with maudie now gone...

my hairball family has shrunk to dixie-chick who loathes me, frodo: the cat who would be king, daphne: little miss bossy and a red whirling wonder named phoebe.

so how is it going with phoebe being the newest member of my family?

surprizingly enough...it is ok.

ever since i gave her her very own closet, i think she has done pretty good. i think she appreciated the time and effort i put into making her own spot around here nice for her. i let her in when she asks...and i let her out when she wants and phoebe enjoys having a personal door(wo)man who does her job really well.

she is sleeping better cuz she doesn't have to blow a gasket each time someone walks too close to her bed and like all of us..phoebe is nicer to be around when she feels properly rested. and it seems the less she gets into trouble the more she likes not being in trouble so a gentle reminder will now make her stop and think before she is in really deep shit again.

and phoebe is growing up a little too lately. tyra and maude have always been her big sisters...and i do think she feels their loss. they were literally the only ones she consistently had any respect for at all. she drove tyra nutz with always being in her face.."look at me tyra!...look at me tyra!..can you see me? i am bouncing right here under your feet!"...and with maude? believe it or not..phoebe has always been a little afraid of her. maude has never been shy about screaming right in phoebe's ear...as soon as phebes starts barking and bouncing..maude got right into her face. even in the last days when maude was so out to lunch, as soon as the red whirler start whirling, maude was there to tell her to shut the hell up. i think phoebe feels their loss...they were the brave and daring and constant anchors in phoebe's big storms.

maybe now she is learning to anchor herself...that would be nice for us all.

anyway...having phoebe as part of my odd furry family is actually on the whole... pretty much... mostly... ok.