Good bye, Darwin.

Here I am sitting with my new Macbook laptop. And wi-fi. After years of Joe being the de facto internet gatekeeper, I have total freedom. I can't tell you how many arguments we got into because I wanted to use his computer for something (usually to mapquest, upload pictures, or look something up) when he didn't want me to. If I so much glanced toward the computer, he'd get suspicious and come investigate. And when permission was granted, he'd grumbled the whole time saying, "Are you done yet?" or, "Don't mess anything up!" Even if he didn't mind, it was moot past 8 pm, because Gianna sleeps in that room. Now I have complete autonomy; mwah hah hah!! Anyway, this weekend was fairly pleasant. On Saturday, we went to gymnastics class, then Gianna and I met Genny and Tristan at Crepeville. Afterwards, we went across the street to the Storybook theatre. Considering that it was at noon, essentially Gigi's naptime, and the fact that she is 25 months old, she did really well. There was some rooting around in my purse and climbing around on me and the seats, but for the most part she paid attention. We had a lot of fun, and I resolved to go to all the plays whenever possible, now that I know she found it at least somewhat engaging.

Today I wasted most of the morning trying to find an animal shelter willing to take the stray cat (Darwin) I finally caught. I sort of feel wistful, and I truly will miss her. It felt good to have the little critter greet me in the mornings and after work. I also enjoyed seeing her snuggled down in the garden in the sun. She was still painfully shy, but I was able to gradually get her comfortable eating in the pet carrier, and today, while she sat munching unsuspectingly, I just slammed the door shut. I felt horrible, as she yowled in surprise and fear. But it's just not practical to delay any longer. She is surely pregnant by now, which means another 5 homeless cats or so. Then more, and more. And we can't keep her due to Joe's allergies. Plus, he really doesn't want any animals, and we don't need another thing to argue about. It's really no life to live, residing under the neighbor Mike's house. She'd eventually get run over, or worse, mauled by some dog. And I couldn't ever get her vet care, being as how it is so difficult to catch her. I considered telling animal control to call me if it came down to the wire and they were going to euthanize her. If she were spayed, then theoretically we could go back to how it was before. Of course, it would probably be awhile before she'd trust my traitorous ass again. Surely life as an outdoor kitty is better than euthanasia, right? I don't know. Maybe I'll call them in a few days. But Joe reeeallllly doesn't want cats around. It reminds him of his ex-wife. I'll wait until Gianna is old enough to do the pestering for me. Anyway, most of the animal shelters were either closed, or refused to take her as I was "out of their jurisdiction." Luckily, they sent an officer to our house rather promptly, once I called. Poor kitty.