storytime

I don't know if I have formally introduced our little booger,rodent,villain,peanut,messer. His name is Riggs. Formally named after Walter Riggs of Clemson University who was the former coach of the football team and president of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina (thank you Wikipedia). Also Hunky Husband had all of his engineering classes in Riggs Hall. We pay homage to you Sir Walter Riggsie for giving a place for Hunky Hubster to call home and receive a formal edumecation that has allowed us to wander the country aimlessly. This blog would not be possible without you. OK. Now that that ceremony is over. Here is a picture of our hell-raiser.

This little guy has captured my heart and as soon as I laid eyes on the little sweet-pea that fateful day in Connecticut at the Humane Society I was a goner. He has brought nothing but laughter and more poo into our lives that we could have ever imagined. When we arrived in Crystal River, Hunky Husband had to work the next day. So Riggs and I were left to drive the U-Haul that carried all our worldly possessions and that was towing the hott red car to our new apartment. We get here and of course to both our dismay we find the air conditioning and power has not been turned on yet. Its ok, its just 95 degrees and BLAZING down here! But whatever...just got to deal. So being a pro at moving by now, I turn on my muscles and start unloading while Riggs scopes out the new apartment to let me know of any problems that I may need to tell the Real Estate Agent. We leave the door open to try and let a little circulation through because you know Im sweatin up a storm and Riggs is panting his face off by now. As Im going in and out, I make sure to be a good mom and check on the little booger to make sure he is behaving and staying inside. All of the sudden (sorry had trouble transitioning into what happened next, writing is hard) I couldn't find him ANYWHERE. I looked everywhere in our apartment and I had no idea where he could have gone. Nothing was in the apt yet so where could he be hiding. This is when panic started to set in. I called and called. No. Where. Ok how to react like a mom would. What to do first. Don't cry. Keep it together. What if he had scrambled outside and ran into the deeply forested woods all around us. Ok, its not that deeply forested, but there is a lot of foliage around us. It didn't help either that they were mowing right out front and that could have scared him and caused him to run far far away. AND he couldn't hear me calling him because of all the unnecessary mowing going on! Don't panic. Just keep looking. Riggs! Riggs! Riggs! nowhere. Ok panic. Call hunky husband on first day of work crying hysterically telling him you lost our amazing,innocent,little kitten-poo. "Well just keep looking, ill be home soon". So wonderful and sympathetic. So as I keep walking up and down the street with huge globs of mascara running down my face, meeting our new neighbors in the process who so kindly say they will keep and eye out for him. Right. It's a dumb cat lady. Get it together. Thats what they were really thinking. I continue to press on. He's so good about coming when we call his name, he doesn't know what cars are and that they are very unforgiving, what will he do if it gets dark, he doesn't know his way home because we just moved here!! Uhhhhh. more tears. I don't know what to do, I can't keep moving stuff in with him so helplessly out in the wild world! Its been an exhausting hour of tearful, hopeless looking when I go back up to the apartment and give up. Im sitting on the floor, tears running down my face when I hear something that sounds like a little bell. I think its all in my head because cute little riggsy was wearing a collar with a little bell. I start to cry more. I'm a horrible mom. As I pull my head up, I see a grey little furball come around the corner of the room. He looks at me, yawns, stretches his legs, and then "meow". Was I dreaming or is that my annoying, pesky little trickster that decided to traumatize my life. Im so mad but so happy. Know I really know how a mom feels. "Where were you!!??" boo-hoo, tears as I scoop him up and nearly hug the life out of him. He aimlessly walks back into the bathroom and into the closet where there was only a dryer machine and crawls back behind it. UHHHGG!! fuming, but elated. No power means no electricity to turn on lights so I could see behind the dryer when frantically looking for him. And of course he was to busy sleeping to even acknowledge my desperate cries. Yep, the whole time he was soundly sleeping and trying to stay cool in a dark cool place. right. why didn't I think of that! Oh right, I was to busy CRYING! This is one of many stories about Riggs and the chaos and love he brings into our lives. Hunky Husband laughed when I called him back and told him not to leave work early and rush home to the ever present danger that our cat ran off. ;) He continue to laughs to this day. I think secretly Riggs does too.

JCH