Thanksgiving was rather eventful this year. My son Kyle came home from college for a few days. I had planned on getting a picture of all 5 kids together, but somehow the time slipped away and I didn’t take one picture of any of the kids. I’d have loved to have gotten a picture of Kyle’s experimentation with facial hair. Oh well.
He arrived on Tuesday, Wednesday was filled with errands and whatnot. Preparations for Thanksgiving dinner were going well when we went to make the whipped cream. Our mixer had died. Do you know what it is like making whipped cream without a mixer? It’s tough. I can be done, but it’s not necessarily easy.
While Thanksgiving itself was busy but uneventful, it was the following day that things got hectic. Normally, I hate to leave the house the entire weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year I wound up going shopping.
Laura was online and read a news item the Seattle Humane Society was holding a Black (Cat) Friday sale, where they are waiving all adoption fees on black cats and kittens. Laura and the kids have been trying to get me to adopt a dog for the last few years, and while I love dogs, I do not want to have one in my house.
Xavier was down for nap so I packed up the other 4 kids and headed over with our two cat carriers. I prepared the kids that we may get one kitten, we may get 2 cats, or we may get nothing at all.
We arrived and it was PACKED. Apparently a lot of other families had the same idea we did. I filled out the “pre-questionaire” and waited our turn to meet with an adoption advisor (or whatever they are) and looked at the various kitties through the glass doors to the rooms.
Before we made the decision to go and adopt a new feline friend, Laura was online looking at the Seattle Humane Society’s website checking out some of the cats that are available for adoption. Several of those cats were adopted by the time we got there, but a number of others were still there. One, a beautiful grey and white cat was available, but it was FIV (kitty AIDS) positive, and we simply couldn’t have it in our house with our other cat.
After finally meeting with our adoption advisor we were free to enter into any of the cat rooms and pick out a cat for adoption. I was initially looking for siblings, but the only pair available at the time were not really interested in us. Maybe we smelled funny, but one of the siblings avoided all of us as if we were canine lovers looking to pick out a snack.
Then it was on to kittens. And there were so many of them we would have taken were we able to. In the end we picked out two kittens that were not siblings. Both are healthy, but one is a bit more feisty than the other. Turns out she was spayed on Wednesday, just 2 days before we adopted her. I’ve just returned from the veterinarian and her stitches are infected. She needed antibiotics and a cone of shame to prevent her from “cleaning” the area.
So there I was on the infamous Black Friday in the store picking up supplies for our new feline companions. At least I went into the store in the evening – it was deserted.
Introducing the new cats to the house, and our older resident cat, has gone well enough. They are adjusting to the new smells and noises and the kids don’t freak them out too much. We’ve been doing a slow integration and thankfully Chava (our other cat) hasn’t gone after them.
Meet the kitties!
Elsa and Friday
Friday is the black on, and Elsa (named after the lioness in Born Free) is the tabby.