Saturday, Jun. 03, 2023 - 10:04 pm.
On Thursday morning, on our way to work, Andrew and I were leaving our apartment building under a drizzle and a kitten came running and meowing at us. I instinctively picked him up and my fate was sealed.
I regretted it during the day, but long story short, he's with us and today he's been exploring the apartment, with a few precautions of course. Our black cat Marla gets vicious around other cats. She barely tolerates our ginger cat, Nico, and they've lived together for 12 years, since they were both 3 to 6 months old. Nico's so much friendlier, a bit on the frightful side, and he actually helped us raised a few kittens and pups that we (well, I mostly) brought home back in the day to rescue and find them a home.
We took him to out friend's vet clinic Thursday evening and he's overall healthy. He's very sweet and whiny, a bit cuddly sometimes, and knows how to use a litter box. He was cold and hungry when we picked him up, but even his fur was healthy. He's well socialized, but no one seems to be looking for him; we asked around, posted on the neighbor's WA group and on social media... nothing. So we'll put him up for adoption once he's gone through the rounds of shots and has been spayed.
In the meantime, of course, we'll keep him here. We've named him Elmo. Andrew's smitten with him. We expose Marla to him here and there, and she hissess and growls like a possessed dog. Nico stands to be around Elmo but so far only watches him from a distance. Hopefully the kitten will be tolerated by these two within this week.
Onto another subject: still no word on my UK visa. I should get my passport this week with the response, but they could also take longer. By now I'm even feeling discouraged from traveling and I'm almost wishing/expecting they won't grant me the visa. Andrew most likely won't be going, it'll be too expensive to buy his plane ticket on such short notice. I have a budget from my research grant but now the place tickets cost more than what I have allocated on my budget.
I'll figure it out once I get my passport back, depending on whether it has a stamp or not.
Oh, I finished my online beginner's sign language course! I had my final test this week, I did a three minute presentation on myself, haha. My teacher was born deaf and it was so cool to be able to talk to her. I already miss practicing, but I signed up for the second beginner's course, which starts at the end of June.
My family's OK. This week my dad had another one of his fits, and I got to talk to my mom in a very heart-to-heart manner. I'm glad she's fed up, I'm glad she finally worked up the courage to claim her space and complain to my dad, even if his lame-ass response to her was falling ill. She's the first female psychologist of my country and she gets invited to many academic and professional events, and for once she went to one (leaving my dad at home) and her presence was properly celebrated. I hope she continues living her life.
And my sister is off to Costa Rica for a week! She's going to a conference and meeting with friends, and it's all I want for her.
Oh, wait, it's June! Happy Pride Month! I feel like I'm being very low-key, maybe too low-key. I'm focusing most of my queer energy at work, though.
And that's it. I have a comic strip that's calling my name, asking to be colored. I enjoy doing research and even teaching, but making comic strips, that's the fucking life, I tell you.