I got a pet back in November. It was very small. Actually, it adopted me. And it wasn’t a cat. Let me start over. I don’t have a cat because I’m not allowed to, in this little apartment that I rent. Poor me—my family has had pet cats ever since I was, like, six, and we had dogs before then. I thought about getting a small dog instead, to keep me company—somehow dogs do not present the same problem to the landlords that cats do. But I couldn’t in good conscience get a dog because I’m not around nearly enough to cuddle with such a people-loving animal. A cat wouldn’t care. My dilemma was solved one November night as I sat typing away at my novel-in-a-month. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, I heard… and it wasn’t me! For once I hadn’t started clicking my toes against the floor or snapping my pen onto whatever noisy surface was at hand. The tapping came from the ceiling. It sounded too close to be the tenant upstairs, so I glanced up, and seeing nothing I returned to my work. At first I figure...

We got a new kitten!!! Her name's Dani. (The train of thought looked like this... couldn't think of a good name. Decided it had to be two syllables with accent on the first, but not a common people-name. Tried to come up with something Spanish. Neighbor boy by the name of Daniel suggested we name it after him. Feminine form is Danielle, which in Spanish is Daniela, which is often shortened to Dani. We all liked it. So her name is Dani - not Daniela or Danielle, just Dani.) Oh yeah, it's pronounced DAH-nee, not DON-ee. There's a difference. 2 more pics on my Flickr.

Our family cat died last night. Sadie had this bad habit of sitting under the van and napping.... and she's getting old. (7 or 8 years, we figure. Not exactly sure.) She's always been able to scramble out of the way of the moving tires before, but she was too slow this time. Poor girl - she was really nice, and loved us like a dog would! "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die..." It was getting to be her time. She wasn't as playful as she used to be, poor thing, and just seemed to be feeling old. (Yeah, I know 7 or 8 years isn't very old! But she was an outdoor cat, and they seem to have shorter lifespans.) Oh well. Now to see if the cat shelter has any extra kittens. I wish I had a picture uploaded here somewhere... she was pretty. I actually drew her for my pastels class this past winter.