5/7

URGENTLY NEEDED: cat loving person or family to babysit two young outdoor kitties for two months this summer. One shy female, one rascally male. Both independent, just need a covered porch to call home, tummy rubs, and perhaps a nice yard. Litter trained. Will provide all food and supplies.

I actually suggested my neighbors to Bella but then I realized how stupid that sounded. The cats are outdoor animals, they'd be at my house all the time anyway. My mom is as adamant about this as she was about the ducks: NO. No, no, no.

So, we are up shit creek. (What's with the "we"? Well, I, being the Queen of Sure, I Can Do That, volunteered to look after the furry ones for the duration of Bella's trip. That was before I knew they were letting go of their splendid House and that cat-sitting, at that point, would involve moving the cats to my house. When I found out about that, I was still sort of nodding vaguely even though I was fairly certain my mother was not going to consider it. Right I was, wrong I was, all at the same time.) Anyway, the hard thing is that they are outdoor cats. My neighbors would probably take them, but again, that is stupid because beign that they're outdoor, it would be like them living with me anyway. Which they can't, because my own cat, also outdoor, has a severe social disorder that causes her to freak out at other cats. Shes never once warmed up to another cat. The closest she came was to our "other" cat, one we had for less than a year, an ugly, sickly, pain-in-the-ass cat that adopted us out of nowhere and made house in our garage until she died. Her name was Black and White Cat. Once, we tried to drop her off by the bridge near the park, but I guess that wasn't far enough away because she practically beat the car back home. I guess the fact that we didn't take her further could actually be interpreted as reluctance on our part to give her up, evne though TJ really hated her. We all loved her, eventually even TJ ignored her (a step above hissign and snarling at her), and then she died one day. She was never a healthy cat, but I don't think she died of whatever she had because when I found her that day it looked like she had been run over by something. I sat with her in the garage, and she died, and thinking back on that, I'll never, never ever understand not wanting to be with a pet when he dies. Like some people think it's too hard, they just can't do it ... I respect other people's feelings, I guess, but I don't understand why you wouldn't put your own feelings aside for the sake of your pet, who is probably scared and confused and might die with the feeling they've been abandoned. I mean, if you're given the choice to be with them or not, like if you choose to euthanize. Obviously if they go away, like a cat might, or if they die in their sleep, there isn't a choice. But if you could be there, why wouldn't you?

That was a little off the subject. The subject was, TJ and my mom are the reasons we can't have the cats here. And now there is a little bit of a panic. There's the boarding option, but it's an expensive and horrible one. They'd probably pine away. When will I learn to just say no?

Panic aside because I can't do anything about it right now, wow, it's Thursday already. Bella and kids will be gone on the 19th. We're halfway through with classes. My dad is back from Detroit. Bentley weighs 30 pounds. My library fine is $2.50.