Salvador, Dolly, Pandora and Pip

Padre will be turning 65 in a couple of days. I don't know of too much that I've inherited from my father in a physical sense, other than ghost-white skin that peels like the outer layer of an onion every time it sees ten minutes of sunshine. And good fingernail beds. Padre and I both have really good fingernail beds. Padre always sternly reminds me to stop chewing on my fingernails. I think it grosses him out. But he cuts his fingernails with a box cutting razor. That makes me probably equally as squeamish because he is only one sneeze away from the nickname Thumbs Only Ronald.

Everybody has their habits, though. Nobody licks the outside of the jelly or anything... That would be gross. Nope. Nobody does that. Especially not me. But if somebody did lick the outside of the jelly, it would be completely understandable. Jelly wasting is the truly disgusting act in that scenario.

One very important nonphysical trait I did inherit from Padre though is his love of animals. He has always been my encyclopedia to wildlife. “I saw this big, fat thing with an orange face, a mop top and flippers run across the road! What was it?” Padre always knows. He has a degree in zoology.

These days Padre finds more than enough fuzzy companionship with our one old pooch, Oreo. But over the years, he's been the “food man” to iguanas, tarantulas, hermit crabs, horned toads, a multitude of fish, cats, dogs, a gray squirrel named Buckles, frogs, turtles, and his own wild and unruly offspring. Maybe more. Rats? Snakes? Who knows. I know he passed on a three-foot alligator that was offered to him a few years ago... “I did that for your mother. Plus the little guy probably wouldn't be too happy in the bathtub all the time and we'd never get him back if we put him in the lake.”

My personal pet list is not as impressive since a lot of the pets on Padre's list were family pets that I, too, loved. Especially Oreo and Bandit, the adorable pooches of my life so far. But since I've been on my own, I've had sea monkeys, a red squirrel named Buckles II (not quite as easy to domesticate a red squirrel as one would think... I did not succeed... But he still counts), a dozen individually-named earth worms (I dabbled briefly in composting my own garbage... until I accidentally killed my earthworms and developed a terrible fear of raccoons.) and last, but certainly not least, Leo the Siamese-obese kitty. He is on a diet. Brian insists he's just fluffy. Leo is the the awesomest.

Oh yeah... And right now I have a bathtub full of kittens! There's Pip, Pandora, Salvador and Dolly. (Get it? Salvador Dahli? I got to name them... Can you tell?). And the momma cat. I am taking care of them for one of my boyfriend Brian's friends who didn't get the concept that if ya let your non-spayed cat roam around town, the best case scenario is a preggo cat. Which is what happened. Long story short, the cat owner needed to move into a different apartment in a hurry—an apartment that didn't allow any cats, let alone a cat with four adorable kittens. So... Trish with a bathtub full of cats for the next three months until the owner's lease is up on the new apartment and a cat-friendly apartment can be found! Don't tell my landlord though... He wasn't pleased that Leo was in the picture, let alone five other cats... four of which who are new to the concept of pooping in a box and not behind the bookshelf. Or in my shoes.

The kittens are still nursing right now, but after that, they will be given to people I deem suitable cat owners. No, Mom and Padre, this doesn't mean I am keeping all of the kittens. In fact, I think I have homes for all of the kittens if the prospects pan out. I still need to check the CCAPS website to make sure nobody was arrested for, you know, criminal acts to cats.

Speaking of owners... After deciding Leo might be chubby because he doesn't have a companion to play with, Brian and I decided to take the next step in our relationship. Marriage? Nah. Kitten? Okay! It makes perfect sense to me to celebrate the birthday of the man who taught me to love animals by adopting Pandora. And also eating cake. Happy Birthday Padre. I hope your birthday is warm and fuzzy. I love you.