Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
It was the kind of weekend that a 20-year-old would think is boring and sad, but we 30-plus-year-olds know they’ve got it wrong–weekends like this are some of the best there are.
There were good sunsets:
Two yoga classes and one incredibly green smoothie:
Time to cut out a dress:
Time to sit outside and read (and finish off that bag of kettle corn):
And lots of time with this handsome kitty:
Toby has a birthday sometime in June so I’ve assigned him a date of the 3rd–which means I always forget it. We had a belated celebration assembling patio furniture last night, but really, every day is a celebration with this cat.
We celebrate making the bed and the interesting new configuration of sheets:
New patio chairs that appear in the garage are sat on and celebrated:
There are pigeon-watching parties:
And we celebrate being home together:
Because that is the best place to be with the best cat.
As I’ve mentioned, my dad has an encyclopedic memory of old songs but usually just sings parts of them. When I was growing up, after he’d helped me open a jar or make a household repair, he’d sing a phrase “It’s so nice to have a man around the house.”* I’ve adopted that now that I live alone, but I change it to, “It’s so nice to have a cat around the house.”
Someone to sit on fabric:
And inspect the lumber:
Yes, it’s nice to have a cat around the house.
*Writing this post, I just looked up and listened to the full song, which was first performed by Dinah Shore. And, um, the lyrics are a little bleak (“even though he may be someone else’s spouse…you’ll wind up with a louse”). Obviously my cat version is better.
There was laundry (which Toby approved of):
Some freelance:
Breakfast under the pergola (it’s all finished, hooray! Now on to the deck):
And some nature:
It’s construction on the pergola! (Also known as “is there anything my dad can’t do?”)
I also have a “construction foreman” helping out. He has to approve all the work at the end of the day:
Sit on it like you’re interrupting progress while someone makes the bed:
Saturday was the fifth anniversary of Toby coming to live with me. When I feel like being broken-hearted, I remember that losing him is the only thing that could really break it.
Here he is in that first week five years ago (his neck got shaved to test for FIV):
And here’s a sample of his current life with cat castles and blanket forts:
It’s been far too long since I’ve featured a nephew picture. Here he is helping to “clean” the shower at my parents’ house:
And here’s Toby, who was “helping” me change the sheets over the weekend:
I learned a new word this week: cordiform, meaning heart-shaped. 
Have a happy Valentine’s Day, and remember: There are all kinds of love (although I think the Greeks forgot felinios, which is the love a 33-year-old feels for her cat).
Toby is unconvinced it’s worth coming out of his cat castle. 
Good thing Toby’s not the breadwinner in this family. Here we go!