The Calico

I have been feeding a new little feral cat family that has been hanging out in my yard. There's a mama and three babies, all adorable. They are feral, so they don't get close enough to let me pet them, but they do let me hang out on the front porch with them. They keep their distance, but they are comfortable romping around, eating, and sitting in my general vicinity. The babies are probably five or six months old now. I've been trying to get them to warm up to me so that I can bring them inside -- not that I need any more cats in the house, but they are so cute and so sweet, and I want them to have a nice home. They don't last very long outside.

The most adorable baby was a long-haired calico with snowy-white fur that had grey and pumpkin-colored splotches. One of the prettiest cats I've ever seen, and very sweet. She was the bravest one and would almost get close enough to me so that I could pet her. She'd mew at me and sit and watch me with a quizzical look on her sweet little face. Two Thursdays ago, she showed up for breakfast as usual. When I got home from work that day, I walked across the street to check the mail. On my way back, I saw her lying dead on the side of the street.

I called my vet's office and asked if I could bring her in to be cremated, and they said yes -- thank goodness, because it's nearly impossible to dig a hole in my back yard -- too much rock -- and I wasn't about to just leave her on the side of the road like that. I cried all night long, and off and on for the next week.

Her two little siblings are still hanging around, and their mama still comes at feeding time. I'm still hoping to get them to come inside.

Time for an update

More changes on the job front for me: Both the attorney I was working for (Did I give her a pretend name yet? Let's call her Michelle.) and I got laid off last week. This came as no surprise, since our paychecks had been late the previous two weeks in a row. Apparently the firm's line of credit has been reduced due to the economic crisis, and there have been other cash flow problems, as well. Also not surprising since the firm is not managed very well at all.

In any event, this actually turned out to be good news for me. I did enjoy the work I was doing there, and I really enjoyed the attorney I worked for, but the firm's aforementioned management problems had become increasingly annoying, and more than anything I wished I could go back to work for my previous boss in the same building (the job I was laid off from two years ago when one of the partners retired). Well, I am going back to that job tomorrow. My old boss is hiring me back part-time, and I am thrilled. Now I'll be doing the work I enjoy, for a boss I love working for, on a great part-time schedule. I've been considering going part-time for awhile now due to the worsening RA, so this is perfect. My last day at work was Thursday, and I boxed up my stuff and just took it upstairs and put it on my old desk, which is untouched from the way I left it in June of 2006.

Now I just hope Michelle will be able to find a new job quickly. The legal market is tight right now, and she's very worried.