I've had the incredible fortune of having my husband home and not deployed for quite some time. Of course, there are many things I miss about my husband when he's away, but something happened the other day which made me think, "Yes, this is what I miss most when you're not around."
Our cat is a tuxedo cat, so we frequently tell him how handsome he is in his tuxedo. The other night, we were sitting outside, sans weird headgear, and Max went on a bathing binge. Hey, he's a cat, so he's naturally a frequent bather, but this was obsessive. For about 20 minutes, he licked and he groomed and he was as focused as I've ever seen him.
Handsome though he is, Max is missing some of his front teeth. Don't ask me, it happened pre-adoption. On those rare occasions when he bears his teeth, it does look a little strange.
My husband and I were cracking up watching this cat groom himself. Every square inch was groomed, several times over. Finally, he stopped. And then he looked at us. I would swear he was asking in cat-speak, "So, how do I look?"
My husband read his expression in exactly the same way I did and he said, "You look great man, you're ready for your big date now. But let me give you some advice. When you pick her up, don't smile."
Heh. I cracked up......
It was one of those moments that we had to experience together. Pet and baby stories are often so hard to relate in a phone call, letter or email. Sometimes, you just have to be there to appreciate the full experience. I remember when my husband was in Afghanistan and I was trying to tell him howhystericallyfunny it was when my dog peed on the white Christmas Tree skirt, in the exact spot that my previous cat used to love to lay. He did it just to tick her off. It wasinfuriating, yes, but also funny. He waited until the cat crawled out for food, walked over to the Christmas Tree, hiked his leg and ruined her special spot (and the skirt) forever. My version just didn't do justice to the actual event.
So yeah, that's what I enjoy most about having him home. Sharing these little, humorous moments together.
