Altogether now: a giant sigh of relief

Since I know all you out there in blogville were on pins and needles (hah!), I'm happy to report that tonight, exactly 48 hours after last sighting, Maxi (the cat) just showed back up at sunset. No major scars, no missing limbs, no ear chewed off. Not even a scratch that I could find. He just walked up. Very anticlimactic, really.

Not that I wished him injured, of course, but I have spent two days a bit frantic, and he just saunters in from the garden like he's been napping. I've walked through most of the nearby property calling his name, hoping I'd hear a mewling from under a shrub somewhere. (Geez, now I know what parents go through)... and he just SHOWS UP without explanation?!? So I'm supposed to believe that he skipped two days of free (regular) meals (the really expensive cat food), and just ... went 'walkabout'?? What, he didn't like the new girl?

I feel a little rejected, and a lot relieved. (Tho there's still no explanation for the yowl-fest that went on Saturday night.) Regardless, it would NOT have been an auspicious beginning to my stay here to have to email the Diplomat to tell him we are short a cat.

So, Maxi, Ceci and I are one happy family again. A bit dysfunctional, yes. But aren't all the best ones?