Sep 08 2009
Chaos, Life, and the Search for Sleep
What would you do if you had two cats, a dog and a baby? I’ll tell you what I did, every gory, glorious detail. In case you were wondering - we didn’t sleep. There were moments when I knew I was where I was meant to be, others when I wondered what I had done in a previous life to deserve such punishment. I know others have been there, and others will be there in the future. I also know some people will be going through just what we did in some form or another.
Maybe this is therapy for me. A chance to hear that others have been there, and that I am not alone when I scream at a puppy for needing to pee every five minutes - all day long. Maybe it’s merely my masochistic tendencies showing through - who would really want to re-live those moments after all? Whatever the reasons, I hope you you enjoy reading about the utter chaos that reigns in our home.
I have two toddlers, two cats, a dog, and a husband. My story begins when our first baby arrived. Well, actually the story would really begin about the time my husband and I met. I had a cat, and asked my new friend, William, to cat-sit for me while I drove 14 hours to pick up my twelve year old dog from my parents, in Manitoba. The drive, in and of itself could be a whole other story, but I’ll save it for a later date.
When I returned home with my dog, Sandy, my cat, Reine, was unimpressed. To say the least. But things settled into a nice routine rather quickly.
My ‘friend’ became my boyfriend who became my fiance. We bought our first condo and we moved in together.In expectation of marital bliss we planned the wedding and the honeymoon, never suspecting that our lives were about to change, for ever.
The day before we left for the honeymoon Sandy became seriously ill. At the age of sixteen we had to make the decision, allow her to die then, or wait at most a few more months. We we’re told she wouldn’t make it until Christmas, so we had her put to sleep. We had a catsitter for Reine and we left for our Honeymoon. Two weeks in glorious Greece! We returned home refreshed, and relaxed, and ready to tackle the world together.
Then we discovered that Reine was depressed after the loss of her friend and companion. So we did what any good pet owner would do. We bought her a kitten. A Bengal kitten to be exact.
Reine did not like her new friend, Mintaka. Mintaka did not like Reine.
