My cat Pepper

OK the last post was just bitch bitch bitch.  This one should be happier, because I love my babies.

In 1998, my cat Mushie passed away due to kidney related complications.  She was 22- 1/2 years old.  Yeah, that isn't a typo.  I'd only had her for a few years, but she was my girl.  A few months later, I already missed having a cat, so I started looking online at various shelters and rescues, just trying to see who was out there and if anyone popped out at me.  Well sure enough... I found Pepper.

Pepper was about 2 years old at the time, living in a foster home in Falls Church.  She'd been rescued from the streets of Singapore the previous summer and brought to the US with 8 other cats.  The group that sponsored this included a woman in Singapore, KLM airlines and a few people here in the US.  Pepper was the last of the bunch to be adopted.  I emailed immediately.  The next day I recieve a call from the foster "mom" saying that my story about living in Indonesia and then having Mushie sold her on giving me the opportunity.  Pepper, I was told, was not an easy cat to deal with.  I thought, "ah whatever, I can do it".  She had a boy kitten buddy but at the time I could only take her.  They brought both over though, with the thought that Bamboo would make things easier.  Just for the afternoon. 

That night, Pepper still wouldn't have much to do with me, so I left her alone.  I could hear her charging up and down the hall... I swear it sounded like elephants.  Occasionally I'd sneak up and see what she was doing, and she'd stop, meow at me (which sounded more like a wounded goat than a cat) and then start her running up and down again.

As we got to know each other, I learned how sweet she could be one minute, and then how nasty the next.  Getting out of the shower was usually a challenge.  Pepper liked to attack feet.  Two towels became mandatory.  But on the flipside, at night, in bed, Pepper would curl up next to me under the covers and purr until she fell asleep. 

Eight months after we'd first met, we moved into an apartment (I'd been living with my boyfriend at the time).  I called the foster "mom" and asked if she still had Bamboo, which she did.  So she brought him over to the apartment one Saturday morning, and they remembered each other.  By that time though, Pepper had become my shadow so whenever I left the room, she followed me.  This made the foster "mom" happy to see and Bamboo's adoption to me a done deal.  I'll post on him sometime.

To this day, Pepper is my girl.  She is now about 13 years old and as healthy as she could be, thankfully.  Her fur has doubled in length, and her attitude has mellowed.  I still warn people, because she isn't perfect.  She is still my shadow and sleeps under the covers with me.

My family... sigh (boring venting post)

I know everyone has a family member that makes them at least cringe, if not crazy.  I have several that make me crazy.  And probably many of them can say the same about me.  I need to vent, so most of this post is going to be negative.  Just lettin' ya know.

My father is old, I am the oldest and he was 38 when I was born.  He was an only child and his father passed away when he was 17.  That sucks.  He and my mom married but that was probably a bad idea.  I was born, planned.  My siblings were surprises... well I say that but actually my brother has turned out to be more of a disaster.  Anyway, my parents separated ages and ages ago, but didn't divorce until my mom wanted to remarry.  About that time, my father went online and found himself a filipina who is 2 days older than my younger sister, and she brought along her then 5 year old child, who my father adopted.  YUCK YUCK!  He didn't even really tell us until just as he was heading for the airport to fly to Manila to get them.  I've met them two times, fortunately they, up until August, lived in California.  Now they are in TN... I am not sure why but its still a long drive and I'm not going to make it.

My sister is probably the least annoying to me.  We don't have much in common and probably wouldn't be friends if it weren't for our relation. However, on the occasion we hang out, she's ok.  More into shopping and trendy clothes, going to clubs and doing the girly thing.  She's kinda religious but thankfully doesn't bug me about it.  She has similar feelings about the rest of our family so we spend a lot of time on the phone bitching about everyone.  My friends and I call her the "Fun Police" because she can be highly critical of the things we do like watching hockey and football all the time, standing around a fire in the middle of winter drinking beer, ziplining, etc.

My brother, well he's IS a disaster, as I mentioned before.  Arrested multiple times, mostly for stupid things like DUI, drunk in public, etc.  Once he got pulled over and they found coke in his car, but he swears it wasn't his.  This guy just has some major brain issues I think, because he is always getting nailed for stupid things.  Currently, he is in jail on an assault charge.  My mom swears its BS, I don't really know though.  Maybe... he didn't even hurt anyone but he had a sock full of stones when he went to this woman's house to demand she repay him the $3500 she owed.  He'd already taken her to court but despite the judgement against her, she still hadn't paid him.  Stupid.  I don't really have anything to do with him.  I've helped my parents research stuff regarding his continuing screw ups, so they can't complain too much that I don't care.

The biggest thorn in my side when it comes to family though... is my mother.  This woman, I just can't even figure out where to begin.  She is critical of EVERYTHING.  She complains and bitches about EVERYTHING.  Its absolutely amazing.  Nothing is good enough, no one is good enough.  Currently, the only thing on her mind is my brother.  OK she is worried about her 28 year old kid, who is and has always been a screw up.  But hello woman it would be nice to have a conversation with you about something other than him once in a while.  So I've pretty much stopped calling, and haven't been over to her house in a while.  Her husband is cool though.  Not sure how he puts up with her.  Even my sister is tired of her crap. 

One positive thing I can say though, is that our parents really did try to exposed us to as many types of music, religions, cultures, art, etc. as they could.  Every "vacation" we took included museums, historical sites, cultural activities, not just lay on the beach or ride the rides at an amusement park vacation.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and honestly I can say for me, it was a good thing.