My kitten, Boo, turned 1 year old last week. I have her mom, Atticus, too, and have thouroughly enjoyed the past year with them. I had never experienced a cat having kittens, and it was some roller coaster year.

Last Jan. 1, my sister found a kitty in her attic and when I met her I fell in love, and took her home and named her Atticus, of course. Within a month she got out of my house and got herself pregnant. So in late March we got 6 new kitties in the sewing room closet. I expected Atticus to use one of my bins of fabric for a nice nest, but she chose the closet floor instead. We had 3 long-hairs and 3 short-hairs. 3 gray and 3 tortoiseshell like mom. 5 girls and 1 little boy. Watching little kitties grow and develop and fight and tumble is a wonderful thing.

My niece in Denver took the male, short-hair gray kitty, and named him Tokyo. My friend from work took a long-hair gray kitty and named her Scout. 3 kitties found new loving homes, thanks to my daughter-in-law's sister, who works at a vet. And I kept my favorite, a tortoise-shell short-hair with a funny stipe down her nose. I named her Boo, keeping with the "To Kill a Mockingbird" theme. I still need to get a digital camera so that I can post a photo of my little darling, Boo, and her beautiful Mom, Atticus.

So HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, to Boo, Scout and Tokyo: 3 sweet and goofy kitties!!!!