Is this real life?

I don't ever have trouble mistaking dreams for reality because my dreams are often so bizarre that they could never happen in real life. They are often very detailed and take place in the real world, but just really couldn't possibly happen. For instance, before my final grades were posted this semester, I had a dream that one of my history professors lowered my grade from an A+ to a B because he heard people around campus spreading rumors about me, including that I frequently got hit by cards due to not paying attention, and he concluded that if I wanted to make it in the world as a historian, I needed to get used to gossip effecting my career.

Yesterday, though, real life was so weird that I thought I might be dreaming.

Let me start by saying that following exam week, I came home and slept, celebrated my 25th birthday, and seemed to have developed a head cold. So my brain was a little fuzzy, and I got up early to take Chandler to the vet because he hasn't been feeling well lately.

In the lobby I met the crazy cat lady. You know, THE crazy cat lady. The one you always hear about.

She seemed normal at first. Somewhat elderly, well dressed, carrying a little dog that was so old it didn't really know what was going on but was really cute. He wasn't on a leash and when she put him down he would wander around the lobby and sniff all the other pets. I struck up a conversation with her, partially because she was sitting next to us while we were waiting for Chandler, but mostly because the little dog looked like a living teddy bear.

I was just asking her about her little dog and she was really friendly and then just dropped the bomb that he lives with her and her thirty two cats. Your what? I thought. Your how many? Thirty two cats. Plus some outdoor cats. I know this seems like something a senile old lady would say, but I'm willing to give this woman the benefit of the doubt. As they say on the many crime tv shows I watch,  "she fit the profile." Plus, she had so many anecdotes about how he would chase the outdoor cats and slept in the middle of all of the indoor cats on her bed.

I immediately thought of last week when my grandmother informed me that she had 10 inches of snow outside and the snowflakes were as big as apples. Riiiiiight, I thought. But this lady wasn't 94 - she seemed about 50. She looked very together in her pantsuit and nice jewelry. We stopped talking as the vet came out and spoke to my father and me about Chandler's test results in the lobby, but I kept my eye on her. She sat there stroking her dog - who wasn't even sick - he had come along for the ride as she brought in one of her cats to visit the vet.

Guys, I feel like I just met Santa. THE crazy cat lady. I should have asked for an autograph.