Oh, I like that, lisah! I was just going to drive around with the trip odometer on.

I've only had 4 cats. The first was always inside and unfortunately insane. He attacked my friends when I was out of the room. It took us a while to catch him at it. We had to have him put down because really seriously dangerously insane.

When I moved in with Stephen he had 2 cats. When we moved to Delray we had to leave one with the new house owner because he was blind and perfectly content going in and out his cat door and living in the trees in Fort Lauderdale. The other we brought with us. Bianca would only come inside if it was hurricane level storming. She stayed on the roof most of the time. She was affectionate and would come down to visit with us, but she preferred the roof. When she was too old to get on the roof easily she preferred hanging out under my old car that wasn't running. We would make her come in if the weather was dangerous. She passed sleeping under her car at about age 15.

My current kitty was given to me by my neighbor because she was moving to an area of Florida that has a lot of eagles and we were concerned that Georgia would be ill equiped since she hadn't lived with them before. After years of coming in and out at will there was no way to keep her inside. As she gets older she seems to prefer to relax on my bed or couch when we are home, but goes out when we go out. Her choice.

I get that many cats are inside cats, but mine haven't been. In Florida my dog is an inside dog, but up here she romps free in the woods happy as can be. Swimming in the lake, going back and forth on the path between my house and mom's. Freeeeedom!

Also, if I had kittens, which I wouldn't because I spay, I would happily let Kristin and Drew be parents. Idiot shelter people!

If it wasn't so damned hot here right now I'd be doing more walking outside. If I weren't so damned lazy I'd be at the nice air-conditioned gym more often. The latter is definitely more of a problem than the former.

I am Queen of Lazy. What got me going is a combination of things. My back needing the exercise (I have practically ZERO pain now) and the fantastic childcare at the facility we joined. Owen literally comes up to me in the morning, tries to put my shoes on me and says, "Go to the gym, Mommy!" He's like my personal trainer.

Beside the excellent childcare, I have access to a whirlpool and steam room AND I can shower in peace, all while the kids are well cared for and having fun.

I've maybe lost only 3lbs but the difference in my back is what's so amazing. I feel just much better in general.

Go Cashmere! Well done.

Anna is strictly indoors. When we got her Mom had her declawed and spayed at the same time. So she couldn't go out unattended anyway. Then I lived on several busy streets and there was no way I was letting her outside, although she managed to escape once or twice.

My yard is fenced and occasionally I thoght she might like some supervised outdoor time, but there's a dog next door and I'm worried the barking would freak her out (she's rather skittish and easily freaked out). It would be nice to be able to sit outside and brush her and let the wind carry her fur away.

Mom's cat is pure bred ragdoll, a breed that should be exclusively indoors, but his previous owner let him be indoor/outdoor and there has been no way Mom could keep him inside. Although he usually likes to spend his time on the balcony he will start racing around when he wants out. He's gotten in fights with the neighborhood cats, including losing sight in one eye, so Mom would really rather he be indoors but he won't cooperate.

Yay for less back pain, Cashmere. That's a heckuva feeling IMHO.

Owen literally comes up to me in the morning, tries to put my shoes on me and says, "Go to the gym, Mommy!" He's like my personal trainer.

This is too cute! Go you with the physical fitness, Cashmere!

He had been invited to her home afterward for coffee and cake by her father, a Newark fire chief. “I fell in love so hard I didn’t go home,” Rizzuto recalled. He rented a hotel room nearby for a month to be near her.

awwwww! I just remember his commercials for The Money Store (conspicuously absent from the obit)

Sad about Scooter. Somewhere at home I have a book of his baseball commentaries transcribed into poetry -- I'll have to dig that out tonight, since IIRC some of it's actually quite decent.

I should be packing. I'm making oatmeal.