What's Cuter than a Kitten?

What's cuter than a kitten? How about five????

My friend Joyce is fostering a stray mom cat who gave birth to a litter of 5 kittens. They're 3 1/2 weeks old now and absolutely adorable, just starting to totter around on wobbly legs. I'm going to be bringing the gray and white one home in 4 weeks, when she's old enough. Meet Gracie, the latest addition to our family!

This is probably the worst time imaginable to be taking in a kitten; there are numerous expenses associated with a new pet- shots, neutering and checkups. We're also going to visit J's family for Thanksgiving, which, by my estimation will probably be just a week after we bring Gracie home. I hate the thought of her being alone for 4 days so soon after moving in with us, but hopefully she won't be too traumatized by it.

I realize that this is pretty cliche.... only child goes off to college and empty-nester mom adopts a new kitten. Well, so what if it is a cliche? Is it anything to be ashamed of? Its true I miss Wilson, but I'm not pining away for him or anything... I've had plenty to keep me busy since he left home. And he's been home almost once a week, for goodness sake! The timing seems to make sense: I have more freedom with W not at home, we lost Benji back in March, and Charlotte (bless her heart!) is 17 and I'm not sure how much longer she'll be with us. Plus, I just really like cats.

I'm not sure how Gomer will react to Gracie, I'm hoping that because she's a kitten he'll be a bit curious and not threatened by her. I don't expect them to be buddies like he and Benji were, but hopefully there won't be any fights. Unless Gracie goes up into my bedroom I doubt Charlotte will even know she's here, as she mostly just sleeps her days away in comfort on my bed. She's happy enough and doesn't seem to need to do more than eat, sleep and use the litterbox. Her interest in what goes on in the rest of the house is nil at this point so hopefully Gracie won't be a problem.

So soon we'll be back up to 3 cats, who knows for how long, but I plan to thoroughly enjoy the time I have with them. If only pets lived as long as we do!