Inky Updates

I went DNF on Mansfield Park by Jane Austen for a book club challenge because it is absolutely the most tedious thing ever. Here's an SSC (short shameful confession): I don't like Jane Austen's writing! Sacrilege, I know. I like the movie version of Sense and Sensibility, and the Pride and Prejudice miniseries is in my watchlist. But the books! Gah! P&P was horribly boring too, but nowhere near as bad as Mansfield. I couldn't help but think how Victoria Holt would have written it: she would have stayed strictly in Fanny's POV and cut out all the endless drivel about what the other family members thought of Fanny. 

For example: "I arrived at Mansfield Park at the age of ten because my parents could no longer afford all the children they kept producing. I was keenly aware that my aunt and uncle were doing me a favor by allowing me to live in their home, and I tried to be as grateful as they said I ought to be, but in fact I was miserable. I missed my loving siblings, even if we didn't have enough to eat some days. The cousins pointed out to me at every opportunity how lacking my education had been, and I grew wary of uttering a word and proving them correct. Of course, my silence was also criticized and labeled as disrespectful. It seemed I could do nothing right and my very existence was an affront to the Mansfield Park denizens, though I did hear my aunt and uncle congratulating themselves on their massive act of Christian charity by taking me in; I supposed they had earned a large number of credits on the heavenly scorecard."

After that, we leap ahead to her teen years ~ as the book does, but without 20 pages of excruciatingly dull dialog among the other family members. My Victoria Holt fan fiction would sum up five years in one paragraph and then move on to an actual plot (idk if MP has a plot because I didn't read that far in). Oh well. My pristine copy of Mansfield will be yet another donation to the Fountain Valley Library.

I watched F***, Marry, Kill (Lucy Hale is as adorable here as she was in The Hating Game). It’s kind of a thriller romcom…  funny, cute, suspenseful. I recommend it! I've also begun a new series my friend J recommended: The Watcher. It's fun and silly and would be better with someone else in Jennifer Coolidge's role as the realtor. I absolutely can't stand her ~ she was annoying in Legally Blonde, and it's been downhill since. Or is that uphill? It's certainly tiring to watch her either be an idiot or an ahole or something in between. The rest of the cast and show is pretty good however.

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OK, here's the news everyone has been waiting for: I'm really happy with the way things are going with Inky. Today is her fourth day with me in her new home.

1. She knew to use the litterbox right away, and all is good in that department.

2. She seems pleased with normal grocery store cat food and treats, so I don't have to spend an ungodly amount of money (yet) ordering special food from Chewy.

3. So far, she's staying mostly in "cat realm" ~ under the bed and on the dining room chairs. She doesn't seem interested in jumping on counters, knocking over my knickknacks, or rooting through the trash.

4. She's still shy and skittish, but she has occasionally let me pet her for a few seconds, and she licked a cat treat off my finger. I think that's great progress!

5. Saturday afternoon, I sat on the floor and spoke to her very softly and lovingly... and she began to purr! I was so happy I almost cried. Since then I've petted her several times (briefly and carefully), and she purrs each time. 

6. She loves all the kitty toys ~ soft mice, crunchy balls, laser pointer, feather on a stick, etc. ~ and she is very kittenish and cute (she is a little over a year old by the shelter's estimate). 

7. My daughter and son-in-law came up on Sunday to have lunch with me and meet Inky, but she went back under the bed and wouldn't come out even for a squeeze treat (concentrated noms in a little tube).

8. After they left, my other daughter FaceTimed me to meet Inky; by that time we were alone again in a quiet house, and Inky was all playful and adorable. 

More updates soon. My eyes are better, so I plan to read and review books again as well.