I don't want a cat. I've had two. I loved them. They died. But I feel like a mean mommy for not having a pet. I could get a fishy or something, but pets you can pet are better.

Cindy, you've evidently never had the L&O Chung Chung! stuck in your brain. You really get weird looks with that one.

As for Tai Chi, you do understand it's a martial art, right, with the whole hurting people thing?

Or in a few months, they'll be joined together in a nice lap robe.

That's fine too, as long as they're out of my back yard so I can use it.

We have the occasional coyote, and I've seen a fox. Also, even though we're in a residential neighborhood, we're not at all far from the highway.

Better and better.

I wasn't allowed to watch TV as a child, but I still know all the theme songs. They are like a virus. And yeah, they are linked with other memories.

We had an outdoor-at-night cat when I was a kid. This was mostly in Michigan, although Skippy (I was 3 when we named him) lived his last few of years in NC. He made it to 15 years, though, which isn't bad.

Fast forward to my parents getting a cat after retirement. The same man who said, "Cats have fur--put 'im out!" in a Michigan January was making sure his precious Kimsy was inside every balmy NC night.

intersting call I just got. I had ordered some sunglasses from a store in the mall since they did not have them in stock. They even matched an online sale price I had found. Well, as it turns out the frames have been discontinued. I asked to have my credit card refunded. They countered with offering me store credit for $50 more than my original purchase. ok, I'll take free money, sure.

Cindy, you've evidently never had the L&O Chung Chung! stuck in your brain. You really get weird looks with that one.

Actually, I have. I've told you about giving birth to Julia, yes? I was pregnant with her at the height of my L&O obsession. She had to be induced, because she'd made herself a little too at home on the inside. They broke my water at 6 or 6:30pm. At 9ish, they were telling me she'd probably be born around midnight, but I said the baby was coming sooner (this is the common theme in my deliveries, and my theory is because my labor is almost all back labor). By 9:30ish, it was evident I was right. At 9:45ish, I told the doctor I had to have her by 10:00pm, so I didn't miss the crime on L&O. She was born at 9:47.

As for Tai Chi, you do understand it's a martial art, right, with the whole hurting people thing?

Yes, I do understand it is a martial art. I thought though, that the beginning levels were more about the art and less about the martial. Is actual fighting incorporated right from the beginning?

Fast forward to my parents getting a cat after retirement. The same man who said, "Cats have fur--put 'im out!" in a Michigan January was making sure his precious Kimsy was inside every balmy NC night.

My parents did the same thing! After years of "when I was young, our pets only ate table scraps," my mom now treats her new cat like a king.

Cindy, as much as I love my pets, I envy your no-pet-having self. Paying a dog sitter when we have to go, paying vet bills and food gets expensive. Not to mention cleaning up--because even the most well trained animals will have accidents or get sick is a pain. Mac gets reoccuring ear infections that are gross and I have to clean her ears daily. Sam's too skittish for the groomer to clip his nails so I have to do it and we're looking at hip surgery for him in the future with dysplasia.

They're a LOT of work. There's reward, but still a lot of work. And money. And hair.

Yes. These are also on the list of justifications. I still feel badly for the kids, though. I'd get a bunny, but I hated it when my bunny died, too. And we have wild bunnies in the yard. I already have a problem with keeping any sort of pet that has to be kept in a cage/aquarium/terrarium (sp?). And I can just see the wild bunnies coming up to the hutch and being all taunty-free pants.

Well, that makes it pretty clear then: your kids need a pony.

Doesn't live inside, doesn't use a litterbox, doesn't keel over after one year, can be petted. It's perfect.

My step-mother refused to have the animals inside, so my father, who was a big old softy, built a condo for the cats on the front deck, with bedding and a heat lamp. (The dogs already had a chalet).