Rainy Day Ramblings

It is raining and icky outside. Luckily, it is still all warm and cozy inside, especially with a tiny kitten purring next to me. I am not brave when it comes to this sort of weather, but Andrew was not deterred by the ickiness from his invitation to test-drive the car he's been waiting for that finally came in. At least, I think that's what he is doing ... to be honest, I have a bit of trouble keeping up with his car discussions. I find it much easier to be interested in the biochemistry he shares with me. At least it seems to matter.

We have gotten quite comfortable over the last month or so in our house. There are habits emerging that already feel well-worn. This is especially interesting in combination with the fact that I miss a bunch of different people who are currently in very different places, and being separated from my Chicago friends still feels like a fresh situation. This house is infused with a mixture of timelessness and vastness that makes it feel so separate from ... mostly everything. I have a hunch that this is just a Liz quirk, as Husband has always proven himself capable of the rational thought I shy away from. This is good because he reminds me that there are, in fact, good reasons to leave the House of Happiness and interact with the world outside of these walls. And maybe one day, when he's a bit more tired and ready to relax than he is at this early stage of our life together, I'll convince him that he should just stay home with me on a rainy day and appreciate the fact that we don't have to venture out into it.

All of my inclinations toward staying at home where everything's wonderful (inclinations that will make my mother "tsk, tsk!" when she reads this) just seem to be validated by the new technology that seeps further into the American lifestyle every millisecond. For example, Mom, did you know that on my iPhone I now have a program called Stanza? It's a book-reading sort of program, and it gives the reader access to an enormous cache of FREE BOOKS THAT YOU DOWNLOAD RIGHT TO YOUR iPHONE. I've read a Vonnegut short story, some tales of the grotesque by Poe, and am partway through The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's wonderful! And to make you happy, Mom, I'll even download some Hemingway. Now I have no reason to put off reading The Old Man and the Sea. I can have it right in my phone!

("The man tries to catch the feesh ...")

Anyhow, I have been working on posting the wedding pictures and am just about finished. I know, it took a very long time, but they're here now, so quit your whining! Check them out: Two Nerds Become One.

In the meantime, I'll be back to write more soon. Bear with me as I try to get this all together ...

2 Cats in the Yard

Earlier this evening, Andrew and I came up to the Train Room to find that Theodora, our littler kitten, had managed to knock Pixel's carrier case down with herself in it. She was thoroughly trapped, and we tried to pick up the carrier carefully but it turned out her leg was being wedged in the hinge of the door as it fell open. This caused her to yowl intensely, and I fixed the problem as quickly as I could, but there was a terrible moment when I thought we'd broken her leg. She ran furiously away from us once she'd leapt from the cage, making it obvious that she was mostly unscathed, and repelled our advances by retreating under the bed.

Meanwhile, Pixel, our older male kitten, hair bristling all the way down his spine, was patrolling the room in wide circles. When we approached Dora, he growled at us and tried to interject himself. We'd managed to ascertain that she was uninjured, and Pixel was periodically going to the corner with the carriers to stare sternly at them. And when Dora began wandering about the room again, he prowled in circles around her, glaring at us, bob tail puffed up to menace us.

And somehow, I'm not surprised that they ended up loving each other so much. Even when we introduced Dora into Pixel's domain in my parents' house and they hissed and growled like they were mortal enemies, I never really thought it was a risk that they wouldn't get over it. I guess it's just that it was part of the plan for so long, two kittens, a new place to live, and I envisioned my harmonious little family with our cats loving each other so often that it had to come true.

So now, we've got two kittens who spend considerable periods of time cuddled up and bathing each other. Except for when little Dora decides she'd rather play fight, and she beats up on the much larger but exceedingly pacifistic Pixel.

(Dora just jumped up to cuddle in my lap, purring. God bless that short-term memory!)

Basically, it makes me feel really warm and fuzzy inside to have my kittens getting along. Tomorrow some very exciting things are happening:

1. Our rings are arriving in the mail.

2. We take possession of our new house and get a cozy Aerobed situation set up in the master bedroom.

And in the very near future, I will figure out how to post pictures on this thing. There are some amazing kitten pictures that must be shared with the world!

I miss and love my family and all my buddies, and I hope you and your loved ones are getting along as well as we are.