I am not a Cat Lady!

Well, okay, maybe I am, but I do so hate the stereotype!  It doesn't help that I'm a librarian by day, either.

A few weeks ago, I was grumbling to my husband, and anyone else who would listen,  because a fellow librarian on Facebook was complaining that so many librarians out there (including me) have cats in their profile pictures that we were just perpetuating the stereotype, and that if we wanted anyone to take our profession seriously, we'd change to something else.

This offended me, the idea that I should hide part of who I am just because someone doesn't approve of it.  It would be like me trying to hide that I was female, or that I like the color red, or even that I am a librarian.

So.  Maybe I am a Cat Lady.  I have multiple cats.  I definitely cater to their whims.  I would have more if my house could handle it, or if it was legal to have more in this city.  I go out of my way to find ways to make the cats happier, and to improve their lives, and to make them more confident and content.  And how is any of this a bad thing?  Until I start sleeping in the litter boxes, or going to work with cat pee soaked trousers, I think that the profession's image is safe from me.

Speaking of doing things for cats...  my husband is using some of his valuable time off to build them an awesome cat tower!

He is complaining that I am putting this picture up so soon...  so be gentle.  It is not finished yet.   (Though I think it looks fabulous, even incomplete!)  He is going to finish up the construction tonight, and then the two of us are going to start covering it with carpet remnants that we got for dirt cheap at Construction Junction - a local used and overstock building supply place, as well as wrapping those posts in sesil rope.

We're going to put it upstairs in the study (where the cats spend a lot of their time) in front of the window overlooking the back yard.

I anticipate that the cats will love it! Jeff says that they'd better like it, with as much work as he is putting into it.

So, if I am a Cat Lady, what does this make him?

And speaking of being a cat lady...  Jeff took one of my favorite pictures of Charlotte and captioned it for me, in response to people who would be overly critical of those of us that are devoted to cats.  It uses some language, so I am putting it behind the cut.  If bad language offends you, or it would completely ruin your enjoyment of this blog post, then please don't follow the link!