I wanted to rescue a cat. On September 17th, 2023 we went to the Fancy Cat’s Rescue after seeing this 2 1/2 year old tiny kitty named Angelica on Kitty Tinder. Knowing that our life was crazy, and we traveled a lot and going to travel more as time went on, we needed a cat that could adapt to crazy life and go with us.

When I walked up to the small cage and this little 8 lb kitty was trying to dig herself a hole under the blankets and shaking from nose to tail. Something told me I had to take her home and make her feel safe. The rescue had no real information on her except that when she came to them, she had a litter of kittens. They put her in our carrier and we headed to the car with our shaking little girl.

Once we got her in the car, she calmed down a little and stopped shaking and I put my hand in the carrier so she could smell me and she proceeded to ram her nose into my hand to have her head scratched. On the way home we discussed a new name for her new start. We settled on Elsa… We love Disney, I am Norwegian and she is a princess, it fit. Once we got her home and opened the carrier, she bolted under a spot in our bed we couldn’t reach. We let her be, knowing that a new and scary place, she would need some time. She eventually moved to hide under our dresser, we could reach under and scratch her ears, but she was still shaking and terrified. She would come out to eat a little and run back and she spent her first couple of weeks hiding.

We decided that we really needed to get her to the vet for her first check up. We have had a string of vets that I had been unhappy with so finding a vet that would be best for her was another daunting task. We finally settled on a cats only hospital near our apartment. The day came for her appointment and it took both of us over a half an hour after shutting the door to our room to catch her. She bolted around the room, as we tried to catch her and she broke everything in her path as she tried to hide. I cried, she cried and we realized we had not adopted a cat that would be take our crazy life in stride. So much went through our minds… were we the best home for her? Would we traumatize her even more? Could we do this? What was best for her? Once we caught her, we headed to the vet.

I immediately loved the vet tech… he truly was the cat whisperer. He was able to calm her and was able to pick her up. ( we still can’t pick her up) I loved the new vet just as much. She took her time with us and her… let her do everything on her terms and spent so much time answering all our questions and concerns because there were a lot. The vet was even able to clip her nails! However, the vet visit didn’t go as well as any of us wanted. She had bad teeth and needed all of her molars pulled. She told us they were pretty bad and she was in a lot of pain. It’s $350.00 a tooth to have cat teeth pulled in case anyone is wondering. So we scheduled another appointment for blood work to make sure she was healthy enough for surgery and then an appointment for surgery. So we took our tiny little kitty and a prescription of gabapentin home.

The 1st time with the gabapentin mixed with tuna fish went well and she fell over sleepy so we could get her back to the vet. However, anyone with kitties know how smart they are and how well their memory’s are. We weren’t so lucky after that. She remembers that smell and my treat motivated little girl is not at all interested in tuna fish any more.

The day of surgery, we struggled to get her to put her in her carrier, but finally got her in and dropped her off at the vet for the day. On the way home I cried and worried about her all day. I knew at that point we had to make it work and giver her a safe place to grow. She had really wormed her way into our hearts.

During her surgery the tech calls to let me know that she would need more teeth pulled than originally thought. She came out of surgery and did great. She was annoyed that she couldn’t have her treats for a few weeks but we started to see her real personality for the first time.

She has the sweetest little personality and looks at you with these amazing green eyes. She just wants to be loved but something has happened to her that has made her afraid. She shows some signs of abuse, but we just don’t know. After several weeks of slowly working with her, we were able to pet her and scratch her ears. We have several little games we play to interact with her and she is slowly (very slowly) starting to trust us. She loves to play “hide the easter egg”, since she is so treat motivated we started to sprinkle her treats (aka – Easter Eggs) everywhere we want her to go like up her cat tree, up on the bed or on her blanket. She wouldn’t get up on anything, she would just hide. Her favorite is “string toy”, she loves to chase and loves us to pull her string toy around so she can chase it. Every morning by 5:30 she is sitting on her toy waiting for me to play with her. We have to play before before breakfast. She is also a soccer kitty, we roll her little foam soccer balls around for her to chase. Every so often we find little soccer balls she has lost behind or under something. She does not cuddle but loves to play “horse”, muzzling her face into our palm and muzzling it with her gums. Her newest game is “creepy cat”. If you have ever seen the horror movies where mom is doing dishes and the creepy doll that is on the bed is suddenly sitting on floor behind the mom…. she will be sleeping in another room, and suddenly I turn around and she is sitting right on my heels staring at me. I never even hear her or her collar jingling.

One evening we were sitting on the sofa and she hopped up in between us and layed down and let me pet her belly. That was such a huge step for her. A couple months later I walked into the living room and she was curled up on Lee’s lap! A cat we thought we would never be able to even pet! She has learned the sound of Lee’s video game now, and when she hears it, she comes to hop up and curl up on his lap. And she has become a mama’s girl. Anywhere I walk, she follows me, I can’t walk from the fridge to the sink without her going those 2 steps with me. Right now she is curled up next to my leg with her face buried in her blanket. She has such a dainty little meow but will let you know when she wants something, usually a treat.

It’s been a year now and we have a ways to go still, but she has come further than we thought we would ever be. We have had to work with her at her pace and on her time. We still can’t pick her up or cuddle her, and if we pet her with 2 hands, she will still jump back for a minute… but she will curl up on our laps and purr and sleeps with us at night.

We learned there is adopting or rescuing… the cute and playful kitties and puppies get adopted much more quickly. The timid ones, the scared ones, the older pets, the ones with trauma or medical issues that are hiding in the back of the cage often get overlooked or returned. They really need to be rescued. We look at our sweet little princess and know that she would have been a tough cat to adopt out. With her trauma and medical issues…she is taking a lot of time, love, money and patience. It has been an investment but the returns have paid us back in more ways that we ever imagined. I wanted to rescue a cat and that is exactly what we did.

This was our 1st Christmas as DMV residents. There was so many amazing things to see and do, and we tried to keep up. What we loved the most is the sense of small community. As we would walk down King Street in Old Town Alexandria, with it’s old historic brick buildings, all the trees were lit up with white lights. The brick homes had old lanterns going. In the town square in front of City Hall stood the Alexandria Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving weekend started our holiday season. We drove to Maryland for the weekend to see my cousin, who was in town for a few days. They took us to a tree lighting ceremony in Leonard town. If you want a small town Gilmore Girls Christmas, Leonard town is where you want to go. Santa lit the tree, there were tractor rides, hot chocolate and wine/cider stands with lots of other festivities and of course Christmas music!

The following weekend we stayed in Virginia to see all of the Holiday activities. The first adventure was the Alexandria boat parade. We walked into old town, planted ourselves on some not so soft rocks along the Potomac River to watch all the boats go by. Each one was lit up and decorated in a different theme and played Christmas music. There was even a World Series Boat with the World Series trophy for the Washington Nationals. Not something we ever thought we would see.

Another Christmas “must” in Virginia is to see Arlington Cemetery. It is a humbling place to see at any time, however, at Christmas, there is a wreath on every headstone. You can’t help but sit and reflect.

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On Christmas Day we went into The District to see the National Christmas Tree. What we learned is that there are several throughout the area, but the one you see on TV isn’t as tall as it looks. It was a beautiful day and we walked around enjoying all the holiday spirit.

When we first arrived here, we went out to visit Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington. It was beautiful. We signed up for a yearly membership so we could go back to walk the grounds whenever we want. So we went out at Christmas time because I wanted to see the Gingerbread House. Of course it was beautiful, and George and Martha Washington are both buried on the property. It’s a peaceful place to just walk and enjoy the beauty.

On several recommendations, we took a day trip up to Annapolis, MD to see the beautiful little town and all it’s history. There is just something amazing about walking around all these towns and the buildings that were built in the 1700 – 1800’s.

In November we took a week and drove down to Norfolk, VA for work. Just as anywhere in this area of the country, there is plenty of history to take in. The week was beautiful weather wise, and our hotel was right next to Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse Restaurant, which according to Lee, is the best pulled pork sandwich ever.

We also had dinner at one of our favorite Irish Pub’s, Grace O’Malley’s https://irishpubnorfolk.com/

There is lots of great food and Sightseeing in Norfolk.

Driving home we decided to stop a night in Williamsburg, VA. There is so much to see and do there, it is on our bucket list to go back when we can spend more time. We did spend the day at the Yorktown Battlefield. We drove the Colonial Parkway from our hotel to Yorktown—- a beautiful and historic drive. We drove east that took us through swamps and open fields where French and Continental armies camped during the siege in 1781. The historical Park includes 8, 677 acres. Most of it provides habitat for native plants and wildlife.

Once there we went to the visitor’s center and small Museum. Again, it’s another place you could spend days. We drove the Battlefield tour which included the British Inner Defense Line, Grand French Battery, Second Allied Siege Line, Redoubts 9 and 10 ( the capture of them was final straw in the defeat of Cornwallis’ army) the Moore House (a historic building that was the site of negotiations for the British General Cornwallis’s surrender) and the Surrender Field (here is where the British layed down their arms in surrender to George Washington.). The battle at Yorktown was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War… gaining the title of “Where America Was Born”.

https://www.nps.gov/york/index.htm

We have been settled in Alexandria, Virginia for a few months now. So far we are loving the area and all it has to offer. Adjusting to apartment life has been quite a change. We have never been without a pick-up truck, and you take that for granted. Our first trip to Costco we found furniture we loved. Then came the task of getting it home and up to the 4th floor. We found “Uber-like” service for large item deliveries! The driver loaded it all up, and took it up to our apartment for us!

Our household goods took a month to arrive, so we learned quickly how to live very minimally. We downsized by a large amount before the move and once our stuff came from the movers, we realized how small apartment living is. Luckily Goodwill is close LOL!

Our apartment is in a residential area, but close to everything. The bike paths that go throughout the area are out our front door, so we purchased new bikes and can’t wait to get out to ride the extensive trail system.

We have already been exploring our new area and all the history here. The first weekend we headed up to Arlington Cemetery . It’s only a couple miles away and the metro goes directly to it from our apartment. If you haven’t been, you should add it to your list of places to visit.

We love being able to get up on a Saturday morning, get on the metro and decide on the spot what to see. We have seen the Law Enforcement Memorial/museum, been to the National Mall and visited all the Memorials. One day walking back to the metro station we passed the International Spy Museum… in we went. What a cool place! One day we were out for a drive and stopped at the Manassas Battlefield. There are a lot of battlefields in the area and plan to see as many as possible. Each week is something new to explore.