Snapshots from August

August was a busy month. I was working full time the first 3weeks and the last week we got ready for our trip, that means visiting family, buying the few things we would need for a one-month vacation, having all the paperwork(more or less) in order.

Was I drunk when I took this picture or what?

Him. This little bugger here put us through so much trouble. One of our main things on our to-do list before going was bringing him to a friend of mine so she would look after him for the whole month of september for us. But that didn't go according to plan. 

It's getting harder and harder to let him go for a month and also to find someone who is willing to look after him for a whole month(that means no going away for a weekend and lots of attention because he craves cuddles and attention). It's getting harder because the more I know him, the more I empathise and realize what hell it must be for him to be carried away from his home and spend time in an unknown place with someone he might or might not know, but since cats are more attached to places than people, it means it will always be trouble unless someone spends the whole month with him at our apartment.

Well, three days before our departure day we brought him to my friend. She loves cats and I thought that would be easy since she had all the experience. Boy, was I wrong. 

I was pretty stressed out because he made quite a fuss when we put him in his travel box. He used to go in there so easily. I was feeling so terrible. It was really nerve wrecking, and unfortunatelly, it was probably more on his part than on mine(and I was a total mess, he probably felt it too).

As soon as we opened his travel box at my friend's place, he got out all hissy and mad. We let him roam around a little while, he was still hissing. We said good bye to my friend and told her to call if she needed anything. I sent her a text when we got back to our place to ask if he had calmed down a little. She said no but that she could manage. She called an hour later, he had attacked her(nothing too bad but she got really scared) and was now on her bed, hissing every time she came near.

So at 11pm, I was in my PJ's on the metro with Greg getting Hopi back.

He got back to normal as soon as we got back home. All sweetness and big beautiful innocent eyes.

In the end, I called a friend of my brother's, Jordan, who looked after Hopi a couple of times before (and both times for a month), he agreed to keep him for two weeks and my Mom had no choice but to have him at her place for the last couple of weeks of september.

My adorable Grand Pa drove all the way to Paris to help us bring Hopi to Jordan's place. It took him nearly two hours to get here and then another two to Jordan's. My Grand Pa is a saint, Jordan is not bad either, agreeing to look after my cat at the last minute like that.

I didn't want Hopi to go through public transportation again, I thought going by car would be easier on him. It wasn't much better. It was rush hour and took way longer than it should have.

But we got there eventually and Jordan was all sweet about it. I felt so much better. I knew Hopi was in good hands.

But what an emotionnal roller coaster for all of us.

Next year, I'm really thinking of paying someone to visit him everyday so we don't have to tear him from his home. It would be ideal if I could find someone to live here with him. But I don't know how I could find such a life saver.

'Life's a bitch'