The menagerie is home

Daughter #3 came home today and brought with her the dachshund, Tess, and "Thank God it's not a Tattoo".
So now we have 3 dogs and a kitten, and son #3 is looking after a cat and pond of fish for the people next door. There are way too many animals around here for my comfort level.
I think the kitten has ADD. So she fits in well with the two psycho ADD dogs in the backyard (inbreeding is a very bad thing).
These are the two dogs that Daughters #2 & #3 bought before they graduated and then left. Here. With me. And they are still alive ..... for now.
The cat is racing around the house, trying to attack anyone and everyone. And she meows ..... a lot. And she claws my furniture. And, she thinks she's a parrot. If you try to hold her she climbs up on your shoulders and sits. Strange.
I should take odds on how many animals will be alive by mid-January.
In other news, our family doctors should have a merry Christmas. Four visits in one week -- yay for us. Son #2 went in Monday and goes back tomorrow. Daughter #3 went in Monday (and the week before at the college clinic). I went in today.
As we get older we are told to listen to our bodies. Well, my body must be unable to speak or it's out to get me. I went in today because I thought I might have a mild infection. But after I made the appointment I felt better and had no problems. "Great!", I thought. "Just like when you take your children to the pediatrician. At home they have a fever of 105 and by the time you get them in it's 98.6. Consistently." So I thought the dr would look at me like I'm nuts and ask me what else is going on in my life that I have to come up with fake diseases and see him (and boy, could I give him a list!).
Here was our conversation after he got the lab results:
Him: So how long have you been having these "symptoms"?
Me: (thinking, "Sheesh, he thinks I'm an idiot.") Just since over night. Not really much at all today, but in the middle of the night.
Him: "Wow"
Me: "Wow? Why wow?"
Him: "Because you have a very bad infection. Your numbers are so high that I can't believe you're not in severe pain!"
Me: "Well, I guess I don't listen to my body very well."
Him: "That, and you must have an incredibly high pain threshold."
Me: "So how long do you think this has been going on?"
Him: "Well, most people know right away, like the first day. Sometimes before the tests show there's an infection. You've probably had this for at least 4 days."
Me: "Wow."
Him: "Yeah."

So, I think "listening to your body" is highly over-rated. My body does not speak to me. Or maybe it speaks to me in Slovakian.
And I totally refrained from playing with the stirrups.