Oreo anyone?

I’m so sorry for my apparent disappearance in the past few weeks.  Time has just gotten away from me.  I’ve been busy being obsessed with buying cookbooks, looking at said cookbooks, printing recipes from various online sites, and cooking!  Mr. C is loving it except for the nights it takes me like two hours to make dinner.  Last night he came home and couldn’t even kiss me hello because I was THAT focused.  I had 2 pans going, food all over the counter, and at least two cookbooks open.  This is what’s been going on in the Centner house.  I’ll tell you what hasn’t been going on….cleaning.  Need to work on that.  Oh, and there’s one other thing!  Allow me to tell you the long story about this (Lucky for you, Mr. C says long unnecessary stories are my specialty!).

It’s no secret that I’ve been itching to add to our family, but in the furry sense.   I’ve had some suggestions along the way that maybe what I really want is a baby.  Apparently everyone but me knows what I want!  Since we got married, Mr. C and I have been asked when we’re having kids.  While I really don’t mind from some people (friends and family), others I barely know and I want to smack them when they ask because it’s really none of their business!  Don’t get me wrong, I want kids.  But, I know that it will never be the same.  That’s not to say that it’s not great or even better, but it’s different.  I love date nights, lazy Sundays, dinners that take 2 hours to cook, and going to an insane amount of movies.  These are the things I’ve begun to enjoy since I’ve finished classes.  I’m finally to the point of being capable of sleeping in without feeling guilty now.  It rocks.  I don’t like to do things half-assed (for lack of a better term) and when I’m a mommy I’ll try to be the best mommy ever, while keeping some semblance of myself.  For now, I’m loving my “me” time and our couple time.  While one day (not THAT far off) we’ll be ready to welcome another human addition to our family, now is not the time.  Anyhow, that long rant brings me to the next part, and heart of the story.

I fell in love with a dog not too long ago.  I thought it was destiny that we’d end up adopting him but we hit a snag along the way and it didn’t work out.  I partially wanted him because he was old and no one else wanted him, because he needed a home, and become we could give him one.  But then he was gone and I was crying and heartbroken.  Since then I couldn’t stop looking at adoption sites online even though I knew it was just plain bad.  I even found a cute puppy that looked like a mini Coconut.  But, we didn’t need another dog and I wasn’t sure about the responsibility that would entail.  I got over the dog as much as I could because I assumed he had a great home.  And life went on.

Then last weekend we went to Petsmart for some dog treats.  We went to a different location than we normally do and this one had cats.  Of course I had to go look, because I always look when presented with this opportunity.  There in the window was the cutest little kitten.  He’d peek around the corner and bat his cute little kitten paw at my finger on the glass.  He was so little, so cute, and looked like he needed to go home with me.  I watched him much longer than necessary until Mr. C drug me to the front.  We paid for our dog treats and went on our way. 

We talked about the little guy on the way home.  I didn’t want to push it because I didn’t want Mr. C to just agree if he wasn’t on board, but I asked what he thought the next day at lunch.  Without much thinking he said (rather loudly), “let’s get the kitten!”.  And so we finished our guac and took off to get him.  I was worried he’d be gone because he was super cute and that’s what had happened to the dog I fell in love with.  I worked on not getting my hopes up.  We got there to see a couple playing with the kitty through the window.  Mr. C whisper yelled “you better hurry up!” and we scurried over to the adoption lady.  She opened the cage for us and after about 3 minutes of holding him we said we’d take him.  We needed a carrier and every other thing needed for a kitty so we grabbed a cart and loaded it up. Food dishes, food, toys, scratching post.  Then we had reached the cat litter.  We just stopped and stared at it.  It was the hardest decision of the day!  What kind is better?  What brand?  Crystals or not?  Ahhhhh!  We finally grabbed some and threw it in the cart.  Randomly throughout this Mr. C would look at me with the eyes that said “what the heck are we doing?” and I’d ask him if he was ok and he’d laugh and then we’d agree that we were both crazy.  Finally we collected all our stuff, wheeled our crap over to the adoption lady, and after filling out not that many papers, we had him!

He’s 2 ½ months old and his name was Beaker.  Not being fans of that name, we came up with another one.  He’s black with white in the middle and we needed something that goes well with Coconut, so we named him Oreo.  We figure he won’t remember his old name anyhow…

We were so excited for Coconut and the kitty to meet, but apparently the kitty didn’t feel the same way.  Upon removing him from the carrier, he took one look at the dog and dug his super sharp claws into Mr. C’s back after slashing his ear.  Mr. C covered his ears and closed his eyes and I thought he was having a mental breakdown for a bit.  I kept yelling “GET ON THE FLOOR!”  until he finally did and Oreo unlatched and ran off.  Coconut thought this was super exciting and was ecstatic that we got her another furry friend.

When we were sure the animals were okay together we decided to run to the grocery store.  We got home, unloaded the groceries, and Mr. C scoured the house for Oreo.  I wasn’t too worried since I know how cats have a knack for hiding.  After he couldn’t find him I helped him look.  We still couldn’t find him so we looked again.  And again.  We looked everywhere he could possibly be.  Then we feared the worst – we thought maybe he had run out when we left to go to the store.  I was sad and Mr. C was worried and Coconut was pretty carefree.  We looked everywhere and finally after no luck, Mr. C walked around the neighborhood.  Then we drove around, and walked again.  We went back inside disappointed and distraught.  I imagined us being added to the “national list of unsuitable animal adopters”.  I’m sure there’s a list like that somewhere.  Oreo is microchipped but first I worried that no one would take him in if he was found, and secondly then it would be discovered what horrible pet owners we were.

I was so upset I couldn’t even make dinner.  It had been hours and we had found no sign of Oreo.  We sat on the couch, Mr. C threw in a frozen pizza, and we watched TV in silence.  Then we heard a loud thump.  Our eyes lit up and we began looking everywhere in the living room.  Finally I opened the coffee table drawer just in time to see a tail flash by.  Oreo had climbed through the small opening in the back of the drawers and had been curled up inside.  We were so relieved!  This is now his daily sleeping spot and lucky for me he doesn’t even seem to mind the mess.

So far things are going well.  Oreo doesn’t like Coconut as much as she loves him, but it’s okay.  When we play with Oreo or he’s running around, Coconut pretends he’s playing with her and we just let her believe that.  I’d love to come home one day and find Oreo asleep on Coconut, but for now that’s not the most realistic goal.  For now I’ll settle for Oreo tolerating Coconut, Coconut being excited about her new best friend, and us not losing the newest member of our family.  At this point, I’m pretty sure Mr. C is way more excited about Oreo than I am, but that’s okay too, especially since I predicted that :)