Here's what's making me happy today: Cat Wallpaper

William received a kitty calendar for Christmas, one of those page-a-day, tear-off varieties. We unboxed it a few days before the arrival of the new year, and as he happily riffled through the cute and fluffy pages, I told him how each day he could rip off the previous day's page and enjoy a new picture.

He loved the idea.

But then:
   An innocent question: What happens to the old pages?
   And an innocent reply: Paper recycling, naturally.

Hooooo boy. Tires screeched, music stopped, time halted. Wide eyed shock and disbelief. Throw away these kitty pictures??! He was utterly aghast, utterly offended to his diminutive core.

* * *

So we're one month in now. Our artist landlord's fine oil paintings are well complemented by some of the best amateur cat photography you'll find anywhere in France. The low-tack primary blue painter's tape and playfully tilted mountings speak of youthful exuberance and justice for adorable kitty pictures everywhere. I may be singing a different song as the months mount and the pages proliferate, but for now you'd be hard pressed to find something that brings a bigger grin to my face!  :)

 

A sweet addendum: William was especially selective in choosing two of the pages. He wanted Daddy to have something really cute to look at while he's working all day, so on January 1 he looked ahead and earmarked his two favorite pages for the two desks where Jesse ordinarily sits and works. The first one to go up was the set of five kittens seen under the daffodil painting; it's mounted directly in Jesse's line of vision when he's working from the living room (which is a good 75% of the time). The next picture required patience for several weeks; it's the orange kitten you can see near the window and Grecian bust. It hangs above the small desk in our bedroom where Jesse works the other 25% of the time (when we're too noisy downstairs!).