They are really part of the family. But lately they have all been getting on my nerves. I guess we may just have cabin fever.

Ariel needs a haircut. Seriously. I sweep the first floor at least three times a day. If I don't there's black "tumbleweed" rolling around my floors. She had been whining at night because there's a possum hanging around in the backyard lately. (which technically is not a pet but another animal that is annoying me lately and not only because it's the ugliest animal alive and serves no purpose that I am aware of...) It must have been right outside the den window because she banged up against the back window so hard she set the alarm off at 11:00 at night, scaring the heck out of me.

The cat boys are either beating the crap out of each other or meowing rudely to eat 7000 times a day. If you have a cat you know what I mean about rude. They want to eat every time they come in, if I walk into the kitchen or if I go near the cabinet that has their food in it. This week I have thrown wet dishtowels at them, put my foot under one's belly and flung him into the dining room (he landed on his feet of course) and called them a few choice words.

Mikes' fish tank needs to be cleaned way too much and he can't do it alone so guess who gets to clean it?

(uh...can you say cranky?)
Anyway....the last of Mike's goldfish died. I knew he wasn't long for this world. He looked weird when I cleaned his tank over the weekend and hadn't swam around the tank since. He kinda just hung out at the bottom with the catfish. We scooped him out, said a prayer and flushed him out to sea. Now I feel bad. Especially when Mike said "even though he was just a fish I have a little sad choke in my throat". (ugh!)

As I sit here typing Smudge sits on my lap with his paws on my laptop waiting to whack the mouse cursor. That is cute. He rings the bell I left tied on the back door from Christmas when he wants to go out. Cute. He runs out to the car when you pull into the driveway (did I mention he thinks he is a dog?) Cute again.

Lucky although he's the oldest, (and I call him Crusty...cause he well he is) surprisingly loves Mike. He can't sit down without Lucky coming up on him, purring looking for love. Very cute. He answers you when you talk to him. He is a handsome gray tabby with one white paw, who loves to play "mouse hockey" on the front walk.

Ariel is the best dog. She doesn't bark unless necessary. Is never aggressive. Greets everyone that comes in like they are her best friend. She plays dead if you say "Bang!" and give her a treat. She turns her head and rolls her eyes if she gets reprimanded, so even though you may be mad at her you can't help but laugh.

We also have another fish that really belongs to the Diva, but he lives in one of the bathrooms so he gets a lot of traffic by his tank. He is a Betafish so he lives alone otherwise he would eat his room mate. His name is Finneus, Fin for short. He dances in his tank when Beyonce is on the the radio. He waves at you when you are "sitting" in the bathroom. When you open the top of his tank and drop in some food, he will eat a few pieces. If not, then that means he wants you to pet him. Yes, we pet our fish. It's bizarre and if I didn't do it myself a few times a week I wouldn't believe it.

So even though we are getting on each other's nerves, and it's a pain when we go away as far as who will watch them etc., I will truly miss them when they are gone. As much as they make me nuts sometimes, they are part of my family and I do love them. Even that dopey fish that I talked to every morning that has now gone out to his eternal rest at sea. I don't see us getting any new ones to replace them when they gone, although it is tempting looking in the window of that new puppy store on Main Street. I get the same feeling when I look into a baby nursery window in the hospital...and that CERTAINLY is not happening!!!!