The Eagle Has Landed

...um, I mean the kitty.

Her first perch on the couch by the railing -- safely on the other side of Dog.

Her first glimpse of her woods. Must be birds at the feeder...she looks pretty poised!

 Safely under the coffee table.

Nearly asleep on the couch with me while I type...very short lived!

Isn't she cute??

Yep. We picked up the still-as-of-yet-unnamed kitty from the vet earlier this afternoon and all is well at the homestead. The tech at the vet said she was being pretty feisty this morning and asked if we wanted to borrow their carrier to bring her home. Nah, we can do feisty. I told them she's probably finally wide awake and pissed off about the whole thing.

I know I would be! :)

The drive home went by without incident. Feisty...pshaw! Perhaps she just decided it was time to go home.

But she didn't know which home...or who would be there to greet her.

There was the expected hissing incident (the kitty, not Trooper) when the little rascals got together on the same level which may go on for a while, but I suspect by tonight we'll all be sacked out in the living room co-existing in the same space.

We planned it as such so that now T's out running errands and took Trooper with him so the little miss and I have the house to ourselves so she can get acclimated in peace. She hasn't quite landed yet, but she is a youngster with a whole lot of space to explore after all.

Speaking of exploring...oop, there I go with the spray bottle...she hopped up on the kitchen table. We're going to nip this one in the bud. (Famous last words.)

She looks pretty miserable now...

...don't she? Quite the flippy tail!

Then the big question is, how are the rest of us doing?

Believe it or not, I had a very sad morning. I was scared and sad and felt like a little kid. Terrified. There were even tears.

What if I've made a huge mistake? What if our little band of three, we little merry mischief makers, can't handle the new addition?

Strange to mourn the loss of something that seems so random. Really? I'm sad because it's not going to be just the three of us anymore?

Imagine what a sobbing mess I'd have been if we had actually had children??

I suppose it's normal. A new addition to the family is a big change -- whether it is feline, canine or human. Especially being the mushy-hearted life-lover such that I am.

It occurs to me now how hard it was when my brother and sis-in-law were pregnant with kiddo #2 and she was about to be born -- I was so painfully in love with kiddo #1 I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like with two. I was baffled...how could there possibly be any more love in my heart for another child? Not to mention the transition to kiddo #3...but I suppose by then I knew -- and trusted -- that there was more than enough love to go around.

And yet somehow I forgot it now.

Ah, sacked out at last!

Perhaps that's why the twenty year delay in ever getting another kitty, as I mentioned. Perhaps that was the fear and the sadness this morning...not as much the loss of what was, but the cracking open of my heart to make room for the possibility of what will be. Because that's exactly how it feels. Cracked wide open for all the world to see (helps that I'm writing about it on a blog, then, right??!? Of course everyone can see it!).

She's already crawled her way into my heart...

It brings tears to my eyes now, how lucky I've been, how lucky I am now to open up and do all of this again. But there's no doubt -- this living is an astonishingly messy and wondrously joyful thing.

Can't have one without the other.

And now that she's asleep and I'm hanging out typing up a storm, it occurs to me that I've gotten a head start on the other two folks in this equation, who are still out erranding. But somehow I think they'll have a little easier go of it than I seem to.

Because...they're not me. Well...you know.

*****

They're home now and it's pretty non-eventful, which feels pretty good. Troop likes to follow around to any place the kitty has been and sniff it out.

Here kitty, kitty!

A little too close for comfort...

Sleeping within a couple feet of each other...not too shabby after only the first couple of hours.

Which leaves time for today's installment of...

The 12 Brews of Christmas!

The second brew of Christmas that my true love gave to me...

Bell's Expedition Stout! Not entirely a winter ale, but only available during winter. Hmm...sounds like a winter ale to me!

T says, where's the knife and fork??!?

I know it's a stout but holy moly is this thick and rich and delicious! Look at the color on it...

It even cascades like Guinness -- one of my favorites! A meal unto itself. Deep chocolate and coffee, with a bitter finish. A bitter finish isn't my favorite but when the body is stout enough (pun intended) it seems a bit more balanced and can handle it. It's thickera!

No fire tonight, but candles all the same.

We're drinking out of my favorite Six-Toed Cat pint glass from Key West, Florida in honor of the bitty kitty...not because she's polydactyl, but because she's...um...well...a cat.

Hemingway's cat, Snowball, had six toes and was a gift from a ship's captain in 1935. The glass comes from the cafe down the block from The Hemingway Home named for the plethora of polydactyls on the island, descended from Snowball. Just so's you knows.

You know. In case you're interested.

Trooper? Not so much...

Anybody want a cat?//

What's For Dinner Tonight?
In honor of our new arrival (thanks, Katelyn!), we thought we'd have our own Thanksgiving meal...

a stuffed Chicken Breast from Von Hanson's, salad...

and some Cranberry Wild Rice bread from the bakery. Soooooo good!

Little Miss Annabella (maybe?) was a good girl and sat on the chairs under the table, didn't bother us a bit. Whew!

Think she'll keep us??!? :)

Snuggle up, one and all. And have a beautiful night!