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Today I moved to a new home. I didn't know it was going to happen. I was happy in the big
house with the lady and all of her cats. I didn't know Richard and Brenda were coming for me.
But they came, and I went willingly into the brand new carrier.
We rode in the car for such a long time. Richard and Brenda let me out of the carrier at the
first rest stop. I crawled around in the car, and I loved looking out the windows, but I
didn't like the big trucks. Finally I sat on Brenda's shoulders for a long time. She
tried to get me to eat, drink water, and use the new litter box, but I didn't. Give me
time, ok? I thought.
We got to my new home after dark. I ate some then, used the litter box, did all the things a
good kitty should, and then I slept. I like sleeping in Richard and Brenda's bed, but I don't
stay there all night. I need to get up and stretch, and then I sleep on the floor some.
Friday, December 31, 1999
Brenda went out shopping today and brought me food and toys. She bought me so much food, I don't
know how I'll ever eat it all. It's almost as much food as she and Richard have in the pantry--
and I've never seen that much food before. I'm afraid it will all fall out on me when they open
the pantry door. They keep talking about something called "Y2K". I wonder if that's why they
have all this food. The people on TV keep talking about it too. And Richard is watching
movies about the end of the world.
Saturday, January 1, 2000
Last night we all watched TV until midnight. There were loud fireworks on TV. Just after midnight,
Richard turned on the computer. He and Brenda both seemed surprised that it still worked. I think
they really thought it wouldn't and that there would be no lights or running water. I don't understand
all this Y2K business, but Richard and Brenda both seem relieved and happy, so I am too.
I'm afraid Richard and Brenda may not keep me. I love to watch the fish, and I am tall enough to
climb all the way up on their tank. I like to play with the bears, and sometimes I play a little
rough with them. I like to walk on the kitchen table, the stove, and the sink. Over and over again,
Richard and Brenda tell me "No!" I don't like that, and when they pick me up to try to make me stop,
I scratch and bite them. I want to be good, but it's so hard. There is so much to see, and so much
exploring to do.
Monday, January 3, 2000
I was bad last night. I was running and jumping and bouncing off the walls. Richard was afraid
I would wake up the neighbors. Brenda got up with me and fed me and talked to me until I calmed
down.
Brenda went to work today. Her time off for the holidays is over. Richard doesn't work, and
I stayed with him and we played a lot. He likes to play with me a little rough, and I scratch
him and bite him sometimes. I don't want to be mean, but I have these claws and teeth that just
do that, you know.
Richard took Brenda to work today so he could have the car. Then he came back and got me and took
me to the vet. I was glad to go for a ride, but I didn't like it at the vets. They held me down
to give me shots and to clip my claws. Richard talked to the vet all about me and how to take care
of me. It sounded like I'm going to have to go back next week to have something else done. I'll
try not to think about that.
Wednesday, January 5, 2000
Brenda says I'm "the sweetest kitty" at night when I snuggle up to her and Richard. I don't hurt
them anymore when I hug their necks with my paws, now that my claws have been clipped. I think they
are going to keep me, and I'm sooooooo glad, even though Brenda does try to pretty me up too much.
She sprinkles dry shampoo on me and tries to brush me sometimes, and if Richard would let her, I
think she would have me wearing ribbons and bows.
I'm getting better at leaving the fish alone. I know what Richard and Brenda mean when they say
"No!" or clap their hands. Sometimes I forget though. And sometimes I like to get close to the
bears--sometimes diving right in among them. That's when the biggest bear, Smokey the Ranger Bear
(there's a story behind the name--I'll tell you sometime), turns around, looks at me, growls, and
I go flying across the room! Richard and Brenda laugh then, but I don't think it's so funny.
Friday, January 7, 2000
I think I'll give the bears a page at my site. Brenda says she's always told them they might
be able to have a page sometime. When she has time to do one, I'll let her put it here at my
site. They each have their stories--all forty of them. They came from different towns, and
Brenda says it would be a good idea to write all about them before she forgets. Sometimes she
has a hard time remembering a name or two, but Richard can call them all by name.
Richard and Brenda both left together tonight and I was alone for a couple hours tonight for the
first time while they went to church. They closed the door to the living room and kitchen and kept me in the back part of the
apartment like they do when they go to bed at night. It was kind of scary, but I was ok. And
I was glad they got to go to church-- St. Ann's must be a great place because they come home happy.
I don't know much about what it all means, but Brenda was a protestant and is becoming a Catholic
like Richard.
Sunday, January 9, 2000
I like Sundays because both Richard and Brenda are home for a quite lazy day. Sometimes I guess, like this
afternoon, they even fall asleep on the floor like me. Today they got sleepy watching TV and just
fell asleep there on the floor. I was confused a little at first because I thought they were supposed
to be in the bedroom when they slept, and also because it wasn't night yet, and I thought only kitties
slept in the daytime.
Monday, January 10, 2000
It was back to work for Brenda again today, and she seems to have an awful hard time getting out of
the bed, especially on Mondays. She says she got spoiled during the holidays and it's hard to go
back to work now. I think she really likes her work though-- she gets to do a lot of fun things
at her community college library. She's a CATaloger (she says that means she catalogs books),
a reference librarian, and a webmaster. I think being a CATaloger must be something especially
interesting.
Today was one of my wild days when I think Richard wondered if he was glad he'd decided to keep me.
I ran and jumped and climbed. Yes, I even tried to crawl up the fish tank, and I landed right in
the middle of the bears once. Finally I calmed down and took a nap under the bed. I don't like
to be naughty, but a cat has to get some exercise sometimes.
Wednesday, January 12, 2000
I was afraid it might be a doctor day when Richard took Brenda to work. When he brought the car
back and opened my carrier for me to get in, I knew it was. But it wasn't too bad. My vet is a
pretty nice man, and after he gave me a shot, I didn't know anything else until I was taken home.
I heard Richard and Brenda talking about me being neutered, so I guess that was what happened. All
I know is, I've felt kind of dizzy the rest of the day. I've felt kind of clumsy and my head hass
been spinnig every time I try to climb or jump. Richard and Brenda keep saying "poor kitty" and
"you'll feel better soon". They haven't given me much to eat either--I guess my doctor told them not
to.
Thursday, January 13, 2000
I'm feeling much better today and am eating almost everything Richard and Brenda give me. After being
so clumsy yesterday, I'm not trying to climb or jump a whole lot though. I don't feel a whole
lot like writing either--sorry.
Friday, January 14, 2000
I'm back to myself today, running, jumping, climbing, eating everything. There's so much exploring
to do, and yes, I'm getting in a bit of trouble again, but hey, I'm a cat-- I'm doing what comes
natural. No time to write-- I've got exploring to do... :)
Saturday, January 15, 2000
It was a pretty quite day, though I had a bit of trouble during the night. I got sick and threw
up in the middle of the floor in the hall. Brenda got up to check on me and cleaned it up. Maybe
I ate too much last night. Or it could have been the cat milk Brenda bought me. I don't drink much
water or milk and I guess she was worried about me, so she bought me some cat milk, and it tasted
pretty good. Getting sick like that was scary, but I've been okay all day today. I think Richard
and Brenda didn't want to leave me when they went to church, but I was fine.
Sunday, January 16, 2000
Another quite Sunday, just lazing around, with Richard and Brenda sleeping late and then
falling alseep later in the day on the living room floor while they were watching TV. Kind
of a boring life, huh? Must have been terribly boring before they got me, because I give
them just a little excitement when I'm a little naughty. ;-)
Monday, January 17, 2000
Today was a holiday and Brenda was home. It was just another lazy, sleepy day-- what more
can I say? Sometimes those kinds of days are really nice though. Meow!
Tuesday, January 18, 2000
Richard had to borrow Brenda's car today because he had to go somewhere, and he surprised me
that afternoon by taking me for a ride to pick her up. I didn't know quite what it was
all about and was afraid I was going to the doctor again. But we stopped at the community
college library and I got to see where Brenda works. We waited a while, and then Richard
held me up to the window to see her as she was coming to the car. I was so excited to see
her, and I sat in her lap and let her pet me on the way home.
Wednesday, January 19, 2000
Richard and Brenda keep talking about snow, and I've noticed they do on the TV too. Whatever
snow is hasn't happened here yet, but Richard and Brenda tell me it will be something exciting
when I see it for the first time. I'm spending a lot of time watching out the window just
in case it happens.  Thursday, January 20, 2000 No snow yet, and it sounds like that's unusual for this time of the year. I keep wondering what it will be like, and I'll be glad when I can see some. Friday, January 21, 2000
Still no snow, but Richard and Brenda and the weatherman on TV are talking about sleet and
freezing rain. I haven't seen anything but rain yet, but Brenda sure looked cold when she
came in from work.
Saturday, January 22, 2000 No snow, but we got sleet and freezing rain all right. There were icicles hanging from the trees outside. Brenda walked to the store instead of driving, and she kind of looked like she had icicles hanging from her when she got back. I still want to see some snow.
The ice melted today. Richard and Brenda didn't go to church last night, but today she went out to buy me some cat food and to get the pictures from the film she had taken to be developed last week. Two rolls of film, and most of the pictures are of me, and there's some of the bears. Brenda helped me put them on my homepage on my photos page. Don't I look handsome? Meow!
Something else I forgot to mention Brenda did yesterday. After she took a bath in the tub,
she decided I needed one too. Ugh! No, she didn't put me in the tub, but she put some wet
cat shampoo on me. Then she didn't like the way it smelled, and since it also had flea protection,
she was afraid I'd lick it and that it wouldnt' be good for me. So she tried dry shampoo and
brushing, and, well, silly Brenda, that didn't work on top of wet shampoo. So she ended up
washing me with a wash cloth and then sitting me in the bathroom sink with some warm water in
it to rinse me. Well, as you can imagine, I didn't like that, and water flew all over the
bathroom as I flew out of the sink. Brenda chased me down, wrapped me up in a towel and tried
to dry me off, but I ran from her. Then she got out her hair dryer and tried that, but I didn't
like the noise at all, and I ran and hid. When Richard saw me all wet, he scolded Brenda, and
he petted me. Brenda promised she would never do that to me again. I think she went out to
buy me more food and treats and even a new toy to make it up to me. And it did. I was mad at
her for a while, but when she got back from shopping and I saw all that, I forgave her.
Tuesday, January 25, 2000 Brenda has some nights when she can't sleep, and she gets up and gets on the computer. I get to go and have a treat then, and I can play in the living room and kitchen. That's a lot of fun, unless I get too loud and she scolds me because Richard and the fish and the bears are all sleeping. Before she gives me a treat, first thing, Brenda has to pour herself an ice cold glass of Diet Coke. I think I can see why. She has something called "hot flashes", and she gets so hot especially at night. One time I had crawled up on her in the bed and was "nursing" her neck, my way of showing how much I love both her and Richard, and she got hot all of the sudden-- so hot I had to shake myself to get her sweat off me. Anyway, she sits up some nights, drinking Diet Coke and working on the computer because she can't sleep. And those are fun nights because I get to run and play, just so I don't make too much noise. Wednesday, January 26, 2000 For a week or so I've kept hearing Richard and Brenda and the people on TV talking about snow, like it was really going to happen any day now. Well, today it did happen-- a little bit anyway. Richard and I looked out the window and saw it falling. For a while it was big white flakes, coming down fast. Then the flakes got smaller and it slowed down, and then I could hardly see it. It just lasted for an hour or two in the afternoon. Richard told me if it came down really hard and started sticking on the ground, Brenda might get to come home from work early. I kept looking out the window, for more snow, and for Brenda. Thursday, January 27, 2000 There was just that little bit of snow yesterday, and Brenda didn't get to come home early. But I was still watching at the window when she came, and I was so glad to see her. They are still saying there may be more snow-- real snow that sticks on the ground. It sounds like it is going to happen tomorrow for sure. Friday, January 28, 2000 Sometime during the night, Richard got up, and as he crawled back into the bed, he told Brenda it was snowing outside. I got all excited and had to get up into the bedroom window so I could see. Sure enough, it was there-- white flakes falling and even beginning to stick on the ground. Brenda was having another one of her nights she couldn't sleep, so about 3:00 this morning she got up and started listening to the news on the TV as well as getting on her computer. She said everything was closed except the college where she works. They had some kind of policy she said that said they tried to stay open if at all possible. Finally she saw that tomorrow's ACT prep classes were closed, but not today's classes. Around 6:00 Richard got up and started watching TV with her. He said it was crazy to stay open, because the snow was really sticking on the ground. Brenda told him not to worry, that she'd had plenty of experience driving in the snow when she lived in the mountains of southwest Virginia. At 6:30, the college still hadn't closed, so Brenda went to take a shower. They still hadn't closed at 7:00 when she came back to check before getting dressed. They still hadn't at 7:15, so she left for work. I know Richard was worried, and I was too, but Brenda said she would drive really slow. At 7:45 she called Richard and told him she was coming back home. She and the Head Librarian and the Lead Circulation Assistant (who had come all the way from Huntsville) were all there at work but couldn't get in the outside doors of the library, which were locked, and they were told the college had closed. So Brenda came back, following the Head Librarian, who lives nearby, and she got back by 8:30. We looked at the snow for a little while and then all went back to bed. It was so pretty, but we were so sleepy. When we woke up around noon, though, it had stopped snowing. What was coming down looked more like rain. By the end of the day, most of the snow was gone from the ground. Oh well, I finally got to see some snow!
 
 Background and photo Copyright © 2000 Brenda Parris Sibley  |
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