I know the holiday begins at sundown, so I should probably wait until tomorrow to wish you a Happy Hanukkah.

But tomorrow is Wednesday, & that would mean cancelling Happy Hunk Day…which I’m pretty sure would cause a Dungeon-wide riot! :smiley58

It’s Top Secret everything here in The Dungeon lately!  On the heels of last month’s very sad news about Miss Precious, I feel it’s only fair to share a bit of good news that I’ve been keeping to myself for going on two months now.  (Though you may have gotten a hint from this post back in late October; I led you to believe it was research for a work-in-progress, but it was really related to this… :smiley78 )

And here’s the refrain—sung to the tune of “The Theme from The Brady Bunch“—that keeps going through my head:

Here’s the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up two very lovely girls.
Both of them had hair of gray…unlike their mother…the youngest one with curls (in her ears).
Till the one day when this lady had some trouble…

In an attempt to make a very long story at least a little bit shorter, let’s just say that the day this happened, I had a lot of running around to do.  But when I got to town a bit ahead of my first appointment, I realized that the frozen raw cat food I’d just purchased & that had to be kept frozen was still on the porch—not in the freezer where it definitely needed to be.  Aack!  As much as I hated to, I really had no choice but to turn around & race home to get that taken care of. :smiley64

So I pull up to the house, take two steps away from the car, & from around the back of the garage comes a little gray kitty cat.  I’d seen it (him? her?) wandering around the house before, but was ever so hopeful it belonged somewhere else & would wander off again.  Well, this time, it came right up to me, sweet as a damn button.  Purring, rubbing.  And you know furry cuteness is my freaking Kryptonite!  But I was going to be strong, truly I was.  Until I happened to pick it (him? her?) up & take a closer look. :smiley68

“It” was a girl.  And we all know that if they’re left unsprayed, female cats can start popping out litters upon litters of kittens every few months beginning at the age of 6 months. :smiley63   (Which is not to say male cats aren’t equally guilty of the overpopulation problem, but…well, you know how that goes. :smiley52 )  But not on my watch!

I ran inside to get a bowl of food for her, then while she was eating, I ran inside again & picked up the phone to call my veterinarian.  These folks are so amazing to me! :smiley61  I explained the situation, which A.) amused them to no end, but B.) didn’t surprise them one bit. :smiley53   Because they’re awesome & know me ever so well, they agreed to let me bring the little girl right in, where they’d test her for FIV/FeLV, etc.  (Always the first step when it comes to a new kiddo, before any other actions are taken or decisions are made.)  And they very generously said that they had an opening the next day, so if her tests came back clean, they could keep her overnight & spay her first thing the next morning.  Huzzah!  How perfect would that be? :smiley33

Into a carrier she went, & off we headed back to town.  (Thankfully the same town I’d been in earlier that day & still needed to be in later that afternoon. :smiley62 )  After I dropped her off at the vet’s office, I went on with the must-dos of my day.  The entire time, though, I was nervous & concerned, worrying that her blood tests would come back positive the way Simon’s had only weeks before.  Finally, a couple hours later, my cell phone rang; it was one of the vet techs telling me the tests had all come back negative.  (Thank God!)  And telling me again that if I wanted her spayed, they could keep her & do it the following morning.  So of course I said yes.  The whole point was to get her altered to avoid even more unwanted, homeless kittens from entering the world, whether I ended up keeping her or finding her a home with someone else.

Keep in mind, I had no idea what I was going to do with her after that.  I was still living under the cloud of fear *Simon’s FeLV+ diagnosis had caused, worrying not only about him, but about the other Kittehs, & knowing I couldn’t bring another healthy cat into a possibly unhealthy home.  :smiley74   But you do what you have to do to save the world—one animal at a time—& my mindset was that I’d figure it out later.

Jump ahead to post-surgery…  The little gray darling had to be kept isolated for at least 10 days while she recovered, & also until she could receive the FeLV vaccine & booster—again, in case she was going to be running freely in the house with *FeLV+ Simon.  All in all, I was going to have to keep her in a room by herself for up to 4 weeks.  Thus began intense babysitting & double-duty for me while I took care The Kittehs, as usual, plus Miss Precious’s special needs, & the baby in “her” room…not wanting anyone to feel lonely or neglected.  It was quite the workout, let me tell you! :smiley79

But to wrap things up, can you guess what happened?  You guessed it—the little gray kitty who we temporarily called Smokey Jo because of her beautifully colored fur is now named Pippa and she is officially a permanent member of the Betts Brood.  I adore her & could go on for days & days about all of her wonderful, positive attributes.  She’s adorable & sweet & quiet & friendly & playful & adorable &…  Yeah, days & days. :smiley60

I will say this, though:  Pippa arrived almost one month to the day before Precious passed away.  At first, all I could think was that I didn’t need another cat.  Now, all I can think is that I actually needed her more than anything.  As Madam Mommy Dearest said, “God knows what He’s doing.”  I think He brought Pippa to me, knowing I was going to need her love & playfulness, her youth & distraction of her newness to get me through the heartbreak of losing my sweet, oldest baby girl.  She kept me busy when I wanted to crawl under the covers & never come out…& she made me smile when I didn’t think there was anything to smile about.

When I was at the vet’s office with Pippa that very first day, I said to my long-time doctor, “It happened again!  What am I going to do?  Do you think I should keep her?”  And he replied, “I don’t know if you should, but I think you will.  Even if you find someone willing to take her, I don’t know if they’ll meet your standards of pet parenting.”  (I’m telling you, these people know me tooooo well. :smiley73 )

Well, not only would I not look for someone to take her at this point, I’d fight to the death anyone who tried! :smiley70

(*NOTE:  In case you missed it, a few weeks ago I received the AMAZING news that Simon is actually FeLV-negative! :smiley56   It took some added testing & more than a bit of panicked fretting, but I am hugely relieved to once again be a Feline Leukemia-free household!  And I no longer have to worry about Pippa or any of the other Kittehs.  Whew!)

Happy Sunday, my Darlings!  How are you doing only a week & a half before Christmas?

This week, I AM HAPPY that I got the Art Fact Sheets filled out & turned in for Top Shhecret Project #1.  I still can’t talk about it—sorry! :smiley75 —but that sort of thing always stumps me a bit & takes me forever to complete, so having at least one (of three) out of the way is a big plus! :smiley77

I AM HAPPY that I’ve gotten all of my Christmas shopping & holiday errands done well ahead of time, including packages & cards in the mail.  Granted, I don’t do as much as most people; my policy is to keep things simple & cut as many corners as possible. :smiley73  But still, for what I tend to do each year, I am more caught up than usual.

I AM HAPPY that it turns out another of The Kittehs—Mr. Tigger—loves the heated bed I ordered for Miss Precious the week before she died.  She was so thin & frail that she had a hard time maintaining her body heat, & I wanted her to have something really warm to sleep on this winter.  Well, it arrived a couple of days after I lost her, & I couldn’t even bring myself to open the box; it was too painful a reminder, & I didn’t quite know what I was going to do with it now that she was no longer around.  But eventually, I did open the box & set up the new bed, just to see what The Kittehs would do.  Next thing you know, Tigger is curled up sound asleep on it & he’s barely left it since. :smiley62   I’m so glad—not only that it’s being used, but that he loves it so very much!

Last, but definitely, definitely not least, I AM HAPPY with the adorable gifties the wonderful Darling Hollie sent me for my birthday!    Yes, I’m a bit late in conveying my appreciation, but in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s been kind of a rough, busy month.  Plus, I’m terrible about taking pictures & then getting them sent to the computer so I can add them to posts. :smiley79

My tardiness aside, she sent me the most adorable skull & crossbones hand towel—which she topped & decorated herself, I’m certain!—& a matching pair of toe socks.  Clearly, she knows my tastes quite well…I am all about Halloweeny stuff, & during the winter months I live in toe socks! :smiley60

Thank you, Darling Hollie, from the top of my skull to the tips of my toasty-warm toes. :smiley33

So how about you?  What great stuff has been going on with you this week?  Do you have any news to share, or simply a few things you want to mention that you’re thankful for?  Whatever it is making you happy, we want to hear! :smiley57