My husband and I are getting close to being empty nesters but it isn't completely by choice.

Our oldest son is in college, and the other one is 17 going on 35.  We've tried for years to have another child, but things haven't worked out yet.  Then we have the pets.

We have a large aquarium with Koi and eventually will need to build a large pond for them since they keep growing and I want more of them.  More fish = more water!

Our two cats, Bonkers and Slinky, are littermates.  When we decided to get a cat, we wanted a female.  That would be Slinky.  She's a beautiful tortoise long hair and weighs about 5 pounds.  She seems to be nothing but fur and eyeballs.  She's not too bright and is known to fall off the bed.

When we got to the house with the kittens, there was a beautiful boy kitty that looked like a pure Blue-Point Siamese.  He had a lot of spunk and followed Slinky everywhere.  We decided he was completely bonkers.  As we got ready to leave, my dear husband gave me THAT LOOK and pouted.  "We can't split these two up!"  So, we ended up with both.  Bonkers is about 14 pounds of solid muscle and seems to think he's a German Shepherd.  He's fearless, strong, and likes to play rough.

The cats are about 10 years old.

Keisha, our black lab, is about 12 years old.  She still thinks she is a puppy, but gravity and age are taking their toll.  She tires easily, and doesn't get as much enjoyment out of hiking and camping as she used to.  Other than a thyroid problem she's in pretty good health.

My in-laws just celebrated their 49^th wedding anniversary.  Twice since Christmas they've mentioned a puppy a mutual friend is babysitting.  That friend spends a great deal of time at their neighbor's house.  So, when we headed to their house after a nice dinner out, we got to meet the puppy.

Lucy is an 11 week old black lab.  She's pretty smart and already house trained.  She doesn't jump up on people, and comes when she's called.  And she is adorable.  And her current owner cannot keep her.

Coincidence?  I think not.  I'm being set up.

Oops, too late!  She was adopted.