Almost every family has pets, and mine has been no exception. I was offered a calico kitten while still living in Campus Housing. We weren't really supposed to have cats, but Storm came to live with us, anyway. She lived with us all through Campus Housing, and made the move with us when we left. She made it for about 14 years, despite being a feral kitten that never got over being afraid of everything, including dust bunnies.

Also in student housing, we were given a hand-fed cockatiel, about a year old, who had been neglected for quite awhile. I knew nothing about birds, and had never had one. What my children knew had come from their step-sister. Needless to say, poor Spenser the Cockatiel got over his hand feeding rather quickly, and then decided he'd be very wild by the time we moved.We moved while I was reading for PhD exams, and very stressed out. Xander was the little orange kitten that came into our lives to cuddle on my lap while I was reading. He now weighs about seventeen pounds! My husband jokingly says that Xander ate the cute little orange kitten. And then there's JayJay. We were asked to dog-sit a Chinese Crested of the fluffy variety, rather than the bald variety, shortly after I passed my exams. His name was Seimei, and he was afraid of linoleum. He spent most of his time firmly cringing on my lap, and refusing to be displaced because he was so frightened of everyone and everything else. One day, he just disappeared from the back yard. My husband believes he was stolen. Unfortunately, the silly little thing had wormed his way into my heart. So when my husband saw a sign up the street that said someone was parting with a pomeranian, he called the number, and JayJay came into our lives.

JayJay is quite definitely nothing like Seimei was, but he's an endearing little booger, too. I can't take him as many places as I could Seimei, since JayJay thinks he's big enough to take down any dog he encounters, but he's still awfully sweet to come home to. Then finally there's this sweet little face. She peered out at me from a cage in a pet store. I don't normally buy animals in pet stores, but this face wouldn't let me leave her there. I just didn't know it was because she's terminally stupid. We've all decided that Blaze's learning curve is flat.