Sallycat is back in the house

While we were busy with wedding doings, and guests coming and going, and Bob out of town for eighteen days, and the granddaughter here, and then great niece Karen here, the cat was banished to the garage. I had a fan going out there, and the doors cracked open for air, and so the neighborhood cats were also coming and going---eating Sallycat's food, and helping themselves to Sallycat's water and liter box. I don't mind feeding the neighborhood. It seemed a small price to pay to keep Sallycat out. Sallycat does not get along with the neighborhood cats. Many a day I'd see the neighbor's cat chase Sallycat up a tree. Sometimes there was major hissing and re-arranging of items in the garage and the fur would fly as they worked out their peace. (more like taking pieces of Sallycat's fur out in clumps)

Next door, we have counted at least three or four adult cats, and presently, three teenage-size kittens. They are so cute as they patrol the yard, pounce on each other and every moving grasshopper and bug. They have gotten somewhat used to me hauling out dirty clothes, and feeding the washer and dryer.

I'd prefer that Sallycat be an outside only cat. She has some bad habits when inside, and I don't like a cat walking around the counters where we eat, nor the beds. Those same paws that just dug through the cat litter walking about where we eat is just gross. And the butter must be covered at all times, because Sallycat is a butter licker.

Something about the Skype noises drive Sallycat over the edge. That and our singing. Whenever we sing, she yeowls. And whenever we Skype or test the video or sound in order to be ready for that call that might come in from Alaska, Sallycat comes from wherever she was sleeping/hiding from the vacuum cleaner, and claws us as if to say, stop, it hurts my ears.

Sallycat is James' cat, but what with the many training schools and moves, and now too small apartment, James has no room. And Sallycat is getting old, and set in her ways. I have had to pray about my attitude toward Sallycat, because I will not risk a cat scratching a child in our house. And there is murder in my heart because I want her outside and Bob wants her inside with all her bad habits. Bob thinks I should be punished because I insisted on getting Sallycat, and cats are forever in his mind, and shall not be disposed of until they commit some unforgiveable crime. So, it is my lot, and my punishment to endure this cat that sheds, and scratches and walks on the counter. Counters can be scrubbed, and hair vacuumed. Sheets can be washed---and it is easier to cover the blankets and comforters with a sheet to protect the beds from the cat hair. We shut the door to the back guest room. That saves a lot of cleaning.

I have had cats put down for spraying my windows. And Ben's cat Marbles was put down because she scooted her butt across the carpet leaving a trail daily. Bob says we should house James' cat as a service and gift to him. James loves his cat. Therefore, I don't want Sallycat to die on my watch. It is so sad that she does not get along with other cats. Bob lets her walk all over his chair, computer laptop, armrest. He calls her a good cat, but I doubt he'd miss her for long if she wandered away.

I'll never forget how she dissappeared when James was in junior high and came back on his birthday as an answer to prayer. Because James loved his cat, and we were afraid she'd been hit or taken. The cat with the best personality, Ben's Hannahcat, died of cat leukemia. Sallycat does not even purr. But, she can scale a tree in a flash. Sallycat treewalker.

Maybe God puts a Sallycat in my life to teach me to get along with others---all others, even the ones I don't particularly like. The prickly ones. The whiners. The inconvenient ones. The ones who throw up on the carpet and make me gag. The ones that bite and scratch. The hungry ones. The thirsty. The stupid. The ones that yowl and pounce and are afraid of their own shadow. The ones who don't get along with their neighbors. The immature, and needy, and the ones who hate vacuum cleaners. The ones that want you to wait on them. The ones who are so tired all the time. But, know that if you harm my family, I will hunt you down and send you to kitty heaven. I will treat you for fleas and spoil you with greenies (cat treats) and give you fresh water (even though you'd prefer to drink out of the faucet fresh running water) and you will never go hungry here...but, if you do not like it here, if the accommodations are too small or too crowded, feel free to move on.

And I will continue to pray that God give me His Love for you. Because my love is flawed. conditonal. emotional. moody. lazy even. God's Love is perfect, pure, full of patience, kindness, longsuffering, and God's Love serves, gives, speaks quietly, pets gently. Sallycat is God's creature. But, I think she has an old cat nature, and needs daily grace, just like me.