Phase One - cat phase

I never intended to have cats.  What I really wanted was a dog.  Well, to be completely honest, what I really wanted was a baby but I thought the first week of the honeymoon was a bit early to raise that so I settled on a canine campaign.
‘Why don’t we get a dog?’ I asked my new husband.
‘We can’t have a dog.  We’re both working,’ came his very sensible reply.
Hmmm.
 
The dog idea was revisited at regular intervals but there was always a sensible reason why having a dog was impossible.  We were living in a rented flat, no pets allowed.  A problem, certainly, but surely not insuperable.  I regrouped.  New idea.
​ ‘Why don’t we buy a flat?’ I asked.
 
This met with more success.  My sensible now not so new husband could see advantages to buying a flat.  We started saving every penny and lived off cauliflower cheese and boiled eggs, stopped buying presents, walked instead of taking the tube to work.  Slowly the saving account grew.  A flat started to seem within our reach, as long as we were prepared for a lengthy commute.
‘No problem,’ I said.  ‘Commuting will be fun!’
 
We bought a flat.  But now we were commuting, away for twelve hours out of the day.  A dog was plainly out of the question, we couldn’t possibly leave one for so long.  Even I could see that.
Hmmm.
 
New plan.
‘Why don’t we get a cat?’ I asked one Saturday over breakfast.
‘Are you freaking kidding me?’ asked my worn-in husband, the magic having become a little tarnished over the last year.  Maybe, on reflection, that much cauliflower had been an error of judgement.
‘Cats are great,’ I said firmly.  ‘They don’t need looking after.  Not like a dog.’
 
My husband laid down the law.
‘No cats.  They will be too much of a tie when we want to go away.’
‘Are you freaking kidding me?’ I replied.  ‘We’re never going to be able to afford to go away again.  Have you seen how much the interest on the mortgage has risen over the last three months?  It’s up 5% and rising.’
 
My fairly worn out and not at all new husband had no answer to that.  So I rang the cat re-homing place and ended up with two gorgeous black and white kittens like little fluffy dominoes.
 
Phase One accomplished!

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