Vacuum-sealed for your convenience!!!!

Grr. Some days I wish I had a valid reason to get rid of Storm, really I do. He's getting to be more trouble than he's worth -- and I love cats.

Karla is our fat tabby, with not a whole lot in the way of personality. But she comes up to me and wants lovin', she purrs almost on demand, and she generally just stays out of trouble.

If only I had it that easy with Storm...

Storm is my neutered male cat (all of our animals are now sterile) who apparently didn't get the memo that neutered males are supposed to be a lot easier to deal with. I had him neutered as soon as possible when he was a kitten because I was afraid he'd begin to mark his territory in the apartment, and we lost enough of our security deposit as it is.

Those apartment people just FIND stuff to charge against your security deposit!

Storm has always gotten angry at plastic bags. Michele tends to send me stuff sealed in plastic bags to prevent making a mess if the item inside breaks. Usually it's makeup or a sample product of hair care. Storm doesn't care; he hates bags. If I forget to take the item out of the bag, I will find a destroyed bag somewhere in the house at some point.

When Michele was visiting me a couple of years ago, she didn't realize that you have to put the bread back into the fridge. She left it out on the counter, and we went on our merry way. When we came home, the bag was under the china closet in the living room with several slices out of the bag and chewed into. He didn't finish any of the slices of bread he tasted; I suppose he didn't like good-for-you bread.

Since the baby's been born, he's enjoyed taking her shoes or her socks and strewing them around the house. I will generally find a shoe or a pair of socks under something or even out in the open, covered in dirt and dust. I have no idea how they get so dirty!

Recently Storm's been taking the socks I or Kurt leave out on our dresser. Kurt likes to set his clothes out for the day ahead because he usually gets dressed in the dark. Storm will take his balled-up socks into the living room, and I guess pretend that they are a mouse because he begins to make this loud crying noise at the socks. He's been doing this for a couple of weeks now, waking me up in the wee hours of the morning.

And speaking of the wee hours... this morning at 4:45am, Kurt and I were blissfully asleep (Kurt is in school and therefore can take the 6:30am ferry each morning) when a loud crash startled us out of our dreams. Storm had gotten up on my dresser and knocked a considerable amount of stuff off it, including my wooden jewelry box that Caroline gave me (thanks, Caroline!) which I use to store my everyday jewelry. My wedding ring, engagement ring, class ring, earrings, and my new necklace that Michele gave me for my birthday (thanks, Michele!) went flying. Fortunately I found most of it, and Kurt managed to find my rose gold hoop earring (Christmas present from Michele) way out in the hall by the laundry area.

At that point, had anyone been awake that early in the morning, they would be the proud owners of a new cat.

When I crawled back into bed after cleaning up Storm's mess, I took off the socks I'd put on before bed. And wouldn't you know it -- this morning when I got up to get a bottle for Grace, I found one of my socks in the kitchen. At least he hadn't been crying over it.

Anyone want a cat?!