One Part Inspiration...

 M.A.D.D.:  Mothers. Against.  Dumb. Dogs. Maybe he was bored.    Perhaps he was lonely. Could have been hungry. Or Maybe He was just being himself. But really??? My     Christmas-gift-from-my-sister sweater? That I'd only worn ONCE? I was so M.A.D.D. I put him outside and told him I hoped he never came back. [But he did. .....Although he knew he was in still in trouble when I let him back in.] By the next day, he'd forgotten what he'd done,  but he could tell I was still M.A.D.D. He was very quiet for two straight days. And when the 3-day windstorm hit us on the weekend, and the garbage bags got thrown all over the lawn, he didn't get into them, like he usually does. So I thought he might have learned his lesson. Until this afternoon when I found a wool sock on his mat. M.A.D.D. (Mothers. Against. Deconstructing. Dogs.)

One day in November, at our weekly Pancake Breakfast, I said "I want a kitten for Christmas".  It just seemed the right time to get a kitten.  We no longer had the care of Cheer Bear, who was my daughter's cat. We are no longer responsible for little kids.  In fact, we actually enjoy the 'long winter's evenings', but it can be quite quiet.  And it's been a long time since we had any cats.  Our best cat was Burger, who was what I called a "man's cat".  He didn't like to cuddle but he would come and sit with you on his own terms.  He had a crooked tail, which he would swish at you when you got after him for getting into something he shouldn't be in.  He was incredibly smart, and fast and caught many a mouse for us.  My husband, upon hearing a mouse, would go get Burger and put him in the offending cupboard, and within several seconds, Burger would catch the mouse and dispose of it quite happily for us. Burger also liked to watch me ...