While I was otherwise engaged, many people have mentioned that they miss reading my blog. I missed writing it, to be honest. I'm not sure if my blogging muscles still work, but HERE IT GOES. Enjoy.
When CJ was a wee little baby, someone whose identity is lost in the sands of time gave him a stuffed cat. This stuffed cat.
Oh Mylanta look at how cute he was! CJ, obviously, not the cat. But, for the story, it is also necessary to notice the appearance of the cat. Plump, orange, cuddly, and so on. Anyway, back to the story.
CJ, ever the literal child, named the cat Meow-Meow (Meowy for short). Meowy was CJ's frequent companion during the day and endured a lot of exuberant kid affection. At bedtime every night, CJ would tuck Meowy into the crook of his neck for an intense, sweaty, 12-hour snuggle. By the age of five, Meowy was looking...pretty grim.
Please do not adjust your screens. He really is that distorted. (The purple Frankenstein stitches aren't helping the situation, are they?)
Still, CJ loved the heck out of this cat. DO NOT tell CJ I told you this, but he puts Meowy to sleep in a doll crib by his bed, and sometimes even sings him a lullaby. He has excellent Daddy Genes. But despite the more tender care Meowy was getting these days he was still falling apart, and I had serious concerns about the poor think surviving until CJ was ready to let him go.
Then, with the cross-country move and starting a new school, CJ was feeling very stressed and when he gets stressed, he has bad dreams. Sharing his bed with roadkill was making it worse, and he began begging me for a new Meowy. Problem being, CJ was and remains very exacting, and only THE SAME EXACT MAKE AND MODEL would do. Of course, over the years, all of the identifying information had worn off of Meowy's label, but I wasn't going to let that stop me IT WAS A MYSTERY, AND I WAS GOING TO SOLVE IT.
I can't tell you how many hours I spent on ebay, Amazon, and every other dang site on the internet, combing through all listings for stuffed cats, looking for one that matched Meowy. I am a librarian, I thought. I can find anything.
Not so.
CJ's sleeping situation was becoming more dire, and the clock on the investigation was ticking! But how was I going to find this damn cat?
Then, Nemo suggested that maybe the label, when it was fresh and legible, would be visible in one of the photos in my archive. It seemed like a long shot, but to the family photo archive I went. After combing though thousands of pictures, There was one where Meowy's label was visible:
Alas, the writing was too small to make out. And like any good CSI detective, I said, "Let's enhance this area right here!"
Hm, better. But still not good enough. Enhance!
So close! Could I get one more zoom in before the picture quality was compromised? Enhance!
Bingo!
Also like any good CSI detective, I made some deductions. I hypothesized that the "DS" was the end of the word "KIDS", and to Ye Olde Internet I returned. Lo and behold, there was a company called "Kids Preferred", and there had one, single, lonely Meowy look alike on eBay.
It cost $30, which I was absolutely willing to pay if it meant CJ, and by extension, I, could enjoy better quality sleep?
Parenting win.
