went to see Slumdog Millionaire and eat hamburgers.  Both were great.  I'd recommend that date to everyone (except you can't have Jon and that's really the best part)

And finally: Zoe continues to actively seek out inappropriate places to sleep.  Like on my pillow, in my face, in the sink, on the baby's changing table, in the fresh laundry, etc.  Here she is looking guiltily away because she knows that, even though I am taking a picture of her, she is a bad, bad cat.  

Oh well, what's another load of laundry in the big scheme of things?

Ice and Snow

Lately I've been taking long walks on the canal.  I can't begin to describe how beautiful it is in the winter months.  The trees are bare and offer a stunning view of the partially frozen river.  The air is still and, except for a few brave runners and bikers, the path is just as quiet.  I love walking down there, thinking, praying, contemplating both little and big things.  It's refreshing in many ways.

This year its been cold enough that the canal has been frozen solid for a few weeks.  Jon and I went for a walk yesterday and saw this - kids and adults playing shinny, or pond hockey.  (Shinny is some Canadian word for it - according to Jon!)  There were a ton of people - more than it looks like in the picture.  The ice was really hard - it looked much better than even the rink ice around here.  What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  

It's also the time of year when Zoe catches up on her heater worship.  She'll sit staring at the glowing space heater for hours.   Cute little fat fluff-ball.

Does he know?

Over the past week or so, our cat - Cassanova - has been spending a lot of time in our apartment. This is unusual because he normally spends his days and evenings with our landlady upstairs. While we've been happy to share him, his sudden clinginess and need for attention has me wondering... does he know that the baby is about to be born?


To give you a little background, my little buddy Cass predates even Emily in my life. He is the little orphan kitty that chewed through my screen door ages ago to claim me as his owner. This guy is famous for warming even the most ardently anti-cat people... fully affectionate and easy going... he is perhaps the perfect cat. And I'm not just saying that because he's mine... this statement has been made by numerous friends and neighbors.

So I've been wondering if his sudden re-emergence on my lap has something to do with a sense that our son will be arriving soon. Perhaps he's staking his claim to pre-eminence as being 'first', or maybe it's something else.


Either way, he'll always be 'first-cat'... there is no doubt about that.

Why it's good to be a cat

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Hello Morning Sickness

Yep - I think that I'm officially pregnant. Morning sickness has started - which is a good sign so it's ok. Thursday I called Jon excitedly after a bout of queasiness saying "Guess who just had their first experience with morning sickness!!". Newbies...geeze. It's gotten progressively worse throughout the week and today I was sick pretty much all day. I feel much better right now (9 pm) but I still have that empty feeling in my stomach that is like the pre-sick feeling. We'll see how tomorrow goes. As long as it means that everything is going smoothly it's not too hard to handle.

Here are some pics of what my mom currently calls "the kids". I know that she's overjoyed that they won't be "the kids" for long. :)

Cassie - doesn't he look happy. His full name is Casanova. A fitting name too because he is so the most laid back and loving of the cats. Cassie is a half-outdoors cat now and loves it.

Zoe. It means life. She needs a life. Zoe is the cat that stays in our apartment all day and sleeps and eats. She has that loud, annoying cat meow - the one where she always sounds like she's really mad and dying. But we love her. We just won't love her if she tries to sleep in the crib at any point - out the door.

Bella. Mirabella is a beautiful tortoise-shell calico. She's 100% cat. Loves the outdoors, eating the heads off of things, playing with her tail...and anything else that moves. She spends most of her time upstairs with Joya but comes down for rare moments of love and food.

The honey bee. Not a cat or a pet - but he was trapped on the window as I sat sickly on the sofa today. I hope he found his way out.