Oh what a pretty little BST cat...just love those colors. Now, down to Bug. I have him in a gallon plastic jar where I cut out 2 sides so I could clean and put in new food, filed the edges to smooth out and put smooth clear packing tape over the edges so he didn't get hurt. Wrapped the whole thing in bridal tulle I thought I might need for BSTs. Put in newly purchased wooden shish kabob stick in case he wanted to climb. He stayed perched up on indentation at top of container for almost a day but never shed skin...and didn't dirty the clean white paper towel anywhere...LOL. I'm wondering if he's having an adverse reaction to the milkweed because I didn't think and washed leaves in tap water from well which goes through water softener and is heavy on the salt. I figured he was going to molt as Miss Sherry mentioned but he didn't. Salt overload??? He looks dehydrated...thinner than when I got him and his antennae are drooping to the point of curling at times. Checked his sibling out in butterfly garden and he's still plump and eating like a little piggy. There's 2 more tiny cats I found but hesitating to see what happens with Bug before I endanger any more of the poor little things! This morning Bug had finally pooped once and found him munching a little but not chowing down. I went outside and got a fresh leaf that I washed with bottled water. When I moved him from old leaf to new he was kind of "stuck" to it beyond feet hanging on tenaciously and I saw a teeny, tiny bit clear gooey subtance when he separated from old leaf. Since around 5 this morning he ate the tiniest bit and now he's just sitting there again looking all pathetic and dehydrated. I brought him out here to the garage with doors open so he could get some fresh air but he's still just sitting there with those droopy antennae. One antenna is even bent which I don't know is normal or not. Don't know if he's just not happy with unnatural surroundings, if he was harmed by salt in softened water used to wash milkweed leaves, if he's sick from something else or just "pissy" as Tracey said. When I checked his sibling in the garden his antennae weren't droopy at all so I'm thinking it's a sign of dehydration because they flex and flick antennae but I haven't seen photos of them droopy or curled up. I know no one can diagnose my little Bug from afar but just let me know if you've seen droopy, curled or bent in the middle antennae on any of your Monarch cats and if they've bounced back or there's something wrong. Can't post pics since don't own camera and wouldn't know what to do anyway. I'm all "vaclempt" over my little Bug!

I am totally and irrationally attached to my old car. We just got a "new" one - a 2008 hyundai santa fe, but I am already thinking about what to get next when we sell this one. We got a killer deal on a low mileage used one and could probably even make money if we sold it today (and would make money if we totaled it). I love having a bigger car with a toddler and I love AWD in bad weather but I do not really love the crappy gas mileage so hoping in a couple of years our options are better for a CUV with better fuel economy (some of the models coming out this year look good so we'll see how good they really are and then look for a good deal in a couple of years). But we just put a lot of money (where a "lot" is relative to the value of the car) our 2001 Honda Accord. NOTHING special about it at all but I just love that car. It needed a new CV joint, 4 new tires, an expensive 100k mile service and new brakes. Somewhat recently it had the timing belt done and a new clutch. It runs like new now and even though it's nothing luxurious or sporty and never was, if I am going somewhere by myself and the weather is OK I will always take the old car. To me it's like that perfectly faded, broken in pair of jeans that are just starting to get good after 10 years. yeah there are a couple of frayed edges but oooh so comfortable. DH wanted to sell it when we got the "new" car and go back down to one car again (we have shared a car for the last 10 years or so that he has been working from home) but it's really much harder to do that with a child... and I just could not bear to give up the old car.

I certainly don't think I've stolen the cat. There are always posters of lost/found pets at the mailboxes, so I posted them on all the mail centers and in the stairwells of the apartments with e-mail address and phone number. If the people cared about the cat they could have put a collar with a tag on him instead of the crusty flea collar that I found him in. Jasper's vet is just down the street from the complex, so I will go there to see if anyone reported a lost cat. I've been waiting to have him vaccinated and neutered to see if anyone claims him yet, but I have an appointment for Monday at the low cost animal care shelter to get that taken care of. If I spend money on that and then someone claims him, they will have to reimburse me for the expense. They should have done it in the first place. I don't feel like a hero or a theif. If someone calls with an accurate description of the cat and pays me for the medical expense they can have it back. Until or unless that happens, I am going to be a good steward with the life that has been (even if temmporarily) entrusted to me by happenstance or the great Universe or whatever you believe in and enjoy every second of it. Maybe there are people on this forum who would rather me turn the cat back onto the streets so he can get run over by cars or eaten by predators in hopes that he will wander back to his original "owners". I placed an add on Craigs List. I've gotten 3 offers for Viagra and one offer to make a million dollars a month to work at home from a textile shop based in the UK. Then the add was flagged. There is a point at which you have to draw the line. Maybe I should quit my job and just knock on every door in the state until someone says the lost the cat I have found. Then I will be able to sleep at night since I'm such a horrible person! Some people!

I remember reading that...but it's still just as funny.... I am completely surprised that I didn't find a post from me on there...My DH has done a few things during our 42 years that I tell on him every now and then. patti