i wanted to give you guys a sneak peek at the mermaid book i am making for camp tomorrow. yes, i have surrendered to what truly makes me happy: transforming my cat into a merkitty.

the ink in our printer was not working so justin had to copy delilah’s photo at work. when one of the guys asked what it was for, justin had to answer “mccabe is making delilah into a mermaid.” not only did his friend not find this odd, but then asked, “oh is she mod podging again?”

a little update on delilah:

she was in full cuddle mode right after i wrote my last delilah post, however, now she found a new spot by the shed and has been spending all her time out there, much to my dismay. of course she comes in for treats and water. speaking of which, she still only will drink her water on the table. so much for making this my little breakfast nook.

would you guys want to eat on this table?

delilah is like a child-she hates change if she is not in charge of it. a friend of mine was sleeping on the couch one night last week, and god forbid he put his BAG on the TABLE where HER WATER IS. where her water is. she kindly let me know by meowing as loud as she could at 3 in the morning, just staring up at the table where the bag was next to her water. i moved the bag as quietly as i could, only to have delilah stare approvingly and walk away. because she might want some water later, and that bag better not be there.
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another spot she is enjoying is under this yellow table. it stays outside but i pull it in for small art groups.

she is pretty much oblivious to a bunch of little girls doing art on the roof of her fort. much artwork is displayed to her under the table by proud artists. the funny thing is she will look at it for a minute as if she is truly interested, moving her eyes all over the page as to not miss a sparkle or a sequence. this act often prompts an excited “delilah likes my flower!”
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a few weeks ago i was teaching 3 little girls (ages 5, 6, and 7) and delilah came in and did her signature “RAraaaaaaaahs” at me. i thought her food bowl was empty or something tragic like that, so i excused myself to go assist my high maintenance fairy princess. turned out not only was her bowl full, but it was overflowing with cat food. the problem?

she likes me to pet her while her eats. i never even considered this odd until three sets of eyes looked at me in fascination and as i stroked delilah’s back and whispered, “its okay, here is your food. you have enough food, everything is okay….”

what are you doing they wanted to know-

“uh, delilah can’t eat her catfood unless we massage her.”

as soon as the words spilled out of my mouth i realized how ridiculous i sounded. when a 5 year old looks at you like you gotta be kidding me you know its bad.

so then i explained that delilah was a stray when we first got her, and not used to being taken care of. we wanted her to know that this was her home, so when we showed her where her food and water bowl were, we comforted her by saying, “this is your home, this is your food, its okay.”

and now because of this, 2 years later, our cranky cat thinks it is totally normal to be cooed and cuddled while she feasts. because everyone likes to be reassured that their food is theirs and okay, right?

somehow my sweet students understood this,
nodding their heads with compassion in all seriousness.

this activity has now been incorporated into most of
my small art classes:
paint, create, pet delilah while she eats
her treats, snack, and clean-up.

i am sure there is no other art teacher
that has to break up fights that begin with
“no, it is MY turn to pet delilah when she eats tuna!”

not that i am complaining.