happy adoption day!

One year ago today, Geraldine came to stay with us. This was the first thing she did after recovering from the car ride by peeing under the bed:

It's still one of my favorite kitty photographs, and one of Geraldine's favorite lookout spots.

Over the passed year Gerry has gone from being a cranky and standoffish cat to being a cranky and invasive-of-personal-space cat. She's still only grudgingly a lap cat -- and even then only for very short periods of time -- but nevertheless manages to be very present in our lives whether it's underfoot while we're making human food in the kitchen (you never know when kitty food might fall from the sky!) or hogging half the couch (it might be a three-cushion couch, but is clearly only made for one human + cat) or announcing her desire for breakfast at two in the morning by climbing onto my chest and delicately pressing her claws into the hollow between my breasts.



sleepy kitty (photo by Hanna)

 There are times -- usually during said 2am "feed me! play with me!" sessions -- that I feel having a three-year-old cat is much closer to having a human three-year-old than Hanna ever thought we'd be. Albeit a three-year-old that doesn't need us to be able to afford childcare or a stay-at-home parent! But (much like, I imagine, like parenting ... though obviously to a lesser degree) she's become an integral part of the family. We're ever so glad she came to stay.