Surprise Surprise

I'm so happy to share with you all that after almost 10 years of marriage my husband can still surprise me. First there was that extremely surprising (and expensive) Christmas gift of a trip to St. Thomas. Last night, it was a cat. Without even asking me. I tried to lock the door before he got to it carrying the cat carrier but he was too quick for me. The kids are thrilled of course, especially since they have been asking for a cat for ages. "Mommy when Max dies can we get a cat, please please please please." I clearly stated for all to hear (including my husband) that after the dog was gone we could think about getting a cat. Think about it. Just think. I am not a big cat person and I am certainly not a "multiple pets" person. I'm not sure why I don't like cats that much, but lets share some examples to try to find out, shall we?

When I was a little girl my Aunt got me and my brother a cat once as a gift. I'm not entirely sure she actually cleared this with my parents first, which is weird and kind of strange. Anyway, from my memory we had this cat for about 2 weeks before it mysteriously "ran away." My parents told me not to worry though because my grandmother saw it over in her neighborhood getting picked up by the animal rescue league where it would find a good home. I also remember hearing snippets of conversations in which my mother was not too happy about my aunt giving us a "slutty cat with a sexually transmitted disease that they had to put down." Yup. Slutty cat definitely did not end up in a good home. I'm not even sure they put it down properly. I have suspicions that my dad put it in a bag and threw it into the river. But that could just be my memory playing tricks on me.

Another memory I have is that once after a huge rainstorm I found a teeny tiny kitten that had been washed down into the sewer and was stuck there. My father? Or a neighbor? Or a stranger I don't even know wandering my streets? freed the poor little thing from certain death and I got to play with it for about 2 hours before my parents "returned" it to it's real home. Suspicious.

When we were teenagers Dennis gave me another cat for Valentines Day. A beautiful little white one. I'm not sure why because I had never given him any indication that I desired a cat, or even liked cats at all. I'm pretty sure he didn't clear this with my parents either. So he gives me this cat that spent the first 2 days under my bed, only to finally emerge and sit on top of my head, purring and licking my hair. It drove me CRAZY. I used to lock it out of my room at night only to hear my brother yell from his room "get this cat off my head!" After approximately 5 months the cat was chased into a corner under the porch by 2 neighborhood dogs and mauled to death.

So you see. I'm not a cat person. I don't even have good luck with them. And we have this dog you see. He's big and old and does not like cats in the least. Perhaps he is too deaf and his eyesight is too poor that he won't notice the cat? I have to admit, it's been an easy pet so far. Dennis opened the door to the carrier, I saw a streak of gray and the thing hasn't come out from under my bed. It did emerge sometime last night to use the litter box I put right next to the bed. But no other contact with us at all. Tonight it will probably come out and start licking my hair.