Hello, good people*. I have some really good, very exciting news, but I will tease y’all and save it ‘til last.
Our thanksgiving was great. On top of having six days off in a row (WHEEE!!!), I had much turkey day goodness. On Sunday Stewart and I went over to the Ponderosa to have dinner with Andi, Brian and Aeryn. Chris had to work, but he took his break and joined us when we sat down to eat. The food was wonderful and the company too. Andi did the big bird** along with stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and home made cranberry sauce. We had Andi’s favorite brown-n-serve rolls, and I made gravy and sautéed squash with bacon. Mm. There was mulled cider, too and Stewart brought banana split stuff. A nice time was had by all.
I spent Monday running errands and paying bills. Got a haircut, met with the Gorees re: pet-sitting. We kept Phoebe and Bob during the week, an easy and pleasant job for sure. Chris got a call on Monday from the Manor Daze folks. They needed an actor for the Wednesday night show. On Tuesday, I spent the day doing some of the preliminary work for the major cleaning job on Wednesday and Chris went to rehearsal. Then on Wednesday, Chris and I spent the day cleaning and winterizing. The house is finally getting to a tolerable level of de-clutterization – YAY! That evening, I went over to his mom and dads’ house and spent a couple of hours with Peggy and Emily, drinking vino and preparing some of the turkey-day goodies. I made ambrosia, mm…After that, Chris came and got me and Em and we went to Asheville to see the show. It was funny, and of course Chris was great.
Thursday we went to Greer to have a MOST excellent dinner with Chris’ aunt Cathy and uncle Jimmy. Grama Agnes was there, and Jimmy’s mama Mimi, plus a couple of the little grandkids and their mom. Man, was that some good food. We also played some Cathedral and Therapy and watched a special on the making of Polar Express – and an A&E bio on (mmmm) Johnny Depp. Thursday evening we went over to Wendy’s for a bit, then went home and hid for the rest of the night.
Friday morning was for errands and shopping (NOT xmas shopping, just household stuff – AND U2’s NEW ALBUM/DVD!!! YAY!!!!!), and then we spent the rest of the day geeking out with Stewart, Jamie, Erin and Sarah at Blue Shadows. Ham sammiches and good snacks were our fare – I bought everyone an éclair from Fresh Market, and Stewart made his yummy spiced pears. The boys played some MagicTG, and then we watched ‘Neverending Story’ – which Stewart had never seen, if you can believe that.
Again, home and hiding, and then - * sigh * - back to work on Saturday.

Ok, ready for the good news?
WE GOT A KITTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
=^..^=
Last Sunday a.m. – a week ago tomorrow – we were driving up to brunch and we passed a house on 176 that had a sheet hanging on the porch, proclaiming “FREE KITTENS!”
We talked about it on the way up, and then through a wonderful brunch (lemon waffles, god!). As we were headed back down the mountain Chris asked if we were going to stop. He said “What if it’s the last one, the little runt? How can we say no?” And guess what?
George, though not a runt in any way, was indeed the last kitten. MOO!
We brought him home and Chris left straight for work. I made him up a little temporary litter box, fixed him a bowl of water and some kitten chow that his foster mom had given us, locked him up in the bedroom/bathroom (my bathroom used to be the back porch, so there’s a window between the bedroom and bath) and left to go to Andi’s.
Since then, he has gotten a real potty and some toys and food. I’ve bought him his booster shots (but am going to wait a couple of weeks before administering, because he’s so little) and gotten him bathed and de-flea’d. We have had some trials getting my sweet, jealous and slightly ailurophobic dog acclimated to this change, not to mention cat-proofing the house. Luna is still a bit miffed, but they have been playing together since the first day. George was born into a house with seven big dogs, so Luna is an automatic friend to him. She was so scared of my cat that she seems confused as to whether to play with him, run from him or eat him, but so far so good. We’ve also been losing some sleep due to middle-of-the-night Calvin-ball tournaments between the two of them and of course the standard ‘what’s that moving under the covers’ kitten attacks, but it’s worth it. Lu is definitely NOT lonely any more, and that sad place that was left in my heart after Cat died is soothed a little, too. I had forgotten how sweet it was to have a cat curl up against you, and how very much I have missed Herself.

I wanted to give y’all the little diary update and tell you our good news, but I will get back to the previous post subject, never fear. I have an especially cool news tidbit to share about some “fallout” (the good kind) from my last post. The past is a restless ghost, but sometimes it comes with good news.
: )
Much love and leftover turkey,
-Sam


*Hi to all you stinkbugheads too. ‘Don’t want anybody to feel left out. ;)
**AGH! WE ATE BIG BIRD!