After eating an early supper with my grandfather, I went to the house of a family that I usually have holiday meals with. Since I was full and they were just getting started with their meal, I stayed in the kitchen drinking wine with the youngest kid (8 y/o), who took it upon himself to eat his food away from the group (which I can dig). Of course, he was not drinking wine WITH me. But it was totally groovy because this was one of those kids who can carry on a conversation with adults, and we don't have to lower ourselves to a pre-opposable-thumbs intellect-level. Not to forget to mention that he is very classy and well-behaved in general. Last year, there were some little girls who had just moved here from Poland, and one of them took a liking to a stuffed kitty (not a REAL stuffed kitty, o/c!), and Ian just offered to let her keep it, and picked out some of his other toys for that group.
After they were done eating, people came down from upstairs (they have a 2-family; it's Ian's great-grandmother's apt. on the first floor, and Ian and his parents live on the second floor) and some folks hung out in the living room and others sang songs in the dining room (guess what? I stayed in the living room! DUR!). There were about 5 other kids from ages ~12 to ~15, and they were all like little 30-year-olds (ok, two were more like 20-year-olds), and eventually the oldest ones went outside to hang out with the neighbor's teenagers.
Everyone knows I have "cats not kids"; even when they don't remember my name, they know I'm the one with cats. I had to answer "cat bingo" questions - such as:
Can you remember all their names?
How much does it cost to feed them?
Do they all stay in the house?
How many litterboxes do you have?
I usually take mercy on these folks and volunteer answers to the questions they REALLY want to ask, but are too polite to do so (never the case with Breeder Bingos):
How does your house SMELL?
Are the cats neutered / vaccinated?
Don't you have a life?
How do you afford the vet for all of them? (Sometimes they ask this with the food question).
What does your husband think? (He was not with me; he worked a double yesterday).
But I NEVER, EVER get asked "when" I'm going to have baybees of my own. Most of these people already know that I inherited a house with 20 or 30 cats from my mother, and that my whole (very small) family is involved with a local, genuine, 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. Besides that, they are not very breederific, and two of the teenagers were actually step-children of one of the relatives of the people that live there.
So, it was a nice time, and I got some of the Polish holiday-food to take to my grandfather today. All that snow is gone from my porch, and most of it has melted off the driveway (it's 50 or 60 degrees outside today). My truck has about $5500 worth of damage so far - they usually find more when they open it up and start working on it, but it was rated in "good" condition to begin with (because of low mileage and working 4wd, and other things), so it isn't totaled. But if it IS, I'm sure to make money on it 'cause I paid $7500 (I got a really good deal - KBB says that a truck like this is $9000 for dealer trade-in in POOR condition).
That's about all for now!
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"I have learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is easy and fun as hell":eatu