When Is Enough Enough?

I am an animal lover through and through and darn proud of it! Yup, ever since I was a kid, I have possessed a lot of feelings towards our 4-legged friends. If I was lucky enough to have inherited this wonderful trait from a very special gene pool, than I definitely acquired it from my Dad, as he too, loved all animals. Few people are fortunate to haved shared their life with a dog for 17 years and a cat for over 21 years. I am one of the lucky ones! It was only natural that I would eventually want some pets of my own when I ultimately began my family. It's kind of ironic that I married a man who sadly missed out growing up with any furry friends. Little did Jesse realize that marrying me meant he was destined to become the "Proud Pappa" to not only human babies but several pets, as well. It all began more than 19 years ago when we lived in our apartment in Floral Park. With two dwarf bunnies, three parakeets and an infant son, life was a little busy. While Lucky and Greystoke (the bunnies), Durante, Mae West and Duchess' (the birds) lives were short-lived, I knew that when we bought our house in East Northport, animals would be as much a part of our lives there as they were before....and that they've been. Patouli (calico cat) and Buddie (Keeshond),  "toss-aways" from an unkind soul, blessed our home for many years. Sadly, we've lost both these beloved pets, but I take solace knowing that adopting them from the local shelter allowed my kids to grow up loving animals unconditionally. Next came Austin and Xena, two more wonderful cats we adopted in 2003 and 2005, respectively. I still wonder how anyone could have been foolish enough to dump them at the shelter. Austin, our 18 lb. sweet and gentle "Big Guy" and Xena, more like a dog in a catsuit, have been wonderful additions to our family. As if this wasn't enough, I never imagined that my love for animals would reach beyond the norm to the exotic. Yes, I have been blessed with a son (Caleb) who also has acquired that gene pool I mentioned earlier, and whose philosophy has been, the weirder the pet, the better. He's lucky he has a mother who appreciates the wild and weird as well. Snoopy, our hedgehog, started what began many years living in a suburban jungle, in what I endearingly refer to as the "Raspler Exotic Pet Menagerie". For those of you who don't know what a hedgehog is, just imagine a miniature porcupine. Snoopy is the one whose photo has graced this blog! Added to our little menagerie were countless hamsters (Jake, Fluffy, Pearl, Cookie, and Scott Guber), Connie the crayfish, frogs - Albert and Henry, Spike the Bearded Dragon, and Patches the guinea pig, Sparkles the beta fish and an aqauriam filled with other unusual gilled inhabitants. I must add that every time we added a new pet to our menagerie, Jesse would freak out. I can't imagine why! Simon and Chester, Caleb's two fancy rats, yes, I said rats, rounded out our family. I know you are probably thinking, "Eew gross!" or maybe even the movie, Willard comes to mind, but to tell you the truth, they are more like little dogs and make wonderful pets. Unfortunately, they don't live very long. Sadly, all have passed on, but Austin and Xena still grace us with their wonderful personalities. Despite my kids having experienced terrible heartaches losing their pets, I believe they are far better off for having shared their home with all these creatures-big and small. Some have thought we were crazy for owning so many pets and weird creatures, yet they have brought us so much joy, even my husband.While I miss all of them, I am glad for all of it - arguing who was going to clean the dirty cages, buying crickets, sprinkling them with vitamin powder, refrigerating meal worms, and running to the exotic pet doctor. I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. For now though, I say enough is enough as I am ready to pass on the torch to my children. Hopefully, someday they will want a pet menagerie of their own and share their lives with all kind of pets - normal and exotic.

Vocabulary
1. inherited (verb)- to have a quality (behavior or appearance) from one of your parents
2. gene (noun)- a part of cell in living things that controls how it developes (ie. parents pass on genes to their children)
3  ironic (adjective)- a situation that is unusual or amusing because something strange or unexpected happens
4. solace (noun)- a feeling of happiness after having been very sad or upset
5. exotic (adjective)- unusual or different because of a connection to a foreign place
6. philosohy (noun)- a set of beliefs about how you should live your life or think about something
7. menagerie (noun)- a collection of animals

Exercise: Matching Activity
 Match the vocabulary words below to their definition by drawing a line connecting the two.

exotic              a feeling of happiness after being very sad or upset
menagerie      a set of beliefs about how you should think about something
gene                the way you behave or appear is like your parents
philosophy      an unexpected situation causes you to feel strange or amused
solace              Parents pass this on to their children
inherited         unusual or different because of a connection to a foreign place
ironic               a collection of animals

Grammar Point: Quantifiers belong to the class of determiners. They are words or phrases that come at the beginning of a noun phrase and signal whether the information is  new or familiar and tell us something about quantity. They include the following words and expressisons: all, another, any, both, each, enough, some, a lot of, no, much, more and many. If it weren't for quantifiers, we might never know how much of something a person is talking about. What kinds of things do you have a passion for? Share your thoughts with others by writing a short story ( 1-page) about something you love. Stories will be shared with the class. You may also include a drawing of what it is you love most. Don't forget to include at least 8 quantifiers when writing your story.

I know how much all of you love to listen to some great tunes for learning grammar. I have not disappointed you... so, check out the following links for learning about determiners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfaJzxLY_p8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcn9IZzbZvs&feature=related