WHAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR

Today is my oldest cats' birthday. She is eleven years old that would be seventy-seven in human years, but she still thinks she is a young cat! She is a tramp like I have never seen, whenever someone comes to the house Trampcat thinks the human is there to visit HER. She 'talks' to anyone who will listen. Sometimes I think she is saying what a bad human I am... clearly she is starving to death, I mean her belly Barely reaches the ground! The shiny black coat is still soft like a kittens' but I don't brush it enough. As proof of my neglect, Trampcat will start knocking her brush off the coffee table to remind me "Hey stupid human, pay attention to ME!!" She is worse than a child in many ways, she won't 'go' in the cat box if she thinks it's not clean enough. She loves to go outside even in the winter, but no sooner do I let her out and sit down, she is scratching at the door to come back in.So I get up to let her in, she'll go and have two bites of cat food, then proceed to the back door to go out again... When she is in the house she will 'yell' at me to pick her up and cuddle her, then 'yell' at me to put her down. This busy life she leads is of course exhausting and she must take many naps to get her beauty sleep. The act of napping is in itself exhausting so she then must nap so she'll have enough energy for the next nap! This is my life!

My other cat is an unneutered male. He is a beautiful tabby cat called Toughguy. When Toughguy was a kitten we could call him to come to our rescue and kill bugs... that's how he got his name. He had a lot of spunk in those early years of kittenhood. He could leap in the air and catch a fly in his paws. If Trampcat annoyed him, he would hide and leap out at her with his little back arched, hissing and spitting, it was quite cute. In his older days though he has become somewhat of an embarassment to tomcats, people that knew me for years didn't know that I had two cats. Whenever the doorbell would ring Toughguy would run up the stairs to hide under a bed! Then there are the nights when he doesn't come home, I guess he's out 'tommin' or something! Eventually when he returns, he'll have his hair all matted , scratches on his face and smelling kind of funky, I guess this is proof of his Maleness. In typical man form he will then go to feast and proceed to fall asleep for hours or days on end!!

I love these two with all my heart, they have been here for me when I felt so alone. They give me a sense of purpose in life when all seems bleak and overwhelming. They drive me crazy on a regular basis but I couldn't imagine life without them. And there is nothing like petting a kitty until it purrs, you can't get that kind of validation from a dog. I guess I'll keep them, and before I forget... HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY TRAMPCAT, MOMMY LOVES YOU!

As if two cats were not enough work, last year Devilteen and I were given a Budgie for Christmas. He was the cutest little thing and quickly showed us that he too belonged in this house of lunatics. Who'd a thunk a budgie could have so much personality? Yes, he is a boy and his name is Jenny, actually the name was chosen by Devilteen before we even got him, and once her mind was made up there was no changing it! I should say the origin of the name was from two friends of ours--Lenny and Jay-- so the combination of course was Jenny, and no it was not the first choice...Devilteen wanted to call our budgie LAY!!! I'm sorry, call me mean, but I just couldn't inflict that indignity even on a bird! In the spring time (actually around Easter) t.v. has a commercial for Cadbury creme eggs, you know the one where the bunny clucks like a chicken? Well, our little Jenny bird learned to imitate this...it's hilarious, a little bluish budgie clucking like a chicken! If I happen to be in another room and he can't see me, Jenny will start chirping really loudly until I come back! There is never a quiet day at my house with one cat meowling, one cat wailing and the budgie clucking away!!!

Yes all in all I am grateful today for my pets, they make me laugh, Trampcat comforts me if I cry, toughguy loves to be with me on the couch and 'sucks' his baby blanket and Jenny sings to me all day long! If I'm feeling lonely, I just have to look around, there are living creatures with me everyday. Unlike Devilteen, who hasn't yet decided if she wants to come back home, my other babies will not grow up and leave the nest! Anyway I am still bigger than all three of them put together and I just won't open the door to LET them leave!!! I like the feeling that I am needed, and I like that they don't really talk back to me, although Trampcat does try really hard! I think I'll keep them ! So in closing I want to say that I am very lucky to have three great pets who love me and who I love, no matter how they drive me crazy some days!