For the Love of Cats

I realized I have neglected my kitties in this blog, so I am setting out to rectify that situation. I know everyone is dying to read about my cats, so here goes.

Tommy is our oldest cat. He's a tabby that we acquired from the vet's office. He had been caught up in the engine of a car and badly injured, and his owners didn't want to go through all the problems of nursing him back to health, so the vet took him. Then we managed to wind up with him, probably because we are suckers for any hurt animal. Anyway, he is a very cute and sweet. Not much of a snuggler though.

Juliet is my daughter's cat. She is a fluffy white thing with a serious attitude. We got her from the animal shelter. She bites you when you pet her, scratches you when you try to pick her up, and generally acts in a non social manner. My daughter can scratch and pet her with impunity however.

Asia is my baby. She's a Siamese and I fell in love with her at an animal swap meet. She doesn't have the usual Siamese attitude. Asia is sweet, loving and generally perfect in every way. A little bit spoiled too since she's the only cuddler we have. She likes to curl up on me and purr, endearing herself to me even more.

We had two other cats before we moved, but felt that five indoor cats were too many. This was before we knew we were one day going to have six dogs. Tigger and Marmalade went to live with a friend on their farm and are very happy there. Marmalade is rarely seen, spending her nights mousing and her days sleeping. Tigger follows everyone around making a nusiance of himself. He's very loving though, and enjoys the scratchings and pettings of the kids.

So that is our cat family. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we do. :-)

Puppy Love

I may have mentioned this before, but we have six dogs. I know that puts us firmly in the "white trash" category, especially coupled with my love of the show Cops, but I can live with that. Having six dogs is not something one usually hopes to achieve. Rather, it is something that sneaks up on you, like the flu or excess weight.

When I tell people how many dogs we have I am usually met with a shocked, open mouthed stare. It's almost as if they are trying to figure out what they really heard, because surely they didn't hear the word "six". I then try to downplay my new position as a weirdo with the news that most of them are small. Which they are, kind of.

Three of them are doxies, two are beagles, and the odd man out is a golden retriever. It's the retriever most people focus on. They are such large, exuberant dogs that most people find one all they can handle. To add five more dogs on top of the retriever situation is too much. In my defence though I have to say that I never planned on this. Of course that is what mothers of twelve usually say too, but oh well.

Casey, the retriever, is full of life and energy. Thankfully we have a large lot he can run on because otherwise I'd have to walk him every day. We adopted him from the animal shelter when he was one. He's eleven years old and still loves to go on walks with us.

Bub is a beagle, and I believe he is fourteen. Maybe 15. His owner died and the widow didn't want him, so he came to live with us. Bub is going deaf and blind, but still gets around very well. I know he can still see because he has no trouble locating his food bowl. Every morning he goes out to go potty and comes back in very excited. I'm not sure why.

Clara is the other beagle and is the same age as Bub. Her owner moved to China and couldn't take her, so she came to live with us. She is the only girl dog we have so she holds a special place in my heart. Clara sleeps a lot, but generally has one play session a day. She really enjoys being brushed.

Hans, at twelve, is the eldest of the three doxies. He is also the most energetic of the three. He can outwalk me and goads the others to play with him. Hans plays like he is a puppy, and if it weren't for the grey around his face you might mistake him for a much younger dog. He was bought deliberately, believe it or not.

Willy looks like Benji. He has the most mournful look on his face all the time. He is a wire haired, so he stands out. Willy is the result of a visit to a breeder with a friend. The friend was looking for a dog. Guess who ended up with one? Willy is ten and still not going grey. I don't understand it.

Last, we come to Taz. Or Spaz. He's not the brightest bulb in the package, if you know what I mean. He is eight, and therefore the baby of the bunch. He is also the most rotund. We have tried diet food, limiting his food and exercise. Nothing helps. He's just fat. Nevertheless, he is very loving and friendly. He loves to be rubbed on the tummy and will sleep right up against me if I let him.

Despite all the canine companionship around here I have been smitten with puppy love. I have developed a strong desire for a pomeranian puppy. I've never been a puppy person, preferring to get my dogs after the house breaking is done, but for some reason I want a puppy. Call it senility. Sadly, my love will go unrequited for a while. My husband has declared a moratorium on dogs until some of the current ones die off. And given their robust health, that won't be happening any time soon.

The Joys of Shopping

No, not fun shopping, grocery shopping. Oh joy! I usually grocery shop at the Wal Mart Supercenter because it is convenient and cheap and so am I. Cheap that is, not convenient.

Anyway, no matter what time I go I can never find a parking spot up close so I wind up parking out in Timbuktoo in the vast parking lot. I don't think the spots up close ever open up. They just have cars permanently parked there. So, I park and venture inside the discount giant for my weekly trade of food for money.

Once inside I try to remember what I am there for. Lately I've been good about bringing a list, but mostly I wing it. Even with my list I forget stuff and have to stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up the forgotten items. I need a brain transplant I think. So I start piling up my cart with toothpaste and toilet paper, carrots and crackers. I'm really a boring shopper. I do buy ice cream, but that is about the only fun item I buy. Mostly I buy ingredients, not ready to eat stuff. Like I said, I'm cheap.

Once I have my cart piled high and overflowing it is time to check out. I go down the row of checkouts, (never the self check, never never never), and try to determine which line is the shortest. It doesn't really matter because whatever line I choose they will run out of tape, or need to replace an item for the person in front of me, or something will happen making my line the slowest moving of all of them. Once I finally make it to the front I start to unload my cart. The problem is that the little bag carousel fills up before my cart empties out. This means that the checker has to put my bags on the floor and I tend to forget them.

Yesterday when I went shopping it was pouring down rain when I went out to unload my groceries, which is typical. So, I unload in the rain, putting dripping bags in my clean car and getting my shoes all wet. I drive home with wet shoes, and then try to get the kids to help unload the groceries. They relunctantly unload and then disappear as only teenagers can when there is work around, leaving me to put the groceries away. Amazingly I didn't leave any bags behind as tips for the checker! I warn the kids away from the stuff I bought for our party on Saturday and put away the food. Then I warn my husband away from the stuff I bought for our party on Saturday because he is nosing around it looking interested.

Finally, the joy of shopping is over for another week and I can sit down in front of the tv to watch some good old fashioned trash. Hope your day was as uneventful as mine. :-)

diet woes

I'm trying tolose weight for my borther's wedding. I actually started trying a couple of months ago and so far I have lost a grand total of five pounds. Not very good. That is because I cheat. I'm doing an online diet thing now and am not having very good luck there either. The food is great, too great. Unfortunately it doesn't contain things like chocolate chip cookie dough and Skittles, to which I am addicted. So, I cheat. I think, "Just this once won't hurt!", and it probably wouldn't if I didn't do it every day. Sigh. At least the diet part is keeping me from gaining weight.

I also lie on the online weigh in. I have my weight listed as ten pounds lighter than my actual weight. I don't know why. Nobody else sees it. I don't think there is someone on the other end keeping track. It's all electronic. Apparently the encouraging message they give you isn't coordinated with any weight loss amount either because I only lost 1/2 pound last week and it still gave me the "way to go" message. Stupid program. You'd think they would at least have a "you're cheating" message. Maybe you get that if you gain weight. I'll never find out because I would never admit that even if I did.