Comforting Pats

If all goes well, I will be submitting my dissertation tomorrow afternoon - a very daunting proposition.  I defended it (successfully!) not quite two weeks ago, and the time since has been a race to get the introduction and conclusion and proofreading and various formatting things taken care of.  It's not exactly difficult, but it's frequently tedious and also remarkably psychologically demanding.

This is why Sir Theo has been sleeping in the south room with me the last few weeks.

Sir Theo is essentially a pillow with ears and feet.  He's just so large and so snuggly.  You take him to bed with you and you can just sort of curl up around him; it's quite an experience. 

But that's not the only reason having him around is useful.  He's a soothing presence independently of his size.  There's this perpetual look of gentle benign avuncular sympathy in his eyes that is remarkably calming.  In addition, Sir Theo is a renowed master of the Comforting Pat.  He'll just reach out put his paw on you, and you just melt.  Or you can lie on your back and put him on your chest with one paw on each shoulder and feel that someone has your back (or, at least, your shoulders). 

For demonstration, here's Sir Theo giving Angel Joe a Comforting Pat.  

Angel Joe is perpetually in need of Comforting Pats, so I feel moderately guilty about depriving him of Sir Theo for so long, but he says he understands.