"Jetta"

So last week I was running errands with Leah while Chase and Tim stayed home. I had to go to Target and the post office. I got to Target and got out of the car.. as I was unbuckling Leah from her car seat I kept hearing "meowing" coming from somewhere. Naturally, I assumed the car next to me had a cat inside waiting for it's owner to come out of the store. I didn't think much of it. We went to Target and came back and to the car and headed to the post office. When I got out at the post office, I heard the same thing. Oh boy, I thought to myself.. This cat is in MY car. I prayed that he was not mangled in the engine compartment somewhere and I VERY carefully drove home. Snowbirds were passing me, that's how slow I was driving. I got home and put Leah inside and gave Tim the "I need you to do something for me because I don't want to" look and told him I thought there was a kitty stuck in my engine and had him go look. I grimiced as he popped the hood, half expecting to see blood and guts. Much to our surprise, out pops this little black and white kitty and off she ran... I couldn't believe this kitty hung out in my car unharmed that whole time! I must have been gone two hours!
We went about our business for the rest of the day. It's winter here in Yuma, which means finally nice enough to leave the doors open. We have a gate in front to keep the dog in, so we leave our front door open most of the time when it's nice out. We were sitting there playing when all of the sudden the kitty just walks into our house like she owned the place! We quickly put the dog in our bedroom so she didn't have herself an afternoon snack. Leah was SO excited. "A KITTY MOMMY! LOOK! MY KITTY!" The cat was shy at first but after a few minutes was letting Leah pet her and carry her all over the place.
Somehow stray animals always seem to find me - like that time the cat had her kittens on the side of our house. Like we have a sign on the door saying "stop in here and we will feed you!" Because of course I will.. I'm just like my mother. I swear growing up we always had some sort of wounded bird or lonesome cat around.
ANYWAY so we gave the kitty, who we named "Jetta" (because that's what kind of car she hung out in all day...) a nice tuna fish meal and we set her up a little blanket in the garage and left the garage door open a crack for her to go in and out if she wanted.
Since then the kitty has become a frequent visitor at our house. She stops in once or twice a day to get her "lovies" from Leah and some cat food (because of course I went to the store and bought cat food!) and then off she goes. She's taken a liking to the roof of our garage and every time we go outside she's sitting on top of the roof meowing down at us.
If we weren't moving soon (post to follow) I would take the kitty in, but I don't want her getting too attached. For now, we're just letting her hang out. It surely did add some excitement to ours days though as we look forward to dinner with Jetta. It's certainly one of the highlights of Leah's day getting to play with "JEDAH!"