The biggest losers

7/28/10 Seventeen cat toys, trashed

In the year since I began the Downsize Challenge, a lot of fantastic things have happened to me.

I had a terrific final year as the Literacy Coach at Guy E. Rowe Elementary, making a serious difference in the lives of both children and teachers.

Despite the-sky-is-falling recession, I sold my house quickly and for a higher price than the realtor wanted to start the listing at.

I moved to a really cool city and am having a wonderful house built for my family.

I celebrated the seventh year of marriage to my Beautiful Bride.

I landed a new job that will challenge me as I've never been challenged before and will also prove to be the most worthwhile work of my life.

And, of course, I became a father. How 'bout that Brilliant Boy?!?

But, amid all of this joy, not everyone in the family has had such a great year. For our amazing cats -- and, I stand by the fact that Bird and Trane are the two best cats in the world -- this has been one, tough ride.

And I'm not just talking about the week they spent cooped up in carriers as we drove across country.

Chase's arrival took our attention completely off the cats, and their banishment from our bedroom was especially disconcerting to them. They've been troopers, but moving out of our house and into one small apartment (in Maine) and then into an even smaller space (here in Denver) has taken a heavy toll.

Both cats have lost weight, Trane obsessively chases his tail (a completely new behavior), and they have taken to flying around the apartment with schizophrenic abandonment.

Side note: as I write this, Trane has jumped up into my lap. No matter what we do, they don't stop giving love.

Joanna and I keep telling each other that once Chase is a little bit older we'll let the cats back into the bedroom and that once we move into our new home they'll have all the space they need.

But, of course, they don't know that.

In that last week, I've decided that I need to set aside time every day to play with the cats. Even though I wanted to hurry home to see Chase before he went to bed, this evening I swung by a pet store and bought some new toys for Bird and Trane.

Ironically, unlike most of us humans, the cats don't really care all that much for possessions; what they really want is love and attention. Still, isn't it typical that when we want to show someone we care for them, we buy them something? Guess I'm just falling back into old, pre-downsizing habits.

Fortunately, one of the goodies was a hit, and I spent a good ten minutes running back and forth through our apartment with the felines on my tail.

I also tossed a whole bag of run-down, ignored playthings into the trash. These guys deserve the best, even if we don't always act like they do.

Be patient, kitties. I'll make it all up to you soon.