From the Beginning...

I've always LOVED cats. Not your typical "awe aren't they cute, I should get one some day" kinda love. Like I REALLY LOVED them. Yes in a somewhat neurotic kinda way, but still totally sane. I remember my first cat, Cassandra Sue. She was a gray tiger & she was mine, alllllllllllll mine.

I've learned as I get older, my memory does me no good. I can't remember what I made for dinner last night, or where I met my best friend for the first time. It saddens me that I don't remember these things, because many are important to me, I just can't remember them. But I still remember the day my Cassandra didn't come home. The visual seems to never escape my mind. I was no more than 7 or 8 years old. She had been missing all day. Yes, back then we let our pets outside. Now you will NEVER find any of our furries roaming freely outside our abode. At this age, I really didn't have a say. So as I'm going through my bedtime ritual, putting the PJ's on, finding my stuffed Snoopy & the other 30 stuffed animals that surrounded me on my canopy, I can't help but pace wondering where she ventured off to. My Dad knew that I wouldn't sleep a wink until I had her safe & sound in my pile of plushies and he would not allow me to worry, so he began his late night search. 

Again because I didn't have much say at that age, I had go to bed.... very unwillingly. I turned off my light & pretended to tuck myself in. Instead I stood by my window watching my father's shadow scour the busy main road we lived on. Due to the tennis court building across the street, I could see all movements from the beaming street lights in the parking lot. 

My heart sank as I saw my father bend over & pick up a dark, lifeless image. It was Cassandra Sue :( She had been struck by a vehicle. I can still feel the devastation as I relive this memory. Even brings tears to my eyes. It took me many years to have another cat, not sure if that was my parent's choice due to my depressed stage from losing Cassie or if I just knew right then that my heart couldn't take that kind of pain ever again. Or so I thought.

♥ RIP Cassandra Sue. 

Dog Days at Ashcombe's Aug 25th

Tell Me You Missed Me Too

Back from a wonderful vacation. Coming from someone with high separation anxiety, I was very sad to say goodbye... yet the thought of seeing our fur babies after 6 days kept the neurotic sob fest to a minimal.

I know they have no idea of time, but was hoping they missed us as much as we missed them. Honestly, I think they did. That or they are very conscientious of time & knew that it was "feeding" time from the nanny so when we stumbled through the front door there sat ALL of them. 3 were strategically placed on the stairs, one behind the door & one already heading downstairs to the feeding pit. I swear, if they wagged like dogs, there would have been  a whirlwind of fur flying from the over zealous wagging that would have taken place :)

Even if I am just a walking piece of meat to them, in my mind it's all about love. They missed us, I know it.♥

Vacation Anxiety

What I like to think they're doing while I'm gone

We all look forward to vacation, it's time away from stress, worries & work. What more

could you ask for? In my case, travel mates :-) 

Does anyone else feel anxiety about leaving on vacation without your pets? We have a great "temporary mommy" for them so we have no worries that they'll be taken care of. I just wonder if they'll miss us, like we miss them. I wonder if they realize how long we're gone. Do they think we abandoned them? Do they miss our "good mornings" as much as I miss their little faces waking us every morning for "breaf-ist" (intentional spelling error) The answer is, most likely not. Cats just want fed. Feed my face, scoop my poop & they're good to go.

Reesey cuddles every morning. She knows it's time to "wake mommy" so she hops up next to me & instead of annoying me & waking me up as she is supposed to, she curls up, rolls over & exposes her belly to be rubbed, which of course I do half heartedly bc I'm barely coherent. Will she miss my half assed petting?

Boo-Boo is our tootsie taster.. he loves to bite your tootsies in the morning. Will he miss our tasty toes?

Mocha perches on the bathroom sink waiting for you to run the water for her own personal water fountain... will she dehydrate because she'll wait all week??

Punkin likes to eat turkey with her other mom every morning. She's our skinny girl so a little extra grub isn't so bad for her. Will she go through turkey withdrawal?

Skittles, well he just likes to eat. That's about it. He's on ear meds at the moment so he may not miss us very much.

I know, we over think too much. People say cats don't have feelings, which I don't agree with at all. Just waiting for that day we have tv phones so we can call our house, have it pick up & we're able to talk to our fur-babies. :) Until then we'll trust the kitty nanny & try to enjoy our fur-less vacation.

Oh yea, the kid. He'll be fine.