cat lady

I never intended to be one of those crazy cat people.

I mean, I kind of used to be, over 10 years ago my last cat died. crazy story, maybe one day I'll tell you about it. But she was "Satan" to everyone else, "Patches" to us. I loved her.

Its literally been over 10 years since I've had a pet of any kind. Me, who grew up with almost any kind of pet or animal you can imagine. Minus a cow or iguana. Or did we have a lizard of somesort at one time? Sisters-imput?

So here I am. With a cat. And I am kind of excited to call this her birthday weekend. Does that make me a little crazy cat-lady-ish? maybe.

We never intended to keep her. We found her last year on labor weekend. Recovering from the madness of Maxwell Street Days ( flea market we do a booth at once a year as an entire family to sell our crap).At the in-laws. A lone tiny kitten who had been abandoned in the barn. No other kitties around. Not too far away was a mess of dead kittens. Could have been her litter; she could have been from a different litter. Maybe 2 weeks old. Maybe. We couldn't just leave her there. We even went through a whole ordeal to try to reunite her with her momma kitty, whoever she be.

But she remained unclaimed. So Bill and I took her home to give her a fighting chance. We got her a box, kitten milk, blankets, towels to wrap up in. We fed her from an eye-dropper, we litter trained her, etc. He always intended to take her back to the farm.

Then winter came and she was still so little. We'd keep her till the spring. So she could survive the winter.

Spring came. And it was over. We fell head over heels. Annie- who we now call "kitty"- is our kitty.

I worry about leaving her overnight with no one to play with her. I am ok with her sleeping at the foot of our bed. I love to cuddle her and chase her. Bill, too, even. I felt guilty getting her spayed.

She gave me a little bit of practice in caring for a helpless baby and a little bit of confidance in the human baby that was to come. She waits at the door for us when we come home. She gives us unconditional love. She brings life to the house. SHe is entertainment for the baby to watch.

She is part of the family.

Please dont' judge if she is in our Christmas photo.