Joy

I have a cat, Jellybinx.

His bones fell out

my laundry helpers

Jellybinx will never learn to quit laying on the folded blankets.  I've done everything I can think of to get him to quit, from spray bottles to just moving him, and nothing deters him from his fave spot.  When I see him tucked into the fuzzy blankets, I can't help but feel a fierce joy when I remember the first time I saw him.  I went to my local animal shelter, Find yours here.  I wandered amongst the cages and kennels, just visiting as I do occasionally.  I had the fat old kitty Queen PuffyFluff, who spends her days sleeping in her food dish mostly.  I also had Moose, but he is my son's dog.  I love him, he's  my sweet booboo, but he's not my spirit animal.  So I went in search of an animal partner.  So I meandered, and saw many sad faces through the bars.  No one really stood out to me, so I wandered back to the front and asked who had been there the longest.  My local shelter is a city run kill shelter, so pretty much as they run out of room, they have to euthanize whichever animals have been there the longest.  I was directed to Jellybean.  The Nice Shelter Lady was very excited to have someone looking at him.  I used to think that black cats were less likely to be adopted, so that is what I was looking for.  I wanted to take someone home that just needed a chance.  The nice shelter lady got him out of his cage for me, he was asleep.  I got blinking, bleary yellow eyes, a big yawn, and an irritated look.  Wonderful, he wakes up like I do.  I held him in my arms, he was so small and soft.  At (they think) a year old, he was only 8 pounds.  He looked up at me, and I felt my heart melt.  Then he bit my ear.  Poor NSL, she did a sharp intake of breath and I saw it on her face, He's never going to get adopted now!  But I laughed and kept petting him.  He's been my cuddly jerk cat from that day, and I love him dearly.  Best Valentine's day gift to myself ever!  He is demanding, sweet, and knocks things on to the floor when he doesn't get what he wants.  He won't stay off my kitchen table, eats the dog's food, and makes constant messes.  Sweet kitty, what would I do without you?

Have you ever gotten a pet for yourself/your child/ren for a holiday?