I briefly thought that God was playing a bit of a joke on me.

We have two cats.  And not because we are cat people but more or less because we are kind.  (Or at least because our kids have a soft spot for fur.)

They both just showed up.  (AKA - someone drove by our house, slowed down, opened their car door, and tossed them out.)

Gray Gray arrived in October of 2009.  And yes, I realize he's not gray so much as black and brown but a cute little 5-year-old named Sarah named the cat so Gray Gray it was!  (And we love to give her a hard time about that now.)

Kitten, or Little Bit, who we originally named Moxie, showed up in July of 2010.  The name Moxie never stuck for some reason and it just became Kitten.  (Who obviously 4 years later is no kitten.)

The cats are cats.  They sleep.  They eat. And that's pretty much it.  The kids were excited when we got the cats but now all they do is tolerate them. 

Peter and Sarah have been working me hard this year for a dog and for the first time, I've been willing to consider it.  But it has to be the right dog.

The dog has to meet the following criteria:

• It must not be a puppy.
• It must already be house and crate trained.
• It must be medium sized - not too big, not too little.
• It must be sweet and love kids (even if these kids will eventually abandon/ignore it, because I know that's what's going to happen.)
• It must not be a barker.  (I'm aware that all dogs bark but I do not want a dog that barks all the time and any little thing. Those dogs drive me crazy.
• It must be free or practically free.

I'm sure you are thinking that I'm crazy.  How the heck am I going to find a dog like this.

I don't think it will be too hard since my bestie Jennifer owns a vet clinic.  People are always coming by with dogs they are trying to find good homes for and she always posts them on Facebook.  And typically, Jennifer already knows these dogs because they are clients at the clinic.

So I've told the kids that if the right dog comes along (and I've warned them that I'm not actively searching for this dog, this dog will need to "find" us in a sense), I will consider getting it.

In the meantime, I've done a little praying about finding the right dog...and guess what appeared at our door last night?

I told Dan that perhaps God was a little bit confused.  Or perhaps he has a warped sense of humor because the last thing I want is another cat. 

But never fear.  It wasn't a mistake or a joke - just a kitty that wandered away from our next door neighbor's house.  Our doorbell rang this morning and the two neighbor boys were wondering if we had seen their new kitten.

So Patrick (as Sarah had named him) is back with his rightful owners. And we are now back to being a two cat, one fish, no dog household and all is well for the time being.