House sitting and realizations

This week, I'm house sitting for an upper manager, M., at work. She and her husband live in a very nice house in Seattle and have four cats. Two of the cats are indoor cats, and two are outdoor cats. They each have very distinct personalities, and one of the indoor cats likes a lot of attention, but on his own time. If you approach him when he doesn't want to be disturbed, he'll scratch you. So, he's a bit grumpy at times.

This grumpy cat recently went outdoors (which is OK according to my cat-watching instruction sheet), and now I have to sit here and wait for him to want to come inside or he'll scratch my skin off. I know this because I followed him across the street earlier, trying to get him to come inside and eat, but when I reached down to carry him back over, he batted a big ol' paw at me and gave me a big ol' yowl. The other two outdoor cats just flopped over and purred when I picked them up to bring them in and eat, so they were easy. The other indoor cat seems kind of jumpy right now, although M. said that she should warm up to me over the week.

My problem is that I'm not a huge cat person. I don't dislike cats. I have a mild allergy to them, so I usually tend to avoid them to some extent so that I don't have red itchy eyes. I have met some really nice cats throughout my life, but the tempramental ones just always make me think - why? Why would someone love them and feed them and take care of them? This may sound bad, but isn't that kind of a waste of time? Isn't that kind of co-dependant, almost? I suppose that there is something more to it, but it's something I'll never understand. I'm definitely a dog person, and I guess that's all there is to it for me.

The funny thing is that I just met up with an old friend of mine, M. H. He's just opened up his own business, so I took a look at his new office and then we headed down to U Village for some Starbucks and a good chat. When I returned, the cat was finally waiting at the door, ready to come in, so at least that crisis is averted.

Anyway, M. H. is one of those people who I will always be glad to have as a friend. Even when we don't talk for some time, I always know that he's got my back if I need him and true to form, when all of this came down with C., M. H. started calling me every few days to make sure that I was OK and to see if I needed anything.

He's also the kind of friend who reminds you of who you are and where you've come from. We've been friends for close to 10 years, and I remember what I was like when I first met him my freshman year of college at the UW. I was still with my high school sweetheart, but I was really attracted to M. H. and we became really good friends, and semi-dated for a very short period of time, although it never came to anything - not even a kiss. There was just something that kept us friends, and I'm really thankful for that because he has turned out to be someone that I can count on and always will be. Had we dated, it's uncertain that we would have survived, let alone come out on the other end as friends.

So, it kind of reminds me that everything happens for a reason. 9+ years ago, I was asking God why on earth M. H. and I couldn't seem to get together. But now, I'm happy that we didn't get together and I understand why. So, I can at least look back on things in my life and know that someone is watching out for me.