on having cats & making friends

Did you read that article in the New York Times by Alex Williams (of A Cup of Joe proxy-fame) about making friends after 30? Im only 27, but Joanna is right, it did hit a nerve. Going to school in the same town in which I grew up, I took for granted the dozens of friends and acquaintances that surrounded me. Then, living in Ohio, I was easily and thankfully incorporated into the coterie of Chases childhood friends, many of whom were also recent parents, that had temporarily regrouped in the area. But here, in Pittsburgh, we're struggling to establish friendship on that level. We have leads at our new jobs, of course, and we've really only been her a couple of months... but sometimes I get nervous! Having a baby makes those casual and spontaneous after-work hang-out sessions trickier to accommodate; going out means calling a babysitter a few days in advance, or actually bringing the baby. Not happening. You cant rush these things, of course. Once the spring comes (oh, the spring!) Im sure we'll be out and about more, at the library and the park and the farmers markets, meeting fellow parents and maybe, if and when I go back to school, other like-minded individuals.  But for now, new in town, stuck inside our house and my own brain, our prospects can seem so bleak! What I would do without the internet, I have no idea; Im so thankful to be able to communicate daily with all of my friends and family--from California to Colorado, England to China! Its such a luxury.  

But the internet is like the universe: infinitely stimulating, but also, cold and impersonal. To combat the loneliness Ive been describing on a more subliminal, physical level, Ive got another ace up my sleeve. I guess its partly that we always had cats when I was growing up, but having these two sweeties come to stay with us has made our 'new house' (as Felix is still calling it, months after the move) feel so much homier. Afternoon naps are indescribably cozier with a kitty at your feet, and though they dont exactly make up for our current (hopefully temporary) lack of friends in the area, it does make me feel less lonely in the evenings after Felix has gone to bed. Really, everythings better when you have a cat--or two!