mojosmom

I get regular email newsletters from Atlas Obscura, telling about odd places and things and events. They also do trips. Today, they announced a trip to Venice in July: http://www.atlasobscura.com/unusual-trips/hidden-venice-with-a-psycho-mambo-twist I couldn't resist, and have paid the deposit. I do think that the fates have been conspiring to send me back there. I went to a Chicago Symphony concert the other evening, of music by Vivaldi, Corelli, etc., with mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, that just made me want to hop the next plane to Venice. And then this morning a friend sent me a video Valentine's card of a canine gondolier! So cute!

In other things:

The cats had their annual vet check-ups this past weekend. Both are in good health, though the vet said they should have their teeth cleaned in a few months. They have a new vet (who had previously worked as a vet/kennel assistant and then vet tech at the practice), as the one they had been seeing has retired. The great surprise was that I was able to get both boys into the carrier without a struggle. Usually, I'm cornering Smoke in the closet (his favorite napping place) and trying to get Shadow out from under the bed. But my timing was right, because I found Shadow asleep on my bed, and just gathered him up in a tight grip. Smoke's appointment was Sunday morning, so he was lying on the Sunday paper that I was trying to read, which made it easy.

My friend Elaine, one of the women with whom I was in Boston, said she was sending us all photos she had taken. I was not expecting what came, a book she'd put together! Really thoughtful, but then she's that sort of person. I see I didn't write about that trip after it happened. Lots of fun. I got there before the others to see exhibits at the MFA and the Gardner, and was joined by one of the group who lives near Boston. The whole group went to the Boston Public Library (a fabulous building) for their Shakespeare exhibit and afternoon tea.

I have been going through my posts and making some deletions, because there were a lot of duplicates from having brought them over from LiveJournal. Oddly, I found situations where duplicate posts had different comments, so in those cases I left the duplicates. I will also have to do something about posts where I linked to LJ communities, since, obviously, those links still go to LJ. And some of my photos seem to have been lost in the migration. But I expect I can retrieve them from Flickr.

I've just been very remiss. And very busy!

I've been recruited to join another board, that of the Newberry Consort, a local group that specializes in what is now called "historically informed performance".

Volunteering at the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (they've just changed their name from the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust) continues, as I give tours at both Chicago's Robie House and Oak Park's Unity Temple, as well as help with training new volunteers. I am finding that one of the things I really enjoy doing is giving tours to school children. They are lots of fun! And I was given a very nice compliment, by being asked to act as a house captain for Robie House during next year's very special Wright Plus event. The people I work with are quite lovely. Yesterday, it was so cold that no one bought tickets for one of the tours I was scheduled to give. I had to stick around because there were people for the next tour, so the house manager said, "Why don't you take advantage of the living room?" So I fixed a cup of tea, took my book, and sat there reading and watching the sunlight play with the art glass windows.

Our branch library, the oldest in the city, was once again part of Open House Chicago, and I organized the volunteers for that.

The last few weeks have, as always this time of year, been full of parties. Between my professional organizations, various non-profits I contribute to/volunteer with, not to mention purely social times with friends, I've been eating and drinking to my heart's content, if not my cholesterol's.

I am hoping to have two new additions to my household after the new year. Meet Teague (on the right) and his brother, Thai. They are a Siamese-tabby mix, and oh! so adorable.

One of the reasons I'm not taking them in until next year (other than the fact that I don't want to bother them with company until they've settled in) is that I am leaving town on Monday and won't be back until Dec. 24th. Didn't seem fair to bring them home and then desert them! I am going to Cuba for a week! The trip is with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, and we'll be in Havana for a week, meeting artists, musicians, and dancers, and, not incidentally, enjoying warm weather.

I've just been very remiss about posting.

I dashed down the block to the farmers' market this morning for raspberries, flowers and a muffin, and dashed back home about 10 minutes before the skies opened and it started pouring. It's stopped now, though.

Last week was busy. Teatro Vista, along with another theatre company called Collaboraction, did a series of six solo shows in three programs, all performed by the playwrights, so of course I went to all three. My favorite was KJ Sanchez' Highway 47, about her family's involvement in a land grant dispute in New Mexico.

It should be no surprise to anyone that I am involved in the Friends of Blackstone Library. In a perfect merger of my love of libraries and my love of architecture, I am working on an event in October, when our library, the oldest branch library in Chicago, will be part of the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Open House Chicago. Should be fun!

Eight years ago, I wrote this review of Regina Taylor's play, Crowns. Saw it again a couple of weeks ago, and, having been to a couple of pre-play events, I knew she'd revised it. It's rather like she read my review, and fixed what I didn't like! She made Yolanda's story much stronger and more integrated into the play (and, along the way, moved Yolanda's home from Brooklyn to Chicago's Englewood neighborhood). Different cast, but all fabulous.

I had my annual fix of Chicken Teriyaki and taiko drummers at the Ginza Holiday Festival Saturday. I also bought a gorgeous, and rather unusual, kimono. It's quite simple, brown and indigo (looks black in the photo but it's not), with figures done by shibori dyeing:

And, just because it's adorable, a photo of Lilith wearing one of my flip-flops:

Yesterday, I went to the local garden fair and picked up some herbs, flowers and compost for my back porch container garden. I left them on the porch while I went inside, had lunch and rested up a bit. When I went out to plant everything, I was greeted by a lovely tabby cat coming up the stairs. She looked just like Lilith. Because it was Lilith! I think she had pushed open the screen door (I'd left the main door open to let some air in) and trotted her little self outside.

Note to self: Latch, as well as close, the screen door in future.

At this moment, Lilith is sitting on the newspaper that I was trying to read.

Cats: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

It's practically summer here! Seriously, we're expecting a high in the 80s today. I can live with that. I have thrown open all the windows and am letting the breezes blow and the sun shine in. I might even make some iced tea.

We have a visiting cat next door. I came home last Friday, and, as I was coming up the last bit of back stair, saw this lovely cat, who looked far too sleek and well-fed to be a stray. Turns out that my neighbor's cousin is visiting to help him out with some renovations on his apartment, and the cousin always travels with his cat. Cat can't stay inside because my neighbor is allergic, so he hangs out on the back porch and stairs, or in the cousin's van. Meet Diesel:

Lots of music lately. The full production of Rinaldo certainly lived up to the promise of the dress rehearsal. The day prior, I'd gone to the Symphony to hear (finally) Ricardo Muti conduct Cherubini's Requiem. He was supposed to do it last season, but got ill. The program also included a vocal piece by Brahms and Schoenberg's Kol Nidre. The chorus got a real work-out. Sunday, the Newberry Consort played a concert of sixteenth-century Ferrarese music at Rockefeller Chapel. Such a sunny day that, at one point, the soprano and a couple of the musicians had to move their music stands because the light shining through the stained glass windows put too much glare on the music! And most of the audience went outdoors during intermission.

I went up to my friend Margaret's for dinner on Saturday, and she showed off the new addition to her house, a lovely sun room that can be accessed from her kitchen and from what she now is using as her dining room (it had been a study/office). Her nephew did all the work, and it's gorgeous. Light wood paneling, windows on three sides, plus two skylights, and a small deck leading outside.

What else? Oh, a very fun lecture at the Art Institute by Sarah Burns called "Better for Haunts", all about how Victorian American architecture has become the archetype for the haunted house, with references to Chas Addams, Psycho, and Edward Hopper.

I have done my civic duty and voted duty. Despite the gorgeous weather, turnout seems to be light, but there's really only one major race in the Democratic primary, and that's in the top judicial race. Sadly, most people don't pay much attention to those. So as there are very few Republicans in my neighborhood, the poll workers will probably need to have brought a good book.

The holiday season is now in full swing, with lots of shopping opportunities. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust has a shop in The Rookery, a Burnham and Root designed office building with later renovations by Wright. They had an event a few days ago with choir, champagne and sweets, and tours, so how could I pass that up? I used it more as a photo op than a shopping op, though:

(More pretty pics here.)

Yesterday, my friends Barb and Patrice, a bookbinder and potter respectively, had their annual open house cum sale. I enjoyed their gingerbread cake and hot cider, and bought a nice garden journal for my sister and a small, lidded casserole dish for me.

Saturday was the Hyde Park Art Center's auction, "Party with an Artist". It was fun, and my neighbor Marva, also a potter, had a piece up for auction. (I'll be going to her open house/sale next weekend!) There were several pieces that intrigued me, but starting bids on most were a bit rich for my blood. However, I did successfully bid on one, an abstract (not my usual!) piece called "Among the Rafters":

As I was leaving the house to go there, I saw three boxes of books sitting by the dumpster. My initial excitement faded, however, when I realized that they were almost all out-of-date economics textbooks. However, I did retrieve two Harvard Classics volumes: Charles Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, and Twenty-Four Years After, and a volume with bits of Plato, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.

One of the things that I decided to do once I retired was to join The Saints, an organization of volunteers for the arts, to do some ushering. I did my first event on Saturday, at a performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors by the Chicago Chamber Opera, at the main library. That opera is one of my earliest television memories, being the very first show I saw on the first television my family owned. It was stage-directed by Menotti's son, Francis, and choreographed by Dame Libby Komaiko. I sniffled, as always.

In other things operatic, we went to Ariadne auf Naxos at Lyric on Friday, and enjoyed it tremendously.

Today, I dug up my rosemary from the planter on the back porch, put it in a pretty pot, and brought it indoors to sit on my kitchen window sill:

Apropos of nothing, just because she's cute:

( I've been flitting about a lot. )

( Other things )

It's a good thing I'm retired and can sleep late. (Well, not so late. Lilith is better than any alarm clock. 7:00 a.m. sharp, she's patting my face, demamding that I get up and feed her!)

My sisters were in town this weekend. I picked Cathy up at Midway after work on Wednesday, and Stacey drove in on Thursday, arriving just about an hour before I got home. She brought scads of vegetables from her garden - zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant and bell peppers - so Cathy made us gazpacho for dinner.

I took a vacation day on Friday, and we went downtown to the Cultural Center and the Art Institute. I'd already seen the Louis Sullivan and Jazz Loft Project exhibits at the Cultural Center, but they were well worth seeing again, and we also saw the exhibit, Stranger in Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard Finster. We had lunch, and then to the Art Institute for their Sullivan exhibit, and also the Henri-Cartier Bresson show, which was immense. Then home to rest up before going out to dinner with some old family friends.

On Saturday, we headed to my local farmers' market. I needed some garlic, and we also bought a variety of fruit, a lovely bit of lamb, some flowers and Brown Sugar Bakery's awesome bread pudding, fresh from the oven. We stayed for the chef demo, and, as always, sampled the end products, both of which were vegetarian, so Stacey could enjoy them as well.

We had thought about going to Carifete, a festival of Caribbean nations, with food, vendors, a parade, etc., but skipped it in favor of resting up a bit at home. Then I ran some necessary errands while my sisters went over to the Art Center to see a show I'd already seen and didn't need to see again. Late afternoon, we went out to Oak Park to see our friend Jeanette, a founder of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. She took us to a local art fair and dinner, and then we went back to her apartment, chatted and watched the video of her 90th birthday party. She was telling us about what the new owner is doing to her former residence, Frank Lloyd Wright's Davenport House. He's taking it back to the original 1901 configuration (there's apparently a bit of controversy about this), and the work is taking so long that six years after he bought the place, he still isn't living in it!

Sunday, we drove out to the boonies to see Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House:

I wouldn't want to live there all the time, but I can sure see why Edith Farnsworth spent every weekend there! And we could also hear why she finally decided to sell it. There was a bridge over the Fox River, right by the house, which, when she bought the land, was just a quiet, farmers' bridge. Then the powers-that-be decided it needed to be a big, modern road. And, boy, is it noisy! Quiet inside the house, but no more serene evenings on that terrace.

When we got back to Hyde Park, we went to the Medici for a late lunch. New t-shirts: "Support Elena Kagan - a judge of good pizza"! (She apparently frequented the Medici when she was at the Law School.)

Yesterday, I had to go to work, but the sisters walked down to the lakefront, through Jackson Park and then hit the bookstores on 57th St. Cathy made penne pasta with mushrooms, zucchini and pine nuts for dinner, along with thick slices of tomato with fresh basil. After dinner, she suggested that we go for a walk around the block, as it was a perfect evening to go walking. I put forth an amendment to the motion, that we walk over to the Istria Café and have a gelato. The motion, as amended, carried unanimously and was put into immediate effect. We came back through Harold Washington Park, where some young men were playing soccer and some older men were playing chess.

I dropped Cathy off at the airport this morning, and Stacey drove herself home later in the day. So now here I am with no one but the cats, which is okay, too! Marissa, who is normally quite shy with other people, took a mild shine to Cathy, briefly snuggling with her when she was trying to print out her boarding pass!

at least momentarily. I received a new modem from Earthlink today. I still cannot connect directly, but have to use a round about way. I have the number for a "senior technician", but naturally they aren't available 24/7 and I called after they closed, so I'll try again tomorrow evening.

In the interim, I'll play catch-up here.

First up: the neighborhood in the news. NBC Nightly News visited our local farmers' market last Saturday. The story is here (you have to watch an ad first). I'm not in it (one of my sisters says that's because I didn't look "gritty and inner city enough"), despite the fact that a camera was pointing at me as I ate pork with mango salsa!

Later that day, I went to Kittenpalooza, an event during which cute little kittens are displayed in order to get ~~suckers~~nice people to adopt. I did not succumb, but did ooh and ahh. I mean, how cute is this?

Saturday evening, I went to see the Jules Dassin film, La Loi, with Gina Lollobrigida, Yves Montand, Marcello Mastroianni and Melina Mercouri. It's a rather over-the-top soap opera, but with that cast, who cares?

On Sunday I dropped a bunch of clothes and tchotchkes off at the Brown Elephant, and came back with a few things, as always. There's a new resale shop a couple of doors down, everything $3 except for t-shirts, which are $1. I found a pristine white linen Liz Claiborne blouse with French cuffs and a sage green sleeveless linen blouse. Helluva deal. Then I went over to my friend Kate's, whose garden was one of many on a neighborhood garden tour. But we mostly sat inside and drank iced tea or seltzer water, and ate cheese and cookies, and chatted.

Other than that, it's been a fairly quiet week. I had to pull an iron out of the fire for an idiot probation officer. She was shocked, shocked! when I pointed out to her that someone who was locked up in the jail couldn't just pick up the phone and call a treatment center whenever he felt like it. (I think she must be new.)

As usual, I celebrated Bastille Day by watching Casablanca and having a French meal. It was going to be escargots Bourguinonne, but it's been hellishly hot here* so I didn't feel much like bubbling butter and hot ovens, and had a salade Niçoise instead.

*I keep telling myself, "it's only in the 90s, not like the East coast with triple digits!"

Well, a week and a half anyway.

No traumatic or terrible reasons for it, just a bit lazy, and trying to catch up with reviews over at my other blog.

I've been busy with Teatro Vista board/committee meetings. We're planning a benefit in April and I'm on that committee (though it unfortunately falls during the time I'll be in Europe!).

I saw my first "Live in HD" Metropolitan Opera broadcast last Saturday. Friends have raved about them, and so I decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity to hear Placido Domingo sing baritone, in the title role of Simon Boccanegra. I had the libretto from when Lyric did it years ago, so read it ahead of time, a necessary thing because the plot is incredibly convoluted, even for opera! I loved it! The opera itself was grand, but it was worth going just for the close-ups. I loved seeing the details of the costumes, and you could see them sweat! During intermission, there were interviews conducted by Renée Fleming, but what was even more interesting was that they showed the sets being changed. The Met stage crew deserves every penny they get. It was like choreography. The only thing I missed, that you get when you listen on the radio, is the Opera Quiz. One of the perks of my Opera Guild membership is advance ticketing for these, and I expect I'll use that next season!

Both cats have been to the vet, Marissa yesterday for her annual check-up and a couple of shots (three-year rabies and distemper, so she won't have to be poked for awhile more). Lilith went this morning. She has been having pooping issues, going outside the box (though not all the time) and very loose stools. Bloodwork is being done, stool sample checked and pills have been prescribed. So we'll see.

I went by the library to return a couple of books and, of course, browsed the "New Books" shelves. I noticed a book with the intriguing title The Web that has no Weaver, which turned out to be a book about Chinese medicine. And was authored by a guy I knew in college, and had acknowledgements to two other guys I knew in college!

I had yesterday off (Lincoln's Birthday is a holiday in Illinois, so I've got a four-day weekend! Yay!), and went up to the northern 'burbs to meet with my financial adviser. We hadn't run the retirement numbers for a couple of years and, as I am approaching that time (the two government pension systems I've been under are reciprocal systems, and due to the fact that I took a pay cut when I left my last job, I'll need to retire out of the system by November of next year to maximize my pension.), she wanted to do it again. The news is very good. Between the pension and Social Security, both of which have annual COLAs, and decent investments, I don't need to worry and can actually relax about the whole thing (barring anything unexpected and horrendous, of course).

Had a taste for Thai food so I stopped off at a place I like and got cucumber salad and curry noodles to go.

Cathy headed back to San Francisco yesterday, and Stacey just left to drive back to Cleveland. So I have the house back. Not that I don't love seeing them, of course! I think I'll just stay inside the rest of the day. It's cold out, and I need to do some basic things like writing checks and doing laundry. I'm hoping my sisters will be able to return when the weather is warmer. There are some old family friends who always go away at Christmas who want to see them (and vice versa), not to mention that it's nice to be able to hang out outside.

I fixed a vegetable stir-fry for dinner. Then we stayed up late to see the New Year in, and had a glass of Prosecco. I finished one book right before midnight and started another right after. I still have about ten books left from last year that I need to review, but I have a feeling that the 2010 stack will start before I finish the 2009 stack.

Marissa has responded well to the antibiotics and is her old self, so I'll have a good report for the vet.

Later, I will pick out a few books to take my branch library's book exchange tomorrow.

I went to my friends' open house and bought a bunch of stuff. Among other things, Barb had made some cute little catnip toys, so I bought one for my cats, and one each for my sisters' cats, for Christmas presents. They were in plastic bags so I figured it would be okay to leave the bag containing those and my other purchases on a chair in the dining room. Ha! I was in the study at the computer when I heard a loud rustling noise. Here is what I found when I went to investigate:

"Okay, Lilith, if you want it that bad, I'll give you the toy now." Naturally, she is now paying absolutely no attention to it.

When I was at the Spertus Institute for one of the Chicago Humanities Festival events, I saw a flyer for a performance last Thursday by a group called Vagabond Opera. I checked them out and was very intrigued so I decided to go. Unfortunately, I got hit by a bad cold, and, although I did go, I spent most of the evening sniffling and generally feeling lousy, and left after the first set. Which was a shame, because I really, really liked their music! So I bought one of their CDs on the way out. Their music is sort of a combination of klezmer/gypsy/cabaret/jazz.

I did get home in time to curl up with a cup of tea and the finale of Project Runway. I sure hope Season 7 is better.

I was still a bit under the weather on Friday, but went to work anyway. Why? Because I'd signed up for a Wellness screening. How's that for ironic? Having it done means a break on my health insurance costs, so I didn't want to miss it. Mid-morning, though, I decided to head home, take a nap and hope that I would feel well enough later to go to Lyric. Which I did. That few hours extra sleep + cold medication helped tremendously. The opera was Verdi's Ernani, with Salvatore Licitra in the title role and Sondra Radvanovsky as Elvira. She was particularly stunning. I enjoyed the whole thing, even if it does have a silly plot.

Yesterday, I did a lot of errands, and started shopping for my annual Sunday-after-Thanksgiving open house. I also stopped by a neighborhood pet store where Hyde Park Cats was having an adoption event. (No, I didn't.) On the way home, I stopped at a couple of used book stores, and picked up some books on Florence (a history, some essays, and guides to the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Vecchio), as well as a memoir by Norman Hartnell (Elizabeth II's favorite designer) and another memoir of a Parisian concierge.

I'm off today to the grand opening of Open Books' bookstore, so I might do some more damage.

but it's nice all the same.

A few days ago, my tickets arrived for one of my theatre subscriptions. Also included was a letter informing me that I had won second prize in their contest: I'm getting the subscription free!

Getting those tickets (as well as one of my symphony tickets) is a sign that autumn is fast approaching. Saturday night was the last of the Grant Park Symphony concerts, another such sign. It was a marvelous performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, only infinitesimally marred by the jerks sitting nearby who thought their conversation more interesting than the concert. There are few things better than sitting outside on a warm summer evening listening to beautiful music.

I did a ton of walking on Saturday, not really planned. But I headed out the door to go check out a yard sale or two, wandered down to the farmers' market and then over to Carifete (a celebration of Caribbean island cultures - with really good food), then a sale at a local bookstore and the next thing you know, my feet hurt!

So I didn't do much on Sunday except hang out at home, go grocery shopping and, in the evening, watch the season première of Mad Men (another sign summer's almost done). Poor Sal - he's finally getting what he wants and there's a fire alarm. Thursday, thank goodness, Project Runway starts up again!

In other news, Selected Works Used Books and Sheet Music has a new bookstore cat. Meet Hodge:

Feeling a tad domestic this morning (and being sick of the state of my floors), I decided to do a bit of vacuuming and damp mopping. In my dining room, this entails upending the chairs onto the table. When I was through, rather than putting them back right away, I decided to take advantage of the sunny day to go for a walk. When I returned, this is what I found:

In other, non-cat-related, events:

Thursday night, I went to a benefit for Open Books, a non-profit organization for the promotion of literacy.

One of the draws of this "Party with a Purpose" was a book swap, so I did. However, I behaved and actually left with fewer books than I had brought!

Last night, I saw Abduction from the Seraglio at Lyric. It was a wonderful production; the Belmonte, Matthew Polenzani, was particularly good. We had dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant, one we had not been to before but which was very good. Jim & Kevin's law firm just fired 89 lawyers and 140 other staff (in all its U.S. offices), but the two of them are okay.

Gosh, it's been a while since I've updated with actual life events! (Memes and political rants don't count.)

The day after the Inauguration, I had dinner with friends and we went to see Desire Under the Elms at the Goodman Theatre, part of their O'Neill festival, and yet another in the Brian Dennehy/Robert Falls collaboration. Although the dialect was a bit heavy-going at the beginning of the play, I thought it was extremely powerful, and the acting, particularly Dennehy and Carla Cugino as Abby, was excellent.

( A bit from the Trib's Chris Jones showing why Dennehy is so fine )

( Art stuff )

Sunday, I went up to Caroline's for brunch and socializing. I made a flourless chocolate cake as my contribution, which was, naturally, greatly appreciated.

Today, I interrupted Marissa's nap to take her to the vet, and she has been officially pronounced in excellent health. I brought her home, left the cat carrier on the floor in the back room, and Lilith is now ensconced within it. Silly thing!

Gosh, I haven't posted anything since last year! I guess that's what comes of a) having one's sisters in town, and b) coaching, as usual, at the Appellate Defender's Trial Advocacy program. Cathy, Stacey and I did a fair bit of running around. We hit the tapestry exhibit (among others) at the Art Institute (which was amazing - really too much to take in at once), visited the Smart Museum, had dinner with friends a couple of nights, and, oddly enough, went to a variety of bookstores. Seriously, the first four days of the year all involved bookstores. And, naturally, I bought a bunch of books.

I'd taken off work last week (except for Monday and a half-day on Tuesday). Stacey left on Monday, but Cathy was here until Wednesday. I must say that I got a bit spoiled having her here cooking! The seminar started Monday, and so for two days, I came home and dinner was waiting for me. Good dinner, too.

Today was the last day of the seminar, and so was just a half-day. I did a bit of shopping downtown (bought a pair of boots and a pair of shoes, both on serious sale, and partially paid for by a gift card), then came home and dug out my car. I haven't driven it since Monday night, when all I did was move it from the street back into my parking spot (which I'd let Stacey use), and there was snow Tuesday/Wednesday, and again last night and this morning. So I got a bit of exercise, and then walked to the bank (just two blocks, but more exercise! It's good for me!). There's a home décor store across the street that I like, but they have to move by the end of the month (the building they're in is having massive renovations) and are having a sale. I bought a cheese knife, which I actually need. Unfortunately, they don't know yet where they will move to, but they do want to stay in the neighborhood. I hope they do.

I went into complete panic last evening. I came home, and the front door of my apartment was open. Apparently, when I'd locked the deadbolt, the door wasn't completely closed. Lilith came to meet me, but Marissa was nowhere to be found! I was secure that she hadn't gotten outside, as there are two doors between her and the street, but she could get to the basement of the building, which is a warren of rooms, with lots of stuff stashed for her to hide in/behind/under, etc., including washing machines and dryers. I went down, couldn't find her, came back up and emailed everyone in the building. Then I grabbed my flashlight and went back to the basement. Fortunately, this time, as I was hunting, I heard a faint "meow". I kept still until it came again, and this time I was able to hear where it came from. I found her, huddled in a corner behind some gardening tools, her big yellow eyes even bigger. So I picked her up, carried her home, fed her and petted her, and vowed to be extra, extra careful with my front door!

I've begun another blog. I have been so remiss in reviewing/discussing books that I thought having a separate blog devoted to that would encourage me to do so. That's the theory, anyway. If you're interested, please visit Reading My Life Away.

I found an earring that Marissa snitched and used as a cat toy! A couple of weeks ago, I made the mistake of taking off a pair of old jet earrings and putting them on my desk while I was at the computer. When I turned around, only one was in sight. I couldn't find it anywhere. But today I just happened to see it, just on the edge of the base of a bookcase. Sorry, Marissa, I've put it back in the jewelry case so you can't bat it around anymore! Go play with your catnip mouse. You know, the one you are in the process of disemboweling.

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mojosmom

Reading My Life Away (My book reviews and other literary musings)

January 2018

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Entries tagged with cats

The Impulsive Traveler

I have not disappeared,

No, I haven't disappeared!

Sneaky cat!

Spring? What spring?

Busy-ness

Odds and ends

A family weekend

Well, I seem to be back,

It's been AGES since I updated!

Home alone

Oh, these cats!

Opera of various kinds

It may not be the MegaMillions

Oh, the silliness!

The Week (and more) in Review

I'm still here!

Happy little things meme

The last of Nononono (40-50)

Nononono #s 36 - 39 (cross-post to Croc_Sandwich)