It's the little things that make life interesting.... And this post is dedicated to our little cat, Mia.

Mia is a very well-traveled cat; born in France, she has flown internationally twice-- has lived in the south of France, Paris, El Paso, and now Verrieres-le-Buisson.

She's had a hard transition. Cats and flying are a lot like cats and water. They really don't mix. But she arrived in good health, although she was not impressed with the cat food here. The brand we used to buy her has disappeared, and the new stuff did not appeal to her for a long time. She kept missing her litterbox when she peed. She picked the only room in the apartment with carpeting to vomit in-- repeatedly. She clawed up the brand new twin mattress we brought for Geo. Basically, she came very close to getting the old heave ho off the balcony.

I think she's settled in now, though, since on Monday she killed her first bird on the balcony. I've since spoken to our downstairs neighbor, who moved the birdfeeder that lured the birds so close to our balcony in the first place. From now on, Mia will have to be satisfied with chasing bugs.