so, pictures of max and smudge have been posted here. i was getting kind of desperate for something to post about, but i'll admit it was fun finding the kitten pictures of 2 such big cats. as i've already said, smudge was 3-4 months, maxie 5.5 weeks. i adopted lily at 6 months and ava at 7 months.

this is my favorite picture of lily.. it was taken last summer. she's a hard one to take pictures of, because everytime the camera comes out, she always gets right up close to the lens.

this is ava pearl. it was taken on the 14th of this month. she likes having her picture taken.. most of the time. she woke up just enough for this :)

lily was adopted first, about a month after i finished graduate school (march of 1998). and then i decided i wanted a kitten, so i called the woman who was to be my roommate here-- i'd gone to the university of georgia and had moved home to blacksburg, va-- to ask her if she'd mind if i brought a second cat. she said no, and max was found in a free kitten ad. 3 weeks after max came to live with lily and i the three of us made the trek to oregon (august 1998).

ava.. ava joined us next, but not for awhile. it took me awhille to settle in here. find an apartment. i swore i only wanted the 2, as the three of us got along so wonderfully, but i was craving another cat, so in may of 2000 i headed to greenhill humane society and found ava pearl. she answers to p and has a bobby little tail. she's quite beautiful, my friend lisa is simply taken with her. as am i.

smudge, the last, came by accident in august of 2001. essientally the little kitten caught the right person at the wrong time. i was taking a break at work, heard a mew and ignored it, as there are lots of cats in that neighborhood. it mewed again and by then the mewing creature was walking across the street too me. suckerdly i picked it up, he showed no fear when i turned him on his back to check his gender, in fact he almost seemed to enjoy it. i took him inside for my coworkers to meet my new family member and our administrative secretary named him aptly. yes. i've gotten many compliments on his name.

some days i wonder how i can live with them. i'm overwhelmed easily and they need lots of love, which i can't always provide because of my illness. but they seem to handle it. they do have each other, but i wish i could devote more of me to them because they simply deserve it.

out of the 4 ava is most shy and smudge and lily, well.. its a toss up as to who is the most social. but they do all intereact well with people and absolutely adore visitors to our humble abode.

all 4 of them are sitting around me right now and writing this with them here makes me feel simply more blessed. i have thought that i might have to part with one or more of them because of money because i am no longer able to work because of my illness... well.. i don't know if that wouldn't make it worse.

we talk about our pets like they are humans, not animals. they are animals, but very special ones. my boys especially are very keen to my depression and its almost like they change guard when things are rock bottom. they can nearly sense i'm not just tired. i don't know how they do it, and i won't question. and the girls are able to pick up that i'm overwhelmed so they generally keep to themselves, waiting for me. i guess they are better than humans? because i don't have to talk to them and explain, i just am. and they just do.

so, i guess i did feature all 4. yep, you've met my immediate family in oregon.

posted by brooke at July 28, 2002 03:34:25 AM