birthday, holiday, gem, book, phone
So, in the last week, Will and his twin turned 50, we bought and put up our (real) Christmas tree (HOLY COW EXPENSIVE IN NJ) and R&K's artificial one, finished decorating ours and put lights on theirs (ornaments still pending) and got lights up on the front of the house. MiniPlu started reading Romeo & Juliet for school, and I've been reading along to brush up on the details in case she has questions (although she has a "no fear" edition, with Shakespeare on one page and the modern English on the facing page). I finished most of my holiday cards while waiting for the furnace guy to come service the heating system at our old house. Two had gender therapy and both kids met with their new "regular" therapist for the first time, after the previous therapist took a job elsewhere after meeting with my kids all of once.
Oh, and we acquired a kitten. So, P&B, the neighbors across the street, have a 9-year-old daughter and, no joke, three dogs and ten cats. They also keep their garage door cracked open at all times, so the neighborhood feral/stray cats can wander in and out for shelter and/or food as needed. Every now and then, a stray decides it's had enough of being stray, and comes into the house - which is how they've ended up with 10 cats. When a half-grown kitten wandered in on Black Friday, they decided they really did NOT need an 11th, no matter how adorable and cuddly. So they started plying Karen with photos and descriptions, in hopes we might take her in. The ploy worked, of course. The kids and I went with Karen to meet the kitty last Monday, and by Wed night, she was at our house.
P&B had chosen not to name her, trying to avoid getting attached, so it was up to us to think of something. We bandied around a few choices before I suggested Gemini, Gem for short, and it seems to have stuck. By P&B's estimates, the litter was born mid-late June. As long as it's not *too* late into June, that makes the cat a Gemini. Also, she came to our house on the twins' birthday, and Gemini means "twin." Hence why I suggested the name. :) Gem is mostly black with a few white marks, sort of a tux cat that got printed wrong. She essentially has a "snowman" down her front - a small white spot on her chest, a medium white circle further down, and a larger white spot on her belly. Everything else - nose, paw pads, etc - is black, which makes her very difficult to take good photos of, or I'd post some.
Although she seemed to be very snuggly at P&B's house, Gem has been very shy with us. I know it's normal for cats to hide when their lives are rattled, but it's been nearly a week and she still spends most of her time under furniture. Not once has she come out voluntarily, but a couple of times a day we gently remove her and snuggle her on someone's lap, which she seems content enough to do for awhile, especially if blankets (to create a cocoon/cave) are involved. But if you put her down, or she gets squirrelly and no longer wants to be a lap kitty, she makes a beeline for whatever furniture is available, to hide behind or beneath, and there she stays - she doesn't even switch to any other furniture spot later on. Cat owners: how long does it take for a kitty to settle in? Given that there were other cats and dogs at the neighbors' house, it seems odd that she would feel threatened by our cats and dogs here, especially as most of them leave her alone. Jade sometimes pokes her nose in the cat's face if you're holding her, because she's curious (and a bit jealous of the attention Gem gets) but Gem hasn't so much as hissed or given Jade a swipe with her paws to indicate distress. She sometimes shakes when you first pick her up, but that soon stops, and she'll even purr for you, albeit very quietly. Is there anything we can do to help ease her in? (You'd think that my SIL, having had cats for much of her life, would be an expert at this, but her opinion is that no cat should ever suffer even a moment's distress, and to her, hiding under furniture is distress, and she wants Gem to be acclimated to people. So, while I'm ok with waiting her out, and hoping she'll eventually emerge on her own, that's not likely to happen in this household.)
I also finished the final Temeraire book, League of Dragons, with thanks to hamsterwoman, who gave it as a birthday present. My overall reaction: as a part of the series, it was fine. Seeing Napoleon's spread, with all the dragons, was interesting, as were the attempts to sway dragons away from Napoleon's proposed concord. I was very happy to see Jane again, albeit briefly (and was impressed at how hot that scene was with Jane and Lawrence, given that Novik does not write explicit material - but it was still hot). The politics with Admiral Lawrence and his unwilling underlings made for some interesting interactions. I did not like Temeraire/Iskirka's progeny, Ning, for her utter inability to commit and to try to play all sides to her advantage. Then again, I never did like Iskirka, after all this time, so I suppose I cannot complain if her offspring is annoying, too.
So, anyway, as a part of the series, I thought it was fine. As the FINAL book in the series, I thought it was disappointing. Everything was wrapped up very quickly in the end, without a real feeling of resolution. I would have liked to hear if Granby found someone to settle down with, despite society's restrictions. And even thought it was, truthfully, not really in Jane's nature to settle down, I still wish she and Lawrence had come to some longer-lasting understanding. I would have liked to know what happened with Emily and Demesne - machinations contrived to keep them apart, and perhaps forget each other, but did it work? What DID Lawrence and Temeraire do with their retirement? Why was Lawrence so ready to retire already? He wasn't that old, yet, was he? It all just felt ... unfinished. An enjoyable book, but unfinished.
Still debating what sort of cell phone I may want, once we get the money from our house closing. Google Pixel? Galaxy S7? HTC 10? They're all supposed to be good. I'm only familiar with Samsung, and I've liked them, but.... Look, I know technology isn't long-lasting anymore, but I still had to replace the S4 after only a year, and the S5 is getting cranky at 2 years, and some of Samsung's devices have recently caught on fire, so ... should I keep going with them? Or try something else? Yes, yes, first world problems.
House closes in 4 days.
Oh, and we acquired a kitten. So, P&B, the neighbors across the street, have a 9-year-old daughter and, no joke, three dogs and ten cats. They also keep their garage door cracked open at all times, so the neighborhood feral/stray cats can wander in and out for shelter and/or food as needed. Every now and then, a stray decides it's had enough of being stray, and comes into the house - which is how they've ended up with 10 cats. When a half-grown kitten wandered in on Black Friday, they decided they really did NOT need an 11th, no matter how adorable and cuddly. So they started plying Karen with photos and descriptions, in hopes we might take her in. The ploy worked, of course. The kids and I went with Karen to meet the kitty last Monday, and by Wed night, she was at our house.
P&B had chosen not to name her, trying to avoid getting attached, so it was up to us to think of something. We bandied around a few choices before I suggested Gemini, Gem for short, and it seems to have stuck. By P&B's estimates, the litter was born mid-late June. As long as it's not *too* late into June, that makes the cat a Gemini. Also, she came to our house on the twins' birthday, and Gemini means "twin." Hence why I suggested the name. :) Gem is mostly black with a few white marks, sort of a tux cat that got printed wrong. She essentially has a "snowman" down her front - a small white spot on her chest, a medium white circle further down, and a larger white spot on her belly. Everything else - nose, paw pads, etc - is black, which makes her very difficult to take good photos of, or I'd post some.
Although she seemed to be very snuggly at P&B's house, Gem has been very shy with us. I know it's normal for cats to hide when their lives are rattled, but it's been nearly a week and she still spends most of her time under furniture. Not once has she come out voluntarily, but a couple of times a day we gently remove her and snuggle her on someone's lap, which she seems content enough to do for awhile, especially if blankets (to create a cocoon/cave) are involved. But if you put her down, or she gets squirrelly and no longer wants to be a lap kitty, she makes a beeline for whatever furniture is available, to hide behind or beneath, and there she stays - she doesn't even switch to any other furniture spot later on. Cat owners: how long does it take for a kitty to settle in? Given that there were other cats and dogs at the neighbors' house, it seems odd that she would feel threatened by our cats and dogs here, especially as most of them leave her alone. Jade sometimes pokes her nose in the cat's face if you're holding her, because she's curious (and a bit jealous of the attention Gem gets) but Gem hasn't so much as hissed or given Jade a swipe with her paws to indicate distress. She sometimes shakes when you first pick her up, but that soon stops, and she'll even purr for you, albeit very quietly. Is there anything we can do to help ease her in? (You'd think that my SIL, having had cats for much of her life, would be an expert at this, but her opinion is that no cat should ever suffer even a moment's distress, and to her, hiding under furniture is distress, and she wants Gem to be acclimated to people. So, while I'm ok with waiting her out, and hoping she'll eventually emerge on her own, that's not likely to happen in this household.)
I also finished the final Temeraire book, League of Dragons, with thanks to hamsterwoman, who gave it as a birthday present. My overall reaction: as a part of the series, it was fine. Seeing Napoleon's spread, with all the dragons, was interesting, as were the attempts to sway dragons away from Napoleon's proposed concord. I was very happy to see Jane again, albeit briefly (and was impressed at how hot that scene was with Jane and Lawrence, given that Novik does not write explicit material - but it was still hot). The politics with Admiral Lawrence and his unwilling underlings made for some interesting interactions. I did not like Temeraire/Iskirka's progeny, Ning, for her utter inability to commit and to try to play all sides to her advantage. Then again, I never did like Iskirka, after all this time, so I suppose I cannot complain if her offspring is annoying, too.
So, anyway, as a part of the series, I thought it was fine. As the FINAL book in the series, I thought it was disappointing. Everything was wrapped up very quickly in the end, without a real feeling of resolution. I would have liked to hear if Granby found someone to settle down with, despite society's restrictions. And even thought it was, truthfully, not really in Jane's nature to settle down, I still wish she and Lawrence had come to some longer-lasting understanding. I would have liked to know what happened with Emily and Demesne - machinations contrived to keep them apart, and perhaps forget each other, but did it work? What DID Lawrence and Temeraire do with their retirement? Why was Lawrence so ready to retire already? He wasn't that old, yet, was he? It all just felt ... unfinished. An enjoyable book, but unfinished.
Still debating what sort of cell phone I may want, once we get the money from our house closing. Google Pixel? Galaxy S7? HTC 10? They're all supposed to be good. I'm only familiar with Samsung, and I've liked them, but.... Look, I know technology isn't long-lasting anymore, but I still had to replace the S4 after only a year, and the S5 is getting cranky at 2 years, and some of Samsung's devices have recently caught on fire, so ... should I keep going with them? Or try something else? Yes, yes, first world problems.
House closes in 4 days.