All That Jazz

People joke all the time about how I'm the crazy cat lady but the joke is on them. The comment doesn't bother me in the least and if I had more resources and a bigger place, like a farm, I would have so many  more animals than these guys. Let me tell you how much I love these guys even when they're driving me crazy. 

Sophie is my easy going one, while sometimes a little unsure she just usually goes with the flow. I would have never expected this from her since I remember when she was bottle feeding as a baby, she was rather difficult with it. It wasn't until this year that her personality has seem to really come to light and I love that she surprised me that way. 

Jasper is my main man, the old man of the house and everything is his or so I say. He is my lover of heat and loves when it's 100 degrees out, won't come in to cool off no matter how hard I try, and will even sleep all day inside of a metal shed that's even hotter inside or under the black grill cover. Now that it's cold and snowy out, he pretty much refuses to step foot outside. He's also probably the most stubborn but that's because at the end of the day he knows he's adored endlessly by us. 

Eleanor is my opposite of Jasper, she's not at all a fan of the heat and didn't enjoy this summer too much but now that the snow and cold are here I'm fighting to try to keep her inside. It's only been since about April of this year that the cats have been allowed to go outside so this is the first they've seen of the snow. She will come in for a second and then wants right back out. She loves playing in the snow and has more of a 'knows what she wants' personality. 

Samson while new to the family couldn't care less about anything else so long as he's always able to be within a foot of me, at minimum. He's still learning about the cats and their tolerance of him; Sophie let's him rough house her all day, she will lay there and just let him beat up on her and get up and go where he can't get her when she's had enough. Ellie is just now starting to play a little with him but it's always a brief play, and Jasper wants no part of it (just yet), I think he'll warm up eventually although I have noticed that lately Samson has found his voice and Japs likes to stand close but not too close and let Samson bark at him. Samson has also completely reminded me what it's like to have a baby in the house again. I bottle fed Sophie and Ellie since they were 4 weeks old, I don't remember them being so much like having an actual baby again.

And lastly number 5 is the stray whom has kind of adopted us as her family. My daughter has named her Cookie-dough and she's still pretty shy but so far still comes around often and seems to want to join our squad. I am still working hard to show her that people aren't bad, I can't quiet figure out her story, she almost seems like she may have been a pet at one point but could have been abandoned. She wants to be petted but doesn't seem to really trust, although each day we make a little more progress. She loves taking walks with Samson when we go and enjoys playing with him, and the other cats don't seem to mind her being around too much. I don't know if she will stay around but I'll take care of her while she's here.

It seems like a lot for everyone else which is why I think I always get to be on the short end of the jokes but for me, each one of them is a joyful piece of my heart. And when we add up all the things I've endured in life, having joyful pieces added to my heart are an incredible blessing. Plus I am accustomed to the short end of the jokes, I was the only blonde in the family. Growing up family dinners were just me listening to dumb blonde jokes the whole time.