Just a quick little bite about my real life. The day before the world came crashing down, my husband and I went to Cowansville to get my new glasses. Remember how psyched I was about those? I do love them. After picking them up and having them adjusted we strolled over to the pet store.

We were given a 40 Gallon fish tank a few months back and were considering getting one or two more fish to add to it. My husband, being a man, got right to the task and went to the fish section. The kids and I however are much less task oriented and were drawn to the kitten/puppy section of the store, as normal. We awwed, we oohed, we coochie-cooed. We begged my husband.

The DH (Dear Husband) and I have been living together for ten years and together for twelve years as of June 5th. I grew up always having a minimum of two dogs and a maximum of four. DH has never had a pet in his life. Over the course of our relationship I have been slowly introducing him to this concept. It started with a gerbil when we were dating but not living together. Then it was a few gerbils and/or hamsters at a time while we were living together. Eventually I got sick of having to clean their enormous habitat and perform midnight burials when the little ones wouldn’t see.

(Usually all the cages were connected, but it was cleaning day)

A couple of summers ago my middle son (the one who influences my simming the most) was given a gold fish as a present at the end of his swimming lessons. The families of the students were given no warning whatsoever. Instead my son returned home with a gold fish swimming in a plastic bag. My fish experience extends as far as a tank that my Mom’s boyfriend had in the 80s that she constantly complained about, and a Siamese fighting fish that my eldest son killed when he was two. We didn’t have any supplies. Luckily one of my best friends lives down the road and her daughter had just upgraded from one of those tiny desktop fish tanks to a 20 Gallon. Eldest son came back from his emergency run with everything necessary to keep the fish alive until we could hit the pet store.

We really did need a bigger tank since the fish (who was eventually named FishFace) looked unbearably crammed in the desktop tank. Once we had a bigger tank though, DH decided that the fish looked lonely. Do fish even get lonely? Over the next couple of years we bought new fish on a fairly regular basis. The pet stores around here aren’t that good, so the fish only had about a 25% survival rate. Eventually the 20 Gallon reached maximum capicity with a total of 4 goldfish, 1 plecho, and 1 teeny tiny little catfish type thing. Honestly it was probably beyond capicity, but they all seemed quite comfy, healthy, and happy. Then my cousin mentioned that her father wanted to get rid of his 40 Gallon tank, but I’d have to take the guppies that were in it. That was back in October. The tank didn’t actually make it’s way to our house until March.

(Sorry about the blur, my camera is very sensitive to hand shaking. The big white and orange one is FishFace, the fish who started it all.)

Forward to April (and back to the story)… So my kids and I are begging and pleading with my DH for a kitten. I’d already ruled out a puppy since dogs are much more high maintenance and I have my hands full with three tornadoes and a husband. We didn’t actually expect him to say yes. I had just planned on going to the SPCA this summer and getting a kitten on my own. All the sudden though, he caves. I can have the kitten (since he knows eventually I’m going to get one anyway) as long as I am financially responsible for it, and I get it to and from the vet’s without him. I started backtracking (guilt sucks). I suddenly felt horrible for all the pressure I’d been putting on him. We eventually left the store without the kitten. We spent half an hour in sitting in the car in the parking lot with my husband asking if I was sure I didn’t want this kitten. I replied that no, I could wait a bit longer. We got half way home and he pulls the car over asking me again if I’m sure I don’t want this one since it’s everything I said I wanted. We can still go back. Call me clueless, but it actually took me this long to realize that my DH had also fallen in love with this kitten and just didn’t want to admit it.

Back we went to the pet store, to be greeting by a salesgirl who was trying very hard to conceal her smirk. $25 for the kitten and $100 dollars for start-up gear later, we had a new family member. You know what rocks? The pet store had no idea that this kitten was a mix. He’s a purebred Chartreux as far as the vet and I can figure. I should have paid about $300 for him without papers. Of course, we didn’t realize that until my cat crazy friend came over to look at him.

He’s now three and a half months old, and the everyone in the family is his devoted slave, including my husband!

For those of you who are wondering what my cat criteria were, here’s the list.

1. Either a kitten or a cat that had been raised with children
2. Short haired to minimize grooming and shedding, not to mention fluff sneezing on my part
3. Male, since they tend to be more affectionate and laid back (after spaying)
4. Gray or black by preference, but any color would do

Charcoal is all of those things, plus he’s very intelligent, and true to his breed, he’s almost as trainable as a dog. We’re currently working on teaching him to fetch. So far he’ll catch it, bring it half way back, and then forgets what he was doing and beats up whatever he was fetching, lol!

I like to help Mommy with the laundry, at least, I think I’m helping…