I posted this reel on IG a couple days ago. I’m not exaggerating when I say every notification I’ve received up until this morning has been about this reel. There have been hundreds of thousands of notifications. Who knew it would take a three second video of a cat watching the Olympics to garner so much attention? My gray cat, Bubba, used to lie on the same table in front of the television and watch tennis matches. He watched the ball go back-and-forth. Susie prefers the shelter of the lower condo, where she can watch the sports, but also take a snooze if needed. (If Bubba were alive today, he would have his own Instagram page. I would make sure of it.)
There is no way I’m telling her she’s Insta famous. She’s already sassy enough as it is.
It’s true. Today is her birthday and she’s 16. She already wants to go to the mall and hang out. And her boyfriend keeps coming around to the window at night. I know he does. I asked his mother. His name is Stinky, and he’s also a brown tabby. He’s blind in one eye, but that doesn’t stop him from crossing the street and trying to date my daughter.
Stinky, Susie’s boyfriend.
Susie has already started asking for the car keys now that she has a permit. I don’t want her to drive Victoria, because she doesn’t need to go back to the bodyshop. Susie can’t reach the pedals and she doesn’t have opposable thumbs to steer with. Then there’s the “novice driver” fluorescent green sticker that you have to put on your bumper when your teen starts to drive your car. Sigh.
The audacity
She’s already wearing cat eye eyeliner and excessive amounts of necklaces and bracelets. Seriously, I can’t get her to stop wearing them. And she’s always rubbing my phone, trying to take it. She thinks it’s hers. She thinks I don’t know that she’s had her eye on it.
She stays up all night and sleeps all day, and she’s just turning 16. Do you know how much worse it’s gonna get? I can’t even imagine.
I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t been present for her birth. She still plays and eats well, her teeth are in good shape because I’ve only ever given her dry food. She seems content, happy. Her kidneys are failing a bit as most cats‘ kidneys do, due to their very high protein diet, otherwise she’s the same Suze.
(In human years, Susie is 80 years old today.)
Happy birthday, Susie.
Edit: this post was scheduled, but this morning on Susie‘s actual birthday, I heard her beating on the windows downstairs in the basement right before dawn. There must’ve been another cat outside. Luckily she can’t get out and doesn’t go out, because she would be a neighborhood menace. She guards this house like she pays rent. It’s good to see her still scrappy, but not great when she sets off the house alarm and pulls down the curtains. 😼
I had an appointment today at a rather boring location that housed a few special residents. I didn’t realize until I had to fill out paperwork that there was a large aquarium housing jovial fish. I make a beeline for every animal everywhere, so I went to sit alongside these very curious fish. Of course I had to take out my phone to snap photos. They reminded me of aquatic puppies because they were so friendly and curious. I like to think they were curious about me, but they were probably curious about whether or not I had any food for them.
Anyway, the friendliest fish was Lawrence (yes, I named him that today):
See? He’s even smiling. Tell me he’s not a professional model and I’ll tell you you’re wrong.
He hit all the angles.
Look at his tiny fin! 😍
Then his buddy Earl swam up to see what was going on.
Sorry, Earl, I don’t have any food for you, but I do appreciate your stripes.
“It's Amy,” I said. 