Sunday Stealing

THURSDAY THUNKS

1. Did you eat paste and/or glue as a child? No. But I can report that Play Doh has a salty taste.

2. Look at the wall to your right, what is on it? A framed photo of the Water Tower, lit up at night. It was a gift from my favorite uncle.

3. Do you put butter and/or salt on your popcorn? Yes. Both.

4. What does your favorite coffee cup look like? It's a big beige mug. It says, "El gato" and is decorated with an illustration of a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

5. Would you rather have a pet hippo or a pet elephant? Neither. Exotic animals shouldn't be pets.

6. Toilet Paper: hard, soft, extra soft? I checked the package when I changed the roll just now. It said, "strong."

7. Have you ever rescued/taken in a stray animal? In 2004, Reynaldo was a stray kitten who was making a nuisance of himself in neighborhood backyards. Begging for food, making himself at home on porches, trying to sneak into houses ... He was turned in to the animal shelter. From there he came home with me, where I'm proud to say he has lived happily ever after.

17 years later, he's a very old boy. His vision is failing, he has arthritis in his back legs, he requires a special diet for his chronic kidney disease and medication for his thyroid condition, and the vet recently detected heart trouble. I'm not happy about any of this,of course, but it's nature. 17 to a cat is 84 to a human. Body parts wear out.

He plays less and sleeps more. But he's still affectionate and has really enjoyed the pandemic. Having me work from home means all deliveries come here, so he has boxes to check out and then claim as his own. There are also Zoom meetings to crash. He enjoys his life. I am committed to keeping him comfortable for whatever time he has left. He's a good boy and I love him.

8. If you realize your house is on fire while you are using the bathroom, do you wipe or just run for the door? Well, this is a question we've never had before.

9. Now, if you only had $10 to buy one thing, what would it be? Lunch at McDonald's.

10. What’s your favorite type of potato? Mashed.

 11. How long do you keep unmatched socks before you get rid of them... and how do you dispose of these socks? How did you know I have two mismatched socks (one blue, one white) in my laundry hamper right now? They have been there for maybe a year. I have no idea why I keep them, or how much longer I will allow them to linger there until I finally move them from hamper to trash.

12. What was the last thing you took a picture of? This is a poorly composed photo of a garage apartment in my neighborhood. I snapped it while on my way to the vet to pick up Reynaldo's special food (see Q7). My aunt and I both enjoyed Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries, and our heroine lived in a garage apartment with a top floor sleeping loft. Isn't that what this looks like? 

I'm glad I texted this to her because sloppy though it is, it made her happy. My aunt has allowed her aggressive Trumpiness to isolate her from old friends and even her son and grandchildren. I don't care how tightly she clings to her MAGA misinformation. I insist on still loving her. We will just limit our conversations to books, our medical maladies (her knee, my tooth), my cats and her dog. And baseball. My grandma (her mom) loved Cubs great Ryne Sandberg as much as I love Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, so my Cubbie passion/obsession amuses her and makes her happy.

13. Do you use a cookbook? I own a cookbook. It gets little to no use.

14. Bottled or tap water? We're lucky here in Chicagoland in that Lake Michigan water tastes good.

15. Do you like pumpkin pie? Do you cheat and buy a premade one or do you make it from scratch? Heck, do you even make pumpkin pie at all? I do like pumpkin pie. I have never baked a pie of any type.