When we were growing up, my siblings and I were repeatedly denied permission to own a pet.  I never had a dog, cat, fish or even a hamster.  One time, in a futile attempt to find companionship, I found a snail in the backyard and put it in a shoebox with a bunch of leaves and hid it in my room.  It died pretty quickly.  I don't know what snails eat, but I can now eliminate cardboard and leaves from the possibilities.  

In my parent's defense...I can kind of understand (KIND OF) now why adding a pet to the stress of raising 5 kids might have been slightly unappealing.  So I don't hold it against them.

Anywho, fast forward 20 years and I, along with 3/4 of my siblings, have filled the void with pets of our own.  Last weekend I met the latest addition to the Dunbar animal kingdom, Aries.  He is an adorable little kitten that my brother Dan and his fiance adopted.  I recommend doubling up on pants though, he can and will climb up your leg when given the chance.

Watching my bull-in-a-china-shop brother holding a teeny little kitten is kind of adorable/scary.

Okay seriously, that last one needs to be captioned and submitted to LOLcats ASAP.