On Friday, I got a surprise birthday present from the universe at large in the form of a very small kitten. Joe and I celebrated my 30th birthday by going to lunch and the movies in Blacksburg. On our way home we stopped in Christiansburg to say hi to Banjo and Yoda (our former goats) and take them some carrots. While we were hanging out with the goats, a little kitten popped out of the tall weeds right behind us. We were in an area surrounded by businesses and highways with no residences in sight, so we could only assume this was a stray little waif. My sister Lynn came to meet up with us and get some ice cream at the grocery store. I almost had her convinced that she needed to take this kitten home when the kitten climbed in her lap and pooped all over her nice khaki pants. Not the best first impression!

So, for better or for worse, the kitten came home with us. Wilson has been doing a grand job of ignoring Foxy's existence for four years now and doesn't see any reason to treat this cat any differently. Foxy is siding with Wilson in this case. Lily, who has been in love with Foxy from first sight, had a veritable seizure of excitement when first introduced to the little sprite. She stood transfixed and trembling for almost ten minutes just staring at the kitten. Neither Joe and I nor the kitten were quite sure whether this intense emotion was due to love or hunger. Lily is very respectful of the kitten's "requests" for more personal space and is catching on that the way to get the kitten's attention is to be calm, quiet and approachable. In fact, moments after this picture was taken, the kitten climbed over onto Lily's back.

While there hasn't been an official naming as such due to some doubt about the kitten's gender, the name Pippin (a variation of pipsqueak) seems to have stuck in a unisex sort of way.

Joe gets serious brownie points for his creative present wrapping. It only took him several hours, most of a roll of Scotch tape, and a whole seed catalog to merge several small presents into one beautiful, unidentifiable package. He was so proud of it; he kept wanting me to shake it and see if I could guess what it was.

Apparently this was present wrapping plan B as I'd inadvertently spoiled plan A earlier in the week by taking a bunch of cardboard boxes and crumpled brown packing paper to be recycled. He'd even tried to stop me by asking the subtle question "Don't we want to save that for wrapping presents or something?", to which I had replied "Why would we wrap presents in this stuff!" This is what happens when my need to declutter gets in the way of my creative thinking. Good thing Joe is so adaptable! :)