So Very Happy

When I pull up the driveway, she's sitting in the window waiting for me.  As I get out to open the garage door, she calls out, but I can't hear her through the glass.  And yet just seeing her makes me smile, and everything of the day just...melts away.

After I park the car and go up on the back porch, I can hear her going to the door.  "Hi honey," I greet her, as I unlock the door.

 Usually I'll have to gently move her aside so I can get in; the last thing I want is for her to bolt through the closing door, which she did one night, nearly giving me a heart attack.

I close and lock the back door, set my purse/bag on the bench, hang up the keys, then scoop her up, snuggling into her long fur, listening to her purr.  I'm home, and everything's all right again.

This is Arwen, a four-legged stress reliever, a furry lap warmer, a snuggle buddy, and the love of my life.

She was a stray at my uncle's last winter; I took her in before New Year's, giving her a forever home just before a nasty cold snap.  They had built an insulated shelter for her, but weren't going to take her in.  Mom suggested I "just go look at the cat," and so I drove over one afternoon.  I walked up on the porch, and this little furball came out of her shelter, purring up a storm.  I picked her up, and she snuggled against my chin, then climbed on my shoulder.  That was it - she had claimed me.

When I went over to my parents' that day, I told Mom "I'm stealing that cat."  I got in touch with my uncle, and he was more than happy for me to take her in.

After I brought her home, I took her to the vet, and found out she had worms, but otherwise was very healthy for being an outside cat.  The vet estimated her to be six months old at the time; I've decided on June 15th as her birthday, borrowing from a character in an old TV show.

Arwen is named for Arwen Undomiel, the Elven princess in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The name literally translates to "royal maiden, daughter of twilight," although I don't intend anything quite so grand for my feline companion.  She is a princess, though - she carries herself with a regal grace, and she's completely taken over this house!

She's an indoor cat, mostly because I live much too close to a busy road, there are dogs on both sides of us, and I have a visiting fox.  But also because I want to share a long life with her.  I did have her fixed, for her health (and my sanity!) but haven't declawed her because she's an excellent mouser.

She also talks, demanding her feather at night, and asking me "M-why?" when I tell her to get down from somewhere I don't want her to be.  When she wants her feather, she'll go sit in front of the cupboard and start crying.  I ask her if she wants her feather, she looks at me and says "Well, yeah."  The first time I was gone for a weekend, she scolded me something fierce when I got home - no sooner was I in the door then she started a very loud "Mom!  Mom!  Mom!" from atop the cupboard.  She then jumped down, wrapped herself around my legs and commenced purring.

One of her favorite games is Ambush Hide & Seek - she'll hide under the couch, or around a corner, and wait until I walk by.  Then she'll dart out, wrap a paw around my leg, and race off.  If I don't chase after her, she'll arch her back and pounce sideways at me, then go ricocheting through the house when I turn and lunge towards her.  At night when she's entertaining herself, I'll hear the scrabble of her nails on the laminate wood floor of the kitchen, folded by the THUD of the scratching log tipping over as she launches herself up onto the cupboard.

While I'm watching TV, she'll curl up in the rocking chair across from me.  Later in the night she'll come over to the recliner and curl up on my lap, oftentimes stretching full length on her back, arms above her head, belly exposed for rubbing.

When I go on the computer at night, she curls up in the recliner, and waits until she hears Jimmy Buffett sing "It's been a lovely cruise," which she knows means the computer is shutting down and it's time for bed.  She'll start purring as I push in the chair and turn off the lamp, then she'll follow me into the bathroom while I get ready for bed.  Once I'm settled, she'll come up on the bed and put her face next to mine until I lift the covers, then she'll crawl under, turn around, and snuggle against my side, still purring.

Since I live alone, I don't bother closing the bathroom door all the way, and Arwen quickly figured out how to pull it open so she can come in.  One of the creepier things she does is jump up on the shower stall and stare at me while I'm in the shower.  Without fail I'm startled every time I open my eyes to see those intense golden ones looking down at me.

Like most cats, Arwen loves boxes.  She loves to crawl into them (no matter how small) but she also likes to eat them.  Thankfully that weird habit seems to have tapered off since her surgery, although sometimes she still chews on corners.  She's learned that when I pick up the squirt gun she better stop whatever she's doing that's naughty, or she'll get shot.  Sometimes repeatedly.  I've got pretty good aim, and that gun shoots a long way.

My little girl is endlessly entertaining, and makes my heart feel better whenever I see her.  No matter how crappy my day was, the minute I see her nothing else matters.  I love her to death, even when she's hanging from the screen because she pounced at the birds on the feeder, or she's managed to get herself onto one of my horse shelves.

Thanks, Mom.