At home with the girls

Dear Diary,

Two posts in one day, go figure but yet here I am.

This morning after church we had the monthly fellowship meal followed by the second service before arriving home mid-afternoon. We fed Isla and hoped she would go back to sleep but no success until 25 minutes ago so here I am, dinner eaten, baby sleeping and I have free time to blog.
First an update on our furry girls. When we drove back to Denver, we took them with us. Pearl was good but Dixie, well, let's just say she is not a travelling type of cat. At mom and dad's they were able to go outside most of the day if they wanted too but here they can't and they're both getting bored. My poor girls sit on the door mat leading outside and just look at me to let them out. As a consolation we let them on the balcony now again throughout the day and while we can trust Pearl not to jump we can't with Dixie, she is a bit more daring. Being on the third floor doesn't mean she won't try to jump and I certainly don't put it past her to try.

While I was unpacking the boxes Pearl made herself at home in one of them. It's so cute, she sleeps in it all night (when she isn't on our bed) and I have a feeling it may become part of the living room furniture. I've seen Dixie try to jump in once but Pearl was quick to chase her out.
Dixie loves the sun that comes into our bedroom in the morning and will stay there until lunch or so but usually she just wanders around and does her own thing. I think boredom might be catching up with her though as the last few days she has been getting a bit rowdy with Pearl and it's not uncommon to see her chase Pearl around the house, swat her over the head or start a fight. Last night Colin was in our walk-in closet where we have a box of clothes yet to be unpacked. Typically he puts his dirty clothes on it so I'm not sure how he saw her but Dixie must have wiggled her way in the box and was having a snooze!
She's in there if you can see her...
One thing they both love to do is walk on the upper kitchen cabinets. I've been thinking of attaching a duster to their tails so they can make themselves useful for once!
They are good and just like kids when they get bored they get into things and look for things to do. When our lease on the apartment is up in June 2009 we plan on renting a house so they can have a patch of grass to look for bugs and do whatever else cats like to do. Having them with us is nice, it makes the apartment feel like home. I'm sure they miss bossing poor Ziggy around but I don't think they miss getting chased and growled at by Tasha!
Isla loves them too and she watches them run around the apartment but it gets annoying when feeding her as she has to turn around to watch them!
Now to our beautiful cheeky girl. This is how we found her yesterday in her bed. She wiggles all over the place and for some reason she gets under the bumper pad. We usually move her when we find her like this just in case she can't breathe but despite looking really uncomfortable, she sleeps quite soundly.
This next photo is for my mom. This is the coat you bought her. It's a bit snug as it's a size 3 to 6 months but we managed to get it on her although getting her in her car seat with it on is another story. I'm not sure how much longer she is going to be able to wear it...
Colin and I have learned that Isla is always learning something new. It's exciting for us and judging by her smiles, it's exciting for her too. The last few weeks of me waving at her like a mad woman has paid off, she started to wave on her own. Here she is sitting in her room waving at the cars driving past her window.
ahhh...
I think it is safe to say all our girls are happy as we are. Colin was home from work on Thursday and Friday and is taking tomorrow off as well. It's been well over a year since our last holiday together (unless you count the time he took time off after Isla's birth) so we've enjoyed finally being together relaxing and just doing whatever we feel like. However tomorrow we have to take care of the van. In order to register the van in Colorado the van has to pass an emissions test and we have to finalize transferring my State Farm car insurance from Canada to here. We have to complete the registration process within thirty days of arriving in the state but we have 3 months to take care of our drivers' licenses. I've been told from a reliable Canadian source that this process may not be as easy and straightforward. Before we are allowed to exchange our drivers' licences we first have to visit the Social Security office to obtain proof that we are not entitled to a social security number. At least my Canadian drivers' licence will be exchanged, I think Colin will have to do a driving test but he assures that it's not a problem, he's a good driver. Whatever, we'll see. Just to deflate that ego of his I hope he fails his first test! :-)
To answer a few questions concerning the election, no we didn't vote, we're not Americans. I did vote when I was in Canada during the last federal election in October. I wonder how many Americans knew there was an election but I don't think a conservative Prime Minister and a Liberal President are going to do much in terms of cross-border relations... Oh well, I don't really follow politics so I'll leave that analysis for those that do...
'Til next time,
Heather, Colin & Isla (Pearl and Dixie)