Apparently today it’s Black Cat Appreciation Day, so here two pics of our black cat begging for dinner this evening.
To quote the website I linked to above:
This special day of the year is now used to remind us all of the value of black cats, to dispel prejudices and to encourage people to give a new home to black cats left behind at animal shelters.
Our cat was just such a black cat, a kitten at the time. There were many kittens at the shelter when we came by to adopt one and the only kittens still available where three or so black ones. We have adored the black kitten we picked from day one and she’s been glued to us from the beginning.
She’s the most cuddly cat, she still lies on or near us whenever she can, she is very soft, she is quick and very agile, she hasn’t murdered anything for quite a while now (that we know of), she prefers us to cats (she doesn’t like other cats very much), we have regular Dutch – Meow conversations with each other and we sure do appreciate her. Black cats are awesome!
… was last Tuesday, on August 8th, but I seem to be celebrating it belatedly today.
After a lovely holiday where we were admittedly busy, seeing lots of beautiful things and learning a lot, and then getting home and unpacking and packaging auction stuff and then doing mom stuff to help get my son on the road to Portugal, I am admittedly feeling quite tired and drained today.
After what I’m told were a rainy few weeks here in The Netherlands, the weather has dried and warmed up and today, despite other intentions, is turning into a day of not doing much and sitting in the garden. Our cat joined me, first lying on me while I was on the chair…
… and now reclining on me as I recline as well in a different spot and type this on my phone.
It feels good to have a quiet cat day like this. 😼
In recent months I find I have not been blogging much. Mostly it’s meet cute Mondays and not that much else. I constantly think of things to blog about, I have a big one sitting in the back of my head right now as I type this, but somehow I can not find the motivation to deep dive and make the time and effort to type it all out. I’m sure it’s got to do with some private family worries that I’ve had but now that everything seems to be settling down again, the blogging bug still hasn’t returned. I find that I miss it on the one hand, but can’t make myself do much on my blog on the other hand. Well, today I’m making myself do something by typing this post. Not that much to type about, but I’ll give it a go.
The weather today has been glorious and we decided to watch mini me play a football match as the end of the season is nearing. Alas, they lost by 3-2 but it was fun to see her in action and also really nice to catch up with another couple (parents of mini me’s team mate) who we’ve known for a long time before mini me even joined the team.
Mr E and I then biked to one of the lakes near where we live for a bite to eat and a glass of wine/beer outside in the sun. When we got home late in the afternoon, our cat was all too eager to find a spot on my lap! She misses her people when they are gone during the day…
Mini me hung out at the football club all afternoon. When she popped in this evening before heading out again she showed us a trophy she had been given: her team mates had chosen her as MVP of the team for this past year! We’re very proud.
As Junior is out all day as well (at a music festival), Mr E and I had a nice takeaway Thai dinner together and our neighbour’s cat also came by for a visit. He used to be the best friend of our old cat who died last winter and it’s always nice to see him around.
His colour even reminds us of our old cat, so occasionally, for a moment, our hearts will skip a beat when we see neighbour cat in our garden. Alas, it never is our old Effoh but neighbour cat has a special place in our hearts because he and Effoh used to be good friends…
Now the evening is here and Mr E and I are still in our garden (it’s after 9 pm). It’s gotten a little chillier so we are wearing sweaters now, but it’s still light out and nice and peaceful…
The house is still a friggin’ mess (we had initially planned a cleaning day today) but we can’t be too bothered by that after the lovely day we had today. We must make the most of good days while we can, mustn’t we?
When you have a WordPress account, you also have a ‘My Home’ page in the admin section of your blog or website. Occasionally when I check in there, I see a writing prompt question and some of them can be interesting but I never answer them. While checking my spam filter today I saw a prompt asking “What is your career plan?” As I’ve been working today and yes, I was by chance also briefly considering my career, that question felt quite timely. So, I figured I could jump in on that blogging prompt and answer that question. I then scrolled through a few more prompts but there were only 5 or 6 prompts left. I did a little extra search and found a few more prompts here. “Why not compile a list?”, I thought. And so I cherry picked some questions that don’t need very long answers and have decided to answer them here:
1- What is your career plan? I don’t really have one, never did! I do have some requirements, though:
My job needs to be in a social or educational setting, something where I can feel that my work is useful to others. I love that I’m working in a library again, and one in education to boot.
I want to be challenged, do something I enjoy and can use my brain for.
I can’t only sit behind the computer all day, I also need the aspect of socially connecting at work.
I want to make enough money so that I can live in relative comfort.
The older I get, the less patience I have for management bullshit, so if it gets too hairy, I’m out.
2- What public figure do you disagree with the most? Donald Trump. And many more but he’s got to be the worst.
3- List your top 5 favorite fruits. Israeli Sharon fruit (Persimmon), Avocadoes, Red apples, Bananas, Grapes
4- What’s the oldest thing you’re wearing today? A black Franz Kafka Prague t-shirt.
5- Reincarnation: do you believe in it? Lovely thought but nope.
6- Tell me something you know you should do . . . but don’t. Exercise.
7- Beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely? Forest
8- Early bird, or night owl? Night-owl. It is almost impossible for me to go to bed before midnight. Ideally I’d go to bed at 2 am and get up again between 9 and 10 am.
9- Is the glass half-full, or half-empty? Half-full, mostly.
10- The last book you read? The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. Fun book.
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend.
11- Is there a painting or sculpture you’re drawn to? The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. We have a huge, thin fabic wall hanging of the painting in our living room. This summer we’re going to Vienna where I finally hope to see it for real.
12- Tell me something most people probably don’t know about you. In my real life, practically no one I know knows that I have this blog.
13- Tell me about the last time you had a real, deep, crying-from-laughing belly laugh. I laugh and smile regularly but one that really had me in stitches must be from a few weeks ago about something (and I can’t remember exactly what) my daughter said at the dinner table.
14- Describe thelast time you were moved to tears by something beautiful. Yesterday, actually, watching this clip on YouTube. I adore the inclusivity of this group of young dancers and singers.
15- Finish this sentence: “When I look in the mirror, I . . .” “… should tell myself to be kinder to myself.”
16- Finish this sentence: “My closest friend is…” “… my husband and I love him so dearly.”
17- Cast the movie of your life. Childhood and youth: Richard Armitage as my dad. Amy Adams as my mom. Maybe have Millie Bobby Brown play me?
Current self: As I have a bit of an Oedipus complex, it would be Richard Armitage again as Mr Esther (this time with beard), and Kate Winslet as me.
18- Do you know the meaning of your name, and why your parents chose it? Esther, from the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, means “star”. My parents chose all Old Testament names for all my siblings and so they did for me as well. My dad was a doctor in Theology, specializing in Judaism and Jewish-Christian relations and my parents both liked having that theme for all our names. My middle name is for my paternal grandmother, albeit in a different version.
19- Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you. Well, not the same pair because every now and again I buy new ones, but for the past 14 or 15 years I’ve been wearing Birkenstock slippers as soon as the weather allows. I have been on summer holidays all over Europe, Israel and even in the US on my Birkenstocks. Picture on the left is from 2009 in Canterbury, picture on the right is from last summer near Naples. Yeah, my feet got filthy, but I don’t care, I just love my Birkenstocks and I have several pairs.
20- Dog person, cat person or both and why? I grew up with dogs and love them but I always wanted cats and have now had them for many years, so I’d say cats. I love their independence, their laissez-faire attitudes and the way they can curl into you and purr so endearingly. But really, the love for one species does not exclude the other and I love both. Here’s a picture from 1980, a few months before we moved from Israel to Germany. The little black dog on the left and the black and white dog were ours, the German shepherd dog belonged to our neighbour.
When I was 27 (in 1997) I got my first two cats and have not looked back since. Here are the four great cat loves in my life…
There you have it: twenty blogging prompts efficiently crammed into one post. If anyone else who reads this is inclined to play, I’d love to know what your answers would be (in the comments here or on your own blog).
At work I hear words such as ‘economize’ and ‘restructuring’ and my heart sinks way, way down, right to the tips of my toes. Been there, done that, barely survived the trauma… It’s triggering for me and makes me think that, yes, I’m only 53 but I’m ready for my pension to start.
The Book of Esther 