The waiting is over! Meet the newest additions to the Twice the Rice household!
We adopted our little angels from a local nonprofit cat shelter. (Among the rejected names: Maddox and Zahara)
We hope to do right by them, of course honoring their feline roots to the best of our abilities — but at the same time, never letting them forget how lucky they were to be wanted. Finally, we have filled our empty home and our empty hearts with these adorable angels, who were likewise blessed when we were able to save them from a life without love. And isn’t love the only thing that matters? *sprinkling stars, hearts and rainbows*
I shall sew them little striped cat outfits so that they can play dress-up in their native costumes.
Personally, I have always been simply fascinated by cats. I just want to collect them! All of them! In an ideal world, I would have a rainbow cat family. We are all animals, after all. It is my duty to care for those who cannot care for themselves. Isn’t it just wonderful that I can open my mind and my heart and embrace another species this way???
What else is there that I can really do for them, but treat them exactly the same as I would had they been born into our loving household, rather than dumped on someone’s dirty doorstep? After all, would it have been better if we had let them languish in the cat shelter with the others who slipped through the cracks? I think not.
* * * * * *
LOL!
They are adorable! I love cats, too. My feline companions rule the roost. I simply feed them and scoop the poop.
Awwww, how shweeeet.
Love the sewing cat costumes comment, you’re a card!
Hopefully you can train them to hunt down the cane spiders.
OMG, you crack me up. And congrats on the new babies! How lucky they are to be chosen by you!!
I started laughing when I read “Maddox and Zahara” and didn’t stop until the last paragraph. Although you forgot to mention that even before you adopted them, the cats were bound to you by a red thread. Or, you know, the feline equivalent.
Also, I’m now craving some lomi lomi salmon.
TOO CUTE. They look like they came with their own bibs – bonus! We also have 2 adopted kitties (well, one adopted me by pooping on my hand – it was love at first poop). One plays well with his new sister, Little Nabi, and the other one (the pooper) is just irritated and stays away. Oh and the native-costume idea is just splendid. I shall start sewing away.
OH, OH! And you could bring them to the zoo to look at lions and tigers. And then you could give them a perm and eat chinese food.
OH, and they are **so cute**! Did they come as a pair? They look *just like* one another. Keeeey-uuute!
(seriously, they are cute).
Ha ha ha ha ha ! I can’t believe you passed up Maddox and Zahara! Mia-oops, I mean brangelina worked hard i’m sure to pick those names out.
you forgot that once every couple of years you will want to bring those kitties back to the animal shelter where you adopted them from. that way, they can see all the unfortunate other kitties who might not get the chance to have a loving home. I’m sure you will want to get together with other people who have adopted kitties from the shelter, so these kitties can get to know each other and practice mewing in their native language. I’m sure they will never try to run away, or leave your loving home that you’ve provided them with. They’ll never try to join other cats out in the world – how could they? after all it’s not in their true nature to want to be with those of their kind after having the kind of life you’ve provided them!
congratulations on the new additions. i also cannot pass by any stray cat. my grey striped tabby is incredibly naughty, but so endearing (besides, my hub says he’s just like me, go figure!)
Congratulations! They are beyond adorable! Oh the kitten lust … nothing cuter than a small being, fuzzy and playful.
Have a great time with the girls! Maybe they will become excellent cane spider catchers!
They are so cute! I love kitties, and apparently my love for them has been passed on to Kiki. She wants so much to be friends with the kitties around here. She meows when she’s looking for them, or even randomly meows throughout the day for no reason. I used to have Lilo and Stitch when I volunteered at the humane society during our two years in Illinois. Next, we will have a black cat named Jiji. Kiki has to have a black cat named Jiji, if you’ve seen Kiki’s Delivery Service. ^_^
ROTFLMAO and simultaneously going awwwwww. I have had to resist the kitten urge. It’s a thing with me to accumulate pets while waiting for an adoption and a really. bad. idea.
Your striped cat outfits reminds me….have you ever seen the Tigger movie? I think it’s a great parody on adoption. I know of adoptive parents who have banned it from their homes, so there’s a good recommendation. When Tigger realizes he is all alone as a Tigger, he goes off in search of his Tigger family. His friends try tricking him by dressing up as Tiggers. It doesn’t fly. He has an existential depression. Then he decides his non-Tigger family in the Hundred Acre Wood will have to do. What other options does he have? My daughter doesn’t get the connection with her life yet, but some day she will. And I look ridiculous in a
sariTigger suit.That is hilarious (terrifying). But, sings true to what people think when going into the adopting process. Thanks so much for speaking your truth and opening the door to another perspective.
LOL You are too funny. Don’t forget to get matching cultural outfits now that you have a set. (Or at least, that’s what I’ve been told about my twin daughters. Too bad I put them in jeans and sweatshirts.)
Your kitties are very cute, and I adore the “smiley” kitty photo. Enjoy the new furkids.
Aaaand Ji-in scores another 5 on my Likert Scale of genius blog entries. Tidings of joy & comfort to you, Mr. Pinoy, and your two family additions. My sister has adopted some six or seven cats in the last few years, and her two siblings have affectionally dubbed her “The Cat Lady”. (Btw, lol to your comment on Outside In. The rest of us bloggers do our best to hold it down for you, Mami.)
Oh I’m pooching out a tear!
Well according to the logic of the more insane of my fellow a-parents you are now officially a ‘feline family’ or maybe Feline-American. I’m not sure on the correct terminology. Congrats or ‘purrr’ or something! Don’ t forget to buy as much kitty associated crap as you can! Remember, cute crap counters culture.
Oh so cuuuuute! Nohthing better than fuzz therapy. I love cats
My Whiskey and Pascal say hi! *kitties wave a paws* Are they from the same litter? They look like twins on that photo 
Jason beat me to it. I was going to say, now you are ALL Feline-Americans. Don’t forget to pick up some kitty ears for you and Daddy.
I read Sue’s comment and kind of had to piggy-back: Have you seen the classic Sesame Street production, “Follow That Bird”? When a bird from an avian adoption agency gets Big Bird to realize he’s the only bird living on Sesame Street, he goes off on a quest to find others like him. He ends up living with The Dodos, where he most certainly does not fit in. At any rate, it’s another interesting take on identity and assimilation, postured as children’s film. I could watch it at the age of 40 and still appreciate its depth.
Ha. You guys crack me up. I love the Feline-American family. Yes, yes. We *are* ALL Feline-Americans now, and I shall meow to them as often as I can. I think maybe we’ll all adopt the practice of licking ourselves to bathe. And hey, we do eat a lot of fish and poultry already. It’s whisker-lickin’ good!
I had a longer entry planned out, complete with reflections on whether I will be able to raise them with enough kitty confidence so that they love me and never want to run away back to the Land of the Kitties. And how I will let them see other feral cats living on the streets every once in a while so that they will see how lucky they were to be rescued. And every so often, when I see another cat person out and about, I shall run up to them enthusiastically showing them my pictures of my cats, asking them, “Where did you get yours? They’re adorable! Let’s get together and have a playdate!” And that surely, they will be safe from the danger of being reclaimed by their mother cat, who was most likely some poor, disadvantaged, unfit kitten mama.
But then I started feeling a little too crazy. I mean, not that the sewing a cat-suit thing wasn’t a little nutty, but youknowwhatimean. So I kept it brief.
Anyhoo, yes, they are biological sisters, from the same litter. They were dumped. *sobs* Oh, the humanity! I mean … the felinity? They are almost identical, but one is slightly bigger, with smaller white mittens on her front paws. I just got collars for them in different colors/patterns, so that helps. I started to get frustrated the other night before they had their collars, when one of them did a run-by naughty, and then I couldn’t tell which of them to send to her room without any supper.
BTW, haven’t screened the Tigger movie, but I do have faint memories of Follow That Bird.
Yeah! Congratulations!
Aww this is so touching. Are they from Africa? You know I have some lion figurines that a friend brought back from Africa. They are the most darling figurines I’ve ever seen.
Tell me I’m not the only one who’s heard that one!
Ji-in you are truely twisted. Cheers
Aw, Peter, that’s sweet of you to say! You know I heart you, too!
I give in, they *are* cute! Darling creatures, and quite a clever way to introduce them. (Although looking at them, I have the automatic impulse to sneeze.) Reading some of the other comments reminds me of Rich’s recent post about adoption themes in Disney movies….
Ji-in, I just wanted to let you know that in one of the “international adoption” blogs that I’ve been reading for some time now, a great conversation is going on about many adoptive parents and some possible future adoptive parents initial feelings of “fearing the birth mother” while eventually coming to the conclusion that contact with the birth mother would be of benefit to everyone, especially the child. I know there are indeed ignoramuses out there, but many of these women aren’t ignorant horrible people, and they are thinking about these issues and even question international adoption at times. I know some of these women have been reading blogs such as yours which has provided them with much to consider in relation to adoption, ethics, and child welfare.
Congratulations! They look JUST like you and your husband. I can’t believe they’re not yours! I mean, they’re yours but not YOURS, you know.
Maybe you could bring them over for a playdate. My adopted sibling pair, Sesame and Cinnamon, look JUST like them too! They must be related! But you know, ALL orange tabbies look alike, haha.
Seriously, they are freaking cute, and to judge by the number of photos, your future kids are really gonna be in for it.
Ji-in, you are sooo going to hell for this one : )
Do you know The Onion newspaper ( http://www.theonion.com/content/index) ? It was the first newpaper to find humor about 9/11. An adoptive mom has an article in The Onion today (April 6) -it is pathetic compared to what you have to offer. You are one of the best satire writers out there, and it’s about time someone took on adoption. Thank you!
Thanks again for a much needed belly laugh today. And congratulations on your latest additions.
Sume, Yes! Maybe I can decorate their, um, litterbox with some African masks to make them feel more at home.
LOL, Lisa….Thanks for noticing the family resemblance! We couldn't have cats of our own, the natural way, so we settled on adoption. (But we won't talk about this with them until they're older…) Yes, they do all look quite similar, don't they? I'm starting to have nightmares of them getting lost in a sea of orange tabbies, and not being able to find them!
Hi Sandra — Oh, well, I think I actually came with a prepaid ticket. Anyway, yes, I have been familiar with The Onion for many a year. I often prefer it to other sources of news!
The kitties are adorable.
Tried to request a password but got an error message that “you” can only accept messages from a Tri-pod URL. Is there any way around this?
-M
hey.. found your blog on RBJ. Just wanted to say – your cats are gorgeous! Love the photos, especially the “catnap” one
I just read that article in the Onion. Are you sure that wasn’t
some kind of a joke? I haven’t read anything that incredible,
stupid and insensitive even in the worst on-line forums.That
adoptive mom is gross!
Ji-in, I am just wondering what your opinion is on all the material
written for a-parents about adopt-a programs and school age
children. Have any thoughts?
Kathy, The Onion is a parody. All of the articles are like jokes. Take a look at the headlines.
I know, I just went back and looked!
Ha Ha you got me!!
Mindy — Someone else mentioned she was having problems with the form. I tweaked the code a little. Please feel free to try again. Thanks for letting me know.
Oddly enough when I sat down and re-read out loud every single word of this entry to my husband he did not find it funny. It could be that he is not a cat person or perhaps it was the snorting and “oh my god, the next part is the funniest” interjections that did it. In anycase after spending the prior 15 minutes reading the latest entries to my adoption group list, this was the absolute best. thankyou.
Oh. My. Gawd.
I am howling here. Just howling. You are an evil, evil genius.
ROFL.
Very cute kitties, BTW. I’m envious, and may actually buck up and get another kitty to replace Monster and Big’Un. Piggy is cute, but she’s blonde, high-strung, and hides in the office all the time.
Ji-In,
They are too cute.
I am suprised that as an adoptive mommy
you didn’t include their timeline.
Meant to say I am so “surprised”.
I vote for a spell checker in the “Post
a Comment” box for those of us who
can’t figure out how to edit their original
comment. Sorry.
kitties!!!!!! just be careful – if they are domestic, thier mother might come lookin for them!
Did a wee wittle wady-bug crawl across your windowsill the day before they came to their forever home?
Lol! Hey, you managed to get twins, did you have to wait extra for that?
Today someone told me that they were considering (international child) adoption because they are already active in rescuing stray pets, so adoption was a logical next step. Well! It looks like you are on your way to becoming a real humanitarian, Ji-in! (BTW, love the blog, glad I tracked you down.)
j.gabriel: yes! We have seen Follow That Bird, and the “social worker” bird who “rescues” Big Bird from Sesame Street and puts him in a terrible foster home is truly creepy in her realistic. It was really stressful for my daughter to watch. Fortunately it came from the library and could go back. It’s a great allegorical adoption story, that’s for sure. Actually it’s kind of amazing to me how many animated kids stories apply, and not all in a negative way.
There is another Sesame Street story that shows up occasionally, where an egg gets lost of a truck and hatches and Telly raises the bird, and tries to act like a bird so the bird will feel more comfortable with him as adoptive father. The mother of the egg finds her way to Sesame Street and her baby with translation help from Big Bird and Telly reluctantly returns his “son” to the eggmother.
I learned about the Onion article in an email titled “Do you think this is a gag?” The only reason I knew it was a parody was because it was in the Onion. Just the day before, I had read a truly horrifying AP blog that used many of the same sentences and they MEANT EVERY WORD. How much you wanna bet she gets congratulated by some of the clueless?
Very funny, should be required reading for adoptive parents BEFORE they talk/write the same old stuff yet again.
Take care, Lin
Sharp wit like Dorothy Parker – very enjoyable. Its a pity your blog is now protected as casual readers will miss out on your writing. Also i had no real interest in the adoptee issue – apart from the vague thought that kids get a loving home… this blog has changed my mind on this issue considerably – *all* efforts should be made to find parents from the same race/culture!
A lot of truth to this……We are in the process of adopting and I already am struck by certain comments implying we are some sort of wonderful humanitarians.I don’t see it that way, but I don’t necessarily think the Western evil, selfish yuppy whitey should feel guilty about wanted to have another child and making a child without parents a part of their family.