lavagrrrl

Tauntaun

Mara Jade

I’d like to introduce you to our new babies: Tauntaun and Mara Jade. Yes, Star Wars names, would you expect anything else?

Jon and I were on a mission to find kittens (finally) and we stopped at a pet shop near our house. There were some cute kittens there, but I was getting a bad vibe, and the only two ready to go looked just like Maizie and Blue. How weird would it be to have cats that are identical to your friend’s cats? Maybe that is just us being strange.

So, we leave, and I asked Jon to find out where M got his kittens. He called, and found out the location of the Humane Society. He also found out that Blue died the previous week. Blue had not been the healthiest kitten, and we knew that something like this could happen. Doesn’t mean I didn’t bawl upon hearing the news. Poor sweet Blue is gone and now Maizie seems a bit lost.

Well, Jon had to go to work, so I continued the search. I was still pretty upset and I couldn’t remember where one of the roads that the HS was located on. I should know it, I used to work half a block from it, and live one block from it. Needless to say I was a little upset. Finally, I located the HS and went into the cat room. I started bawling almost immediately. Seeing all those cats (especially the adults) that may never find a home and end up put down, ripped out my heart a little. I walked around and around, talking to all the kitties. They had signs asking people not to stick their fingers in the cage, so I didn’t pet them (oh, but I wanted to). I kept going back to a couple of kittens who were all alone in their cages. One was a tiny grey/white fur ball. His name was Kenny. The other was a tabby/white girl named Mary with what appeared to be freckles on her little nose. She was a little bigger than Kenny.

I grabbed their paperwork and went up to the front desk. They gave me the form to fill out, and sent me an Adoption Counselor. He talked to me about the cats I wanted to see and went over the form a little. Then he told me I could take the kittens to the visitation room, but only one at a time. I was thrilled. First we grabbed Kenny. He was so happy to be out of his cage! He ran around in circles and kept coming back to my chair to hide from the AC. Then I had some time with Mary. She was just so lovable. She snuggled up to my shoulder and was purring and purring. I was sold.

Both were special cases. Kenny is too small to get his surgery, and he had worms, but they let me take him home with some medicine that day. Mary was supposed to have her surgery on Monday (I was at the HS on Friday), so I had to leave her behind. Her freckles are the result of fur loss on her little nose.

I brought Kenny home and set him up in the spare bedroom. I introduced him to his new home, litter, toys and food. He’s so damn cute. He does not like to be alone, and he cries when left in his room. We bring him out to the living/dining/kitchen area to play and roam under supervision.

Mary was sent home without her surgery because she caught a cold (probably one of those people sticking their fingers in her cage). I picked her up Monday, but I have to keep her from Tauntaun until she’s done with her meds. T has been sneezing since Saturday, so I am trying to get him in to the vet tomorrow. If they are both sick, then maybe they can at least be in the same room. Currently, Mara is in the basement since they have to be separate. Mara comes upstairs after all of Tauntaun’s toys are moved and hers are brought in (and hands are washed). That is annoying, as is giving two kittens medicine each morning when neither is fond of the process at all!

Anyway, that is my big news, had to share!!

I know the month isn’t quite half over, but I’m exhausted. We just got back from Orlando, Florida where we marched in the MGM/Disney Star Wars Weekends parade. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that marching at one of the Disney parks to the sound of Star Wars music BLARING wasn’t one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. We marched Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All three days were beyond hot, so luckily the powers that be in Disney made it a short parade with a nice slow pace.

The perks for getting to do something so cool (like we need perks to be geeks in public) are two park-hopper passes for each day you march. That gave Jon and I a total of 4 passes each day (doing a little math for you). We spent the first day at Epcot, the second at MGM, the third at Animal Kingdom (with a stop back at MGM for a photo with Jedi Mickey) and the last at the Magic Kingdom.

My dad used to live by Disneyland when I was between the ages of 10 or 11 and 12. I spent many a summer day at that park in those years. I also visited while in high school. That park is pretty familiar to me. I should note that I was at Disney World only once during a brief trip in 1987. We didn’t see much of the park that day, but what I did see didn’t leave a good impression. While I had a much better time at Disney World this time around, I still hold that Disneyland is a much better park. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to go back to Disneyland next summer to compare the two as a grown up.

Of the parks, I think MGM and Animal Kingdom are my favorites. AK had tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos and rhinoceroses. MGM had the 3D Muppets show, a back lot tour with Star Wars and Aliens props at the end, and of course they were blaring that Star Wars music. We took many photos, and I hope to have them online in the next week or so.

My back and neck made enjoying our time in Florida pretty difficult. The parks require a lot of walking and there is only so much I can do before the pain starts shooting down my legs (plural, since it’s on both sides now). Add to that the fact that we were barely back from Columbus before leaving for Orlando and I’m in a ton of pain. I am so happy that we went on both trips, but I sure am happy to be home.