@LBB says YES WE DID!: I think if it's YouTube you just put the video's URL into your comment and it embeds automatically. To double-check, just check the "preview comment" box below where you type your comment in, and you'll know if it works before you hit Submit.
That was nearly my avatar for a while, but then I didn't want people to get worried and think I was actually Khrushchev. But you know what? Now that I think about it, I'm-a gonna go for it.
I'm going to dinner tonight, but the New Year will be rung in on my couch, sans kiss, because the fiancee is quite ill. I hope you kids are here so I don't have to drink alone!
My grandma just turned 80 and she looks 60. She runs around the farm, chases the dog, gardens, paints, grouts, tiles, drives very fast and defensively on the interstate, wears Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren, and she has the most beautiful skin that any human has ever had. She smoked and drank as a young adult, and she's been living on a hearty Midwestern diet of beef and bread for the last 60 years, ever since she moved from Canada.
I want to be her.
I also look just like she did when she was my age, which means that I hope I got her genetics.
This is my kitty, the second picture being after she got into the crawl-space under my house during renovations. Her name is Clicquot (like the champagne), and she's 10 years old, not the brightest, but super sweet and a bit on the chubby side. She loves to chase balls of paper receipts around and will occasionally even fetch.
@formergr: Awww...she's adorable. I had two torties, but both passed away at young ages (we think our nasty neighbor poisoned them). We now have two orange tabbies (brothers) that are strictly indoor skittens!!!!
@JazzednJersey: Yuck on your neighbors!! Were your torties male, though, by any chance? I've heard that the same genetic anomaly that makes the tortoise fur pattern also causes a lot of other health problems in male cats (since it's carried on the X chromosome, and males only have one), but the females are fine. I adopted my girl from a shelter and only noticed her because she was in a cage with a very loud brother. I couldn't take both since I only had a studio at the time, and felt a bit guilty. After hearing about the health thing though (if it is true), I do wonder what would have happened if I had taken him too.
@formergr: No, they were little girls. Sweetest cats I've ever had. The reason we think "Bea" was poisoned is because she was fine one day, and just found her dead the next (she was only 3 yrs.) We adopted Georgia a while after that, and she got really sick (severe diahrea, etc.) and the vet couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, so we eventually had to euthanize her to end her suffering. I just couldn't get another tortie, so now I have two crazy Orange boys who think that they are dogs, lol. They fetch, do tricks like sit and roll over, and come when they are called by name. I feel bad that they don't go outside, but it is for their own safety. Litterboxes are gross, and I have even spent lots of $$$ for the self-cleaning one but didn't work well. Oh well, the boys are worth the daily scooping.
@JazzednJersey: Ugh, I hope your neighbors rot in hell. Your new boys sound adorable, and don't worry about the indoor thing-- as long as you keep them stimulated (which it definitely sounds like) they'll do great and have long, happy lives.
It's not cheap, and it's not at *all* environmentally friendly (has disposable cartridges, though I've taken to refilling them myself so that I can at least re-use them). But it gives you a good 3-4 weeks (less if you have two cats) where you don't have to touch the box and it doesn't smell.
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+ Watch video
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@Crabby Cakes wants some Dance Biscuits.: You know, a girl whose arms turn into giant crab claws when she gets angry would be a terrific comic book character.
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But I DO have an ornery stuffed Hermit Crab named Herman T. Krab:
(I have no idea if this will work)
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That was nearly my avatar for a while, but then I didn't want people to get worried and think I was actually Khrushchev. But you know what? Now that I think about it, I'm-a gonna go for it.
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FOR KHRUSHCHEV. I HAZ A SHOE.
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I want to be her.
I also look just like she did when she was my age, which means that I hope I got her genetics.
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(I too have no kittens... and no puppies either, but I have TONS of homeless people - I'll post pictures later)
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2009 FTW!!!
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As for auto-litterboxes, have you tried this one?

[www.scoopfree.com]
It's not cheap, and it's not at *all* environmentally friendly (has disposable cartridges, though I've taken to refilling them myself so that I can at least re-use them). But it gives you a good 3-4 weeks (less if you have two cats) where you don't have to touch the box and it doesn't smell.
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