i met the macdonalds back in august of 2000. i was finally in a cat-friendly environment but hadn't planned on adopting so soon until i saw an advertisement. two adult cats, apartment-raised, preferably to be kept together. coincidentally, both black. i met mom and dad and we were favourably impressed by each other, and a month later the boys came home to stay. i was never the sole caretaker of cats before, but managed fairly well, except for my obvious failure to provide them the limitless adoration that is naturally their due. i have since acquired another human to help provide appropriate feline worship (and a willing minion he is) but, as ever, the demands continue. their tenth birthday is october 2008 and they are getting to be old-man cats, but i love them anyway. they have their own livejournal, but since i bring my laptop to work daily their posting has fallen off considerably.