Crazy Cat Lady?

I am starting to embrace the fact that I might be one of those crazy pet owners. You know, the kind who talks to their animals, gives them kisses and believes that their pets truly are the cream of the crop. (Well, Olivia anyway.) I have only recently come to this conclusion while I was at work a few weeks ago. There is another woman who has cats and I often ask her advice on things cat-related and we swap "cute, cat tales." One afternoon, during our lunch break, I made the mistake of divulging too much information about my love for cats. While my feline fan did not think it was strange, a few of my other friends did and though they may have tried to hide their countenance, I saw the looks on their faces . . . they thought I was nuts. This made me totally self-conscience and made me reevaluate my pet stance. Maybe I am nuts. But my question to you is, would I have gotten those same looks had I been talking about a dog? I would venture to say no.

I am certainly not going to start the debate about which animal is better, cats or dogs. I think that question is completely irrelevant considering it is solely based on an objective point of view, but I do wonder why cats had such a bad wrap. Take our cat Olivia for instance. **Side Note: I will not be using our other cat Molly in my pro-cat argument because she still has lots of annoying kitten tendencies and sometimes she drives me crazy. I will use her when I need to prove a point. Is this skewing information? Yes, but it's my blog and I can do what I wanna.** Olivia is almost like a small dog. She greets us at the door, follows us around the house, sleeps with us and generally likes to be in the same room as us. As an added bonus, she goes to the bathroom in her litter box whenever she needs to, allowing us to continue our day, uninterrupted by potty breaks. Another pro is her litter box, meaning we don't need to worry about minefields in the back yard. Yes, Troy does clean the litter box (we made a deal that he takes care of animal poop and I take care of small human poop. It's awesome because we each feel like we are getting the better end of the deal), but at least he doesn't need to go out with the pooper-scooper every day to collect the waste.

So, what is it that makes dog owners feel superior to cat owners? There is definitely a stigma. Why is it weird that I care for my cats when the next person who is a dog owner is not found strange for having the same feelings towards their pet? Cats need loving homes just like dogs do and in many ways, if you know that you can't stand up to the responsibilities that owning a dog entails, cats are a much better option. I know that I personally don't want to wake up early before work to take a dog on a walk so it can do its business. I also know that I don't want to have to try and find a dog-sitter when I want to go out of town. I don't want a dog waking me up or scratching at the door when it needs to go outside. Grooming and vet bills can be expensive and what if my dog gets fleas or ticks and brings those along with his muddy paws into my house! And until I am ready to handle those responsibilities or if Troy is dying to do them, we will be content with our cats. But people seem to overlook these responsible checklists that cat owners make.

Now, I am not that crazy of a cat owner, despite what some of my colleagues may think. I do understand why people pour so much money into their animals and I also understand how it is possible to love an animal so much. I didn't always use to be like this. When I was growing up, we couldn't have any pets. Let me rephrase that, we couldn't have any fun pets, namely a cat or a dog. We had lame pets: fish, birds and gerbils. One time I did get a tadpole to take home after we studied them in my second grade science unit, but it never reached adulthood. And another time my sister and I had two rabbits, but we had to get rid of them after two days because my dad was allergic. Because we didn't have any pets that were "fun," I never understood people who would come to school sad about their sick or dying cats and dogs. To me it just seemed like that was the circle of life. I didn't know how you could get attached to an animal. Maybe that's the problem with the people I ate lunch with. Maybe they never had the chance to get attached to a pet. That's really not all that strange considering, I never knew that until I was 25!

Anywho, the point of this blog is not to rip on dog owners. Someday, Troy and I will have dogs too, but I am just trying to make a case for all those cute kitties out there. So, I am here to say, yes, I love my cats. They make excellent snugglers, they do funny things like make themselves cozy in the washing machine or hide under rugs, they are easy to take care of and all they want is a little love.

More Awesome Things Thought by Pam

Due to the intense popularity of the Awesome Things Thought by Pam, I have thought of a few more awesome things that you might also think are awesome. Therefore I have taken the time to type them out for your reading enjoyment. You're welcome.

1. Random, Perfect-Aim, Back Scratches. Have you ever sat next to a friend, your grandma or your mom and you feel that little twinge on the part of your back that is impossible to scratch? You know what's coming. It is going to get super itchy, really quick. Just when you are about to make the move to attempt to scratch it, the person next to reaches to scratch your back - in the exact spot you were attempting to aim! That's the best. My grandma is notorious for that. She is a really good back scratcher and she always seems to find that spot before I get to it, which is awesome. My friend Brooke is pretty notable for that too, although I have never told her so. I should probably do that.

2. Perforated Edges. Ticket stubs, legal pads, and check books have these fabulous, helpful edges. There is something really satisfying about ripping a piece of paper, in a perfect line due to the aid of those little holes punched in a row for your convenience. I have a really hard time not ripping paper with perforated edges, especially tickets. I remember going to sporting events before those fancy scanners were used. The service personal would rip the ticket but I always wanted to rip my own ticket. Those perforated edges have a spell on me. Not ripping a perforated edge is like not popping bubble wrap - impossible.

3. Humming Refrigerators. You are sitting at home after returning from work. You are too tired to turn on the TV. You plop down on the couch and let your brain unwind. After a few minutes, you realize that your house has a gentile humming that seems to be coming from the kitchen. It is the refrigerator. There is something calming about that hum. It's almost like a little lullaby that your appliance sings for you. I love that sound. I definitely associate that sound with being home and being cozy, therefore . . . awesomeness.

4. Coffee with Desert. I absolutely love fancy dinners. Whether it is a wedding, a rehearsal, a Christmas party, or a nice restaurant, I heart them all. I love enjoying a glass of wine or champagne. I love the appetizers and I love the main course but my favorite part is the desert. Not because I am a "sweets" person. To be honest, I prefer the appetizer because it is usually something salty and it means you still have the whole meal left to enjoy. I love the desert part because I always get coffee. I love having coffee with desert after a delicious meal. It almost feels like time slows down a little bit . . . but not too long because if I am sharing a desert with Troy, I need to eat quick!

5. Dry Underwear. Maybe you got caught in a rainstorm, or maybe you have been riding all the water rides at Great America, either way, you're soaked right down to your skivvies. You have to endure the ride home and after slipping out of your sloshed shoes, you take a nice hot shower, put on dry underwear and realize there is no greater feeling at that moment than dry fabric on your rump. You know what I'm talking about and it is glorious.

6. Greeting with a Kiss. Now, I know that I have stated before that I am not a touchy feely person, so this awesome thing does not apply to everyone. My apologies. But, we have a few friends who are consistent with their kiss greetings. Every time we see them, they hug both Troy and I, but give me a kiss on the cheek. I love it! It is very genuine and not at all creepy. It feels like we are in Italy and who wouldn't love that?

7. Loafers and Tassels. I love these. My grandpa used to wear these shoes a lot. You know the ones; the leather slip-on loafers with the two tassels on the top. They are great. They even make them for little boys. If I ever have boys, I am buying them and making my boys wear the tasseled loafers all the time. I secretly hope Troy will wear them some day.

8. Dogs Hanging out the Window. There have been days when I am feeling grouchy and I am on my way home from work or out running an errand. I have this gray cloud over my head, threatening to pour rain down right on my head. Then I see a dog with its head out the window, ears flapping in the breeze and just loving life. It makes me smile every time, even when I am in a rotten funk. I love how happy those dogs look with their big noggins hanging as far out the front window as possible.

9. Garlic/Onion Hands. My mom has a small silver soap bar. It's not real soap, but you are supposed to run water over your hands while rubbing this silver soap as though you were lathering up. Somehow it gets rid of the smell of onions or garlic on your hands. My mom swears by it. I do not own one of these because I love the smell of onions and garlic on my hands. I love how it stays there for two or three days, and sometimes, I purposely smell my hands during the day just to get a whiff. It smells like a good, home-cooked meal. How could you not love that?

10. Shoe Sounds. There are four specific noises that shoes make that I love. The first one is dress shoes on a tile floor. I love to wear my high heels and hear the click-clack sound on the tile. It makes me feel like a grown up. The second shoe sound I love is the squeaking noise that gym shoes make on the gym floor at a basketball game. Sometimes, I don't even listen to the announcer. I just listen to the squeaking. The third shoe sound I love it similar to the first: it is the sound of baseball cleats on the cement. I think it is for the same reason; I like the click-clack sound. They sound kind of like dress shoes. Finally, I love the sound of walking on gravel or leaves. There really isn't a reason, I just like it.

There you have it folks. More awesome things thought by me. I hope that you can identify with a few of them, and if you can't, I don't really care because the title of this blog is "Awesome Things Thought by Pam" not "Awesome Things Thought by (insert your name here)".