The final part of the move was supposed to go like this: put the cats in their carriers with the few boxes of dishes and clothes left in the apartment into the car. Then we drive across the George Washington Bridge, look at the skyline and all say in unison "Bye bye, gotham!" Arrive at the new apartment up north to find the weekend New York Times on the doorstep and all is right in the world.
Unfortunately, reality is never that pretty. Brian and I realized that we had left about three times too many things to bring in the car. We stashed some things at Heidi's apartment, some more things at a parents house, and still stuffed the car to the roof. The cats screamed in unison for the first two hours of the drive. On Sunday we drove back to pick up the boxes from Heidi's since there were many important things there (coffeemaker! coffee! tv!). And the worst part is that a Boston Globe arrived on my doorstep. That's just not nice.
Madeline the cat went missing on Monday night. I hoped she was hiding in some odd spot, but when she missed breakfast the next morning I knew she was definitely gone. The good thing about Madeline is that she does not actually like the outside. I went up the steps to the other apartments in the building--no sign of her. However, on the way back down a small stuffed tiger outside someone's door caught my eye. I went to look more closely and found Madeline curled up next to it. She was always very friendly. All the cats have to wear collars with bells now in case of any more escapes. Every move they make goes jingle jingle.
