(You were right, HM!)

Rich took Sailor out in the morning and found 23 golf balls and a whiffle practice golf ball. Then he stopped at the vet to pick up the heartworm medicine, and here's where it gets interesting. When he came home, he told me I should have been along, as they had kittens. Monica's been making kitten noises at me for a year, and I've been doing it now for a month or so, but this constituted a "go-ahead" I felt we needed.

Almost instantly, we went to go see. We did run some errands first, but the vet's office kept calling my name.
They had 6 kittens, from two litters. The black ones had longer hair, and then the tabbies were interesting: there was one who was, comparatively, HUGE and had longer hair, and then the three smaller ones, including a runt who looks 6 weeks instead of the 8-9 weeks the others were supposed to be. I did my time-honored test of suitability: I stuck my finger near the cage. The kitten who tried to get it first (and kept at it) was obviously first choice. This was the largest of the three shorter-haired tabbies. OK, then, for the second one. I liked a silvery one, also active, but it was already chosen, so the third tabby, the runt, who was also playing while the other three were still a-doze, was my choice. We took them out of the cage, and the most active one immediately started roaming around. Finally we corralled them both and paid the vet the $20 each for their Samaritan fund.

Since we had nothing to put them in, I tried to hold them, and the active one (Abercrombie) immediately disappeared into the back. Fitch, the runt, was content to let me hold him. When we got home, Rich took Fitch in while I located Crombie and brought her in. Then it was time to introduce Sailor. The idea of getting two was so that eventually they could gang up on him and maintain a peace of sorts. I also figured kittens would soon establish dominance, unlike the fully grown cats of his youth, who eventually ignored the back yard because that's where he was. Gummitch was afraid of him, Tanith not. We want these cats to patrol the back for mice and squirrels.

It's going to take awhile, but not as long as I'd feared. He sniffed at Fitch, then discovered Crombie, who hissed and arched and proved to be pointed. Then he looked at Fitch again, and started to pick him up. Fitch squeaked, a big mistake. Sailor had known I'd brought him a couple of new toys, and that proved it. Later, Rich, who had a sleeping Fitch in his lap, told Sailor to "get the toy." Sailor went to his monkey, sniffed it, then came back to Rich and sniffed Fitch. So we've been trying to introduce them slowly.

Fitch follows people around. Crombie plays "come get me." Skittish, she'll run out and then quickly back to her hiding place, then out again, back again, etc. She purrs when caught and if you ignore her, she starts to mew for attention. Fitch, meanwhile, has been at one's feet and picked up and petted and asleep.

Rich says when he changed his clothes, Fitch tried to commit suicide by sniffing his smelly shoes. Crombie is a talker.

Their favorite place to sleep is on the rack across the tub, which has towels on it. Fitch also likes my shoulder and anywhere on Rich.

It is SO nice to have a cat again. Even nicer to have two.

Diane discovered there's a Dorothy-L hiatus. I've been just squirrelling the posts away to read "later" so I didn't know. Now's my chance, eh?

There's a minimall near here that's decided to make their lot a pay lot. Now, the problem with this is that it's also the lot for my library and for the Post Office and now they are talking about making these validations. We would have gone to the neighborhood meeting about it, but tomorrow we have other plans. Last week I had to pick up a survey form at a gate (they'd put up a pay booth then taken it down) and I was mad enough to write nasty stuff across it if it ever happened again. If they do decide to make it a pay lot, I will probably continue to use this library, but I will NEVER go to one of the stores in the mall. (Not that I ever have, but you never know, I might one day.)

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Two Men Walking, Safire talks about Web Hubbell and John Huang, lest we forget. And Saddam Hussein is still in the picture, too. In fact, since the December Impeachment Bombing, he's in better shape.