Ever the little beauty, though!December 21, 2020:
It’s odd. I don’t have any record of this vet visit. Not a receipt. Nothing in Krista’s Care thread. Probably an ultrasound and IV fluids based on what got shaved. You would think that would be a pretty big deal. Whether it was the lymphoma or the chemo, her fur never fully grew back.
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I’m crying over how thin she was here. She was a fighter and a lover. But she really was an ill cat. 
I’m relieved that she is not suffering anymore. But this is going to be a hard week! 
I know. Four months for us, too, after losing our beloved angel Tarifa, just a few days after you lost Krista. We are so grateful that they are not in pain and suffering! and it is so hard for us to remain behind without them. I remember how Tar would give me love bites, try to chew on my hair, and shiver her tail at me when she was ecstatically happy. I remember her walking the hall with her "kills", bellowing. There are so many precious memories.I was looking for a “recent” photo of Krista to compare the arm fur. I can’t believe it’s been over 4 months now. And yet sometimes, like when I see this photo from the end of July, it feels like it’s been only four days.
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I've stayed in some nice rooms around town for a pretty decent rate. Last year, I was feeding Krista too often to leave her alone and I wasn't going to ask a sitter to work Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. And anyway, she had already stayed with me in a hotel three times that autumn. So last year, Krista got to spend Christmas Eve with me in the hotel for the first time. There will be pictures of that coming in a few days. But this year, I don't risk staying in a hotel because of Covid concerns. And no Krista this year for the first time in 14 years. And since there was only a month of between cats gap in the summer that I got Krista, this will be the first holidays I've spent without a furball companion in nearly two decades.
She may go in the closet until I can find a better place for her. It’s a walk-in closet. I’ll hang her on the back wall. She won’t get buried with the other junk in the closet. I just don’t know if I’m ready to look at this cutout all day, every day. Yet. Also, I wish I chose a fatter photo. Like one of the iconic kitchen counter shots. 
Beautiful "fat" Krista pix! It looks as if she thoroughly enjoyed that time there with you. I really love the second pic -- she looks like she's dancing! Lovely.Krista did come home for Christmas!
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She finally gets to sit in that tree that arrived after she passed. And wouldn’t you know it? She’s too fat for it!
I’m not sure where to hang this. That’s a lot of Krista! It’s also shaped like a tombstone 🪦
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The second one is what I call her Thriller pose (after the Michael Jackson song and video of the the same name.)
Yes, that's what that pose reminded me of, too -- love MJJ!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! And loving the vocalizings. Is that a mewrrr? or a purrrroww?Don’t forget to swipe for the other two pictures: “Krista on a cloud” and “Not a creature was stirring, not even a bookcase cat.”
It’s a trill meow. And while this one is cuter with the more diminutive meow, this is essentially the triple tap sound on my phone now. The trill alone is a double tap. And yet somehow, when I set my phone down on a desk, it’s the triple tap that’s registered. I hear a more insistent meow. And every time, like instinct. Like old times. I say back to her something like, “Indeed, little one!”
I might never get any work done at all, if I did something like that. I love going back through my files and listening to little video clips of Tarifa, and others, too. They're here with me once again when I'm watching and listening.It’s a trill meow. And while this one is cuter with the more diminutive meow, this is essentially the triple tap sound on my phone now. The trill alone is a double tap. And yet somehow, when I set my phone down on a desk, it’s the triple tap that’s registered. I hear a more insistent meow. And every time, like instinct. Like old times. I say back to her something like, “Indeed, little one!”
You know what's distracting right now? A nearly three foot Krista sitting in the tree opposite my desk. Giving me a feed me look. Good thing I didn't have to keep up with this Krista's appetite.
I'm warming up to her cutout. I mean how can I say no to that face?
That's a great idea!!!You know what's distracting right now? A nearly three foot Krista sitting in the tree opposite my desk. Giving me a feed me look. Good thing I didn't have to keep up with this Krista's appetite.
I'm thinking about how to get a custom mounting and framing. I'd like the background to place her back in a ballpark seat. I'd like to honor the summer that she sat in the stands when none of us could. Instead of just having a freakishly large cardboard cutout of her.
I have plenty of bin storage and two full toy bins. I haven't had the heart to go through them yet. Do catnip mice "expire"? Should I be re-gifting the unused mice rather than waiting for NC?
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What an adorable Krista waiting for something different! "But Dad, I don't WANT first breakfast! I want to see what's in those feeders and then -- and only then -- might I eat something!"I have plenty of bin storage and two full toy bins. I haven't had the heart to go through them yet. Do catnip mice "expire"? Should I be re-gifting the unused mice rather than waiting for NC?
And don't get me started on stairs. I have plenty of Katris pieces. OC is just starting to discover how to use the kitchen stairs. He followed me back to my unit a couple times recently.
And then there is the staircase to nowhere by the front door.
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I never could find a place for it. I parked it there by the door. And there is where it remains. It's not a bad mud room table for setting things down on my way in or out. Or support for changing into/out of shoes.
("Soon, Krista. The feeders will open soon. Go finish first breakfast."
*I won't say how happy it makes me reading about OC.*
So I got her her own nightstand and her own glass. 
