3 April 2020, 3:05 pm - In Which I Pass My Defense

Today is a day of great highs - I passed my oral defense! I am so close to finishing school now. All I need to do are revisions, and finish my coursework.

Right now, I’m sitting on the couch, drinking a bloody mary and eating leftover pizza. It is a good day.

Later that day

The cats are, understandably, confused and anxious. They are not acclimated to us being around 24/7, and they have started stress eating (or so we think, we are not cat experts, just enthusiasts). All three cats are started pacing around the house a lot more. It is like the time we moved - they could just sense that something was “off.” Leo, our only male cat, has taken to darting out the door. He’s terrified of birds so he freezes immediately, but he has never wanted to leave the safety of the house before this. However…he has watched Hazel, our Maine Coon, go outside on her leash on several occasions, so he could just be following his sister.

Our cats are a huge part of our relationship. This blog is actually meant to be an exploration of my partner’s and mine relationship in the time of great stress. The focus here on out will be honed into that, from a communication studies perspective, but I feel like I should take a step back and explain our relationship and home for a minute.

My partner and I met in November 2017, started dating in January 2018, and moved in together by March 2018. We first lived in his one-bedroom apartment, which he was sharing with Leo, the male cat, and Cammie, an 11-year-old shorthair. I brought Hazel with me into the apartment. She and Leo are the same age, and Hazel is definitely the Alpha of their relationship. Cammie rules the roost; as the oldest and biggest, she holds authority over the youngsters. In May 2018, we moved into our 3 bedroom house. Hazel, who started life by being an outdoor cat, gets outside privileges (on a leash), otherwise she’s unbearable. Actually, she’s unbearable all the time, but we love her nonetheless. Our house may have more rooms but it is by far not roomy. It is a little bungalow, one floor, and has not been updated since 1950. My partner and I can hardly cross the house without literally bumping into each other. Luckily we each have an office we can retreat to, and a large backyard, so we are getting some physical space with each other. The stay at home order has forced us to spend entire days together when we normally wouldn’t, but it has been fine so far.

The cats actually require much of our time, and much of our space. They’re following us even more than usual. In fact, as I type, Hazel is sleeping four feet away from me and Leo is with my partner in his office. Not sure where Cammie is, but probably in the living room, exactly between us.

If this was a an apocalypse movie, our cats would be replaced with a dog.