Kittens...Yay?

We got new kittens this weekend.  Let me start by saying this.  In a world where there seem to be either dog people or cat people, I'm a dog person.  I don't mind cats, but I definitely prefer dogs.  I had resisted the pleas of my family to get a cat for years now.  Last Friday night my younger son (who is a freshman in high school) brought me his laptop to excitedly show me the kittens on our local animal shelter's website. "Aren't they cuuuuute dad?!?!?  Can we please get one?  You can count it as an early birthday present and you don't have to get me anything else."

For who knows what reason I agreed to go in the morning to look at them.  I guess I knew on some level that there was no way I was leaving there without a kitten unless by some chance they were already all adopted before we got there.  The twist to the story is that my wife decided she wanted one of her own too and told me it could be her Mother's Day gift.  Since I never know what to get her for Mother's Day and my defenses were already weakened I gave in.  Here is a shot of the little furry ones on their way home from the shelter:

They are pretty frigging cute, but they're already pissing me off with their insatiable curiosity and relentless desire to chew on my laptop cord.  It's their one desire that cannot be quenched and I'm running out of items to throw at them to make them stop (remote controls, pens, magazines, empty plastic soda bottles, cat toys, balled up napkins, throw pillows, etc.).  I think I'm going to go the way of the spray bottle and see how that works.  I'll just have to have good aim since it would probably be a bad idea to spray the electrical outlet where the laptop is plugged in.

My dog is pretty much indifferent to the cats.  She seems annoyed, but otherwise disinterested.  The tabby cat is oblivious to the dog's presence.  It's honestly like she's invisible to that cat.  The black one, on the other hand, hates the dog with the passion of a thousand burning suns.  She growls, moans, hisses, and spits at the dog if it comes within about 10 feet of her.  This seems to startle and amuse the dog, but so far no damage has been done.  We keep them separate, but are allowing them to peacefully coexist at this point.  I'm hopeful the cat will eventually realize the dog is no threat and chill the hell out.

Wish me luck.  I'll need it until the little buggers grow up and stop being so annoying.

Note: I think I'll post some poker stories tonight.  I haven't played any interesting sessions lately, but I have some fun stories to recount from past trips to Vegas and play at my local casino that might be worth sharing.