7 reasons I’m smiling today

The life of this CatLady is looking pretty great right now! Here are a few things I have to be grateful for:

• We signed the lease to a new apartment (with big windows! And a balcony! And, most importantly, it’s not in a basement!) That is a giant weight off of my shoulders. I am officially moving in less than a month and I am most pleased.
• I am getting an IUD tomorrow (a Mirena). I’m totally committed to five years baby-free. I feel like I’m actually committed to no babies permanently, but I’ve done my research and this is definitely the best option for me now.
• House sitting is hugely relaxing. I’ve been swimming 3 times in the last week thanks to my temporary summer home.
• My parents confirmed last night that they are coming to visit me soon.
• I’m getting lots of good quality thesis work done. Enough to send something decent to my Supervisor by tomorrow. (Motivation motivation motivation)
• It’s almost my birthday, which means it’s almost Tegan and Sara day! (Thanks again lovely friends!)
• This face:
  

  Mr. Fyodor enjoys the sun

Much better!

It’s a beautiful, sunny Sunday, and the end of an overall pretty decent week! Keep up the awesomeness, universe! Here are some highlights:

1)      I got a lot of thesis reading done this week, including the 10^th book I am using as primary data! I also got a really positive email from my advisor in response to some of the themes I’ve drawn from the data so far.

2)      My Mom mailed me a pair of Birkenstocks that she got and were too big for her. These are the most comfy shoes and I’ve had a pair last me 5 years before. Also in the package was a purse that my Two-Mum crocheted years ago. Family love!

A package for me = a new box for Fyodor.

3)      A very productive, tea-filled study date with a good friend.

4)      Good amounts of high-quality alone time and cuddle time with my partner and the kitties!

5)      2 date nights! (We never have these!) It was Halifax ComedyFest and we saw 2 different shows. The first one was alright (it was a little crowded), but the second night was unplanned and THE BEST. My partner and I went with my friend Scott and his girlfriend (check out Scott’s post on the shows.) And I do still have a sense of homour!

ComedyFest-inspired drawing by Scott

6)      Tonight I am going to a tea-tasting at my very favourite tea shop ever with a bunch of really great women!

It’s almost May, the temperature is slowly climbing, and I feel 100x happier than last week.

I anticipate a lot more good times in my future!

Cheers!

Introducing Couplan!

Lately I’ve been thinking about a lot of sad and important things. Today I’ve had a lovely morning full of tea and reading, so I’m going to write about my awesome cat, Couplan! Might as well introduce her more formally since there are pictures of her all over my blog.

She’s permanently sleepy

This beautiful lady has been putting up with my shit for 12 years now. And she still loves me!

I met Couplan when I was still in high school and she was living at the SPCA. She was shy at first, but the way she would stretch her back and stand on tip-toes when I petted her made me laugh, so I took her home. She still does the tip-toes thing, and her tale vibrates, when she’s getting excited for wet food.

Couplan is named after Douglas Coupland, my favourite author when I was a teenager. We’ve had our ups and downs. For the first year or so that we lived together, I thought she hated me because she would do kittenish things I wasn’t used to, like bite and scratch me. She mellowed out within a couple of years, though, and now she mostly wants to cuddle me and purr. She’s a fan of spooning. I’ve always felt a little guilty for the brief time after high school when I moved into my first place and she stayed with my parents. She forgave me, but I have learned that I could never live in a place that doesn’t allow cats again.

Couplan has been fairly accommodating to some cat friends that we’ve fostered over the years, but Elliott was her first partner-in-crime, and best friend for 6 years. Since Elliott died a few years ago, Couplan has had nightmares regularly, which were never a problem before. We all miss Elliott a lot. I think Couplan is happier since Fyodor came to live with us last year, but she doesn’t like to show her affection for him. They fight a lot, but we’ll come home to see them jump out of their cuddle pile (it’s a secret love!)

BFFs
Couplan and Elliott

Couplan likes only the highest quality catnip which never fails to give her squinty, stoner eyes. She loves sunspots, but only likes the outside sometimes. Her favourite thing is quiet family cuddle time. She is the most accepting, trustworthy friend.

Fyodor will  get his own introduction soon!

Pillow face

Sometimes you just need to bury your face in a pillow

Lately I’ve been feeling a little down. I expected this because I tend to react badly to having things end, and my awesome job and the course I was taking this year both recently finished. Combine these endings with all the shitty things that are happening in the news and my emotions associated with my thesis work, and the result is me hiding in my bed a lot, shaking. Or forcing myself to leave the house and try to socialize while feeling like I’m bringing everyone else down. Things I read and write affect me for a very long time, and I often get stuck in my head, trying to make sense of everything. Plus, when is Spring going to be here?

Instead of trying to sort out what’s going on in my head and in the world right now, here’s a picture of Fyodor smushing his face in a pillow. It is the cutest thing ever, and I can’t help but smile whenever he does it. Yay for cat friends!

Now I’m off to make some white guava ginger tea and try to get some reading done.

You’re never too old for a blanket fort

Sometimes when I am overwhelmed by too much work, I have to do something completely unrelated or I will shut down. Like this recent blanket fort. I was distracted to the point of mental paralysis until I took some time out to build this monster, set up a work space inside it for me and the cats, brew some tea and get settled in. Finally I could work!

The view from inside:

Fyodor getting all the work done!

On days like today, when I’m feeling completely useless and unproductive, remembering stuff like this relieves a little bit of unnecessary stress.

I thought this was about a cat who solved crime! My disappointing glimpse into the world of detective novels

So… this is a real book.

In fact, it’s part of a series of books starring a very privileged man and his two siamese cats. My partner found it at the Salvation Army and brought it home for me (because of the title) and I couldn’t resist reading it. Since my job is basically academic research, it’s nice to have something to read before bed that doesn’t take a lot of brainpower. That being said, this is a pretty bad book, but I did read the whole thing…

Like me, Couplan is unimpressed

The main character, Qwilleran, does whatever he wants. He’s rich and the whole town thinks he’s just great. Everyone loves his mustache (the mustache is a supporting character–it wiggles when something suspicious is happening). I mean, this guy is at the scene of a woman’s death and then he is just allowed to live in her house, no questions asked. He finds a murder weapon in the barn outside the house, and nothing. He is never a suspect. Why the special treatment, creepy guy? He’s also given valuable heirlooms and the secret to a one-hundred year old mystery because he has an honest face.

All the women are after him, but for the most part he believes them to be boring and dumb, or just after his money. There is one special lady, a librarian, but he gets annoyed with her when she gets a new kitten and starts talking baby talk. It’s ok when he does it, though, because his cats are superior…

Despite the intriguing title, Qwilleran’s cats don’t do much of anything except knock some books over, eat a dead lady’s leftover food, use the bathroom in a turkey roaster, and cry (like siamese do). Then again, an earlier book in the series is actually called The Cat Who Sniffed Glue, so, you know, there’s that. My cats are way more awesome and detective-like, and they talk to imaginary people all the time! They deserve a series (just sayin’).

I probably won’t read another detective novel, but this actually sounds kind of interesting:

Next time

High-Five!

My cats when they thought they were going on vacation with us ! They weren’t 😦

My vacation was awesome for a lot of reasons. My partner and I didn’t make it back home this past Christmas, so I loved seeing so many good friends and my family. Going home is also very hectic. Five days is not nearly enough time to squeeze in all the visits I want, and the conversations tend to be sort of superficial in large groups, but I really want to see everyone! I also miss my cats, even though I know they are being lovingly cared for by a very close human friend.

A strange thing happened during this vacation, though. I’m not sure whether it was reuniting with so many old friends for short periods, pressure to see everyone, a few too many drinks, lack of sleep, different beds each night, or some combination of all these factors, but I’ve had horrible nightmares! I’ve been home a few nights now, and they have not subsided yet, and wow! I am a person who regularly has vivid dreams, but not about such a wide variety of topics, multiple times a night, for so many nights in a row! I wonder if this is a fairly common experience for other people around the time of their vacations? At least I have an excuse to buy some delicious, calming loose leaf tea to help me sleep!

Welcome to my blog!

Here’s a picture of my cats, being in love, because I can’t think of a more appropriate first blog post.