On cats, dogs and birthdays

Cat queen is finally fine and back to normal, more or less :). She finally started to come for hugs in the morning. Well, her version ;-) The alarm in my cellular phone rings in the morning and she runs fast, jumps on the bed near my face and I take her in my arms :) She doesn't show more appreciation for me as a human being than that, but that is still a long way we have gone together since a little bit more than a year. I still have to be careful because there are plenty of things she doesn;t like, but she *is* changing, I swear she is. One the mornings when we sleep together nose to nose, belly to belly and her paws on my cheek, one could almost think she likes me! LOL I hope Happy forgives me for talking about her mainly on my blog, but with Happy, it's very simple - he is HAPPY. Always :)
Must say my own father did something very surprising two weeks ago. But from the start...their dog had a very ill heart and died while they were away in Switzerland and Canarian Islands. Now, I woulnd't have gone on a vacation if my dog was _that_ ill but that's me. My brother thinks I'm extreme that way, but my pets are parts of the family and as long as I don't have kids, they're my kids, my best friends, you name it. Already last Christmas their doggie was so bad that I suggesdted many times that they help him leave, but my father's wife was hysterical at the thought. I'll viciously say she was doubly hysterical, from what I've heard, when she learned that his condition worsened suddenly the day they left for vacation. I felt so, so very sad about how they handled it all. But then you can't tell other people how to behave with their pets/kids/hubbies/hobbies etc. ;-)
Anyways, five days after they returned, they took not one, but TWO doggies from the shelter! I am sooooo very happy about that. That they took dogs from a shelter, and that they took both they loved. One is already at home, it's a small black mix-breed aged 4-5 months named the same as his two predecessors, and the second one will arrive next week after the necessary procedure the shelter insisted on following (vaccinations, neutering etc.). She's 3 and redish, named Tara. Nice :) Both are small.
Now I must say my reasonable father surprised me. His wife is particularly good at forcing her wills on him, but he has some limits, and having two dogs is not something I would every thought he would accept. I am really happy :)
On another note, I am upset about my summer. I should fly to Norway on June 1st for 2-3 months, but the administration of my building had the wonderful idea of organizing not one but two types or works concerning my part of the building. One is putting additional heat insulation from the outside and the other, oh horror! is changing water pipes in both the kitchen and the bathroon. I love the idea! NOT! Problem is that they don't know the dates, I can't buy my plane tickets, and on the whole flying from Norway for a week or two for the duration of the works will be an expensive trick. So I don't know... and I don't know when I will know anything! That annoys me severely. Apparently I am the only person interested in knowing the exact dates :) RRRr-rrrr-rrrr. Might be I'll stay home this summer and just make trips here and there to avoid the heat when it arrives. Mind you, it won't be any day soon, after 10 not so warm days, we're facing 10 not so warm days with rain!! Each day.
So, H. was supposed to fly in for my birthday and take me back with him ;-) Mainly to help me with numerous luggage pieces, a dog, a cat and my nerves LOL! Now the situation being as it is and money being on the (very) low side, I think I'll suggest he doesn't come now. After all, a birthday is just a day.
Does anyone long after their childhood birthdays? I feel that whatever H. does, it's never as nice as it was in the ol' days :) My parents made it very special that day, also other family members. On the other hand, H's birthdays weren't celebrated that much, and well, he's Norwegian ;-) so the intensity of that day is not the same ;-) He does his best, but it's just not the same. My birthdays are never as nice as I would like them to be. My father used to wake me up with a delicious breakfast on a tray and the whole day he treated me very special, the day was so full of joy. For H., apart from the dinner out - or any other nice thing we do (usually we are away somewhere) it's just a day - and he's not behaving differently really. I don't know, maybe when you have kids, they know how to make it very important... Or maybe I am generally too nostalgic, which I am well known to be! :)
Heh, my nephew is 5 since Thursday! I sent him a biiiiig package which he received a day late, but his parents said it's great, because the birthday joy was then spred on two days. My SIL told me that when she came back from work, she saw Jeremi all excited, with red cheeks and all, shouting he got a package from aunt Anna, I can visualize that :) I promised another trip to Geneva soon, maybe without H., so we can spend a few days playing and having fun together and he'll have his aunt for himself :)