So, the major life event that I never blogged about (didn't wanna jinx anything) is complete. We are now home owners (well, co-op owners, we don't own a house I suppose, just part of it).

We closed and moved last week. There are people that like to pack and there are people that like to unpack. I hate packing, not because it's boring (although it is), but because I can't shake the feeling that as soon as I pack something I'm going to need it. So what if I have all my bank statements going back to when I was in college, and I haven't used them in years? I may need them tomorrow! You never know!

So, as soon as the movers left I was ripping boxes open so that we could get settled in as quickly as possible. The older I get, the more I feel the need to "nest" once in a new home.

My main concern was my cat. When we first moved to our last apartment she hid behind the radiator for two days and wouldn't budge. Here, she was running up and down the hallway leading to the main bedroom at 3 a.m., waking up both us and our new downstairs neighbors in the process. She hasn't done that since she was about six months old.

Owning your own place is odd, there's now this huge shadow looming over you due to this new mortgage that everyone except you is convinced that you can afford. But, there's a certain happiness that overcomes you when you unlock the door and walk into your living room after work. This place is yours.

I'm just loving the new place. It's so great not living right on top of Smith Street anymore. It's not that our old place was terribly noisy, but there were the too frequent wake-up calls from the bar-goers next door (buy us a couple beers and ask us for a few good stories) and it feels a bit more calming to leave your apartment and not be right on a main street. I can also sleep through the night without hearing the latest reggaeton track blasting from the cars on the street.

No Daddy Yankee at four o'clock in the morning... it's a good thing.

So, apparently some cats can see cathode ray TV pictures and some can't. This is why some kitties will start swatting at the TV frantically when Animal Planet is on, and some will wonder why their parental guardians are just staring at this box instead of petting them.

My cat was of the latter variety until we got the new idiot box. Then I realized something while I was watching Equator on Discovery HD - my cat was flipping the fuck out.

I can't remember what animal it was, but to my cat it looked like a really really really big dog, it was running really fast, and that was enough. On my way to the kitchen I realized that her eyes were fixated on the TV, her heart was beating a thousand beats a minute, and she was panting as if she just ran a marathon.

After a few commercial breaks she seemed to realize no animals were going to go jumping out of the big box, so when the focus of the program turned to seagulls Larry decided to get a closer look. She sat right in front of the TV and watched the birds fly by. When they flew off the screen, she looked at the side of the room wondering where they went.

I often wonder what she thinks the TV actually is. My best guess is that she thinks it's a new window that's popped up out of nowhere. Whenever I watch a nature program now, I call Larry over to look at the animals with me, and try to figure out what on Earth my cat could be thinking.

my cat is absolutely terrified by the street cleaner that goes down our block a few times a week. the vehicle makes this kind of low vibrating noise as it eases down the road at like, 5 mph, so there is a bit of a rumbling in the bedroom when it's outside. but dude, if you were a cat, and you spent 24 hours a day in the same relatively small area, i would think certain things wouldn't surprise you after a while. perhaps you'd come to certain conclusions, things like "the street cleaner is not going to eat me" and "the vacuum cleaner is not going to eat me" and "i am never in any sort of danger at all, i always have food, water, and comfortable furniture to sleep on, so i should stop being such a fraidy cat". this just will not do for no-alarms-and-no-surprises larry, good thing she's the cutest cat in the world. :)