Hooptedoodle

Busy but very fun week...dinner and drinks with a group of friends on Sunday, martinis at Elixir on Tuesday, Thursday was Harpoon with J1 and her awesome family (and some very interesting music...that bastard totally ruined Prince's When Doves Cry for me) and Saturday was "Second Christmas" in the form of the huge book sale at the high school and lunch with J1. Great week, spending time with good friends and catching up.

I had dinner with my family but took a little time to myself today to. I watched a couple of movies (Old School and Return of the Jedi), read, did a little cleaning and just hung out. It is going to take me a looonnnggg time to get through the three bags of books I bought at the book sale. I can't help it...I love books. Books, Shoes and Animals.

Speaking of animals but really cats, B stayed with my parents while I was away and when I came back, my father expressed his surprise at how much he has calmed down. It's true because he used to be extremely aggressive. Then, he was just a bit aggressive. Now, he hardly shows any aggression at all. When I say aggressive, I mean that he would just attack me for no reason...come up behind me and bite and scratch me. I have many scars on my arms and legs from his attacks. I got to the point where I knew what his signals were and when he was going to attack and I would prepare myself. His tail would wag, his ears would go back just a little and his pupils would dilate. Then, I would usually grab him and give him "time out" in the bathroom until he calmed down.

However, I have noticed over the past year, B has really started to mellow out. He started to get a little better in my last place, but I really noticed a difference when we were staying at my brother's. Since we moved into the condo, he has had only a couple acts of aggression (both being him sneaking up behind me and biting me on the ass...wish I could say I was making that up, but I'm not). The funny thing though is that the two times he did that, it didn't seem so much aggressive and attacking me as he wanted to play.

When I first got him, he wouldn't let anyone near his food, hated plastic bags, wouldn't let me hold him, was aggressive and would attack any person or animal, etc. Now, he lets me brush him and he will let me hold him for about 15 seconds before he wants to get down. He sits next to me and watches movies. He loves to play toys with me and doesn't get aggressive. He doesn't do surprise ninja attacks anymore. He has now climbed in my lap on two different occasions and sat for about five minutes. The change in this cat is amazing. J and I were talking about it and we both think that cats that have been abused or abandoned need the time to build up trust in humans again. I am so happy that B has finally gotten to the point where he trusts me to take care of him and not abandon him. And it only took 5 1/2 years.