New roommate!!

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Mine was rather eventful - went to DC on Friday for the grad school meeting, which went very well. Scoped out neighborhoods full of apartments I probably can't afford (although my mom did spring this idea on me that now that they've paid off the mortgage on their house, they're considering buying a condo in DC and renting it to me), and got to hang out with Becky (especially nice now that we're not going to Fangoria).

Saturday, we went to the Philips Museum, because my mom wanted to see this Renoir painting, but we spent most of the time mocking the modern art that looked like a four-year-old did it with fingerpaint. Drove back to NJ on Saturday and spent the rest of the weekend with my parents.

But the big news is that on Monday, I got a cat!! My mom went to PetSmart last week, shopping for Patches, and saw the cutest little kitty up for adoption. She teased me with it all weekend, saying, "Oh, she'd be just perfect... but she probably won't even be there when we get back." But she was! And I got her! And she's adorable! Her name is Chelsea, and she's about a year old. She's a "tuxedo cat" - black with a white bib and white paws. She's very sweet and friendly (likes to be cuddled - Mom is jealous, Patches doesn't like to be touched), and got along well with everybody... except Patches.

We all thought they'd be fine. After all, Patches is okay with Rusty and Kitten when they come around, and Chelsea was with all the other cats in the store, so we didn't expect them to have a problem with each other. Well, little Patches took one look at Chelsea and ran in the opposite direction, and didn't come out from under the sofa for the rest of the day. My dad was all, "Come back and fight, you little sissy cat!"

Chelsea did not like the carrier, and cried for much of the car ride home, but she was fine once we got back to the apartment. She's settling in well, and spent most of last night exploring every inch of the apartment. Kept me up until 3am wanting to play (good job Mom, giving her toys with bells), pouncing on me in bed and meowing very loudly when I didn’t get up. She seemed intrigued by the bathtub – after I took my shower this morning, she jumped in and then looked at me like, “How did it get wet?” Did NOT like the hair dryer. She seemed to take it as a personal affront and had not come out from under the bed by the time I left for work.