Playing A Crazy Eight

When Dave and I got engaged, we decided that each of us had four "Crazy Eights."  For us, this means that we can make a big(ish) decision on our own that the other person has to go along with--very much like changing the suit in the game of Crazy Eights.

So far, I used one to move from Los Angeles to Charlotte, NC.  Dave used one to go on a very, very expensive ski vacation with some guy friends of his.(So expensive that we've never spent that much money on a family vacation with all five of us).

This weekend, after 10 years of marriage and 12 years of being together, I played my second Crazy Eight:  We adopted 2 kittens from a local shelter.

We had been planning on getting kittens, but were hoping that our 20.5 year old grandmother cat would, um, "go to college" before we got any more animals.  But she is doing FANTASTIC, despite being absolutely in the midst of kitty dementia. She eats well, pees and poos in the right place, and purrs like an engine when we give her lovin's.  She howls at the shower, but she's had an issue with my bathing her whole life, so there may be some sort of deep rooted issue there.

In any case, she's not going anywhere soon.  And none of our children have ever been around a baby animal.    Well, yes, the chicks last year.  But they grew up so quickly!  And they don't really live in the house.  AND I MISS KITTENS.

So on Friday, a friend of mine liked a picture on Facebook.  This picture featured animals from a local shelter who were going to be euthanized on Tuesday (today, I'd like to add).  The first picture was a very cute grey tabby kitten.  I looked.

I saw that he had a very cute solid grey brother.  I really like adopting litter mates: They play together; they love on each other.  And I knew they were going to be euthanized in 4 da.ys.  It seemed like the stars were aligning for us to adopt these little kittens 

I called Dave.  We discussed.  He had said he was open to a kitten sometime in the future.  But I thought the time to act was now.  So I played my eight.

And now we have Fred and George Weasley!

Fred is the grey tabby and the fearless instigator.  He started purring the moment we picked him up in the shelter.  George is the solid grey one, who was quite shy in the shelter and for most of the first day home.

But by the time I took them in for their first vet check up today, they were both secure and frisky.  They were wrestling each other across the examination room floor while I was talking to vet about how things were going.  (Summary:  very well).


And I'm so glad the children get a chance to grow up with baby animals, too.  Already they have learned important information about cats.

1)  Cats get carsick and it is pretty smelly.  Also, the sound of a cat retching is distinct.
2)  When cats are happy and secure, their tails are up high in the air.  When they are scared, their tails go straight out and are flat.  The first time George's tail went up and the air and stayed up there was a moment of great celebration among the children.
3)  Purrs are beautiful.  Cat toots are not.
4)  Our dog Patches is a wonderfully smart dog who would not hurt other animals, despite being very jealous of them.  Also, giving the dog a treat every time you interact with a new animal?  GOOD IDEA!
5)  We could have had a Sophie's Choice moment at the shelter. Fred and George had a litter mate when we were looking through the pictures.  I told Conor about him and Conor wanted to know what would happen to him if we only adopted Fred and George.  I told Conor.  We both worried.  And we both cheered when we arrived at the shelter and the litter mate had already been adopted.  Discussions about the importance of spaying and neutering were also involved.
6) Nighttime cat snuggles are some of the best snuggles around.  And even with a family of 5 and the bedtime bingo that we play most nights with who sleeps where and with whom*, it's awfully nice to have a cuddly, furry, purr ball next to you when you go to sleep.

So there you go.  We are pretty excited to have the new additions to our family.  As I thought about it this morning, with a geriatric cat, a dog, an 8 year old, TWINS, and chickens, cats really don't take up much room.  And the effort to love ratio is pretty much in our favor.  YAY FOR US!

I think playing this Crazy Eight was worth it.

*That sounds a lot worse than it really is!