Don't worry, I found her again.
When I moved into my condo we had a hell of a time trying to get the cat to go into the carrying case we bought for her so that we could move her here. Once in there she was scared to death. She didn't like the whole moving thing one bit. So once we arrived here and let her out, she wedged herself into the closet behind a bunch of boxes and didn't come out.
Last night I had a bunch of the girls over. My cousins, and sister-in-law and myself. And at some point in the evening I realized that my cat was nowhere to be found. There had been people in and out all evening, plus, my brother left the door open while he was here, and somehow the cat got out.
She's an indoor cat. We don't let her outside, so I had no idea how she'd react to being free. Thankfully she is fixed and she has all of her claws. So at least if she'd been out on the prowl she'd have been able to defend herself and she wouldn't have returned to me pregnant.
Wendy and I went out to look. We pretty much stuck to the condo complex, mostly because I couldn't imagine her straying too far...or how I'd find her if she did. We wandered all over the place, and didn't find her at all. So we came back in and looked around inside again and didn't find her. At that point I got sad, and I sat down on the floor and tried not to cry. I wasn't overly successful.
My brother came to pick up his wife, and he said he didn't see her escape while he was here before. After they left, I decided I'd go outside and look again. My thoughts were that if she was out there she'd be scared because she's never been outside. And so she'd be hiding somewhere, either under a car or in a garden. So I started methodically combing through every garden nearby.
Good call it would seem. I found her hidden amongst the tomatoes in the garden next door. She was caught in the stake thing that tomatoes are grown on, so I had to call for help to get her out. But, calling for someone to help me scared her. So when we got her free of the tomato stake thingy, she ran away.
At least at this point I could see her and follow her. She ended up hiding in someone elses garden. So, I sat on the ground and talked to her, trying to calm her down so she wouldn't scratch me when I tried to pick her up. Eventually she let me pet her, and shortly after that I was able to pick her up and bring her home. At which point she promptly hid under the couch.
It's Thursday evening. I've had what seems to be the longest week ever. I'm not entirely sure why, but it really has been a very long week. It likely has something to do with a lack of sleep. Sunday night I was up quite late. Spike was showing a VIP marathon, which is always trouble. Sadly I couldn't stay up and watch ALL the shows, but I didn't even get to bed till 1am. At which point I was hearing all kinds of strange noises. Which for some reason had me worried.
Well, I'm not used to this living alone thing quite yet. I mean, yeah I've been here for some time, but then my mom spent a lot of time here in July and August so I guess I was used to having someone else around. Now that I'm alone I have to get used to it all over again. Who knew I was such a nervous person?
Then as I already rambled on about, I had to get up at 6am on Tuesday to get into Toronto on time for the HB Fenn Fall Preview. Which I may have mentioned was a lot of fun.
Wednesday I had to get up equally early so that I could get to the dentist. Seriously, who books appointments for 7:30am? Only me I'm sure. There didn't seem to be that many people around in the office. Not patients, not staff, not anyone! Well, they were there by the time I left, but not when I got in. At least I was done in time to get to work.
I went to bed early-ish both Tuesday and Wednesday night, but I don't think it was enough. Maybe tonight I'll go to bed a bit early too and try to catch up some more.
Tomorrow, after work, I'm going to see Pygmalion at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. And then Saturday morning... I'm going to the cottage! It's the long weekend which should mean that the traffic is going to be hell....to avoid it, maybe I'll get up early? ;)
Ok first off, and I know this is going to sound ridiculous. How many of you knew that the publishing firm HB Fenn was actually run by a Mr. Harold Fenn? Seriously, when he introduced himself to me on Tuesday and thanked me for coming I almost fell over from shock.
Tuesday morning I got up at the ungodly hour of 6:00am (yes, I know, I know), to make sure that I got to Tara's house by 7:00am so that we could get on the Go Train headed to Toronto by 7:15am. There was a time when I didn't think that 6:00am was that early. Of course, that time was a looong time ago. And so I didn't actually get up at six, nor was I at Tara's by seven, and as for the train? Well we took the 7:30 train.
None of that matters though! We were still on time. We arrived at Union Station and I pulled my map out of my bag and we examined it trying to decide how we'd get to our final destination feeling incredibly like tourists the entire time. This may actually be an apt description of me. I am so incredibly suburban, it's kind of funny. Tara, however, is a little bit more into the city lifestyle. Why? Beats the hell out of me, afterall she lives and works in the suburbs too.
Oh, since I haven't already explained this. The reason we were getting up so damned early to get downtown was to attend the HB Fenn fall preview. Now you're laughing, aren't you? Well shut up, we're book people and therefore events like this are exciting for us. We got to meet Mitch Albom. Who not only talked for ages with everyone as he signed their books, but also did a bit of a speech and a reading afterwards during the presentation. And also Dennis Lee. Who is apparently some sort of icon in the world of Childrens books.
Please, if you're now looking at me like I have two heads, yes, I know he wrote Aligator Pie. But that doesn't mean I've actually read the book, does it? Sure I know the rhyme. Who doesn't? Anyway, he signed copies of his book The Cat and the Wizard, and had a birthday so we all got cake! Yummy cake at that! He has a new book coming out in time for Christmas called So Cool Which is a poetry book for teenagers. The poems are funny, in fact some of them seem to be downright hysterical. I can't wait to read it myself actually.
Anyway, my point in all of this is just that it was a great time. I enjoyed meeting the two authors, loved all the food they fed us. And really really appreciated getting to see what the new books will be for the Christmas season. I know that sounds incredibly dorky. But, that's what I do. So it's good to be able to tell people to expect something new in a few weeks. And I think people appreciate knowing this stuff too. Today a little girl came through the cash with an Abby Hayes book, so I asked her sort of casually if she ever watched that show That's So Raven. I don't know why I asked her really, but the Abby Hayes thing made me figure she probably did. And in fact it turns out that OMG it's her favourite show! So she was quite happy to hear that they were going to put out a series of books not unlike the Lizzie Maguire books that are available now.
And I just think that's a little bit cool.
So thank you HB Fenn for throwing such an interesting event. Thank you Mr. Fenn for making me realize that not all publishing houses are run by a boardroom full of people. Thank you Mitch Albom for making me think about people like your uncle Eddie. And Thank you Dennis Lee for having a birthday so we could all eat cake :)