Today is a very special day -- not only is it our First Blogoversary, but it's also the 1-year anniversary of Abby Normal's GOTCHA Day!!! All of the pictures featured in today's post were taken in the first week of living in her new home with us lucky humans.
On the very first day that she lived with us, Abby spent almost all of her time sleeping with and
ON Mr. R. It was to the point where he had a constant neck-ache named Abby, but he would not move so he would not disturb her. She doesn't sleep there anymore, and he misses his neck-ache. Perhaps it is because she only weighed 5 pounds when we got her, whereas she weighs 11 pounds now. So, instead of sleeping on Mr. R and his chair, she chooses to endorse him by sitting right under his chair.
One of Abby's favorite games in the entire world is FETCH. The cats we knew before Abby loved to chase after and play with the little toy mice that we had for them, but none of them ever carried them right back to us, so it came as a delightful surprise when Abby did just that.
We still play Fetch almost every single day!
The first time we saw Abby, she was one of many, many meowing and hopeful-eyed sad cats in their cages at the SPCA. Actually, Abby wasn't meowing when I first saw her; every time I walked by, she rolled and gazed up at me, almost with a smile on her face. Sad as I felt for all of the other cats who meowed and begged for the attention and love they were starving for, there was something other than pleading in the gaze we exchanged. At that moment I knew she was going to be Our Cat.
We first heard her voice when the woman working at the SPCA took Abby out of her cage and handed her to us so we could visit with her. Perched on Mr. R's shoulder, she let out a loud and piercing, kittenish wide-mouthed "Reeeow!" that expressed her anxiety at being in a situation full of frantic cats, and also her excitement at being held and released from her cage into the friendly arms of a human.
"Shall we take this cat home with us?" I asked Mr. R, and he responded with a smile and a nod. Instead of putting her in the carrier, he sat with her in the back seat and held and patted her as I chaufferred us all back to our home, Abby's new home.
Some cats go into hiding right away when confronted with a new home/location. Abby never did, she moved right in without missing a beat, as if she had never been abandoned to the SPCA, as if she'd always lived with us.
This is one of Mr. R's favorite early photos of her:
At the SPCA, the little index card on her cage said her name was Abby. Like many adoptive "parents," we thought beforehand that we were going to probably rename her to something we preferred, but the name stuck. We simply added to it, so she is Abby Normal. She knows her name, all you have to do is say it and she will look at you, or come to you if she is so inclined. Who is the luckier, her or us? I'd say, it is
all of us.
Lots of things to see here. But part of this Adventure Park is quite frustrating, it's a little cubby covered in glass. Now how am I supposed to get up in there?
This drawer is really fun to play inside of, too. There's a cabinet on the other side with a shelf, sometimes Mr. R leaves it open just for me, so I can play inside it. I bring my mouse with me.
Actually, Abby did not notice it at first. Stygia was immediately intrigued by it, especially its scent. She got at least a whole 20 minutes of solo play with the Plague Ratsie before Abby realized it was present. 
Abby rolls with it!
Styggie bunnykicks it! Notice her tail fluffage!
Abby makes The Face about it! 
What fun!!!
Hee hee!
Ms. C: Cat Time?
Abby: Ms. C recently found this notebook in which she kept her journal for her 9th-grade English class (can you believe that was almost 20 years ago? She is ancient). I usually like to spread out all over the chair, but since she left her notebook on my chair, I decided that I would fit myself to it with precision.
I don't know why my mom is laughing at me so much.
On the very first day that she lived with us, Abby spent almost all of her time sleeping with and ON Mr. R. It was to the point where he had a constant neck-ache named Abby, but he would not move so he would not disturb her. She doesn't sleep there anymore, and he misses his neck-ache. Perhaps it is because she only weighed 5 pounds when we got her, whereas she weighs 11 pounds now. So, instead of sleeping on Mr. R and his chair, she chooses to endorse him by sitting right under his chair.
We still play Fetch almost every single day!
Some cats go into hiding right away when confronted with a new home/location. Abby never did, she moved right in without missing a beat, as if she had never been abandoned to the SPCA, as if she'd always lived with us.
At the SPCA, the little index card on her cage said her name was Abby. Like many adoptive "parents," we thought beforehand that we were going to probably rename her to something we preferred, but the name stuck. We simply added to it, so she is Abby Normal. She knows her name, all you have to do is say it and she will look at you, or come to you if she is so inclined. Who is the luckier, her or us? I'd say, it is all of us.
Abby: Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life? I don't know, but I do know that it's a fine thing to find a bag to rest a chin on, especially if it is a vaguely cat-shaped bag:
I didn't even realize Ms. C took this next picture of me, I was fast asleep after a furious round of catnip-induced frolic!
What, you want to see the frolic? Well.... ok:
Of course, Stygia could not leave me alone for long. She wanted to get into the action, but I repelled her advances and burrowed and stayed in as long as I liked! It was quite comfy and smelled interesting too.
