OK... we changed her name to Emmy Lew

It's all good. Irene just wasn't rolling off the tongue. Here, she helped make the McAndre baby pillow. Do you all know that Lynn & Scott are due in July? Well... now you do. We can't wait to meet the little man. And yes... it's a dude.

Paradoxically, Emmy is in a vetrinary cage tonight slated for spaying in the AM. We're doing our duty -- but hope she will emerge, both unreproducable and without too much resulting trauma. Brent said that when he put her in the car and started down the driveway to the vet, she freaked with vertigo briefly and then, made the cool kitty choice, collapsing in his lap for the rest of the ride. She rocks, of course.

So... say goodbye to Emmy Lew's uterus. Can we have a moment with that? OK. It's over.

Meanwhile, B-Rent, Buggy, John Duncan and GR Anderson are on the river --- as the thunder rolls and the rain falls. This storm was supposed to blow over. All we can do now is imagine their Man Camp plight. I've been drinking coffee and making lists while they get wet -- a bad combo for sleep. Still, I'm off to bed hoping The Sandman will tip me over. I have to work tomorrow.

Hope everyone is dreaming.

BABY ANNOUNCEMENT! WELCOME IRENE ...

It was a Friday night around 11PM and we heard meowing on our front stoop. Bob & Vickie and the kids were over. And there she was looking for a home. Possibly dropped off by somebody or she was dropped from the sky from points unknown, she was hungry and affectionate and not afraid of the dogs too much (we kept them inside the screen door). She flipped over and let us pet her and wrangle her around and touch her paws and all that good stuff.

So, the next day, we eventually decided to keep her because she was just too darn cute and too personable to say no. Hannah, who's allergic to kitties, approved as well. So, then we went through all sorts of name options - Karen, Iris, Fran, Astrid, June - and eventually wound up with Irene. She's a good Kitty so far. Wendy and Hannah got her some kitty food and some cat litter. We're keeping her in our basement room to help assimilate with the hounds. So far, we've had them all close to her and we're trying to spread her scent around the house (you know, rubbing her on the walls and stuff like that). Romeo and Irene had a nose to nose moment, with Romeo on the choke chain. He was scared. There was a little barking, but the choke collar took care of that. I think they'll learn to hang pretty quick. We're thinking it might take a week or so, but the set-up is pretty good. So, now we have three boy dogs and one little girl kitty who likes to be wrangled with. We'll keep you posted. Welcome Irene!