Pussy from hell

Lately, my in-laws have been coming over every weekend to clean out more of yiayia's belongings from our apartment. My father-in-law adores animals, and always takes it upon himself to pet our three cats, if he can coax them all into being petted. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, seems to think all animals are devil's spawn ready to bring her down in one foul swoop, so she treads carefully in the cat zone of our apartment. She is one of the reasons we are separating the apartment into cat zone and no cat zone, so she can actually come visit us without being afraid the whole time. Of course, one might think this is the perfect solution to keep a mother-in-law away, but I adore my mother-in-law, and don't mind her coming over.

So, yesterday they came over, and because they brought over the newly washed curtains that belong in the apartment, my mother-in-law had to come into the cat zone. She did so carefully, with a great deal of trepidation, while my father-in-law was calling the cats to him and bestowing more attention on them than they actually deserve.

Usually, the cats tend to hide when people come over, because lately it has usually been a slew of strangers - electricians, glass fitters, movers - and Phoebe and Nala did keep their distance, but Princeton remembered my father-in-law, and more importantly, he remembered that my mother-in-law doesn't like cats and how it is his responsibility, in the name of all catkind, to change her opinion. What Princeton doesn't realize is following her around the apartment absolutely does not help change her opinion, but instead convinces her more that cats are evil creatures intent on stalking and killing her.

The whole time my mother-in-law is asking us to keep him away, and then finally, she tells me "Princeton isn't as big as I remembered". No, no, Princeton is not a giant, man eating cat, although his girth has been called into question a few times, and surely Britney Spears' chihuahua would hardly be a snack for him. Even so, I wasn't sure if this was an admission, on my mother-in-law's part, that maybe he isn't so bad.

Still, she was grateful to leave the cat zone and start work in the no cat zone. She avoided coming back into the cat zone like the plague, and I am sure she will in the future. Poor, poor Princeton, in the end, he just wants to be loved.