Of a Brave Young House Cat

Because even a cat requires a theme song.

(Performed to the tune of Brennan on the Moor)

'Tis of a brave young house cat
Her story I will tell:
Her name is Janice Aloysius,
You all should know her well.

One day into the driveway,
And then into the house
Looking for a gourmet meal
Or maybe for a mouse.

Janice the house cat
Janice the house cat
Oh! Brave and undaunted was our
Janice the house cat.

One night in our basement
A flame she did see.
It was just a boiler, but
She attacked it with glee.

Janice the house cat
Janice the house cat
Oh! Brave and undaunted was our
Janice the house cat.

Singed whiskers
our cat it did not deter.
When pipes did leak
She was licking the sewer.

Janice the house cat
Janice the house cat
Oh! Brave and undaunted was our
Janice the house cat.

Literate Cat

Agent 004 thought that Janice would appreciate a book about cats.

Cat Napping

I never got in a nap yesterday,

but Janice did.
Lucky cat!

Kitty

Kitty
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

Even the cats are tired in Moscow.

There seems to be a national sleep-crisis, where the only place people sleep is on park benches or in the metro.

Why can't anything be simple?

We have had an incredibly exhilarating week. Do not let anything in the next few paragraphs make you forget that we are incredibly happy about the way things are working out. We are new homeowners and we are travelling to Russia next week to meet our future son.

Now for the whining.

The plan for the week was as follows:

• Sunday -- graduation.
• Monday -- pack moving truck.
• Tuesday -- closing on sale of old house, drive moving truck to New Hampshire.
• Wednesday -- do some errands.
• Thursday -- final walkthrough of new house, simultaneous homestudy.
• Friday -- close on new house, move in.

Some of these things (namely those on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday) happened. But the old house did not close on Tuesday. Then (after repeated reassurances and a few lies from a number of sources), it did not close on Wednesday or Thursday. We did not have final word until late Thursday. After much nailbiting, it closed this morning, and we were able to close on the new house just afterwards. But wait -- the paperwork never actually came through! Technically we are inhabiting a house owned by someone else. Not as if the former/current owner cares -- he has already been paid. But we have a moving truck in the driveway of a house we live in but don't yet legally own.

So why do I have the time to blog? Because I was tasked with handling adoption paperwork, but have been forgetting paperwork at whichever house I am not currently at. I need to have our visa applications overnighted by 5pm in order to have permission to enter Russia. I am at my parents' house because I forgot our visa applications here. I am waiting here because I forgot our passports (which need to be shipped to the Russian consulate) at the new house. My father is enroute with the passports and photos.

After eighteen moths of waiting and waiting, we got nine days notice to travel. Plane tickets have been purchased. Obnoxiously expensive hotel room booked for one night. Will work on finding a better option for the other days. Must get visa within next few days.

But we get to meet him! And then we will go back in a few short (!?!) weeks to adopt him. And all is good. All is very good.

For those who asked, the cat is recovering well from her motion sickness. She will be staying with my parents for a couple of weeks as we have doors open for moving boxes in and as we travel to Russia. She really seems to like it here. She likes the neighbors. She likes my dad. She likes the fluffy rugs. She likes the cozy nook on the desk. She may not want to move back in with us when the time comes.....

Smart Cat

Learned Cat
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

Protecting the Cat's Honor

My cat is in love. Well, not in love, but in heat. She has been jumping from window to window screaming bloody murder for the past five days. This is typical behavior for her, except in this case, one of the boy-cats in the neighborhood has been reciprocating. Julio (the boy-cat) has been following her from window to window. Staring. And staring. And staring. I am starting to have nightmares about his eyes.

Janice is an indoor cat. Other than when "in the mood," she has no interest in going outside. Her favorite pasttimes are chasing milk-jug rings and lounging on her wool blanket. When Julio is around, however, she turns into a rolling, screaming hormone-driven machine.


Late Thursday night, there was a break in the screaming. "Hmmm... Janice must be catnapping," we thought. We should have known better. When we went to the basement to close the window that was open for ventilation, we found that the screen had been pryed open. There were clawmarks on both sides, so they used teamwork to open it.

Now some of you may now be thinking "awww.....such a cute romantic story!" Then you don't know cats. It seems that they were looking for different things in a relationship. When I got outside, Julio was chasing Janice. Janice was hissing and clawing to get him away.

The second picture is my husband screwing the screen into place. Unless that %^&* cat has opposible thumbs and a screwdriver, he is not getting back into our house.

God bless us when we have a teenage daughter!

Cat Blogging