JANUARY 29, 2010 - OUR NEW ADDITION

Well for awhile now the kids have been bugging us to get a dog or a cat, and, of course, Chris left the decision to me, because frankly I am the one who is going to end up doing most of the work. So Chris started doing some research about which pet would be good for us. I love dogs but they are a lot of work and time and being in the military and moving around isn't always easy on a dog, especially a large dog. There is just so much to considered. Plus my biggest worry has been how the kids would do. They love animals but they can be a little overwhelming. So after a lot of thought and consideration we adopted a kitten from our local animal shelter. We brought him home on January 22, 2010 after he was fixed. He is 6 mos. old and has short hair, which is a plus because for any of you who know me I don't like hair and mess (me the clean freak). I already vacuum a couple times a day so I just didn't want to do more. I figured a cat would be easier and less time because they do their own thing and it wouldn't require too much work. Also with us in the military a cat is a lot easier to move around unlike a dog, especially if you go overseas. So as of today, we are the proud owners of a kitten. His name is Joplin (a strange name for a male kitten I thought at first he was a girl, you know Janis Joplin). He is a great addition to our family and someone who isn't much of a cat lover, he has grown on me. He is very sweet and likes to follow you around everywhere. He doesn't like to be alone. Of course the hardest thing has been getting the kids to stop driving him crazy. Isabel loves the cat but she treats him like a doll. She is constantly moving him from a one room to the other to be with her. She has even put him the babydoll stroller. They both want him to sleep with him but I explain to them that Joplin will choose on his own where he wants to go and that they need to stop bothering him so much and that the cat is not a doll or a play thing. I hope they will get better as time goes on, but I know it is going to require me repeating myself a thousand times a day to leave the cat alone. Oh well, I am just waiting for Joplin to bite one of them because he has had enough. I have to say I am very surprised at how patient he has been, of course when he sees Isabel coming he is starting to run away from her, oh well.