happy birthday angus!, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

this is a little bit late, but given the chaos of the last few weeks, I think it’s ok. Plus, we made up Angus’s birthday anyway, so maybe it’s really today after all.

When I started fostering kittens for the humane society more than five years ago, I had one rule: We’re not keeping any! That rule seemed to be pretty easy to adhere to, until it came time for my roommate and I to return our little charges to their cages at the OHS, where my hand-crafted cat profiles, packets of photos, and occasional round of personalized kitten buttons were sure to win over their soon-to-be-new cat families.

The rule was even less easy to follow when you had cats like Lucy, who stayed with us for six months, or Newton, whose lack of a tail only served to make him cuter – his little tail stump twitching when he was happy. Or Huck, who brett was just plain in love with (and whose occasional updates we still manage to follow on facebook). But we resisted!

Until Angus.

I’ve never really talked a lot about his story here because I’ve never been sure what to say. But the long and short of it is this: Angus was sick. And the OHS couldn’t afford to make him better. So we had two choices: euthanize him, or adopt him ourselves and get him the help he needs.

And so we did. And we don’t regret it for a minute.

As a birthday gift, Angus came up with another new and weird disease that he would like to have, but with our favourite vet on the case (one who we will be driving back to see from Montreal when he needs to, rather than find a less-fantastic vet there), I have no doubt that he will be right as rain in no time.

farmer’s market loot, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

since we decided that we were moving, we’ve been making lists – things that need to be done, items we need to get rid of before we pack, and all sorts of others. There is at least one internet garage sale in my future, I think.

The one most dear to our Ottawa-loving hearts, though, is the list of things we absolutely have to eat before we leave. And it gets bigger by the day.

Check it out.