I don't know if I can do justice to everything my cat is to me. I got him in late April in 1996. He was born in February of that year and was the only boy in the bunch. I think that was the start of how protective he was of me. Within hours of bringing him home, he was curved around my boob sleeping peacefully.

He was such an amazing kitten, full of kittenry antics. He stole my heart with how he came when I called him, how he fetched the little fuzzy toys, and how he was connected to me. In fact, he was a reason that my boyfriend at the time got quite upset with me. I got Misha on a when weekend trip home to visit my parents after my second year of university. And when my boyfriend came to pick me up, I couldn't honestly tell him that I missed him because I hadn't really thought about him much because of the little fuzzball that had invaded my life. That didn't go over well, but I'd just adopted my first baby. The boyfriend didn't last.

Misha was with me in all the hard times and all the good times. I was his and he was mine. Unless you've had one as a family member, you can't know what a cat gives back. There is a love and trust that exists that is so unconditional. This isn't to say that every cat has this bond with their humans, but if you put the love in you get it back tenfold.

I'm finding it hard to encapsulate the best of the last 13 years with him. How can I describe the constant companionship? He would go on vacation to my parents home almost every summer for one reason or another. He owned that house almost as much as he owned me. I would miss him a lot and would have to phone my parents every couple days just to talk to him instead of them. At first it confused him a little and he would run to the door looking for me. Then he realized that my voice was coming from the phone. He almost hung up on me several times by nuzzling the phone. And once, I was a brat to my mom who was holding him by asking him if he wanted to go outside. Mom came on the line soon afterward telling me that she just couldn't hold him anymore for some reason. Heh.

Early on, I realized that I would have to ration his food because he had the potential to be a very fat cat. One of his feeding times was first thing in the morning when I woke up. This caused his creativity to really come to life in trying to wake me up. Some of my favourites were sticking his nose right in front of mine then meowing as soon as my eyes fluttered and lying next to my head or on my chest and purring his loudest purr.

Oh could that cat purr! You could hear him in the next room sometimes. I miss that more than anything else, I think. It's what I hear and feel in my chest when I miss him most.

He used to climb people. I taught him that. Then he tried to climb someone wearing a skirt. I stopped teaching him that skill pretty quickly. Heh. He bit my mom's ass once, well actually twice, too. He definitely got supper after that. He was playing blanket monster on my parents' bed and the monster just happened to be my dad's fart. There were tiny kitten claws and screaming involved.

Misha's accomplishments include raising three kittens up right. Teaching them to fight and hunt and protect me. Despite not having any front claws, he managed to bring home many a furry and feathered friend. He was sooo proud the day he brought me a huge robin and very confused when I screamed like I did. The incident with the bat was also very amusing.

He loved being outside so much especially at night. I was always the overprotective mama and didn't like him to be outside. Through my parents not really listening to my overprotectiveness, I lost that too. He ended up getting lost once - for ten days. He eventually found home again, skinny and hungry and lonely. I didn't get to be there for his return, but I would have loved it. He almost smothered mom on his first day home just from sleeping so close to her face that first night. He was happy to be home and didn't go very far after that. He loved his people more than the outside.

I get to visit him whenever I go home now and in my dreams. He's buried out at our acreage which I believe we may have named Apollo's Landing, but that could still change. He is dearly missed.

Rules, schmules. I choose only to follow #3.

1) I love Lego. I remember just building and building and building when I was a kid. I also remember building a mostly 2-dimensional man about two feet tall and taking it to school for show and tell. I loved show and tell too. [grin] Anyway, I just received a new piece of jewelry that shows just how much I love it.

2) Gremlins was the first movie I remember seeing in a theatre. I recall sitting on my mom's lap, but in my memory, it was because there weren't two seats left together in the theatre and that was the only way I could sit with her. It couldn't possibly have been because I was scared.

3) I am more creative than I give myself credit for. This is random about me because *I* didn't know I was as creative as I am until recently. I considered most of my creative endeavours as hobbies and not creative. I am a silly girl sometimes. Of course, I like to surround myself with people who I consider to be incredibly creative and intelligent and I have measured my creations against theirs. Again, silly Suzi.

4) My cats in my life bring me great joy - especially in the morning. The first thing they do is come visit me in the bathroom. One talks and tries to be held or just intervene between my attention and another cat, one wants to be picked up and held but not enough to quit moving from surface to surface throughout the bathroom, one circles my feet to gain my attention and pets, and the last one waits not-so-patiently for it to be his turn for affection. Sometimes this is all going on at once.

5) My favourite things to do are things that will make other people happy and in that I can find some enjoyment. Such as putting together an after game snack so that people can relax, making the effort to see, to email, or to talk with someone that I respect and with whom I enjoy spending time, making chainmaille something-or-others for my friends and family, etc. These things are even better if I can share.

6) My favourite call of good luck is, "Have fun storming the castle!" said by Miracle Max in the Princess Bride. That movie has many spectacular quote like, "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something," said by Wesley as the Man in Black. That was my email signature for quite a while when I was :oh, dear god!: 18. In fact, it was my first email signature.

When my Cheruby and I met, it became a game with us to figure out how many people we knew in common. I think at last count there were about a dozen or so. I just threw out the piece of paper that had all the names listed. One more could have been added this past weekend, actually.

I've made a great new friend here in Calgary. I met him through work and we knew one person in common, but just through my previous employer and his being two places that she had worked so it wasn't that big a deal. But in my Crackbook surfing, I discovered that someone he knows through his art is the sister of someone I know from my gaming in Saskatoon. I even have a necklace with a glass bead that was made by her boyfriend I think. Anyway, the world is a small place sometimes.

In other news, I'm still working hard away from home most of the time. Life is good though because I've got my wonderful Cheruby to look after me and help me through the rough spots. This weekend, he helped me to clean my office. I think it's been close to a year since it was truly clean and that feels great. I'm still noticing the absence of stress over that task on my to do list. I had my one year anniversary with my temporary rebound job too.

We got a new black cat who is just about the most talkative cat I have ever met. He needs lots of attention or he does stuff like crawl into the ducts in the basement. What a silly boy! He and the not-so-fat one have become good friends in very short order.



PSA: A cousin of mine recently had a house fire and has lost pretty much every material good. Luckily no one was home at the time so everyone is okay. She has four kids, one of which is a newborn. Things are going to be rough for her, but through the support of family and friends, I know everything will be just fine. Having said that, if you have any clothes for boys sizes 5/6, clothes for girls size adult small or girls 12/14, or baby clothes for a new baby boy that you could give, it would be appreciated. You can just drop me a line at piratebuttercup at gmail dot com and I'll be more than happy to be a conduit of good will.

And now back to your regularly scheduling Suzi-ing. [grin]