Here, kitty kitty

Today we went to our local animal shelter to pick up forms about becoming animal foster parents. Then we thought we'd look at the cats just for kicks, but people may only go in to look if they've filled out adoption paperwork. Since the papers are in no way binding until a pet is chosen, we did that, too!

We started in the kitten room, which was a huge hit with all three of us-- and I'm a dog person! In both pictures the girls are interacting with the inquisitive Pilar. The staffer at the shelter, Jan, requested that Nora stay on my lap to let kitties come to Nora instead of vice versa, so the picture of Nora is, ahem, not so hot. The experience, however, was priceless. There's nothing like being in a roomful of kittens to make a mom feel like she's had it easy all along. Those little furballs capered, pounced, fluffed up, flattened down, and rolled like they just had fresh batteries installed. Fiona and Nora squealed with glee at the combined antics.

After I asked some questions about choosing a good pet for a family, Jan mentioned that the shelter usually suggests older felines for families with younger children. Despite my concerns about furniture marking, we moved on to the adult cat room. There she showed us the available females.

We found a couple we liked. Mollie was laid back and personable, for instance. Fiona was impressed with Bella. But the most amazing thing that happened here is that we met the third Fiona we've ever encountered since our own darling daughter came into this world. We were stunned! Since we didn't think we could top that we headed home for the day, basking in the lowered blood pressure of people who have recently stroked the soft fur of an animal.