CATS CATS CATS!

I'm gonna drop a knowledge bomb on you.

Are you ready?

I wasn't always a "cat person."

Whew! That feels good.

If you're thinking, "But, Becca, how can this be possible?! You're literally the craziest cat lady I've ever seen!" then you are certainly not alone! I, too, sometimes wonder how I went from

way over here

to

way over here

in terms of loving cats. So, let's dive into it a little bit. When I was growing up, we always had dogs. My neighbors had dogs, my grandparents had a dog, my aunts and uncles had dogs, my cousins had dogs... we were dog-lovin' people! I can't remember anyone having a cat when I was younger. If they did, the cat obviously didn't have that big of an effect on me.

Now, fast-forward to the age of the internet. What's all the rage? CAT VIDEOS. I liked watching these strange, alien creatures and laughing until I cried. I started to soften a tiny bit toward cats... and then I found out that I was allergic to them. I mean, like, really allergic. My eyes swelled shut, my nose would run off my face and into the next county over, and I broke out in itchy hives on my forearms. It was, to say the least, highly unpleasant.

I didn't really think much about animals while I was in college (even though some friends totally hid a cat in their school apartment for, like, almost a year), and it wasn't until after Thomas and I got married that I really began wanting a cat. I had just discovered the Instagram accounts of two sisters, Kate and Lauren, who both had the cutest cats who were always snuggly and friendly and adorable and precious... so I started begging Thomas.

Unfortunately, our school-owned apartment complex didn't allow pets. That was the excuse Thomas gave me constantly. "We can't! We'll get in trouble!" It made me cry and cry and cry! 

(Note- I wasn't being overdramatic, I swear. I just wanted a cat so badly that hearing that I couldn't have one literally made me cry.)

I really worked hard to convince him! Funny* story-

At one point, Thomas and I were driving home from Walmart in Mount Vernon. If you know the area, you'll know that you have to turn right out of the parking lot onto the main road to get back to campus. On that day, Thomas turned right out of the parking lot, and then turned another, immediate, right... into the pet store! I immediately began crying tears of joy because I just knew that he had finally given in and was letting me get a cat! Then, he pulled right back out onto the main road.

"What are you doing?!" I asked hysterically.

"That guy was tailgating me, so I pulled in here so he could pass me," he replied. "Why are you crying?" 

By then, I was too far gone and cried the rest of the way home.

*kind of funny now but not even remotely funny then

At that point, I think Thomas realized that I really, really did want a cat.

I began searching Craigslist for cats that were up for adoption, and absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with Leia as soon as I saw her. Luckily, Thomas felt exact the same way, and he allowed me to go pick her up! I've gone through about a dozen phones since then, so I don't have the original picture, but this is on the ride home from picking her up.

Obviously, I had no knowledge of cats whatsoever because I truly believed that she would stay in that basket! 

The woman who was fostering Leia told me that she and her brother (who had already been adopted) had been abandoned and had actually been put into a shoebox and thrown over the fence of an abandoned apartment complex. I try not to think about it too much because it's just too awful to imagine that what-ifs, but that's definitely part of the reason why she's so spoiled rotten!

Eventually, as you all probably know, we eventually decided to get a buddy for Leia... so we adopted little baby Tuna!

Tuna and Leia are quite different. Leia likes to be alone most of the time, but she's very demanding if she decides she wants your attention. She can be very affectionate when she wants to be. She likes to be in high places (on top of bookshelves, at the top of the cat tree) and is very, very proud.

Tuna, on the other hand, is what Thomas and I like to call "dumb." This is absolutely always used as a term of endearment for her, so please don't think we're horrible! Tuna is very silly. She loves to play all the time and with anything and everything. She loves to snuggle and purrs so loud that you can hear her in the next room.

It was rough waters between the two of them for awhile (in fact, we think Tuna is so dumb because she got bopped on the head one too many times). But, now they're snuggle buggies sometimes and love to roughhouse and play together. 

Alright, I think I've hit my limit. I think a person can only talk about their cats for so long before being institutionalized and I'm pretty sure that I'm close to that limit, so I'm going to sign off before that happens.

Have a fab Tuesday! :)