Adopting the Attorney General's Cats

Part of our petting zoo includes two adorable kittens who allow themselves to be held like babies.  Yes, you read that right.  These precious animated stuffed animals actually cuddle with us!

For my kids, this is pure joy as they routinely sit outside with the cats on their laps.  Whether the kids are reading, figuring arithmetic, listening to a book on tape (or CD), or continuing a crochet project, those kittens are being loved.

Friendly cats? That's just unusual, you might say. I agree.  But our unusual cats also have an unusual origin.  After my oldest daughter emailed me a staggeringly high number of Craigslist "free cat" ads all summer, one day I told her, "Enough."   Her emails were for free cats from the Eastern Shore, or West Virginia, or towns supposedly in Virginia, but I'd never heard of them.

The day I stopped the emails was a memorable day here in Virginia. On that day in August, we had an earthquake.  But before our house shook, I'd told my daughter at breakfast that since there were 2 cat offers within an hour away, we'd take whichever one was available after the baby's nap.




Upon arriving at the random Craiglist family's home, I noticed their cars had a lot of conservative bumper stickers.  When the mother came out of the house, she introduced herself to me as Mrs. Cuccinelli.  Um....yeah....that means the VA State Attorney General's family gave us their cats.

Amiable like the cats they gave us, the Cuccinelli family entertained us for well over an hour.  We home school moms had a lot to sympathize over and curriculum to compare.  Since our kids ages are so similar, my kids blended nicely with the 6 out of their 7 who were home that day.  The huge crowd of kids chased cats, ran with the dog, and drove battery powered cars. 

Occasionally we still chuckle at the randomness that produced 2 friendly kittens from a most unlikely donor.  How many of us can say we own the state Attorney General's cats?