I crossed the line

There is a line between 'that normal girl who lives in that house' and 'the crazy lady who takes her cat out on a leash.' I crossed that line last weekend.

It's been so nice outside that John and I spent a lot of time last weekend in the backyard with Lucy. We had the windows open and the patio door open with just the screen closed to keep the cats in and bugs out. Abbey was meow-meow-meowing very pathetically most of the weekend because she wanted to be out there, too. We live fairly near a four-lane road with heavy traffic, and neither of us are comfortable with the cats roaming around because we're afraid they'll get hit. Let's face it, Abbey has already been hit once by a car so she's not the most street-wise (pun) cat around. But she was so pitiful and even escaped a couple of times while we're were going in and out, so we put a leash on her and walked her around the backyard. It was John's idea!

She enjoyed being out there but I think it will take her some time to get used to being on a leash. And she's escaped about 5 times this week out that back door, cheeky madam. I would be half tempted to just let them out, as we are not right next to that main road, but there's nowhere really to put a cat flap and if we start letting them out it is going to be a problem luring them back in when we need them inside.

Let's see, any non-pet related news? I met up with my aunt, uncle, and cousin this week for dinner. They live in the Chicagoland area so we've met up a few times throughout the course of my project. It was a very nice evening. My aunt and cousin are teachers and are on spring break, lucky things! And last weekend John and I went out to dinner with my friends from high school, Annie and Jennifer, and their partners. That was good fun, too. And my sister-in-law Tami is on spring break and is bringing my nephews up for a visit this afternoon. Lots of fun stuff going on at the moment!

Lucy's new best friend

So the weather has finally started to warm the last couple of weeks. It's been so nice and feels very well earned after the weather we've suffered this year. As a result of the weather, everyone has been out and about and we are meeting our neighbors. Actually, we'd met each of the neighbors on either side of us when we first moved in, but as it has been winter we've not run into them again because everyone's been tucked up indoors.

And Lucy has also discovered the neighbors, and has in turn acquired a best friend! It doesn't really seem right to call them 'best friends' as the relationship borders on 'unhealthy' -- they are downright obsessed with each other! Next door has a yellow lab who is one year old. We share a line of fencing with them, and all this time neither Lucy nor I even realized there was a dog there at all. The owners had told John they had a dog the first time he met them (when we first moved in), but we never saw her or heard her so I started to think she didn't exist.

Then the weekend before last they discovered each other, and it's been mayhem ever since! Whenever Lucy goes out she goes to the fence to see if Macy is there (yes, that's right -- Lucy and Macy, even the names are similar. They also have a cat called Abbey). If they are out at the same time there is digging going on on both sides of the fence. Macy is a big digger; luckily Lucy is still an ametuer and can't dig as much as fast. When they are out at the same time and we've all got time for them to have a play session, we open up the gate in the line of fence we share and they run and run and run and run and wrestle each other and jump over each other and run some more and Lucy steals Macy's bones and they chase each other to try to get the bones away from each other and it's all so much fun!!!! They have an absolute ball together, it's so funny to watch them. And it completely knackers Lucy out which is always nice when we're ready for her to come in and settle down!

Tonight John told me that Lucy was outside and actually managed to dig her way through so she could escape into Macy's yard, and Macy wasn't even there to egg her on! Usually they don't start digging until they are both out there trying to get to each other. So that's a bit worrying now that she has managed to get through because now you feel like you have to watch her all the time while she's out there. She is so cheeky. John has covered the hole with heavy logs (there were already logs blocking the hole they've been digging, but they were light enough for her to work around apparently) so she can't get through that way anymore, but the worry is she will start digging somewhere else. So we're still trying to work out the kinks to maximize the positive elements of their mutual obsession with each other. As with most things, it's a work in progress!

Wreck

The other day when I was heading into work, traffic was backed up for miles. It took about 45 min to an hour to get to the office when it normally takes 15 to 20 minutes. There had been some freezing rain earlier, but the roads seemed ok by the time I was on them. I'm waiting in traffic, wondering why these boneheads can't deal with a little precipitation, and finally I come upon the cause of the delay. There was an accident. But not just any old accident. Once I saw it I knew what was taking so long. This was the type of accident where you have to pass by really slowly and get a good look because you're not sure if you're going to see something like it again. From the back things it looked like a normal accident, or even maybe just a stalled car. Then as I passed by I saw this:



The front car was up ON TOP of the car behind it. It's back wheels were on the windowshield of the car behind. It was at a MFing 45 degree angle!!! I don't even know how the driver got out of the car. It would have literally had to jump out somehow, because the driver's door was up in the air. And what do you think when you're the car with the other car laying on top of you? What could that have been like for that driver, seeing the back end of the car get closer and closer and then, what? All of the sudden he can read the serial numbers printed on the bottom of the tires. There was another car behind that car who had his bumper all crumbled because he had run into the back of the car with the car on top of it, but that just seemed boring compared to what was going on with the first two cars. I have tried to work out what must have happened and who caused it, but I can't come up with a conclusive answer. I didn't have my CSI kit on hand so I had to just observe and move on.

By the way, this was not on the interstate or anything, it was just a highway with lots of stoplights, and even though I couldn't see any of the drivers around it was apparent that no one was hurt. I have been in a couple of fender benders and I always have found it embarrassing when you have to get out of your cars to assess the damage and traffic is going by (particularly when you are at fault). Can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been to have to jump out of your car because your back wheels were up on the other car's windshield?

Things that go bump in the night

Last night John and I were awoken to what we thought was the cats getting too rambunctious in their playing. We heard over and over Abbey making a VERY loud noise along the lines of 'rrrrRRREEEEERRRRRRRRR rrrrRRREEEEERRRRRRRRR rrrrRRREEEEERRRRRRRRR.' I called out for them to knock it off, and it didn't stop. Seeing as I always have to get up in the night to use the loo anyway (especially with a growing baby sharing space with my bladder), I got up to go and sort the cats out.

Unfortunately, I neglected to put on my glasses, which is a regret I have been carrying with me all day. As I got down the stairs I kept hearing the same noise over and over (rrrrRRREEEEERRRRRRRRR), but I passed the office and saw Jude sitting in the doorway so I knew it wasn't them playing together. My next guess was that Abbey was stuck somewhere, so I was calling for her but needn't have bothered because the noise wasn't stopping and I could tell I was getting closer. When I got into the kitchen I saw Abbey sitting at the sliding glass doors out to the back porch, making that same noise over and over to something outside. It was (obviously) dark, and that in combination with me not wearing my glasses meant I could hardly see a thing out there. But, I thought I saw something dark and shadowy a few feet away by the hot tub. I was saying to Abbey, 'Is there something there, what is it?' and I think I knocked on the glass, and sure enough something fairly big and hairy moved and scurried off the porch. And darn it if I know what it was!!!

It is possible it was a big housecat, but it would have had to have been one heck of a large housecat, and very hairy. I would never admit that my Jude is anywhere above average size-wise (but I will admit whether you want me to or not that he is the above average sweet-wise and lovely-wise), but this cat would have been bigger than him with much puffier hair. My best guess is it was a raccoon. I have not seen any raccoons around our house, even though there are obvious signs of some small wildlife since there are two squirrels who live in our backyard (boy does Lucy get a kick out of them!), but it's my best guess because I distinctly remember that the first movement I made out was something looking like it was moving from being on its hind legs to being on all fours so it could walk. I ran up to our room to get my glasses, but it was gone by the time I had the magic of sight again. When I got back downstairs Abbey was still worked up. Her tail was all bushed out and she even hissed at me (misplaced aggression) when I asked her if it was still out there.

So what could it have been? Again, my money is on a raccoon, but as I laid there afterwards trying to fall back asleep I wondered what else it could have been. A joey kangaroo? A dingo? Wait a minute, was that me who moved to Australia? Oh crap, that was Jib (who is doing really well for those of you who know him -- we were IMing last week). Well, maybe it was an alien. Although I'm sure there was no beaming up. Or it could be one of my favorite things -- a ghost. But it did walk away, there was no vanishing and it seemed pretty solid for me to be able to see it to some extent without glasses. It could have been a bear cub. They can stand on their back legs for quite a while but walk on all fours for the most part. Yes, that's it. A bear cub. And I chased it off with my bare hands.