Virginia and Our Cats

We're fairly settled in now in Candace1 and Tim's basement, where we'll be for most of the next month, so really, it's past time for another update on where we're at and what we've been up to!

I'm gonna lead with the most exciting news: we have our cats with us! We'd been worried about what was going to happen with them for a long time; a brief summary of events:

1. Cassie thought we couldn't take our cats with us to Japan; this was a dealbreaker, so Japan wasn't gonna happen.
2. Cassie discovered that we can take our cats to Japan, they just have to get a simple titer test to make sure they have an active rabies vaccine and wait six months. As long as we got on it from the moment she learned about that, we could take them with us in September!
3. Susannah failed her titer test - which, after the delay it took for the test results to get back to us, and the fact that we'd have to get her revaccinated, wait a month, and then get another titer test, meant there was no way she could come with us to Japan in September. The best that was gonna happen was her being eligible in like November or December.
4. By this point, we're too far along in the process for anything to stop the move to Japan, but Cassie was Not Happy. We spent a lot of time praying about it, and the message she got was "Pray for someone to volunteer to take the cats."
5. We prayed that. For months. It was nerve-wracking and we felt like terrible people, because we weren't actively trying to find anyone to take the cats, which meant it was going to default to my mom coming over to our house a couple times a week to change their food and water and scoop their litter boxes. (We did eventually get some more people willing to help with that side of things - thanks Nancy!)
6. Less than 48 hours before our flights to VA, we got an entirely unprompted message from Candace saying she felt like she was meant to take our cats.

That was great for two reasons: first, because she was going to take the cats! And second, because we were already going to be staying with her in VA, so that meant we could help them get settled in!

It was a fantastic thing, with fantastic timing, and everything went about as smoothly as possible. We had just enough time to register with the airline that we were taking two cats and checking two extra bags (since they replaced our carry-ons). The cats were comfortable in their new house from like day 2, and are slowly getting more comfortable with Candace and Tim and their dog, Sirius.

Our cats and our bags before we boarded the plane. We had to cover Xena's carrier because all the sights scared her.

While Xena liked being covered, Susie was happier if she could see the sources of the scary sounds.

Once we arrived, Xena immediately hid in the laundry room. It took a while to coax her to a more comfortable hiding place!

It didn't take Susie too long to be comfortable exploring her new domain...

...But all Susie really needs is a good pillow to sleep on, and she's happy.

Susie and Xena both spend their afternoons zonked on the bed.

Cassie and I are also doing well! We've already seen a lot of family and several friends, which has been great!

We took Sirius for a walk the other day after one of us accidentally said the word "walk" in front of him and drove him bonkers.

This is where I'm writing this! I have kind of an extreme travel setup, maybe I'll share the bag I pack it all in later.

We've been getting along great with Sirius - the cats, not so much.

Tim and Candace have been very gracious hosts!

Remember, we're here until August 13th, so if you're in VA and haven't gotten a chance to hang out with us yet, hit us up and we'll figure something out!