The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude. ~Robert Brault

We’ve been home almost a week. The RV has been unloaded. I’ve done laundry and I’m trying to get back into a routine. There are so many things around here that need to be done. I still have a bathroom to paint. All in due time.

Charlie is glad to get back to his computer and he really never seems to have to adjust like I do! I wish I could be more like that. I can find so many things to do during the day and my day just flies by. I don’t know how I managed to do everything I did when I was working full time!

On Monday, we went down to the base pass and I.D. office to get a new I.D. for me. We didn’t have an appointment and it really didn’t take long. Charlie then went to get a haircut. It had been a month since his last one, and he was looking a little “shaggy”. I don’t think he’s ever had “long” hair and that’s fine with me.

The cats are getting used to us being home. Jezibel has continued to sleep on our bed each night. I’m a little amazed to see that she is actually asking ME for attention. She is almost 12 years old. We’ve had her since she was 6 months old. She has always been Charlie’s cat. They bonded right away.

Charlie and Jezibel

Jezibel was pregnant when she came to us. She would lay on Charlie’s desk while he was on the computer. As her little tummy started growing, she loved it when he rubbed her little basketball- shaped belly. Over the years, she has never given me the time of day. If Charlie was around, I didn’t even get a look as she walked by.

Of course, I had Taz then and he and Jezibel were always rivals to see who was going to be the boss. It was a draw. I think Jezibel knew that I was “Taz’s property”. It’s a good feeling to belong to a cat.

Taz

I was a little surprised when our neighbor, Bridgit, who was caring for the cats while we were gone, told me that Jezibel looked forward to seeing Sara, Bridgit’s daughter. She said that when they came over to care for the cats, Jezibel would run upstairs to look for Sara.

I received an email from a friend, Pat, who asked if I could babysit her new cat, “Princess”. She is the friend who owned the little black cat, “Reda”, who we had kept a few months ago. “Reda”, unfortunately, passed away from complications due to diabetes.

Pat has had “Princess” for about a month now. She says she is very sweet and friendly. The picture of her shows a pretty, blue-eyed, cat. Of course, I told Pat we would keep her. She will bring “Princess” on Monday. We will keep her on the “cat patio”.

Next week I’m also going to be “babysitting” for my friend, Kim. I will go to her house each day. She has 5 cats and I’ve taken care of them many times. Her oldest cat, “Pinto”, is one of Jezibel’s kittens. He was her first cat and the rest is history. We all start with one cat.

Kim also came by our house and checked on our cats while we were gone. She knows our cats so well. A few years ago Charlie and I went on a two week cruise to Hawaii. We has asked a friend to care for the cats. She had never done it before and we hoped she could handle it. Kim had not been able to come by and check on the cats every day. We assumed everything was going well.

We were getting ready to cruise back and it would take 4 days. Before we left the islands that afternoon, (we were about 3 hours earlier) I called Kim to see if she’d been by the house lately. She said she was planning on stopping after work that afternoon. Imagine my surprise when we called our “petsitter” and found that some of the cats had escaped the house! They had gotten out the day before and they thought all were back in. Mr. Creme had been allowed in the house and heaven only knew what damage he’d done while in (he sprays at the drop of a hat).

When Kim got there, she did a head count and discovered that Grady was missing. They all went out to look for him, but couldn’t find him. We called back and forth and then Charlie told them to look up on the hill, near the yucca tree, to see if Grady was there. That’s where he liked to hang out. Of course, with strangers looking for him in the yard, he stayed hidden.

Sure enough, they found Grady and brought him in. If Kim had not stopped by here to see who was missing, Grady may have stayed out another night. We were relieved when we heard they were all back in the house. We still can’t figure out how they got out. We were told that one of the cats pushed the screen out, but I know that to take the screens out, you have two spring latches that need to be pulled first.

It makes a difference having someone who actually knows your cats so that if one is missing, they know which one it is. Over this past month while we were gone, Bridgit got to know each one of the cats well. Kim and Bridgit told me that Toby was a favorite. He was more like a dog than a cat. When you petted him, he would take his paw and pull your hand to him. He never could get enough petting. What a love. We really miss him.

Charlie and Toby

More later..........