Jane Austen & Emily Dickinson (reincarnated). meow.

Well, it's official.  My transition to cat lady life has been completed.

Let's start from the beginning.  Ever since I was a teeny tiny little girl I have always loved cats.  I don't know why cats have such a bad reputation- they're so sweet and loving.  They can feel energy and instantly react to it.  I got my first cats when I was in kindergarten.  I wanted a kitten so badly it was all I asked for for Christmas.  When I walked upstairs on Christmas morning, and I will never forget this, two little black and white kitties popped out of a basket with ribbons around their necks.  I named them Sweetie and Sassy.

Sweetie and Sassy lived until last year (I am 22 now, you do the math).  They were murdered by coyotes in our backyard.  But that's a different story.

I decided I wanted a kitten last spring.  I knew I would be living in a house and wanted a companion.  I asked my roommates if a kitten would be alright.  They gave me the thumbs up and the search began.  I looked everywhere until I found a precious little orange tabby in the same town as my lake house.  This particular litter of kittens was born to a 7 month-old kitty, a mere baby herself, and were found stranded on the side of the road in a box in the pouring down rain in rural Arkansas.  Break my heart, will ya?

When I went to visit (they were living with foster parents) and get a feel for the kitty-cat, I fell in love with another one.  That's right, I went from one kitten to two in a matter of minutes.  Number two was not listed on the website and was a precious tortoise shell beauty.  Plus, they say a kitty needs a buddy for when you aren't around.

So I adopted Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson.  Known on the streets as Janie and Emmie.  Like her namesake, Emmie is quite antisocial and would rather be left alone.  She is smart but doesn't let you know it until she sneaks around behind your back.  Janie is a talker and is missing several teeth, some of her big teeth just never came in.  She loves to cuddle and purrs quite loudly.  She would rather be around a person than alone with Emmie.

Here are my precious girls:

Emmie the day I got her!

Emmie and her mommy :)

Janie on her first day!

Mommy and Janie

We love to cuddle!

They were so little!  Emmie loves to give Janie kisses.

My Janie.

My Emmie.

How precious!

Emmie hiding...

Emmie hiding again... She does this often.

Hello.

Dead asleep.

This is Janie's favorite sleep position.

Hi!

Emmie's FAVORITE *sarcasm* outfit.

Janie is a ballerina!

This is how they wait on me to come back from class!  It makes my heart smile!

Janie is my person bodyguard.

Who says cats don't like water?

"What?  I'm not doing anything..."

This is what I wake up to every morning.  Janie likes to get under the covers and cuddle.

So you have met Janie and Emmie, formally.  I can't tell you how many hours of every day I spend with them.  But here's the deal, I'm an equal opportunity animal lover.  I plan to get a puppy one day when the time is right.  All animal lovers know this to be true: when nothing is going right, your pet still loves you unconditionally.  When I am having a horribly awful no good day (remember that book?) and I have been torn to pieces by teachers or grades or mean people or whatever, I can come home and Janie and Emmie will love me like crazy.  And let me know it.  Their compassion is unbelievable.  They can feel it when I'm sad or mad or happy.  Sometimes, when I'm upset they cuddle up next to me when I cry.  They let me hold them when they know I need a hug.  They are just the best.

So here's where I go off the deep end in cat world.  Let me just say, though, that there are PLENTY of people who are absolutely nutso when it comes to their dogs.  For example, I have a neighbor who walks her dog in a baby stroller.  WHAT?!?!

The other day I spent $300 on a new litter box.  Sad, but true.  Here's the thing: it flushes itself.  No more litter and no more stinky.  I love Janie and Emmie, just not their stinky poo.  Now I can love all of them! Plus, whenever I'm home my parents discuss (bitch) the smell.  So far, the CatGenie seems to be working well, no problems.  Besides the fact that Emmie hissed at the yesterday and today.  I think it makes her nervous.  At least I don't have cat DVDs for them to watch while I'm in class- I'm totally serious, the people I got them from had them.

So there you have it.  The amount of money I spend on my precious babies is a little out of control sometimes, but I can't help it.  I just love them!

Just imagine how bad I'll be when I have children...