Last Week's Highlights (Scroll down, too. I need help with a project.)
A few things stand out from last week. First off, I went up to Erie after church on Sunday. It was good to hang out up with the 'rents and Patrick on Sunday evening. Dad and I dropped my car off at New Motors for an oil change, state inspection, and emissions test that afternoon. Monday morning I went up and picked it up when it was complete. That's a handy service. It saved me from having to get up and out there at 0730 Monday!
I did some other shopping and the like on Monday, and left mid-afternoon for Cats Are People Too! in Warren, OH. I'd made an appointment for 1800 to come visit their critters. A woman named Margaret met me there, and I visited with kitties for a while. There were a lot of beautiful and wonderful cats, and I wanted to take them all home! One in particular stuck out, a special-needs cat named Maria. This is Maria just before I left the shelter: Maria 1 and Maria 2.
Special needs, in Maria's case, meant no children and no other pets. She had a traumatic childhood, and was scared of loud noises and other animals. I decided that since I have no other pets or children, that I would rescue Maria. Oh, she is also 18 months, and many people want kittens, not older cats, so I figured that was another good reason to help her out. I left there around 1900, without a cat but with an appointment for Friday to come pick her up.
The rest of the week was busy. Our Lenten schedule is in full effect at St. John's. That means a service of noonday prayer with a recital of some sort every Tuesday at noon, and Lenten Family night on Wednesdays. The latter begins at 1730 and ends around 1945, and includes Eucharist, dinner, a bit of film, and discussion time, all ending with Compline. That makes for a very long day indeed.
On Thursday I got in touch with CAPT (Cats Are…), and made arrangements to meet someone at the Petsmart in Niles, OH that night with Maria. (See map above for Warren–Niles is south-east of Warren, closer to Sharon/Hermitage.) I drove over after work and met Margaret again. After buying food and some other items (a cat shelf, stuff like that) we did the paperwork and transferred Maria from one carrier to the other. She survived the 30 minute trip back to my apartment with only a little complaining, and is now happily ensconced in her new home.
Maria, who has since been renamed Ari (short for Ariella), is settling in nicely. I have new-dad syndrome. Ari's the first cat I've had all by myself, i.e. without other family living with cat. It is going to be a learning experience for us both. She's adorable, affectionate, and noisy. I don't know if it's her previous experience or what, but she really demands attention a lot. I'm learning to ignore the squawking and squeaking, and after a bit she usually wanders off or curls up for a nap. She loves rubs and, if your head is in range, wil
