I'm a sucker for fur and claws

Another Monday, another start to another blah week at the office. The weekends always go by way too fast. Saturday morning I realized I have gained back about 15 pounds of the weight I've lost in the past year. Gee, I wonder if eating Dairy Queen 3 times a week had anything to do with it?? Three 30-minute walks per week apparently aren't enough to combat frequent consumption of Blizzards. So anyway, I have officially re-committed to the get-fit effort. Kind of sucks that I worked so hard only to re-plump just in time for bathing suit season. I have 4 months to take it off again, shouldn't be too terribly hard if I can stay away from the candy jar 3 cubes down and keep J from tempting me with late night ice-cream runs. I tried Cold Stone Creamery for the first time this weekend (a last hurrah before the recommittal??) so that should tide me over for a while, right? It better: a medium (sorry--"Love It"-- in Cold Stone parlance) size is *17* points (that's Weight Watcher speak if you didn't already know). I am only supposed to have like 24 points in an entire day, so needless to say I will be staying away from CSC as well.

This morning I dropped one of my guinea pigs, Hank, off at the vet. He is being briefly anesthetized to remove a weird cyst-like thing on his ear. This should set me back about $150. I am officially nuts. But I did adopt the little guy and promise to give him the best of care, so I suppose I am obligated not to allow the ear cyst to expand to kiwi-size and possibly rupture and cause a deadly infection, right? Combined with the thousands spent on the cats in the last couple of years, I've sent some vets on some nice vacations, I think.

But I could not live my life without animals around. Dogs are OK--good for taking camping and for a jog and to help you feel safe at night when your significant other is away and you hear a strange noise in the house. Cats are smarter and pickier about sharing their affection with you, which is why I think I appreciate cat affection way more than dog affection. Dogs have a basic need to slobber at your side at all times. Cats act as if they could do without you--and they probably could--so that when they do come up and cuddle, it's because they chose to, not because they have no other modus operandus, making the experience just a little more special. Yell at a dog, and they just beg to be forgiven so they can sit at your side again. Piss off a cat, and you'll be begging it to forgo the cold shoulder and forgive you for having mistreated it. I've cared for a variety of rodents in my day: hamsters, rats, and now, guinea pigs. I'll admit that I enjoy them more from a biologists' point of view--I really just ilke to observe their behavior. This has been especially true of the pigs--they are amazing social creatures that have a complex system of vocal communication that humans, as far as I can tell, have only figured out on the most basic level. Plus, they have cute little furry butts that they waggle back and forth as part of a dominance display.

I'm currently awaiting delivery of two tadpoles (part of an Uncle Milton--yes, of ant farm fame--kit I was given last Christmas by J), which will bring the animal-to-human ratio in our house to 4:1. If I ever have a farm, watch out...