Kitty visitor update

In my last post, I shared a picture of the cat who was visiting our porch:

He's still been around today, and Kim made a surprising connection. Waaaaaay back when, we posted pictures that we'd taken of the house when we were still deciding whether to buy it, including these:

Those pictures include Gilbert, the cat who belonged to the previous owners of the house. It's pretty convincing that this is him, but I have absolutely no idea how he made his way here. (Maybe he came with the house after all!)

In fact, Kim just called our neighbors, who have now peered out their window and confirmed that it is indeed Gilbert. They're going to see if they can get in touch with the previous owners' daughter, who lives not far away. Meanwhile, we've put out some water: it's hot today!

First time for everything

On our recent trip, our first stop was a party in Georgia to celebrate my grad school friend Will's wedding. Will's wife and her family seem to be great people; it was neat to get to know them, however briefly. (I'm just sorry I didn't have the chance to meet her late father, who must have been right up my alley: he was known for weird antics like arriving at a restaurant wearing a cape and carrying a candelabra, which would adorn his table during dinner. Even if the restaurant was Burger King.)

During dinner, Kim and I ate with some friends of Will's, our friend Mark (whom we'd only seen once(?) since grad school), and Will's sister Jane. Jane was excited to hear that we'd be driving not far from her home in Vermont in a few days, so she jotted down her contact info in case we wanted to stop by. As she handed it to me I started laughing, much to the confusion of everyone else. I had to explain, "This is the first time in my life that a girl has ever given me her phone number scribbled on a napkin." That got her laughing as well: "It's my first time, too!"

I hope she wasn't too disappointed that our schedule didn't take us to her neighborhood after all. :)