When we were in Kittery, Maine, I bought some flip flops at the Kittery Trading Post. Due to my pregnancy, my feet were very swollen and would not fit into my shoes. When we came home, Pinball attached herself to them. She laid on them for hours as well as rubbed her face all over them. We still occasionally find her all over them. I can see liking a smell like leather that much, but not my stinky foot smell!

On Friday morning I realized that I hadn’t heard any noise from him today. I took a look in his cage and was calling to him, “Waffles! Waffles!” He’d usually stir pretty quickly and poke his head out from somewhere under the bedding, where he often slept. I saw him laying in the little TV toy in his cage, which isn’t unusual — he likes it there, too. I also noticed that he was laying on his back, which also isn’t usual. But as I called to him, he didn’t move; even after tapping the cage there was no reaction. Yep, he was dead.

As posted previously, we brought home another cat, Mikey, last summer. Mikey doesn't have a problem with Pinball, but Pinball still seems to have a problem with Mikey... at least when she wants to. There have been a few times when they are seen near each other and everything is okay. But, after a few seconds, Pinball thinks about it and then flips out. Ugh... will they EVER be able to live together in peace? Because of Pinball's reactions, I don't think that I'll ever be able to get a dog before she's gone!

I could see some movement, but it was dark so I wasn't sure. Could that really be Goober the Hamster? Maybe it's a mouse or something. I finally sat up and carefully reached to touch the thing on our bed--I didn't want to be bit--and it was indeed Goober. How did she get here? I don't think she was running in her ball last night, so we didn't forget to put her back in the cage. Had she really gotten out? And had she really made it all the way to our bed?

Pinball always wants to be the center of attention. This picture was taken over a year ago when I was taking Anatomy and Physiology at Tunxis, but on a regular basis Pinball must stand on a textbook I'm reading, sleep right up against me when I'm using the laptop on the couch, and be involved with art projects like posters. I was reminded of this picture this morning when Pinball plopped down on a pile of magazines and looked at me as if to say, "Pet me you silly woman!" She is such a ham. Do you have a cat like this?

When we first started playing with the laser pointer for her, she was downright scared by it. She would shake and jump and eventually scamper off whenever it would touch her. I think she realized that she could see this thing, but never actually touch or feel it.

Anyway, here's a short video of Pinball chasing the laser pointer around: Pinball and the Laser Pointer. It's a 44-second MPEG-1 file.

Pinball is just over two years old now. She's not as wild and crazy as she used to be, but she still lives up to her name. Of course lately she has been most active about four in the morning when we want to sleep. She doesn't seem to appreciate it when I try to share the same exuberance when she is sleeping.

Anyway, I don't think that I usually photgraph well, but I like this picture Dan took of us.

For the past few weeks, Pinball has been sleeping in the office chair a lot.

We always tell her to move or we'll sit on her, but it doesn't do any good--we sit on her and she's still content to stay asleep! In fact, it's often a battle to be the first into the chair. For example, if I'm sitting in the chair doing something and stand for a moment, she'll often jump into the chair and lay down quick!

I was getting the photos off of Sherree's digital camera and saw a number of photos of Pinball, including this one of her tangled up in some ribbon!

She still gets in as much trouble as the day we brought her home.

• Pinball playing with a straw, 2.4 MB and 28 seconds.
• Pinball gets excited about the laser printer, 2.0 MB and 28 seconds.

The surprise isn't that she has a diary, it's that she can write at all!