Meet Ramona.

In the middle of the insanity that was the week-long celebration of AMURICA, we got a cat. And here she is! We are not insane, I promise. Let me explain:

See, RJ is a self-proclaimed lover of all animals. I am a dyed-in-the-wool dog person. Growing up, my dream was to get a Jeep, fill it with dogs, and drive around the country, all while working my finding-the-most suitable-breed-of-dog-for-people-interested business with my friend C. (C, if you can think of a better way to put that, message me.) Even now, sometimes I daydream about living in a big ole farmhouse and filling it up with dogs of all shapes and sizes. (But now, my dream also includes hiring a cleaning service to remove all of the hair and dirt that is the by-product of these beloved animals. Hey, a girl can dream, right?)

just look at that grin

Meanwhile, RJ had floated the idea of getting a cat for a while. But it was more like, "we should get a cat someday." And I would congenially agree. It's easy to agree with things when they are incredibly, incredibly vague.

And then we went to my cousin's house for a baby shower and I saw RJ in cat-mode. My cousin A has two cats: one that we didn't see at all, and one that RJ fell deeply in love with. I'd never seen him in cat-mode: he was talking in baby voices, getting all cuddly, following the cat around. I soon realized I was withholding this wonderful experience of me getting to see him like that from myself. I had to do something about that. 

Now, this was mid-June. After that, we were perusing Craigslist a bit more seriously, but not really. Then I stumbled upon a lovely little video someone had posted of a tiger cat that a nice couple had put up and I sent it RJ and...long story short, we got her. But! This was the day before our grangewarming, and that would be cruel to bring a kitty into the house and then throw a huge party. So we got her the Monday after the weekend -- the same week that coincided with a million people being at our house anyhow. Luckily, she is a Cat Who Likes People, which is super super important to me. Because who do she think feeds her, huh?

Since then, I have certainly had to re-arrange how I feel about cats. For a while, I had convinced myself that I was allergic. Because...I was a dog person, through and through. And there was that one weird time freshman year that I lived alone in a small dorm room with two flea-ridden kittens. That might have had something to do with it. (Also the whole litterbox thing: little 'Mona is an outdoor kitty, and so far this has worked out great.)

She's a loud little animal, she doesn't particularly love Maxwell (more on that later) follows people around the house, and she insists on sleeping on your chest whenever possible. And I think I might like cats after all.