Zenobia's Special Day!

One of our friends, who was adopted as an infant, has no idea when she was actually born. So, in lieu of a birthday, she has a Special Day - the day on which she was adopted.

Today is my cat Zenobia's Special Day. I'm guessing that she is about 18 months old, but since I don't know for sure, I have chosen July 27th as the day to celebrate her glorious existence. One year ago today, we used our Humane Society of Huron Valley cat adoption gift certificate (a wedding gift from our friends Bizzy and Matt) to procure this sweet, rambunctious feline. Though her previous owners had named her Princess Leia, we decided to promote her to Zenobia, the historic queen of Palmyra. Okay, I didn't really know that Palmyra business until I looked it up after the fact - we actually named her after a character from the 4th season of The Wire.

It's been a lovely year. This long, skinny, Egyptian kitty fattened into a healthy dynamo. She's even grown to love her canine big sister Dulce, though she would only hiss at her when they first met. Now she sleeps next to Dulce every night, for at least part of the night. She likes to spend the other part of the wee hours annoying us - scratching furniture, attacking our feet, climbing over our sleepy heads. Her other favorite activities include eating bug exoskeletons, getting high on catnip, organizing her furry mouse toys and playing with shoes. Sometimes, when I'm getting ready to leave the house, I go to put on a shoe and find a mousy toy gift inside. So beguiled by her cuteness am I that I forget how annoyed I am for having been woken up three times in the middle of the night.

When Dan was living in Detroit, Zenobia was instrumental in keeping me from being completely lonely and miserable. Dan had Dulce with him (it just made more sense, what with my ten hour work-day-and-commute), so it was really comforting to have another creature in the house. And when I felt really sad, she would lick my arm with the soft part of her tongue. She's a very sensitive girl. I love her.

Happy 1st Special Day, Zenobia! It seems like my life must have been so lacking before you came around.