My Zoo

In my circle of friends & family, there are pets named Tiger (after Tiger Woods from someone who loves golf), Beemer (the car of course), Max (just a cool, short name for a cool, short dog), Bogey (another golf lover), Bruno (just a tough name for a tough dog), Harley (the motorcycle of course), Honey (the color of the pet), Bados (for their favorite vacation spot, Barbados). The list goes on. Those names make sense.

I have to frequently explain why I have a cat named after a fish. Here are the stories on my pets' names as if you need more proof on how not normal we are.

In our house we have a fish named Manhattan. Oldest Daughter named her fish that because she wants to live there one day. Not bad, right? Wait for it...'cause you know that's not the end of the story...And because it's an alcoholic drink. Her other fish? Sunrise for Tequila Sunrise. I'm not sure if I should laugh or worry that she's naming her fish after booze. She's 15.

Still, those aren't odd names. They're cute. Just wait, it gets better.

One day, about 3 years ago, #3 came home from Granny's with a small bundle wrapped in a towel and the cutest little, "Can we keep it, Mommy?" Along with a sad story of how Mama Cat had slowly killed off 5 of her 6 kittens over the last 2 days and "we can't let this baby die too, Mommy!" Insert puppy dog face.

That's how we got a 3 week old kitten. #3 named it after her best friend at the time, Sophie. A very normal, pretty name. For a very not normal cat.

This is Sophie drinking out of the bathroom faucet.

Now onto other pets #3 has named. A black barn cat named Tootsie Roll Flower Pickles. A hamster named Macaroni Mouse Pickles.

In 2002 I had a miscarriage & was very upset. I adopted a kitten to be my baby to help me through that rough time. #3 was 2 at the time & was obsessed with a certain movie. She named my 6 week old kitten Nemo.

This is Nemo being bashful. "I'm having such a bad whisker day and I'm retaining water, please don't take my picture." 

My beautiful princess cat is named after a naughty, run-away fish.

In 2008, all #4 wanted for Christmas was a dog. A "pink poodle dog" to be exact. She was 5 & obviously didn't understand the great lengths a Mother will go to to find her child what she's dreaming of. Someone got her a stuffed pink poodle, which is great, but do you know that pink poodles do not exist naturally? I got her a Yorkie Poo, a pink hair bow, & said, "Put 'em together to get your pink dog." She was thrilled & that dog is her baby. He came with the name Zipper. #4 renamed him Zipper Zoro ZZ Top Pickles. The ZZ Top is because he had a long beard when we got him. Please don't ask how a 5 year old knows who ZZ Top is.

This is Zipper rockin' some pink hair & blue hair pretties. He's gender confused. We don't judge in this house, we accept & love him for who he is.

In August the hubs & I decided we needed another cat. 'Cause we're crazy cat people. And 'cause we have a combined household & wanted something that is "ours." And something that isn't a small human 'cause we have enough of those.

We adopted a kitten that I swear has OCD, ADD, is a neat freak (don't you dare leave something where it doesn't belong, he'll drag it to your bed), lives to eat, and is very smart & very naughty. It's like God took our genes & made a feline version of the 2 of us. Then God threw in a foot fetish that did not come from us. The cat is obsessed with toes & especially feet just out of the shower. He says they're yummy.

How would we get the name for our pet? I'm married to a computer geek. I don't mean that like "oh, my man likes to putz with computers." He's a computer programmer & loves computers so much that the 25 degrees in them that he already has aren't enough. He's back in school for yet another degree. The man is obsessed with anything IBM.

This machine is called IBM Watson. The hubby man loves IBM Watson & he has told me why, but honestly, just because his mouth is moving doesn't mean I hear what he's saying. I know it's bigger than my bedroom & "very smart." I don't get it, aren't all computer very smart? Why would I want something bigger than my laptop?

This is Watson G the morning he made me scream when I opened the dresser drawers. The G is not short for anything, he has a letter for his middle name. 

And just 'cause this is a cute picture...Here's Watson G & Zipper Zoro ZZ Top Pickles enjoying the breeze through the back door.

They're BFFs. Zipper is not only gender confused, he's also species confused, "I have a fluffy ball for a tail, I must be a rabbit. I'm the size of Fat Cat, I must be a cat." They do everything together.