Edward, cats, and one reason Twilight isn't always a bad thing.
When I moved out of my mothers house, the kitties came with me. We've always had pets, and they've been pretty evenly bonded between Mom and I, so when it came time to decide, it wasn't hard. Duke and Toaster were mine from the beginning; I found them in the snow when they were only five weeks old, and they've been glued to my side ever since. Little Owl, too, was brought home by me and bonded strongly with Duke. Skipper, our three-legged chow mix, was adopted by Mom and became her seizure alert dog (he's retired in his old age now, but it sure was nifty to save an abandoned dog only to have him save her in return).
For the past few months, Mom has been talking more and more about missing the kitties and wanting a cat of her own. I promised I would find her one soon, and began casually inquiring amongst my animal-loving friends. Cut to two weeks ago, when I clicked over to cleolinda's journal to get my daily fill of wit and clickylinks. "Oh, how cute!" I thought, seeing that someone had sent her pictures of a cat with the unfortunate moniker of Edward Cullen available for adoption. "He looks so chagrined, and he even has soulful golden butterscotch topaz eyes!"
And then I noticed he was in Seattle. "Fuck." I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect this to happen right from that moment. If you're a hardcore cat person, you're probably nodding at your screen right now, because sometimes you just see a cat, and know it's going to be a part of your life, whether you want it there or not. But oh, I tried! Surely such a beautiful cat prominently displayed in a pet shop window (and with a fangirl-drawing name) would be snatched up right up! He'd already been there a while, someone was probably planning to adopt him any moment now!
No such luck. A few days later sarasaid reported back that he was still sitting there, giving sad looks to passersby, and that a litter of much younger, more desirable kittens had been moved into the window next to him.
And then this face began to haunt me:
I called Mom. I called the pet store. I spent a week playing a ridiculous amount of phone-tag with the store and the cat's former foster mother, whose approval I needed to adopt Edward for my mother out-of-area. I spent six hours round-trip on the local buses to visit him in the store. I signed papers. I made even more phone calls. I spent three hours on the bus to get there again, only to be told that the foster mom still hadn't signed off. Add in the fact that my anxiety levels have been spiking off the charts this past month and the doctors are still in the diagnostic stage, and I was not feeling so hot. Crying in public is one of my top ten least favorite activities of all time.
It was all worth it. Without further ado, I present to you Edward Chagrin Cleosara Slater*!
He was so quiet on the ride to Vancouver that I actually forgot there was a cat in the car. Anyone who's ever roadtripped with pets can tell you what a miracle that is. When we arrived, he casually slunk under one of the living room chairs to collect himself.
Then he decided the coast was clear and came out for pettings. (Hey, I promised you pictures. I never said they'd be good pictures.)
Later on, when I was napping on the loveseat, I felt a soft weight on my tummy, and looked down to see this:
As soon as he realized I was awake, he was purring and kneading and trying to eat my iPod.
Much petting ensued, as well as him headbutting the camera more times than I can count (well, I could probably count if I went through all the pictures of white blurs I have on the memory card). Eventually, he settled down to groom himself,
(Extreme Paw Closeup!)
...show off his bling,
...and bliss out from scritches. I dozed off to his soft purring.
When I woke up, he'd already ventured past the dog to take up residence on Mom's bed.
Of course, he was getting even more pettings.
THIS IS ON HIS FIRST DAY IN A NEW HOME AFTER A FOUR HOUR CAR RIDE, Y'ALL.
SERIOUSLY.
My mom wishes to express her utmost gratitude to everyone who sent supportive comments and good wishes our way this week. Cleo, I took this picture especially for you:
For Sara, and everyone else on Team Edward-Cat, this will have to do.
You have helped a disabled woman find a loving companion, and a lonely cat to find a forever home. Thank you.
* He already answered to Edward so it would have been a bother to change it, plus my mom has always been fond of that name. Chagrin is obvious, and Cleosara is a Renesmetion of the two people who brought him to my attention and gave me the most support throughout the rigorous adoption process. I hope you ladies take it in the honor it was intended.
For the past few months, Mom has been talking more and more about missing the kitties and wanting a cat of her own. I promised I would find her one soon, and began casually inquiring amongst my animal-loving friends. Cut to two weeks ago, when I clicked over to cleolinda's journal to get my daily fill of wit and clickylinks. "Oh, how cute!" I thought, seeing that someone had sent her pictures of a cat with the unfortunate moniker of Edward Cullen available for adoption. "He looks so chagrined, and he even has soulful golden butterscotch topaz eyes!"
And then I noticed he was in Seattle. "Fuck." I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect this to happen right from that moment. If you're a hardcore cat person, you're probably nodding at your screen right now, because sometimes you just see a cat, and know it's going to be a part of your life, whether you want it there or not. But oh, I tried! Surely such a beautiful cat prominently displayed in a pet shop window (and with a fangirl-drawing name) would be snatched up right up! He'd already been there a while, someone was probably planning to adopt him any moment now!
No such luck. A few days later sarasaid reported back that he was still sitting there, giving sad looks to passersby, and that a litter of much younger, more desirable kittens had been moved into the window next to him.
And then this face began to haunt me:
I called Mom. I called the pet store. I spent a week playing a ridiculous amount of phone-tag with the store and the cat's former foster mother, whose approval I needed to adopt Edward for my mother out-of-area. I spent six hours round-trip on the local buses to visit him in the store. I signed papers. I made even more phone calls. I spent three hours on the bus to get there again, only to be told that the foster mom still hadn't signed off. Add in the fact that my anxiety levels have been spiking off the charts this past month and the doctors are still in the diagnostic stage, and I was not feeling so hot. Crying in public is one of my top ten least favorite activities of all time.
It was all worth it. Without further ado, I present to you Edward Chagrin Cleosara Slater*!
He was so quiet on the ride to Vancouver that I actually forgot there was a cat in the car. Anyone who's ever roadtripped with pets can tell you what a miracle that is. When we arrived, he casually slunk under one of the living room chairs to collect himself.
Then he decided the coast was clear and came out for pettings. (Hey, I promised you pictures. I never said they'd be good pictures.)
Later on, when I was napping on the loveseat, I felt a soft weight on my tummy, and looked down to see this:
As soon as he realized I was awake, he was purring and kneading and trying to eat my iPod.
Much petting ensued, as well as him headbutting the camera more times than I can count (well, I could probably count if I went through all the pictures of white blurs I have on the memory card). Eventually, he settled down to groom himself,
(Extreme Paw Closeup!)
...show off his bling,
...and bliss out from scritches. I dozed off to his soft purring.
When I woke up, he'd already ventured past the dog to take up residence on Mom's bed.
Of course, he was getting even more pettings.
THIS IS ON HIS FIRST DAY IN A NEW HOME AFTER A FOUR HOUR CAR RIDE, Y'ALL.
SERIOUSLY.
My mom wishes to express her utmost gratitude to everyone who sent supportive comments and good wishes our way this week. Cleo, I took this picture especially for you:
For Sara, and everyone else on Team Edward-Cat, this will have to do.
You have helped a disabled woman find a loving companion, and a lonely cat to find a forever home. Thank you.
* He already answered to Edward so it would have been a bother to change it, plus my mom has always been fond of that name. Chagrin is obvious, and Cleosara is a Renesmetion of the two people who brought him to my attention and gave me the most support throughout the rigorous adoption process. I hope you ladies take it in the honor it was intended.