olivia

I've been thinking for a few months now that having a pet again would be kind of nice (not that Survivor isn't a nice pet, but fish, as a rule, don't cuddle). I'd go back and forth...I've gotten used to not having cat hair follow me in a cloud wherever I go, but up until six months or so ago, I was still on the lookout to make sure Duke didn't get out when I was opening the door. Having the bed to myself is nice, but not nice enough to keep my feet warm. Having weekend company made the silence in the house even louder during the week.  I began to pay more and more attention to the weekend morning news segment on the Pet of the Week at the SPCA. I knew that a dog was out of the question--I'm not home enough, which is unfair to the dog--but a cat was not. 

Last week, a co-worker posted a want ad on our company intranet looking for a home for a female cat. Turns out that the cat, Olivia, was her grandmother's, and while her cousin had taken her in, Olivia was very used to being an only cat, and wasn't getting along with the cousin's dog and other cat. After a couple of days of private hemming and hawing, I said to TDML that I was going to get in touch with the co-worker and see if she'd found Olivia a home yet. TDML was very encouraging (her words were along the lines of, "It is about damn time, woman"), and so I emailed the co-worker. At that time I was second in line--someone else had expressed interest and was asking a family member about it--so while I waited to hear, TDML and I went to Target and I spent fifty bucks on new gear and food. Since my mind was made up, if things didn't work out with Olivia, I planned on taking mommasnarx on a trip to the SPCA to see if there were any viable candidates.

I contacted the co-worker on Friday and the other person who had expressed interest hadn't heard back from the family member, and said that if I was definite, I should take Olivia.

So I did.

Within five minutes of bringing her in the house, she was purring and beginning to explore, her tail swishing from side to side. I don't think she's been upstairs yet, but I haven't been either since I brought her home this morning (have I mentioned lately how much I love having a bathroom downstairs, thank you yet again SBJ?). I left her alone for a while to go to lunch with mommasnarx, and then brought her back to meet Olivia, who was charming. We've spent most of the day on the sofa otherwise; she wants to be where I am (though she lets me go to the bathroom in peace), but doesn't need to be on top of me. She spent a while checking in for some pets and then exploring a little more, tail going the whole time. Finally, at about 3:30 she climbed up next to me (with an "oof!" of effort like Sawyer used to make; girlfriend is chunky) and settled down and went to sleep.

I do believe we're going to do just fine, Olivia and I.