This has been a strange summer for blogging. My mother got sick in April and was hospitalized, and then again in June, and I rushed from the Milwaukee Bead Show to Oklahoma. I stayed three days with her at Baptist Hospital, until she was transported to a longer term specialty hospital. She was getting good care and gaining strength every day. When I came back to Boston, life sort of returned to normal, which means that I worried a lot and went to work every day. I consulted a counselor about how to separate myself from my mother enough to enjoy my own life. I let the family know that I was planning to go on vacation and we did. George and I just returned from our vacation in New Hampshire; six days of fun at the cabin, fishing, playing cards, reading, resting and cooking good barbecue. It was fun, and I talked to my mother once while I was away. She was doing well. She is now at Grace Living Center in El Reno, which is a skilled nursing center near her home, and coping with yet another change. At 98 years old, I guess change is something you are very familiar with.
So now I can blog again. And I have a great subject. George and I got two new kittens. The adoption process was a month long and scary. The agencies are careful, and each has it's own style. After weeks of looking at pictures of cats, I had sort of given up and was just coasting along with the idea in the back of my mind. I felt that when there was a cat that was meant for us, he or she would just turn up somehow.
I was looking on the web one day at Petfinder.com, and voila, I saw the kitties I wanted. I love orange and white and had given up on getting an orange and white cat because they are rather rare. I was also hoping to adopt a cat that didn't already come with Feline Leukemia or other health problems. I saw this picture of "No Names", little buff and white kittens, and fell immediately in love. I had told myself that I would never fall in love with a cat over the internet, which is a good way to get your heart broken, but I fell is love with both of these beautiful kittens.
We went through the adoption phone calls and paperwork, then went to meet the foster mother and kittens. It was an amazing experience and I have so much respect for people who open up their homes to foster cats, and who spend such a big part of their lives caring for animals. The kittens were all beautiful and well cared for, and none of them had medical problems.
On Friday, July 11, my birthday, we brought home two fawn and white kittens. They are already 14 weeks old, so they are getting big already. After thinking of 1000 names, I have settled on Safari for the girl, and Simba for the boy. There are a lot of really great cat names, and creativity got the best of me, but these seemed simple enough and charming enough to suit these very beautiful kittens.
Today we made big strides. They have explored the kitchen, which is their new temporary home. Kittens need to be in one room, with doors, so they don't get the run of the house and go wild. The three storied cage gives them respite from the outside world and makes them feel cuddled and safe. It is also a safe place to leave them when we need to leave the house. The adoption agency gave us the huge pink cage, a beautiful bed, two bags of food, and a whole bag of stick and feather toys and other little toys. They were MORE than generous and very kind. We have turned the kitchen into a cat house. I have swept and slicked it all up so there isn't anything dangerous for them to get into. For now we are doing well. They are far less scared today than yesterday, and they purr and meow and poop and eat and play with toys and do all the great things kitties are supposed to do.
You'll be hearing a lot more about these two! Welcome Simba and Safari, to your new loving home. You will never replace Thunder, but you were never supposed to.
Have a great day.
