So the move went better than I could have ever hoped. My family were an incredible, amazing, glorious help. There is now way I could have done it without them, no way I could have carried my couches up the 4 flights of stairs or built all my own furniture. My mom, dad and brother were absolute troopers, world moving champions, and my heart has brimmed and overflowed with gratitude.Emily McDowall also almost burst my heart with her awesome by showing up and unpacking every single one of my books.

Miraculously, a few days in I am almost unpacked. The house is really starting to come together and look like a home. Living with Lily the Pirate and my right-hand lady Gennie C is everything I thought it would be and more.

Perhaps most miraculously of all in the settling-in process has been how well our animals have all gotten along. Gennie has a little bichon frise, Merlin, and I of course have my two psycho jungle cats. I bought a baby gate, fully prepared to segregate them as long as necessary, and worried about how they would get along rather obsessively, knowing they'd already been through so many changes and not wanting them to be unhappy. Within an hour of my arrivla, however, the cats had crossed the threshold of the babygate and were hanging out with Merlin like they'd all been best friends for years. George playfully bodyslams Merlin in the hallway and Lydia gives him nose-kisses. It warms my black little heart every time.

Labels: Cats, Moving to Toronto