It has been a long and complex week, but we appear to have acquired a cat by the name of Sunshine. She is a rescue, about five years old, from a shelter in Huntley. We went out to look at a number of different cats that we'd seen on the website. While I was outside with Ruby (because the instructions were "bring everyone, including the dog"), Gretchen sat down on a bench in the room full of cats. Sunshine hopped up on the bench beside her and proceeded to growl at any other cat who came by, apparently defending her human.

Gretchen told me to put Ruby in the car and come back in. I sat down on the opposing bench, at which point Sunshine hopped down, walked across the aisle, and hopped up on the bench next to me. It seems that I was also on the list of "her humans".

So we have a cat. Pictures will follow, I'm sure. Right now, we're working through the acclimation process, getting her and Ruby used to each other. We'll see how that goes.