Happy And Prosperous Chinese New Year Of The Rat

The Chinese year 4706 begins on Feb. 7, 2008 and festivities last for 15 days. It is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. Pictured is the Fu symbol for prosperity. This photo was uploaded to Flickr’s public files by Suzzanna Low.

I Was Tagged By 4URPets For A Lucky 7 Tag

My neighbor friend at 4URPets just got tagged by Gina and now I’ve been tagged too!
4URPets is a new blogger with a great sense of humor, so although I don’t care for tags, I couldn’t possibly say no to this tag, and in honor of her three Chihuahuas and pet blog, I’m going to give you 7 random facts about my pets.

First I have to post the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you;
2. Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours;
3. Post the rules on your blog;
4. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog;
5. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post;
6. Include links to their blogs;
7. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK. Here are my 7 random pet facts:

1. My very first pet was a Siamese cat who rescued me from my fear of cats and converted me to a cat lover thanks to his sweet, kind, gentle and caring ways;
2. My cat would faithfully stay in bed with me whenever I was sick;
3. My cat liked to swing in the bed sheets hammock-style whenever we changed the sheets and would then take the sheets in between his two front paws to “help” make the bed (boy, I wish I had thought of taking videos);
4. I had a blue and a green parakeet. When the green parakeet was ready to die he made himself a little helmet out of seeds!!
5. I inherited my golden retriever from my mother-in-law, but we loved each other since puppyhood.
6. My golden retriever was an AKA-certified pure-breed stud and a trained service dog who saved people’s lives;
7. My golden retriever was poisoned during the Chinese pet food recalls of January 2007. I call it mass pet murder, and I am very angry at the pet food companies and China. I have sworn to never feed pet food to any of my future dogs or cats because “pets are people too” and their lives are too valuable.

Now, for the 7 random bloggers, I will continue with the pet theme and tag 7 people who recently came by my blog and who have posted about their pets. This is by no means an obligation, as these tags can sometimes be downright bothersome, but if you want to participate, then you can:

1. Robin at Around The Island, whose children are pictured riding a camel;
2. Playful Professional at Talent To Play will run a half-marathon for a kitten;
3. Nicholas at A Gentleman’s Domain, who tells his cats he loves them;
4. Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer whose beloved rat recently passed;
5. SJ at Pink Flamingo, who has a blessed 6-inch kitten;
6. Sarah at Puss Reboots photographs cats;
7. YOU at Your Blog — if you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged! 😉