Project Fear Less: Adopt kittens! Yes, plural!

Meet the babies:

omgkittenz!

I have been telling people (and myself) that I'm totally going to get a cat...as soon as I'm settled into my new place, and as soon as I have a little money saved up, and as soon as I get back from vacation, and on and on.  But no more.  These are my kittens, Pamina on the left up there and Tamino in the foreground (Tam and Mina for short.  Bonus points if you get the reference; if not, scroll down).

Why is this scary?  Well, first of all, because I am now solely responsible for two little furry lives other than my own.  If I try to fill my day with a lot of outside-the-home stuff to do, that means I'm kept busy (and hopefully happy) but they're left alone here.  (I still work 15-hour days on occasion, which is part of the reason I got two.)  I can't just up and travel if I have a weekend free - I need to make sure that they'll have food, water and a clean litter-box.  It's not one of those actions people think of as huge and life-changing, but the truth is that as I intend to keep them, that decision will affect, to some degree, where I live; where, when and for how long I travel; what I do with my spare time; how I decorate my home and a zillion other things I'm sure to find out.

Another reason this took some guts: it cost money.  Not a small amount.  I have a nice chunk saved up from working so much over the summer and I'm not completely strapped right now, although income has lessened considerably for the school year, but I always get really nervous when it comes to spending largish amounts of money, by which I mean anything over about $75 at one time (unless it's on food, because I take what I eat very seriously and I know how to use things to their fullest potential).  So it takes a couple of deep breaths before I can drop cash on things like decent shoes, for example - I flopped and limped around in not one but TWO different pairs (for work and daily wear) of completely worn-out, pieces-falling-off shoes for months before I bit the bullet and bought new ones.  I'm nervous about a lot of money issues when I really don't need to be - I know how to make and follow a budget, I have multiple sources of income and I have enough meat and fat stockpiled right now to not buy any more food for at LEAST a month, probably more.  If I spent $10 on a few heads of cabbage and made sauerkraut, I could even eat meals resembling normal people food.  But I digress.

Basically, I wanted feline company for a long time, and I kept talking myself out of it even though I knew it would make me happy.  There are other things I want too but have been too afraid to reach for. Enough of that.  Less anxiety and more kittens for everyone!  And a parting thought, from the lovely Things We Forget (well worth a look-see if you're bored on the internet):

Also, KITTEN PAWS!

-N

PS: The story behind the kittens' names is this: we called my grandfather "Papageno," after a character from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute."  Tamino and Pamina are the male and female lead in that opera.  I think he would approve.