Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's for the felines.

THE PROMPT: "Lots of people on WDC seem to have a special affinity for animals: tell us about your animal/pet experiences. Include 1 silly animal story and 1 sad animal story. If you don't feel you do have an affinity for animals (ie. You don't like 'em) feel free to tell us why and include examples of animals in your life that have reenforced your dislike."

Hello again, friends...feels good to be caught up (almost! ). Now that you've read (and if you haven't by now, really, you should) some of my buddy Julie D - PUBLISHED! 's work, let's get back to today's prompt.

I guess I've never really been an "animal person". Never had any pets growing up. My dad and stepmom had a few cats and eventually a dog, but I was never really around long enough to connect with them. If I really thought about it, and decided I wanted to have a pet bad enough, this is what I'd really want: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ0W5hHCVOk

However, justjessica1 has two cats. Cats...can't live with 'em, can't turn 'em into Chinese food (at least I can't). Two cats...perfect for locking you into a solitary position in bed for as long as animally possible (well, they're not humans, so you get "animally", because I don't know how else you'd say it)...sometimes as long as 6-8 hours. Two cats, and they shed enough to make wigs for small children that you can donate to http://www.locksoflove.org/. Two cats. Two. Enough said.

Lily is the lady of the house. Tiny, dainty, very seemingly ladylike. She's friendly to a fault...your fault. When visitors come over, she makes her presence known and stays. In your lap. Any bit of attention shown to her is her cue to never leave you alone. And wherever she wants to sit or sleep is damn well pretty much wherever she wants to sit or sleep. She wanted to sit on my lap once, and took a claw through the jeans toward a sensitive boy part...that ball tap had me in agony for a few minutes. I learned my lesson...maybe someday Lily will too.

Butterscotch is our other bundle of fun. Dude's a true 'fraidy cat. He hides around any company and won't come out for hours. Doesn't like to be touched. Flinches at the slightest movement. But I'll say this...he's like my own little puppy. When I come home from work and change, there he is, crawling out from under the rocking chair next to my bed. When I come in from a break out front, he's on the chair next to the door. When I'm about to go downstairs, he goes downstairs, sometimes running so fast (which is kinda funny for a fatty) he'll either overshoot the staircase, or he'll get caught up in my legs and nearly send me tumbling down the stairs. I fear someday he will succeed. And what's funny about him is that everytime he goes downstairs, he heads right back to the food dish. Attention? The only time he wants it is when that food dish is empty...and then you'll never hear the end of it from him.

At one point, we actually had a third cat. He was Jess' brother's cat and he needed someone to watch him when he went overseas for awhile, so we offered. Leo was a stray once, and he still had a little "street" in him, but he was a pretty decent boy cat most of the time. We were living in the duplex down the street from where we are now...and we started to notice him wheezing a little. Then he started getting a little lethargic. We were wondering if maybe we should take him to the vet...until one morning, while I was still in bed (on the second floor), when I heard the most horrifying wail and scream coming from the basement. It was Jess...poor Leo had passed on, and was laying at the foot of the basement stairs. RIP, buddy.

But Leo's story didn't end there, and I feel terrible saying this next part. We didn't know what to do with him until we could do something properly for him, because we had to get ready for work. Jess was freaking, and called her dad for advice (I'd never even seen a pet die, so I had no clue). He said to wrap him in a blanket, put him in a box, and put him outside, somewhere where other animals wouldn't get to him. So we did that and put him in a sealed garbage can until we could figure out what to do. Of course, this was during the holidays, where time was a premium and thinking doesn't always seem to go hand-in-hand with reality and rationalization. I came home late from work one night to discover the kids hadn't taken out the garbage, and I was pissed. Not realizing during my fit about the kids not doing their chores, I stormed out and took the garbage myself. What I failed to realize was that I wasn't taking the can with the actual garbage in it to the curb...I grabbed the can with Leo in it. Sorry, Leo. I know it's undignified, and totally unintentional.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Kinda hard to find a song related to cats. But I was humming this while plotting my entry... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX28LD0MiFU

VITAL MEGA-STATS!!

Lots to catch up on, since I missed a day:

So, an old lady gave me the middle finger yesterday at work. I was cashing her out for her pictures when she started telling me what they were of...pictures of stuff around her property that she was submitting to her town for some kinda blah blah blah whatever...all I knew is that I was busy, we were shorthanded, I had other projects going on, and some lady from some state department of keeping your shit clean and together was trolling around my salesfloor looking for gross stuff. As I look up to hand her her change, she's saying, "...And you know what this town thinks about its senior citizens??" just as she pulls her arm back and launches into possibly the largest middle finger I may have ever see by someone over the age of 70. No effin' way, I just got flashed the bird by some old ass lady. I couldn't even say anything. I was stunned. I may have only been half-listening to her, but that sure got my damn attention.

{e:no effin' hockey emoticon still} Memo: I still hate my hockey team. But I love this time of year...all the rumors, players starting to get traded, waking up to hopefully shiny new toys at the practice rink. Ahhh, the NHL trade deadline can not come fast enough. I really think this is my favorite time of year in sports, unless the Bills start off the season hot like they did this year. And even though it's happened a lot, and we know it's there, we never really see the bottoming-out coming until it's too late. At least the Sabres have pretty much wet the bed already. The honeymoon's over there. There's no new owner anymore to throw cash around...Pegula's been around for almost a year. Nobody who's here really wants to play here anymore, and I sense that players aren't going to want to come here anymore. This summer was a fluke; a lot of money went down the drain. #dosomethingDarcy

Saw a beverage at Wegmans today...Eurotrash Pilz http://southerntierbrewing.com/beers.html#seasonal (scroll down to Eurotrash Pilz). Not bad actually...a little hoppy but that's ok. But it really makes me think of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38Vun2LYnoY Still love me the original version of that song, but you and I don't have that kind of time right now.

Wow, I really thought I had more to add...I probably do, but there's too much to process and it's all in the blender of my head right now.

Alrightey yo, I'm gonna go eat a hot meal and watch one hockey team dismantle the semblance of another "team". Thanks for stoppin' by...maybe we'll do it again tomorrow. Oh wait, we have to...it's my prompt and all. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7jlGRq8xZ4