Meet Leia.

She's around here somewhere.  

 She's under here.

 There she is.

 Come on, Leia.

 Maybe this toy will coax her out.

 Ahhhh.

 "I love my people.  I just like to keep them on their toes."

Speaking of toes, she happens to be polydactyl.  (She has 6 toes on each of her front feet rather than the usual 4.)  It makes her sort of a Hemingway cat.  He had a fondness for the polydactyls.  Though the only true Hemingway cats live at his residence in Key West.  There are about 60 of them.  

Kitty scratches.  Ahhhh.

So, who is Leia?  Leia (formerly known as Betsie) is a 9 month old tuxedo kitten that we adopted from a local Pet Smart.  She is very bendy.  We are used to a lethargic 12 1/2 pound Maine Coon.  She is not 12 1/2 pounds.  She is not lethargic.  She is not a biter.  She is a licker.  She'll lick you to death.  She is a climber.  Smudge was not a climber.  She was a defiant pooper.  She was a horrible biter.  Frankly, Smudge was not a good cat at all.

Leia is quite an extreme switch for us.

She's still trying to find her way.  She's trying to make herself comfortable.  We sat together as a family last night and hand fed her.  All Hubs wanted for his birthday to have some good quality family bonding time with Leia.  That seemed to really help.  While we slept, Leia ate the entire bowl of food, drank half a bowl of water, knocked down a gate, a Christmas center piece, a bunch of stuff off the top of the work bench and had herself squirreled away in between the floor joists of the basement ceiling.

She had a busy night.  The previous morning, Hubs found her in one of the work bench drawers.  Inside the drawer.  Only the black fur of the tail hung out to give indication of where she was at.

She is stealth-like.  She is super quiet, except that we did put a bell on her.  With all of the adventures she had last night, I'm surprised that none of us woke up.

She's starting to warm up to the family.  She's starting to feel at home.  I think it'll all be okay.  :)