No, not that kind … seriously, you guys, I am so done having babies. Or rather, the only baby on my horizon is my dissertation, which will surely keep me busy enough without another kid in the mix.

What we do have, however, is a new kitten. Last week I started playing with the idea of getting a cat for Tage, who’s been feeling sort of down lately. When I mentioned it to him, he was all for the idea, so I started scouring the classifieds for a suitable kitty. On Thursday, I wrote to a woman from the local animal rescue and she wrote back almost immediately that they had a 5½-month old black female kitten who was ready to move into a new home. After a couple of back-and-forth messages, the two of us talked on the phone and made arrangements to meet in the parking lot of a supermarket in town the following day for the hand-off.

Friday afternoon the four younger kids and I headed to Skellefteå in the bitter cold and after a quick meeting with the rescue lady, as well as a quick and hectic run through the grocery store, we returned home one cat richer.

Tage was charmed from the start, and the rest of us weren’t far behind. After trying out a couple of different names, he decided that she should be called Audrey, which I agree is a fantastic choice. So far she’s been sleeping in his room and keeping him company, but the last couple of days she’s started venturing out into the rest of the house. The other cats aren’t as thrilled as we humans are, with Gwen displaying a marked skepticism and Prins Bertil exhibiting signs of outright terror. The dogs don’t really much care one way or the other about her, but they are profoundly interested in her food, which I suppose counts for something.