the great escape

well, feline fans, the girls and i are home safe and sound in the greater chicago metro area. needless to say, the journey was not without adventure. below, a few highlights.

12 pm: depart for SFO with t driving and lolamini on my lap. they perform a beautiful round entitled, "meowy meowers (get me the hell out of this bag)."

1 pm: enter the security line. the security men laugh in my face when i ask if i can take them through one at a time. it takes me around 5 full minutes to work up my nerve, snatch them out of the bag, and bolt through the metal detector. a (rather good-looking) security man whizzes their carrier through the x-ray and patiently holds the bag open for me as it takes another 5 full minutes to wrestle them into the bag.

1:10 pm: a crazy cat lady (berkeley-ite, no doubt) empathizes with my situation.

2:00 pm (boarding time): "we're sorry, ladies and gents, but air traffic control in the midwest has advises us that high winds in the area will be delaying us from boarding on time. we'll be delayed by about one hour."

2:00 - 3:00 pm: "meeeeeeoooowww meow meow meeeowwww meowmeowmeowmeow"/getting visits from at least 10 fellow passengers, all wanting to either comment on how brave i am for travelling with the cats or offer their patronizing comments on why i should have left them at home.

5 pm: one or both kittens pee all over each other. loud meowing and jumping around the bag to avoid wet spots proceeds.

5:35 pm: i happen to look down under the seat and see LOLA SITTING UNDERNEATH THE SEAT OUTSIDE OF THE BAG!!!!!

5:36 pm: i am in full panic mode and proceed to mutter "fuck" under my breath at least 87 times.

5:37 pm: first failed attempt to get lola back in the bag.

5:45 pm: second failed attempt to get lola back in the bag. situation complicated by the fact that mini keeps jumping out of the bag.

5:50 pm: kind seatmate offers to help me. while he squashes mini down in the bag, i shove lola back in, enduring several scratches in the attempt.

6:30 pm: more peeing occurs in addition to more crazed attempts to escape from the bag. i hold them on my lap to comfort them. meanwhile, cat pee scent wafts over row 15.

7 pm: the cats fall asleep and we successfully land.

7:30 - 8:30 pm: the cats, true to their completely treacherous nature, happily sleep on my dad's lap while i drive us all home.

11 pm: mini kills and eats a bug.

3 am: mini barfs said bug but thankfully, has the sense to do so in the litter box.


and so it goes. in the last day, the kitties have been exploring this enormous house (the basement alone is three times the size of my apartment), driving my mom crazy, and charming the socks off my dad. mini has been intrepidly exploring every room; lola is taking things a little more slowly. i can't wait for january 2nd when we do this all over again!