4 Legged Family: Bentley

Bentley's the most lovable cat - almost the most lovable animal - I have ever seen. Lovable or overwhelmingly needy, sometimes the distinction's fuzzy.



I adopted Bentley after my beloved Phanar passed away. I was convinced that Abby was pining away, and felt the house was unbalanced with only one cat (there being two in the house of everything else). Bentley, like Abby, got picked because he had been at the Brazoria County Humane Society the longest and had recently lost the companion cat he was brought in with to an earlier adoption.

I'll skip the rant on anyone who would knowingly adopt only one of two cats raised together.

Bentley, though declawed, is be far the most destructive animal in our household, 2 legged and/or 4 legged. And it is only my extremely strong belief in full responsibility for the lives I bring into my home, again 2 legged and/or 4 legged, that has prevented Bentley from being summarily returned to the Humane Society. Because his destructive habit is one small step short of that which would overcome even my feelings of responsibility: he chews on books...paper, cardboard, computer cords, stiff tablecloth edges. We've lost computer functions and book value due to Bentley's gnawing habit. Fortunately for him, he's learned to not/been prevented from doing much further damage lately.


Which is good, because he's also the most affectionate of the members of the household. When the twins were younger and not quite as empathetic of the pain a strong neck hold could have on a living creature, he still insisted on being right between them (usually slung between them). He wraps himself around Cousin Camille during her visits, again regardless of her affectionate rib breaking hugs, and, if no 2 legged friends are available, will rub up and against Emma and Dexter. During bedtime story time, Bentley is a regular on Ben's bed and must be picked up and thrown out before bedtime, regardless of how many times he was swatted away for chewing on the bedtime story.

4 Legged Family: Emma

Emma's the Lab mix that didn't mix well with the Dobi-mix, a mismatch that resulted in our adoption of Dexter.

Our Emma Lynn is the quintessential Labrador: a highly trainable and begging to please, tolerant and loving family dog, given to easy weight gain if left unexercised. Somewhere among the thousands of digital images I have failed to print out of the twins when toddlers, there are more than a few of Mina laying across Emma, sitting on Emma and, book propped up under Emma's nose and Mina leaning against her, reading to Emma. And Emma looking pleased as punch to be so used in each.

In her younger days, Emma was involved in agility practice with my sister. Emma was great at it, over the jumps and bridges, through the tunnels and likely to stay forever until released. These days, due to under the table feeding by the twins, treat tossing from the S.O. and the cessation of former jogging practice with me, Emma's a little too round for going over or under anything.

But, she's still a sweetheart. There's just a lot more of her to love than there should be.

My Daily Perfect Moment

I recently finagled a work schedule modification that allows me to be home in time to meet the twins getting off the bus.

The change was to address some learning difficulties that Mina is experiencing. She needs more time to do the homework she has, and more work at home to keep up with her class work. A 6 o'clock arrival time at the end of the day just wasn't enough time for that, and everything else there is to do.

So, I made the switch, and I'll admit it was grudgingly. Nothing says, "Not promotion material" like a prior to 3 pm departure time. Thanks to the current high levels of technology, I can access my work folders from home and am able to keep up on all my work, but as anyone who works in an office environment knows, it's the face to face time that creates familiarity and establishes a comfort level with coworkers, managers, The Boss.

And, yes, leaving early, no matter how many hours I work at home in the evenings, mornings and weekends, makes me feel like a slacker. All evidence to the contrary.

It's worth it, though. And not just for the small steps, but headed in the right direction, which Mina is making in her studies. That's taken a week or so to realize, and we have lots of big steps to make yet.

No, it felt worth it the first day I arrived home early, and emerged from the house to watch the twins get off the bus, catch sight of me and come running. I found myself smiling and quickening my steps in response; we met half way in a three way hug, and the moment was...perfect.

Now I have that perfect moment every day.

(Unfortunately it lasts just about as long as it took me to take the above picture. Once the hugging is over and we head for the front door, the wheedling for a candy bar for snack and first dibs on movie selection have started. But maybe I wouldn't appreciate it so much if it wasn't so brief...)

4 Legged Family: Dexter

Dexter's the other half of my office posse.

We almost didn't get Dexter. My sister, Jen, and I had visited the SPCA, saw a Doberman mix and a Lab mix that we liked, and were just expecting the meet and greet between the two to be a formality to taking them home. Turned out the Dobi mix wasn't much of a dog person. And since the Lab mix, Jen and I are, we decided to like for someone more like us...

Jen had noticed a floppy earred fellow with a kerchief around his neck in one of the cages on the way in, so we decided to see how he would do. Did just fine, and home the two came.

In addition to floppy ears, Dexter's a scrawny, high strung fellow with an underbite that gives him trouble when he eats. He's terrified of thunder storms, and has eaten away at door molding throughout the house and garage. He's only calm when with someone, so if it starts to rain he transforms into Velcro Dog, the Canine with Amazing and Debilitating (for the human involved) Adhesion Abilities.

4 Legged Family: Absynthe

In addition to the 2 legged family members occupying our home, we have an assortment of 4 legged ones as well.

I thought introductions were called for, as they missed the R/reunion trip...

This is Abby, my oldest, in her preferred position (curled up against me in my office chair). I adopted Abby to keep my college roommate and first feline Phanar company when Phanar joined me in Houston. Absynthe was the cat who, the day I visited, had been at the Humane Society the longest, so I chose her. She had a different name and was about four months old, a small, black, seemingly harmless ball of fur.

Turns out she harbored the bacterium for Cat Scratch Fever, and sent the then spouse to the hospital with grossly enlarged lymph nodes and a fever soaring past 104 degrees. Who'd a thought? She lost her front claws over that.

I consider Abby my first, on my own, "dog". She used to fetch things thrown for her and growl when someone came to the door. Now that we have "real" dogs, she has given that up for dragging socks around the house, blissing out on Chris' shoes and hanging out with me and the rest of my posse in my office...

to be continued

Updates

In which the twin mommy who rarely blogs provides a brief and likely sketchy overview of what's happened since...

- Twins celebrated their 6th birthday in July (see Flickr pics, if interested) at a local skating rink. It was a hoot. We even did the Hokey Pokey, on wheels.

- Attended family reunions of the big "R" and little "r" types in Kentucky. Chris, the twins and I flew in to Ky to meet up with paternal family, mine, and introduce the twins to that side of the family, then we drove down to Natural Bridge Park for the official maternal, again, mine, side of the family, Reunion. Great and wonderful time was had by all. Here's hoping it doesn't take me another 7 or 8 years to make it back up that way...

- Twins started first grade. As in Kindergarten, each has a teacher well-suited to his and her needs, for which I am very thankful. I've modified my work schedule to meet them at the bus after school. Means more work at home for me, but allows me to spend more time doing their homework with them.

- We bought a family car, a Subaru Forrester. I looked up "cars", "safety ratings" on Consumer Reports, and it came up tops across the board, so that's what we got for the family. We kept the Mommystang for the fun.

Love to all.