Pets!
Lisa and I both grew up with pets as important members of the
family. Lisa always had cats, and I had dogs, cats, fish, a parrot, and
even a turtle. I don't recommend the turtle.
It's no surprise, then that we've got our own little zoo at our
house. We have four cats and a dog.
Our cat, Murray
Murray was our first cat. He's an orange tabby and has
quite a personality. He loves to ride in the car and go to new
places. He eats yogurt and strawberry ice cream. Water doesn't
bother him. He struts around the house like he owns the place and tries to
maintain that stereotypical "Joe Cool" image of a cat, but he's really
a sweetheart and loves to cuddle and be around people.
Murray's cat, Simon
We got Simon to keep Murray company since he was getting lonely
when we weren't around. He's a Flame-point Siamese mix. He's got the
blue eyes and the general coloring of a flame-point, with a hint of tabby
stripes. He's very affectionate to people he likes, but scares easily
(loud noises, especially) so he can be slow to warm up to new people. Once
you're in, he'll kneed and head-butt you all day long.
Simon's dog, Riley
When we moved into our first house, one of the benefits was a back yard a.k.a
"Dog habitat"! My parents got us Riley, an Irish Setter puppy
for our anniversary right after we moved in. She was born on Christmas
Eve, 1997 in the Dallas area. Once she was old enough to leave home, they
put her on a Delta flight to Orange County. I went to pick her up and was
greeted by a small red furball with HUGE eyes huddled in the back of an airline
crate. I opened the gate and she slowly walked to the front and starting
trying to lick my face off...yep, she made it just fine. :) She
immediately started trying to fit in around the house. She and Simon hit
it off right away and have remained the best of friends to this day.
Riley's cat, Annie
One day I was walking between building at work and heard a muffled little meow
coming from the bushes. I leaned down and reached to find a beautiful
Burmese kitten. She was hungry, limping, and had an infection in one
eye. She immediately grabbed onto my shirt and started purring. I
was a goner. We named her Annie since she's a little orphan. Her
limp went away after a few days as did her eye infection. It's hard
describing her personality other than to say she's typically Burmese. One
minute she'll have you so mad you could scream, and the next minute she's got
you wrapped around her paw. She also gets along with Riley pretty well as
long as Riley isn't too rambunctious.
And good old Lucy
Lucy is Lisa's childhood cat. She came to live with us shortly after we
got married. She doesn't like Murray or Riley at all. She sometimes
tolerates Simon and Annie. She's very set in her ways and very vocal about
things that don't happen the way she thinks they should. Despite that,
she's very sweet and loves to get petted. Her prime time is right after we
go to bed...that's when she kicks the other cats out of the bedroom (it's an
unspoken rule, I guess. All I know is all of the cats but her disappear
for about 30 minutes after we go to bed) and gets her daily dose of chin
rubbing, each scratching, and general petting.
Pictures of the whole gang