For Love and Wanderlust

Like many young adults, my husband and I balance (quite poorly – but hey, we try!) our jobs, school, work, and a social life to the best of our ability.  And by social life, I mean curling up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching Parks & Rec – we’re real social butterflies here – surrounded by all out critters!  We’d rather have a cozy night in – can you tell we’re secretly 80 years old?

Life gets busy and we all have a need to decompress.  Some carve out time for adventure; others carve it out for a newly acquired hobby.  We consistently carve out time for our tribe.  Our tribe is a mixture of characters – each with their own personality and tastes.  Our tribe is filled with paws and whiskers, beaks and feathers; and, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  If you ask my husband, he may have a different opinion but I secretly think he enjoys the chaos that accompanies our tribe wherever we go.

Now, a little backstory: I LOVE animals; like, give me all the kittens and puppies and I will give them a loving home.  My Mom will tell you that when I was younger I wanted to grow up and be a veterinarian – but, as I grew older I became more and more jaded towards the profession.  After witnessing my fair share of animal related tragedies I decided that  I couldn’t handle the sadness associated with the job.  But, this doesn’t mean I gave up on the critters.

I’ve never lived in a home without some critter pitter-patter echoing through the halls.  I can’t imagine a life without the unconditional love of a dog; the sass associated with a cat; and the constant chatter of a bird.  This is how my tribe, our tribe, came to be.

Disclaimer: You’ll notice a theme across the tribe when it comes to naming; but, I won’t divulge the secret – I’ll just leave it up to you to figure out 🙂

Meet the Tribe:

Izzy

Izzybird (also known as Bird, Izzydo, BirdBird, Iz, etc.) is a thirteen-year old green-cheek conure.  When I was younger, my Dad and I volunteered at a local exotic bird rescue.  This is where I met and fell in love with this little feathered critter.  At 11 years old, I was tasked with caring for the little nugget and was fortunate enough to have him “gifted” to me by a random woman who had witnessed the bond Izzy and I have.  This bond has endured 6 homes, two states, and numerous life changes – but, we’ve managed it all side-by-side.

Now, let me tell ya, Izzy is a CHARACTER!  He’s extremely vocal and tells it like it is.  He says thank you when you give him his favorite treat (chips!); when he’s being sassy he calls himself out on it (“Sassy Bird!”); and occasionally he likes to nip when he doesn’t get his way.   For years, he and Christopher have had a love/hate relationship generally staying on the hate side more than the love.  With our last move (to Minnesota!), Christopher had the pleasure of driving with the bird and kitties in the car.  Since then, he and Izzy have become the best of friends (sort of).  Izzy’s favorite things include: feeding Jeeter his left over snacks, mocking Christopher, and learning new words!  (Right now, were working on him using “thank you” in the proper contexts – like after he gets a chip!)

Jeeter

Jeeter (also know as Booboo Bear, Booboo, Flupperdog, Jeets, etc.) is a seven-year old American Bulldog.  Christopher and I were a new couple, having been dating for only 7 months at the time and for whatever reason acquired this little fluff-ball; but we haven’t looked back since.  He entered our lives as a six month old puppy, completely full of piss and vinegar.  Jeeter’s backstory is the typical sad story out of a rescue.  As a puppy, he was used as a “bait-dog” in the Milwaukee dog fighting circuit and came to us timid and shy.  He has a large scar down the length of his belly; there isn’t a backstory to go with that – but that’s the only reminder he has of his past life.  Now, his days are filled with afternoon snoozing and snuggling with his kitties (we were told he doesn’t get along with cats.  Now, he’s a proud big brother to three).

His favorites places include our king-size bed (of which he takes up 75%), the couch (preferably in a sunspot); and his Nana’s house (snuggled with her on the couch) – you get the picture?  Additionally, he loves peanut butter (without xylitol), belly scritches, and going for walks.

Maisy

Maisy (also known as Masiycat, Maisywaisy, Maisy May, etc.) is the brother in our brother/sister set.  This boy and his sister were rescued off my Mom’s front porch (along with their mother who lives with my Mom) in the middle of March.  He was just a wee little thing and oh so cute.

Maisy is our calm, cool, and collected member of the tribe.  He’s about as laid back as a cat can be and just goes with the flow.  However, he can be quite demanding for the cuddles.  He is most content on the lap of anyone willing to have this 15 pound boy there and his purring can be heard all throughout the house.  Maisy’s favorite things include laying in the bathroom sink while Mom gets ready for work, playing in the water dish, and snoozing the day away in his Dad’s closet.

Gus

Gus (also known as Gussywussy, Gussy Girl, Dirty Girl, GusGus, Pretty Girl) is the sister in our brother/sister set.  She is Queen B of the house and let’s everyone know.  She keeps all the boys in check (Christopher included) and is quite the Daddy’s girl.  She is the most high strung of the bunch and it’s her way or the highway.  But, she is also the sweetest little kitten who always knows when you need a little more kitten cuddles in your life.

She loves catching some sunlight in the windows of our house and kneading ever so gently when she’s in our laps.  Her favorite things include cuddling with her Dad on his lap, flicking her tail at you when she knows she’s the boss, and being a pretty girl.

Charlie

Charlie (also known as Charles, Chuck, ChuckieWuckie, KitKit) is the baby of our tribe.  He arrived to our household a mere four weeks old and severely underweight.  We had found this little guy in the turn-around of our driveway on a rainy Saturday morning.  Christopher and I were leaving to run errands so I quickly dashed into the house to grab a little food to put out for him.  We decided if he was still there when we got back, we’d bring him in the house but a couple hours later, we arrived back home and the little orange kitty was gone.

Later that afternoon, I went to meet some friends and Christopher stayed home to work on his car.  I remember pulling into the driveway and seeing Christopher with this big grin on his face.  I got out of my car and watched Christopher round the corner of his car with a little orange kitten in tow.  We started walking towards the house and the kitten, now named Charles by Christopher, followed us inside and has remained ever since.

Now, at two years old, he is the most rambunctious cat I’ve ever met.  He has a constant urge to play, whether with his humans or his favorite battery-operated toys (he drains the batteries in a matter of days).  If toys are the daily pick, you can find him following Christopher and I “yelling” at us until the toys are turned on.

He loves his big brother, Jeeter.  They can often times be found licking one another and playfully wrestling.  Charlie’s favorite things include eating Mom’s plants (all cat safe, of course!), picking on his brother Maisy and sister Gus, and snuggling with Mom when she takes a nap.

In Memory – Cobalt

We lost Cobalt in May of 2015 when he was 10 years old to a nasty mold infection in his lungs – aspergillosis.  Cobalt was the ham of the group.  He was always goofing around and getting his little beak into everything.  We’d find him climbing the stairs to our bedroom, hiding in the dining room curtains, and cruising through the kitchen looking for a snack.  He was quite the chatter-bird and always had a sassy comment for everything he encountered.

Cobalt and Izzy were the best of friends and could always be found getting into trouble with one another – Cobalt usually the instigator.  He loved life more than any critter I’ve ever met and taught me more about myself than I could have ever dreamt a “pet” could do.  Loosing him was, and still is, hard.  But, I have an inclination that he is enjoying countless pizza rolls and chicken nuggets over the rainbow bridge.