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It’s nearly been two years now since Nemesis, First of Her Name, has been welcomed into our home.

Since she was plucked from the winter’s harsh embrace behind Walmart, Nemi has turned into a loveable enigma. A plump enigma, but loveable nonetheless.

She wasn’t expected, but from the first time she yowled at me from the bathroom, I knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

Granted, for what was essentially a free cat, Nemi cost us quite a bit of money. She had fleas, she ended up losing parts of each ear to frostbite, had a urinary tract infection and to top it all off she had to be neutered.

Actually, that was kind of nice, because the nearly month’s worth of Buster trying to remember how to be a male cat again and Nemi being REALLY interested in him was somewhat trying.

Looking back, I can still remember what the vet tech told us. “Enjoy your free cat.”

Our biggest challenge though has been trying to get her to lose weight. She is an enthusiastic lover of food, stemming no doubt to her time out on her own.

We try to get her to play in order to lose the weight, but Nemi isn’t one to really get into the playing spirit. Oh, there are times we can get her to wrestle with her toys, but she often gets bored quickly or Buster enters the room and playing is all done.

However, something has changed as of late. The other night, I had just come home when a black flash came skidding to a halt in the dining room. Nemi looked at me with wild eyes, turned and darted back into the living room and then back again.

Then there is the bottlecap, because actually purchased toys just aren’t enough. It’s got to be any old random thing laying about the house.

More than all of that, she’s playing with Busterious the First in the room, watching her with a look of disinterest.

“Peasant,” you can hear him say.

We’ve been thrilled to see her playing like this. She’s wrestling with us through the slats in the dining room chairs and our arms when we scratch her tummy.

However, now she’s getting at my mead making supplies. The airlocks and the bungs used in the racking.

I’m finding bits and pieces scattered throughout the house or actually finding her in the midst of really killing her prey.

I didn’t really care too much about stowing these things because in the beginning none of them really interested her much. She would sniff them and never give them a second glance, but now I’m stepping on them or kicking them in the living room.

However, now it’s getting weird. Usually about 5 a.m. I’m awoken by Nemi for our nightly ritual.

She nudges my hand, does a 180 and lays down against my leg for a good 20 minutes of scratching. This time though, when reaching out to scratch her, I found something that felt like plastic on the bed.

It was small and round and I struggled to figure out what it was until I held it up and through the weak background light saw it was a piece from an airlock.

She had brought it into the bed with her so she could play with it. Even dingleberry had never done that.

But she’s playing, so I guess that’s what counts right. But if I find a mouse in the bed we’re going to have to talk.