Hello, Polly!

Hi everyone,

Polly just fits. 

If you've been following my blog, you know that Polly is not new to the family. In fact, she is our first honorary kitty, but she was never introduced properly. However long overdue, Polly doesn't mind; she's a happy dog, who always wags her tail. She rarely barks and prefers to lie on a lap or the couch (or both) all day. No wonder she gets along so well with the kitties. Some think that she's just a cat in a good disguise.

Polly is a mom to lots of pups, who joined other families, but she was left in a bad, unhealthy environment when my sister Julie met her at the veterinary practice. Julie saved Polly's life, adopting her and bringing her back to a healthy weight and lifestyle. Because of this radical change for the better, Polly is hopelessly devoted to Julie and the family. Even Mom lets Polly lounge in her spotless, fur-free house during weekend visits! 

Polly doesn't like long walks because she'd rather be on the couch in the living room. Why go out, she asks, when you have everything you need at home? She is not used to stairs or car rides, so sometimes, we have to nudge her up or down steps, and we always have to pick her up to get her into  the back seat of the car. Carmella has scheduled weekly therapy sessions with her to get to the bottom of these rooted roadblocks. 

Polly's ready for work. 

Polly loves to eat, which Norman and Emily completely understand. But, to the surprise of everyone, Mini was Polly's first and fastest kitty friend, who saw her as the giant, comfy, warm pillow she can be. Polly gets along with everyone, and she wants nothing more than to be lazy and surrounded by our loving crowd after so many years of hard labor.

Like everyone, though, Polly has her hobbies and other favorite pastimes. Despite the car ride, she looks forward to the routine of going to work with Julie at the veterinary practice, where she can lounge in the back and chat with the other doctors. Also, as most good moms are, she's great at helping my nephew with homework and video game strategies. Polly likes to read too and typically reads everyone a bedtime story each night. 

She plays fetch outside sometimes, for at least a few minutes; that ball is Polly's nemesis but helps her stay trim. Polly is best at watching the birds, though, and can tell you what's what whenever you point to one. She wants to get a parrot and teach it how to talk so it can help her communicate more clearly to everyone because barking, she says, is pointless. 

Polly doesn't pay much attention to the news, except for the hopeful bits. She hears all the important stuff from Carmella and the cats and is very impressed with the young people, like Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg. I believe that children are our future, she explains, just like that Whitney Houston song says.

Hello, sunshine!

Polly loves all kinds of music but particularly appreciates the classics, like the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong duets, and music from the '60s and '70s, like Joni Mitchell; Carole King; Crosby, Stills, and Nash; and James Taylor. Some of her favorite songs are "Take it Easy" by the Eagles, "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Wings, and "Cecilia" by Simon and Garfunkel. These days, she's a big fan of BTS (but still prefers the fun, harmonizing girl bands, like The Spice Girls and En Vogue). Also, she says the soundtracks to Grease and Xanadu are timeless. (I can't argue with that.)

Polly loves those musicals and so many more. When she's relaxing on the couch, she's usually watching them, along with lots of comedies (mostly classics from the '80s) and fantasy films. Some of her favorites are Ferris Beuller's Day Off (and practically any other John Hughes film); Johnny Dangerously; Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, The Sound of Music, and the Pitch Perfect and Lord of the Rings trilogies. 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Doolittle are at the top of Polly's must-see list right now. She loves Tom Hanks, John Candy, John Cusack, Julie Andrews, and Taylor Swift. And, she thinks Melissa McCarthy is hilarious. (Polly's actually watching The Heat again right now, and she's also about to fall asleep, so I can't ask her any more questions.)

We love you, Polly!

Welcome, Carmella!

Hi everyone,

Carmella is not a cat, but she likes laps just as much as the rest of them! Carmella, our honorary guinea piggy Kitty, used to live at a school and play with all the little kids there, until she retired to my sister's house and shifted to playing with cats.

Carmella can do this all day. 

Carmella never backs down from a challenge, and as soon as she moved in, she gravitated toward Stephen. She considers him an interesting project and tests him with lengthy staring contests.

Carmella always wins these battles because (1) Stephen has a short attention span, and (2) one of  Carmella's eyes is always open, due to an infection she caught during a cold. (To be clear, she doesn't purposely trick Stephen with her trick eye, but she says he has to learn someday that he won't win every fight. Besides, I think that eye gives her some sort of magic powers.)

Sometimes, she turns to the other side and blinks to make him feel better; regardless, she always rewards him with positive reinforcement, letting him share a spot on her favorite blanket.

Carmella is a born teacher, caretaker, and overall wise piggy. She's always reading and learning new skills. This week, she's taken up knitting because there's only so much to do in her cage condo. She just finished reading Michelle Obama's Becoming and wants to grow an organic garden like she did but full of her own favorite lettuces, carrots, and most importantly, strawberries. Everyone comes to Carmella for advice, and she's usually right. When she's not, she spins it into a valuable teachable moment.

When Carmella wants to relax, she spreads out on a lap or under her favorite fleece blanket on the couch, with a snack, ready for a movie or a podcast. She loves Pixar cartoons, anything with Cate Blanchett in it, PBS, and a daily dose of Jeopardy. She also listens to a lot of NPR and can tell us all sorts of stories from the day. (She is a great storyteller, like all old, wise women.)

Carmella's waiting the show to start.

Carmella prefers to listen to instrumental music because she says, while she appreciates great songwriters, the overused bass in pop songs and club music gives her headaches. Instead, she likes the unpredictability of jazz and intricacies of classical. Her favorites are Jason Marsalis (and all the other Marsalises), George Winston, Vivaldi, and Beethoven. Her idols are Toni Morrison, Jane Goodall, Richard Feynman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and – obviously – Cate Blanchett.

Surprisingly, Carmella dreams of the beach life. Someday, she says, I'll be spending my days and nights in a hammock between two mango trees, next to my organic garden, by a private beach in the Caribbean. She pictures enjoying the sun, sound of the waves, and a good book during the day and studying the constellations at night. (Did I mention she's writing the definitive textbook on stargazing? She's become an expert, on account of the eye that never closes.)

She says we can all join her there whenever we want, but I'm pretty sure she's only knitting one guinea-pig-sized hammock right now. The rest of us are on our own.

Welcome, Carmella!

Welcome, Stephen!

Hello everyone,

Stephen's start in life was a dramatic one! Coming from an abusive household, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma when he was brought to the veterinary practice where my sister works. It was touch and go for a while, but Stephen is a fighter and he woke up to a better life.

Stephen was so young when my sister brought him home that he had to be bottle fed. "Unfortunately, most bottle-fed kittens grow up to be jerks," she explained later. With hope for a better outcome, Stephen is named after Stephen Hawking and tries not to be the jerk everyone fears, but he is also overwhelmed by the genius reputation of his namesake. In fact, because of his early trauma, he can't think too hard about any of this and instead lives somewhere in the middle.

What's happening? Where? What?

Inspirational name or not, Stephen is definitely his own cat. Because of his scarring past, he is certifiably psychotic, unintentionally clumsy, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder,  attention deficit disorder, and whatever else is swirling in his little brain. He is also endlessly adorable and sweet when he is too sleepy to be otherwise.

Most of the time, Stephen is focused on whatever is right in front of him. He is all about now, and Mini is trying to feed that interest by teaching him meditation and gratitude practices. For the most part, though, Stephen obsesses over competitive sports.

He watches all kinds of sports, including basketball, baseball, football, wrestling, boxing, and car racing, and he loves the Olympic games. He also watches crossfit games all the time with my sister's fiance and accompanies them to their gym to build his strength and stamina. He even sets the workout playlists there sometimes, but his heavy metal tastes don't always suit everyone.

Stephen plays, too, and he plays hard. He excels at running, wrestling, soccer, and rugby, though Mew and Mini are not game for any of those activities. Still, he plays fetch every day with whoever will throw him a ball, though he's not sure what to do with that skill yet.

Sweet dreams?

Although Stephen hasn't figured out exactly who Stephen Hawking was or what he talked about all the time, his current idols are Kevin Garnett, Marcus Smart, Tony Hawk, Shawn White, Pele, Mohammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Lou Albano (because he loves classic WWE), and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (both as an wrestler and an actor). He says he's going to be an Olympian, a boxing champion, and a veterinarian, but he will probably change his mind tomorrow.

Stephen does have a softer side. He sits still for action movies, especially the Marvel, Die Hard, and Terminator franchises. On the flip side, I caught him the other day browsing through Real Simple while listening to Bach. (I think he's honing some hidden talents that he'll reveal when we least expect it.)

His lovable side is most apparent when he's ready to sleep. Being ready isn't really accurate because Stephen goes and goes until he can go no more; then, as he gets wobbly, he completes several meditative rounds of purring and stretching until he just flops over and falls asleep quickly – maybe for a few minutes or maybe for a few hours. He's unpredictable like that.

Once he is recharged, though, it's a brand new day, full of everything, everywhere, right now. Ladies and gentlemen, Stephen is ready to rumble!!!

Welcome to the family, Stephen!

Welcome, Emily!

Hi everyone,

Mom heard Emily singing on our back porch a few cool, rainy nights in a row. She likes old-school ballads and Motown and tried to lure Mom's attention with some Billie Holiday and Tina Turner. Eventually, she made her way into our garage, where she met Tyrone and Walter, discovered the warm bed in there that neither of them were using, and claimed it for herself.

Emily and Walter, communing with nature

Emily loves hanging around her big brothers now, especially Walter who enjoys teaching her the ways of the world. (Tyrone does too but in short spurts because his tolerance for kittens is limited. He asked me the other day, "Where are all of these other cats coming from anyway?")

One thing Walter hasn't been able to discipline yet is Emily's mealtime manners. She loves to eat, and every time is like the first and only time. When she's finishes licking her bowl clean, she interrupts Walter and Tyrone to "help" make their dishes spotless too.

Tyrone and Walter put up with Emily's intrusive eating habits because she says she's researching the different flavors that each ingredient provides. Emily dreams of becoming a great chef someday – "like that rat in Ratatouille," she says – and Walter and Tyrone are eager taste her imaginative culinary creations.

Emily, testing out experimental gardening strategies

For now, though, Emily is enjoying the exploratory phase, watching a lot of cooking shows on PBS and FoodTV. (She is dying to compete on the Great British Baking Show.)  Daily, she explores the variances among dry and wet cat food and the occasional fresh seafood treats. She also enjoys long conversations with Mom, learning her gardening tips and tricks for growing the freshest vegetables.

Emily is, at first, shy among strangers but warms up to most almost immediately. She learns and remembers the unique traits and talents of each friend she makes. She loves a good conversation about anything and everything, except gossip, and she aims to earn a hearty laugh every day.

She watches all of the late night talk shows and also has a passion for fashion. So, while she can tell you the latest news of the day or quip a topical joke on demand, she can also show you what she learned to make from Project Runway last week. I told her that Mom has a sewing machine in the basement and expect that Tyrone and Walter will be roaming in the yard in custom-made outfits any day now.

Emily, sitting pretty

Emily's current heroes are Julia Child, Joan Rivers, Ellen DeGeneres, Seth Meyers, Gilda Radner, Alexander McQueen, Betsy Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Marvin Gaye, and India Arie. Walter has turned her on to Bob Marley and Shaggy, but she all about Billie Eilish and Harry Styles right now.

A voracious reader of books and magazines, Emily knows a little about a lot of things. It's great because, at this young age, she is still trying to find her path in life. For now, she is the poster child for being as curious as a cat, but I imagine that she'll be a star someday at doing whatever she chooses. Then, we'll all be able to say we knew her way back when.

Welcome to the family, Emily!