Happy Friday: Books and Cats and Christmas

Earlier this month, I showed you our book tree with Desmond trying to knock it over. Today, I bring photos of Molly and the tree -- a perfect picture of the personalities of our two cats: Desmond tries to destroy things while Molly sleeps and looks pretty. Now that I've switched to this tree-topper, Desmond generally leaves the tree alone, but the mere glimmer of tinsel turns him insane. Yesterday, I was wrapping presents and struggling to keep the crinkly paper and ribbon away from Desmond's adorable-yet-mischievous white paws. I turned my head for a second and when I looked back he had strings of shiny red tinsel in his mouth. I thought I got all of it out, but later I found a lovely new Christmas present: throw-up with strands of tinsel glittering throughout. sigh. At least we also have the good cat:

I love that in this picture you can just see our mantle with stockings. Here's a close-up:

That was a long time ago. Now that little count-down Santa says "04"

Also, Molly is good at hiding.

A close-up of the top of the book tree. It's kind of amazing what books ended up on the tree through searching for mostly red and green books. A yellow one ended up near the top because it was the right size. I really enjoy the interplay of those top 5 books: Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton; A Theological Miscellany; The Divine Life of the Most Holy Virgin; Jesus: Man or Myth?; and finally, a Gideon's New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs Bible -- the perfectly-sized topper, and sort of symbolic, too. I'm not sure what Tolkien Commentaries, Beckett's Endgame, and The Heidegger Reader say about us -- probably just that we're both graduate students.

Happy Friday, and Happy Christmas!