Not a spiritual entry, really... well, maybe a little

I am proud to announce that I have adopted a new cat. He is a Siamese/Snowshoe mix, 5 months old, and I named him Yuki (Japanese for "snow"). The "spiritual" part of our story is as follows... When I decided it might be nice to give my cat, Murray, a companion since I work a lot of hours and am gone a lot, I found Yuki (then named "Friedrich") on petfinder.com. He was described as very mellow and loving, and I thought he'd be a good fit with Murray, personality-wise, since Murray is pretty laid-back and affectionate, too. So I contacted the rescue org about "Friedrich," and was at first told I could meet him the next day, but then was told he was already spoken for, and someone else would be picking him up for adoption. So I was disappointed. But the next day, I got a call that the other person had never shown up, so I could still see "Friedrich" if I were still interested. So I went down to the PetSmart where the rescue org had brought its animals to show (coincidentally, it was my neighborhood PetSmart), and I checked out Friedrich/Yuki, held him, petted him, etc. And I decided to adopt him and bring him home. So, it seems like in a way it was fated to all fall into place for me, with that other guy not showing up to claim Yuki. His loss, my gain.

I am very, very glad to have found Yuki. He is a sweetheart. He was very skittish and frightened the first couple days... went running to hide whenever I made a move, wouldn't let me pet him at first, etc. But within a couple days, he seemed settled in, and couldn't get enough of my petting. I kept Yuki and Murray separate for the first couple days. But when I told the rescue org lady that they had been playing "paws under the door" with each other, she said they were ready to meet face to face. So, though I had just gotten Yuki on a Saturday, on Monday already, I opened the door between them and let them meet.

Yuki was happy to see Murray (he was used to other animals, in foster care) and tried to make friends, but Murray was visibly upset/shellshocked, and responded by chasing Yuki repeatedly and batting at him with his paw. Not to hurt him, just to show him who was boss. But within the next couple days, the chasing largely stopped - mainly because Yuki stopped running away, realizing that Murray wasn't going to hurt him. Murray was just batting at him and giving extremely gentle nips on the back. Nothing too horrific. Murray also paid less attention to Yuki and concentrated on paying attention to me. He began to seem more cheerful, playing with his toys (which he usually only does in an extremely good mood) and otherwise acting normally, with the exception of the occasional swipe at Yuki.

At this point, they are behaving well enough with each other for me to trust them alone together. They were alone for the first time yesterday, and all was well when I came home. So they're alone together again today. Got my fingers crossed all will continue to go well...

The choice

I have chosen to become a Baha'i. This faith resonates with me, and I really like the Baha'is I have met thus far.

Meanwhile, my rabbi ripped me off. He provided unreliable service, so I "fired" him, and he only refunded me for five lessons instead of seven or eight. So I reported him to the AZ Attorney Genl's Office and the Better Biz Bureau. Guess you can't trust anyone these days!

Never really got anywhere with Quakerism. I decided that a service that consisted primarily of sitting in silence wasn't for fidgety, impatient me!