"Having cats lowers your blood pressure."

Baloney.

At least not today. Usually, it's just one of our cats who does something stupid in a twenty-four hour period. But it's been cold these past few days and they've spent more time in the house than out on the screen-porch, and today has been rainy.... they all have cabin fever.

First, (always first)-- it was AngelBoy. For whatever ridiculous reason in his little-bitty kitty-mind, he decided to pee in a corner.... and I don't mean in a corner of his litter box. He picked a corner of the living room, for god's sake...... on the carpet, and on the bricks of the fireplace. And then he looks at me. Yes? And your problem is???? I was too stunned to say anything but "AngelBoy......"

My husband heard the tone of my voice and walked into the room..... I showed him what happened.... and went so far as to say out loud I think this cat needs to be put to sleep. Usually, it's my husband who says those words, and it's me who defends that blue-eyed devil of a cat. This time, my husband spoke quietly to AngelBoy and brought him out to the screen-porch. I cleaned up the carpet, scrubbed the bricks on the hearth..... and all the while, those AngelBoy blue eyes were staring at me through the window. It was cold on that porch, and I didn't care at that moment.... I left him out there for an hour. Then I brought him back inside and put him in the laundry room. He must have known I was ticked off at him because he curled up and went to sleep...... in his plushy little crate-- heaven forbid he should not be totally comfortable in his time-out room.

A little while after that, tiny Mickey Kitty decided he needed to rearrange some of my Valentine decorations. Up onto the music box he went and down came the bright red gift bag with the shiny fringe along the top. Mickey tried to crawl into that pretty bag but I caught him just in time and tapped his little nose and reminded him how cold it was on the porch. Plus it's raining, you silly cat! (Mickey hates the sound of the rain on the porch roof.)

No sooner had Mickey settled down, then ShadowBaby decided to explore the vintage-looking Valentine cards that I have on the piano. Wouldn't you know it... he chose the prettiest card, which is covered in cut-work letters.... and he added his own cut-work design with his teeth. Not on the back of the card of course, but right there on the front. And there he sat... on top of the piano, looking at me with those golden eyes. And your problem is?

It's still cold outside.... which of course means it's still cold on the screen-porch. And it's still raining. AngelBoy is in the laundry room now, for the night-- where he always sleeps when it's too cold on the porch because I can't trust him in the house when I can't watch him. This cat is going to be eleven years old in a few months. I haven't been able to trust him for the last eight years of his life with us. That's a long time to be patient with a cat, no matter how blue his eyes are, and no matter how beautiful and fluffy he is, and no matter how sweet he can be when he wraps his paws around my ankle and looks up at me with the face of an angel.

AngelBoy should be wrapping his fluffy paws around my husband's ankle and thanking him for saving his blue-eyed butt today, because I was ready to drive him to our vet. Especially when I was scrubbing those bricks. I kept thinking of Bill Cosby's line to his children when they misbehaved badly: "I brought you into this world.... and I can take you out." (I would bet that Mr. Cosby also had a misbehaving cat.)