Why does May feel so busy? It’s not even THAT busy, and yet I am SO BUSY. Why? What am I even doing?
For one thing, I am FREAKING OUT ABOUT THE KITTEN. We are getting a kitten, have I mentioned this? It is my understanding from such reliable sources as Twitter that cats just randomly show up in people’s lives and the people simply adjust to now having a living creature they need to take care of. On the other hand, there’s me, who has dreamt of owning a cat for decades now, and who has been planning this specific cat since February, and I do not feel ready! Our house is too big for a kitten with far too many places for said kitten to get lost! How does one ensure a kitten gets enough but not too much food? What if I am allergic to the kitten and spend the next twenty years feeling like crap? THERE ARE TOO MANY LITTER OPTIONS.
I hope anyone reading this understands that the kitten is A Done Deal. Next week at this time, we will have a kitten. In our house. That is ours. I am a little hyperventilatey, can you tell?
As you know, I tend to channel my anxiety into buying random shit. Or at the very least, ogling random shit, adding it to my online shopping cart, and then never buying it. Sometimes adding a thing to my shopping cart scratches the same itch as hitting the “buy now” button, without the attendant “OMG why did I just spend good money on that” feelings. I am trying very, very hard not to buy this faux-velvet chaise longue for the kitten. (I did not manage to avoid buying this mid-century modern pet bed for a friend slash dog owner who just moved into a new house. But I am only human.)
Speaking of spending ridiculous money, my husband got me a cat book (bookshop.org / amazon) for my birthday… and then I accidentally “returned” it to the library, along with a stack of other books. So we just repurchased it.
It is Memorial Day weekend here in the US, which means three consecutive days at home with my family. Although I am ditching them today to go spend time with friends, and I am PUMPED. The weather has been so soggy around here lately that I am raring to get outside.
My mom and I got pedicures as our Mother’s Day activity, so my feet are ready for sandal weather. But sandal weather is so far eluding us. I have been wearing CLOSE TOED SHOES and JACKETS. I am not opposed to either, but it feels wrong. It’s the latter third of May for Pete’s sake! I suppose this gives me a teeny bit of extra time to get new sandals. My old, well-worn and well-loved sandals are a bit frayed, so I’m eyeing these wedges as replacements. Or maybe these ones. (The old sandals no longer come in the colors I like, otherwise I would absolutely buy them again.)
One thing that I have yet to do is ANY GARDENING. I am so behind. My pots from last year are all outside, looking empty and sad. Well. The tomato pots have fresh cilantro growing in them, which is a fun surprise. I guess the seeds I planted at the end of the season last year waited until now to make an appearance. I’ve already harvested a bowlful to make it into sauce. Yum. I bought some new planters last fall to take the place of the old, falling-apart planters we inherited from the previous owners, and I really want to fill them with pretty flowers. Maybe this weekend????
Adding to the sense of frantic busy-ness is the bunch of unusual activities we’ve had this month, like recitals and concerts and tournaments and class trips and special lunches. They seem to ramp up exponentially as the month progresses, as though no one realized it was May already and we need to schedule the things before the year ends. For instance, I am supposed to bring food for a sixth grade party next week and I have no idea how much food to bring. I know how many kids are in Carla’s grade, but surely I can’t be expected to provide something that feeds ALL of them, right? If I bring something for about 50% of them, that should be fine, right? (The teacher in charge is not responding to requests for more information.)
I have no good way to end this post, so I will leave you with a photo of my irises, which, despite the lack of sunshine, are finally blooming!
OMG you’ll be bringing the new baby home very soon!!!! Yeah, yeah, I know you’ve got all the details and adult stuff to take care of, but we get cute kitten pictures out of the deal.
Back in February when I went to FL, I was so smug about how great the weather was there and how crappy it was back home, and then I went home and the weather got even worse. Well the exact same thing has happened now that I’m back from CA. I had 10 days with not a drop of rain, endless sunshine, and perfect weather, I’m gleefully laughing every time I hear that it’s raining back home, and then I come home and get RAIN FOR DAYS……grumph.
Oh, kitten is coming!!! Just keep the little sweetheart in one room for a few days, as the precious baby gets used to you and the home, and you can observe how skilled/klutzy it can be. Just buy any decently rated litter- the cats care a lot less than people do ( or ask the breeder what they use). Keep any doors to danger ( basement/outside/art gallery) closed. It will be so fun!!!
Bring something your daughter likes for about 50% of the kids- there is always too much food at these things.
and you’re getting the kitten!!!!
Oooh I love your irises! Rob has been working on our iris garden since last fall, it was overgrown for the past…25 years or so? It was a big job. Anyway, it’s a thrill every morning to see the blooms.
Those sandals are super cute. I usually get Skechers because they are so comfy, but those look adorable and I bet they are also very comfy!
OMG I totally forgot about end of year parties, bringing class treats, etc. What a schmozzle. It’s such a busy time of year!
KITTEN IS COMING! Yay! I have no clue about Cat Culture so I don’t know anything about kittens in the house, etc., but I’m just excited for you. Oh wait, I do know something, when the boys catsit for our neighbour it was shy/ scared of them at first and hid under the bed. I guess you could close the doors of most of the rooms in the house until it gets used to things? I don’t know. I mean, I would probably buy the chaise-longue. Because what could be better?
We got our kittens a year ago today I learned from Facebook memories. We bought so many toys/furniture for them, much more than any other cats we’d had. They don’t really need a lot of toys because in a kitten’s eyes, everything is a toy, but they did like the stuff we bought, too, so it didn’t seem like a waste. The cat tree was probably the best ROI. Willow sleeps on the top level every day. She likes being up high.
We have volunteer cilantro, too. It popped up in a pot where we grew it last year, from that plant going to seed. I love it when that happens.
I am so excited about the kitten. Or rather, I am excited about the cat. Don’t be alarmed if you get the kitten and think “Oh no this is so much more work/interaction than I’d expected, I hate this, we are doomed!!” Kittens are more work than cats the way babies are more work than adults, and everything will be fine. Take SO MANY PICTURES, because nothing is cuter once you have your easy, companionable, familiar adult cat, than seeing them as a frantic ridiculous wide-eyed big-eared playful crazy kitten. It is one of the things that I don’t like about adopting adult cats: we don’t get kitten pictures. Another thing that’s nice about kittens is you know exactly how old they are, and sometimes you know their exact accurate birthday.
I like Scoop Away litter. A tall cat tree has been one of our best purchases A tall scratching post (many of them are too short for an adult to really get their back into it) is expensive (we paid about $50 on sale) but also has felt worth it (less scratching of the furniture). A cat-toy assortment is a good idea, because cats are so different about what they like: one cat will go CRAZY for catnip-stuffed toys; another will like jingle-balls and nothing else; another will like wand toys.
May is SUCH A THING Suzanne. My brain is swirling. Also, the weather has been mostly deplorable. I wore a winter coat this morning when I went to do errands. A winter coat. Can you even?
My husband would die on the spot if I said yes to a kitten. He loves cats and would have one in an instant but I am allergic and refuse to investigate hypoallergenic options because I know I would end up being the main Cat Carer and I simply don’t feel like I have bandwidth to love and care for anything else. But…also…wouldn’t it be lovely to have a living creature in my house that can’t talk back to me and wants to snuggle now that my kids are almost as tall as I am and no longer keen to snuggle under a blanket and spend hours on the couch reading together???
Love the flowers. Proof that spring is here and summer IS coming.
I have irises too! Cats need a small space at first and then gradually expanding. They will adjust and so will you! They’re hardy creatures and are quite independent. In other words, you can’t really mess things up! May is indeed a busy month, even for retired me. Our weather has morphed into summer so I’ll be dragging out my shorts and tees.
Those dog and cat settees!!! I cannot even. We had two cats when we were first married and they had to make do with sitting on our actual couches and baskets of clean laundry.
I think the 50% estimate is good but I’m frustrated on your behalf that the teacher has not been responsive to your messages!
Your irises are absolutely gorgeous! I don’t know much about flowers (clearly) but is it unusual for them to have the variegated colors in their greens? I love that!
I’m so happy you chose to share your irises; especially since mine have come and gone already. I really wish spring flowers would last just a pinch longer.
I’m so excited to see the flood of kitten pictures in your timeline! I imagine you and the kitten will have a system in place in no time. I can’t remember, have we picked out a name for this kitten yet? Or are we waiting to get to know it’s personality?
Your irises are gorgeous! And the kitten is coming soon! How exciting! It was a smooth adjustment when we got a cat for the most part although that was 10 years ago! And now she does not live with us anymore. But I look forward to having a cat again someday.
We have avoided the worst of the May madness since our kids are so young. There have been a few school events but it’s been manageable. I missed track and field day this week when I was traveling but Paul did not seem to care luckily.
I hope you have the best time with your friends! Getting friend time during a long weekend is amazing. I spent 5 hours on an outing with the boys to the zoo today. They were well behaved but have been total turds this evening so I happily opted out of their creek walk with dad.
We traveled twice and had company between April 27 and May 19, but the month is long with five weekends so the rest feels positively leisurely now.
Ah yes, my fellow overthinker. Baby animals are almost as exhausting as baby humans, but it gets easier much faster, in my experience. I did once put the cat in the powder room while we were moving and then she was gone in a total locked-room mystery – actually she had stuffed herself into the medicine cabinet, lol.
I just ordered my trusty Doc sandals in muted purple – I walked many steps in them in Atlanta and my knee was okay, although now it is not again. Sigh.
KITTEN KITTEN KITTEN! So exciting. Claws and teeth…ugh. Cuteness overload, cuddles, sweet fun, YAY. You are going to LOVE it and yeah, it’s a lot of work. Worth it work.
Your kitten is such happy, happy news! I can’t wait for photos! (As a dog mom, I have no advice, sadly. And I hope your anxiety is the kind that will resolve naturally when kitty is home.)
I can’t wait to meet your new family member! I’ve become totally cat crazy since my oldest daughter became a cat mom. Now it’s all I see on social media — and I love them. 💛
I’d be a little nervous about allergies too, since I’ve never had a cat myself, but I just know you’re going to be an excellent cat mom. Just remember: before you had a child, you knew nothing about raising her. And now look at you! 😘💜
I feel left out of the Mayhem angst this year. Maybe our normal level of bullshit is so high I don’t notice? Ben and Coop have been in NC for 5 days for a dive meet, and it’s been a blip on my personal radar, so this might be the case.
A kitten! Oh that is going to be so much fun (and so much work! LOL). I am going to live vicariously through you… I’d love a kitten/cat, but we can’t have pets where we rent. Sigh. Maybe it’s for the better.
Things have been super-busy here too… I cannot believe it’s May! I am so not caught up on things (life and blogs!).
The only thing I got from this was “KITTEN blah blah blah blah KITTEN blah blah KITTEN…” ha, just kidding (or AM I?) i’m so excited for you!!! Everything will be just fine. If there’s anything you’re not sure of, you’ll figure it out when the time comes. I can’t wait for ALL THE PHOTOS you’re going to share : )
i know- May is busy. Around here things are really winding down. School is done next week (and it’s really just finals, so it’s only half days.) Then, the summer- our summer is low key, interspersed with a little trip here and there. Wait, why am I talking about summer? ANYWAY, I hope you get a chance to relax this weekend. And… KITTEN!!!
OMG IT’S ALMOST KITTEN TIME!!! If you need someone to text with all of the questions, please let me know. I had someone on standby when I was a first-time cat mom and it was really helpful. I think keeping the kitten in one room for a few days is a good idea – let them get used to your family and then let them venture out slowly to explore the rest of the house!
I use World’s Best litter, btw! I have tried other types but always come back to that one. But honestly the cats haven’t cared at ALL when I change litters so whatever you want to use should work!
Omg yes please! I would love to have your cat expertise if you are willing to share!
Kitten! Yay! It will be FINE. We use Arm & Hammer Clump & Seal litter (side-eye for their marketing ppl coming up w/that title), and it works well. I am fascinated by the Pretty Litter ads I get all the time, though. It took our cat about 5 years (yes, years! she had been returned to the shelter twice, sadly) before she trusted us fully. But now she is the loviest and purring-est and snuggliest. Especially when she’s hungry. 😉 I’m excited for you!
A Kitten!!! 😀 Kittens are the best <3
I’ve had cats my whole life, until getting married a few years ago, at which point I discovered I’m allergic to cats and have been my whole life, lol … I just make sure I pop an allergy pill before we visit Mum’s – especially since she has a brand new kitten as well.
YAY FOR KITTENS!!!!!
I always admire people with pets in their home. They are so so cute – don’t get me wrong – but also a lot of work. I am happy for you to have a lifelong ling dream come true. Tell us her name.
YAY, kitten, but even more, YAY time with friends. 😉 Can’t wait to catch up on the blog and see The Cat here. <3