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1/23/05 - Sunday

I've survived the first week with the kittens.  It's been so much fun and I have not gotten a lot done in other areas of my life, but they'll only be babies for a short time.  Lately I've had a wonderful time reconnecting with friends that I haven't seen in a while.  I actually went out to dinner with some girlfriends, met one of my former personal training students for lunch, had some girls over to play with the babies.  I even ran into a former PT client that I trained for many years and had become close to.  She happened to be swimming at the pool while I was working out with my team and we had not seen each other since Joel....so we had a good cry together and promised to get together soon.  I'm lucky to have lots of very cool women friends in my life that have hung in there waiting for me to emerge from my solitude and get back to being a friend.  

As for the babies...Personalities are showing now.  Grace is the ring leader...very energetic, athletic and will play forever.  She is a toy hog and if one of her brothers gets a toy from her, she lets out this whiny meow to complain.  It's very funny.  Prince Charming is definitely a lover boy.  He just wants to sit in my lap or lay on his back and look up at me and swat at my hair. Little spotty is more shy, but starting to warm up to me more each day.  He likes any toy with feathers.  Grace 'captured' my cell phone and dragged it off to her lair.  So funny.  Her face and head look just like the Asian Leopard cat she's descended from.  More pictures...

Prince Charming (PC) head first down the scratching post.     Grace kills my phone and drags it off.

Grace hogging the toy.                                              Spotty steals the toy from Grace. 

1/19/05 - Wednesday

The last two days have been all focused on kittens!  Still have not named the boys.  It will come to me. 

Waking up to kisses from Mom.                     Amazing Grace with her toy.  Look at that fur!

Little lover boy caught a 'bird'                          Little spotted boy grabbed it away!

1/16/05 - Sunday

They're here!  They are great!  I drove up to get the kittens today.  Their 'foster Mom' had a lot of trouble saying goodbye!  I could tell she was going to miss them!  So after lots of goodbye kisses, we loaded them into my carrier with their new soft furry bed and took off for home.  Grace and spotty boy (still no name) went right to sleep...no big deal.  Little boy (still no name) sat in the front of the carrier looking at me and howling for the first 30 minutes.  He wanted out!  Then Grace woke up and crawled over and curled up with him and he finally slept the rest of the trip.  They didn't make a sound the rest of the drive.  Arriving home, I took them straight into the guest bathroom.  I had it all set up for them like a kitty playground.  Grace was the first one out of the carrier and she started purring right away.  I think she knows she's home!  Then the other two crawled out and after a quick sniff, they started playing with toys and jumping around at full speed.  Taz and Fang were laying on the floor outside peeping through the space under the door.  Occasionally one arm would reach under and feel around trying to figure out what was in their house.  Very funny!  I'll keep the kittens isolated for a couple weeks until they've completely adjusted.  

They would play hard for an hour or so and then have a snack, a pee or poop and a bath and then crawl in their bed together for a nap.  Then I would leave them for a while.  This went on several times until I was certain they were doing great (about 2 am) and I finally left them and went to sleep.  

As promised.

Here they are just after the drive home.  That's Spotty in the front.  Look at that face!

..

Here's little boy breaking in his new scratching post.

Here's Amazing Grace with her favorite toy.  If you try to take it from her, she'll growl ferociously.

Finally tuckered out after hours of playing with new toys and new MOM!  That is Grace and spotty in the front and little boy in the back with his teddy bear.  

1/14/05 - Friday

Had a nice surprise in the form of an email from our friend Nicole (Remember Joel's very special chemo nurse).  She and I shared the most painful day back in September before Joel died.  She was the only witness to my one and only really bad breakdown.  I don't think either of us could have talked until now, but we decided we want to get together soon.   

I have a busy weekend...three flute jobs in a row on Saturday, one on Sunday morning and then the big moment!  I should have the kittens back here and settled in Sunday late afternoon.  I can already feel a new scrapbook idea coming on!  It will be great to have chaos in the house, it's been much too quiet around here since Joel died.  Lets see if I feel the same way after a few weeks!

1/11/05 - Tuesday

Grace had her procedure...she's fine.  Sunday will be the big day!

1/9/05 - Sunday

Visited with the kittens on Saturday.  I didn't take any still photos, just lots of video of them being cute.  I know, I'm turning into a crazy cat lady.  Many friends have warned me that they see the signs.  Everybody was doing great, even Grace.  If she continues to do fine, she'll be spayed on Tuesday and I'll pick them up Sunday.

1/7/05 - Friday

I've ordered a kitty tree called "the skyscraper".  I actually have to get rid of a chair in my living room to make room for it.  But I was going to do that any way.  Bengals love to climb, so they will have 7'4" of cat condo to race up and down with 6 different perches to stop for a nap along the way.  Now if Joel were here, he would have built it himself.  I'm now facing the dilemma of naming the boys.  I have a bunch of ideas, but I think I'm going to wait until they are here and I can get more of an idea of their personalities.  I think the little spotted boy is going to be another Taz, a trouble maker!  The little marbled boy seems very loving and sweet.  Hmm.  My friend Kim (she's expecting too, but only one, and it's a human baby!) and I are driving up to visit them tomorrow.    I'll put up new pictures tomorrow when I get back.

1/2/05 - Sunday

Kitten update:  The breeder called me to let me know that the little girl (Amazing Grace) had a slight reaction to the one of the vaccinations.  Boy did that scare me!  She was lethargic and lost her appetite for a couple days.  She didn't meet the weight requirements to have her spay procedure, so I have to postpone picking them up for a week.  She's already doing fine and back to normal, but I was worried.  It would be just my luck to let myself become attached already and then something happen.  But that is a risk you have to be willing to take to reap the rewards of love, right?  So, I'm picking them up on Sunday, Jan 16.

1/1/05 - New Year's Day

I started my second full year with out Joel over in Naples with the gang and we actually went to the beach.  It was the first hot, sunny day in a while so it was great to just plop down in the sand, sip a pina colada and relax.