Poor kitty

Our kitty Misha didn't make it through her last bout of sickness. She died the morning we officially started back to work here, which was not a good start to the work year.

My friend Emily's cat had kittens back around Thanksgiving, and we had already offered to take one, so on Saturday she dropped off a little calico. Despite the fact that we all had our reservations about getting a new cat so soon, she's won us over with her ridiculous cuteness.

We've been spoiling her all weekend long as she gets passed from one person to the next, cuddled and played with. Today, we were gone all day. As soon as we walked in the door, I went to check on her. She was meowing, loudly, indignantly. I checked in her basket. It was empty. Behind the washing machine where Stephen says she likes to sleep. Not there. She sounded closer though. Then I looked down. We have a utility sink in the laundry room, and I couldn't get it to drain the other day when I was cleaning. It has an inch or 2 of nasty water at the bottom. And there was our sweet kitten, standing in the water, bedraggled, wet, smelly, and shivering.

I fished her out, brought her upstairs, dried her off with a blow-drier, and then sandwiched her between my shirt and my stomach so she would warm up. She stayed there for a long time, shivering anytime I peeked to look at her, but now she's back to her happy self, curled up on my lap and cleaning off the nasty water she fell in.

Isn't she cute?

What I ought to be doing. . .

There are dishes in the sink and a mouse in the cupboard. Our kittens are not yet fulfilling their purpose, but that is not their fault. Our garage door has a gap between it and the floor big enough for a kitten to escape through, so until we get it fixed and while they adjust to their new home, they're locked upstairs. But, that doesn't solve our rodent problem.

I should wash the dishes. And go buy some traps and set them. And figure out what I'm making for dinner tonight and lunch and dinner tomorrow and pick up the ingredients I need while I'm out. We have an 11 and a 14 year old staying with us this weekend, so actually planning and not just opening the cupboards and hoping inspiration strikes is probably a must.

Then I should cook dinner for tonight so I can leave it waiting for everyone when I go out. And start whatever Sunday's lunch is since by the time I get home from church we'll be too hungry to wait for food to cook.

I should probably also reorganize the kitchen for the 3rd time so that the fresh fruits and vegetables aren't out either so the rodents don't get to them. Which means somehow getting them all into our tiny and already full fridge.

I should throw the blankets we were given in the wash and wash all the towels and dust cloths and such, and maybe a load of my clothes too, but with no drier and limited clothes line, that probably won't happen.

I should clean the bathrooms and mop the downstairs.

But, it's Saturday morning. I already made pancakes for breakfast and washed most of the dishes from that, plus all the containers the mice had tried to get into. Then I put them away in a metal mouse proof cupboard.

Now there's a kitten curled up on my lap and I think I'll take a few minutes to enjoy the morning before I start on my list.

Introducing the 2 Newest Members of Torre Fuerte

We bought 2 kittens today! We figured they would keep rodents from being a problem. They're also super cute. :) We haven't named them yet. Any suggestions? The top is a girl, the bottom is a boy.

She's still shy and nervous, but seems like she'll be affectionate.

He's full of energy, mischievous, and playful. As I was typing this, he jumped on top of my laptop and somehow managed to start a slideshow with music in iphoto which I couldn't even stop without force quitting iphoto (and while I was typing that sentence he again jumped on the keys and made the screen go black. . . he's going to be a handful).

Leave name suggestions in the comments!