A Catching-Up Post
It has been quite a while since I've posted. My life has been a little insane the last couple of months. In January, I lost my long-time furry friend of almost 14 years. I watched Salem being born (to a stray that wandered onto our farm) in August 1997 on the day Princess Diana passed away. (I always used to joke that she had a bit of the Princess in her.) Against my parents' wishes, I made her into a housepet. She has been my steadfast companion ever since: through fleas and UTIs (hers, not mine!), bad boyfriends (mine, not hers!), and bouts of depression, she was by my side. Before Christmas she started off with what I thought was a respiratory infection, but after a couple of weeks of tormenting both of us with trying to dose her with bright pink carpet-staining meds, we discovered that it was fluid around her lungs due to a tumor in the throat area. On January 4 she was relieved of her earthly duties and moved on to the great cat tree in the heavens. I was not prepared for how broken-hearted I became (I mean, c'mon, she's just a cat.)
A week later, after moping in the deafening silence of my empty home, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce myself to the wonderful world of budgies. I brought Sunny home and spoiled her with a huge cage and fun toys, and then decided she needed some feathered friendship, so I went out and found Stormy.
My house has not been quiet since then! These two acrobatic little monkeys are hilarious to watch, and even though several times a day they break out into ear-splitting budgie-talk (squawking), they are a joy to have. I am still hoping to hand-train them, but I have not yet been able to get them over the fear of me touching them. (By the way, budgies bite hard.)
Salem had not been gone more than two weeks when the mice started showing up in droves. I mean, I knew that I might have had a mouse or two hiding out somewhere, but once they realized the cat was gone, it turned into no-holds-barred, mouse chewing and pooping action. They got into everything; I mean everything. They went after my food, the leftover catfood, birdseed and treats, chewed through some of my dish towels - they even got into my closet and pooped on some of my clothes!
Even though I had told myself that I didn't want another cat, one day a few weeks ago I found a picture on a local shelter's website of a beautiful snowshoe named Chester. I rushed right out to see him, only to be met by a very lukewarm and introverted cat who had a host of health problems. I was disappointed and unsure as to whether or not he'd warm up to me once he left the shelter. I decided to visit the other cats at the shelter while I was there, and when I went into the room with the younger cats, one kitty stood out from all the rest. She had that "you talkin' to me?" look on her face, and when I nodded to her to say "yeah, you" she came running right over to me and started crawling up my arm and cuddling immediately. A week later, Percy came home with me.
Percy is absolutely amazing. First of all, she is a total affection whore. When I am sitting at my computer, if I am not giving her enough attention, she will "pet" herself by rubbing her head on my back or my arms and cradle her head in my neck. She was never once afraid (once the car ride home was over). I expected her to hide under the bed for a couple of days, but she came right out of the carrier and inspected the entire place the first night. She has not been a picky eater (Salem hated all kinds of fish and would turn her nose up if the paté version of canned food was served). She sleeps with me every night, and I have actually been able to trust her alone with the birdcage! (Now if the birds were out of the cage, that would be another story!) Percy has also turned out to be an excellent mouser - she has caught THREE mice so far!
So, to sum it up, my life has been a circus for the last month. In addition to caring for my new babies, I'm still working two jobs and trying to search for a single, better job nearer to my family. I'm hoping to start keeping up with my journal a little bit more, but we shall see. I hope you all are doing well!