An end and a beginning

This morning at 10am, I said goodbye to my cat. We gave him away to another loving family. This was not an easy decision, nor one that we took lightly. It was, perhaps, one that we had seen coming for a while now but I especially had refused to look at straight in the face. I suppose I finally mustered up the courage. It was time for us to part ways with Calvin.

Those of you that know me personally will know some of the complex story and the trying times we had, but no one except my husband and I can really understand how much we tried to do everything in our power to accommodate him and fit him into our lives and love and provide for him. We had so many good times with him … but they did come at a cost. We just became so tired of what we had to do to be with him. It was enough.

If you know me you may or may not know that I’m quite sensitive at the core. This was hard for me. My heart has been breaking in pieces these past few days, but I think now it can finally start to mend.

I have to believe that we did the right thing, and that his new owners will be kind and loving to him. They will continue letting him outside, which was a recent decision of ours and a good one. This has made him so happy. If only we’d figured this all out sooner.

So what is an end for us is a new beginning for him. I’m sad but it was time. I have had to let you go, Calvin, but you will stay in my heart forever.

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Best neighbours, teaching again and a coup with Calvin

It’s time for another Three Beautiful Things post, I think. So much has been happening lately, writing this post will help me stop and get off my fast-revolving world for a little while I think!

1. We have the best neighbours on all sides of us. They’re all so friendly and have welcomed us so well to the neighbourhood since we moved. In particular, one older gentleman loves making trips to the workyard where yard waste is dumped, and so he takes ours! As people without a truck, we find that little gesture immensely helpful.

2. I was just booked to teach another two blogging courses in town in the fall – how exciting! It will be interesting to see if there is more interest. Is blogging gaining momentum?

3. We’ve been having trouble with our cat recently (again) and we’re at our wit’s end. We decided to try letting him outdoors and so far, so good. He doesn’t have front claws so I’m sure this is against some people’s better judgement but a friend told us she did this and it worked like a charm. What do we have to lose? His recent problem is spraying, which is something I cannot abide, and the other alternatives are not pretty. He seems to be taking to it so far, but wish us continued luck!

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For my own and mothers everywhere

I got a Mother’s day card over email this week. This was a very nice thought on someone’s part, except for just one tiny little niggling thing.

I’m not a mom.

Well, if you count cats, then OK. But otherwise, not so much.

So the praise on this day should actually go out to real mothers, for doing what you do. And in particular, to my own mom, without whom I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Apparently I used to cry when my mom would take me to buy shoes when I was little, I was that shy. Now, I make presentations to large groups of people for part of the work that I do. Who would’ve thought? Mom. I think she always knew just what I had the potential to do.

For all mothers who love their children everywhere, thank you! Until I join your ranks, I’ll just keep taking care of this guy:

Happy Mother’s Day!

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If our cat had his way…

If our cat had his way…

He would wake us up every morning, whenever he felt like it (usually around 4am), by playing underneath the bed.

He would eat butter, bread, pasta, chicken stock, nuts, milk and (most definitely) meat from our cupboards and off of our plates.

There would be no such thing as Venetian blinds to block his view out the window.

We would leave the kitchen cupboards (top and bottom) open all the time so that he could wander in and out at his own free will.

He would have free run of the garage so he could eat the dried leaves that sometimes show up in there.

He would have a constant supply of food in his bowl … not just the two daily feedings of his special vet food.

We would never go away on holidays or leave the house for very long periods of time, even though often he just sleeps the whole day anyway.

Whenever we had parties and put food out for our guests, we would just let him jump up and eat it right off of the coffee table, kitchen table, or their plates.

No door would be closed to him, ever. Especially not closet doors.

He would never drink water again.

He would never go to the vet again.

He could attack cats that showed up at our windows in person, not just through the glass.

He would eat used Q-tips right out of the garbage can.

Plastic bags would be a daily source of nutrition for him.

Having *this* cat always keeps us on our toes!

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Furry feline update

It’s been months since I posted about my favourite furry little friend, Calvin. I took this particularly good picture of him the other day and just had to show it off. If you have pets, you can probably relate – sometimes photos just don’t turn out the way your pet actually looks. Well, this one does. I think his eyes have a sad sort of quizzical look to them. He gets away with a lot of mischievious antics because of his looks. He’s quite handsome and is a little charmer to boot. How can you be mad at that face?

After Calvin’s illness and surgery last summer we put him on cat Prozac for a while. I think our vet saw us coming when we started to explain all Calvin’s behavioural ‘isms’. Now he’s off it and we can tell the difference. He’s back to his old tricks, jumping into cupboards, knocking stuff down. But I just can’t bring myself to drug him up again. He is quite active and needs play. I try to spend more time with him to bring his boredom level down and his excitement level up.

Does anyone else have challenging pets? At some points we’ve been tempted to give him away, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. He’s cute, he’s fun, but he is a handful sometimes. Whoever thought that a cat would be this much work?

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