Perhaps it is the fact that I've been living with pigs for nearly six years. Perhaps it is the fact that I've been eating before I have been sleeping. In either event, I've had some strange dreams lately, and I wish to share this one.

First, I must admit that Marcie started it when she said "Can you imagine...Lily saw something in a magazine she ate and she knew she had to have it."

A statement like that, to someone who doesn't have pigs, may cause a few chuckles, but not the type of laughter we suffered through for the better part of a half-hour. All right, I had the beginning of a fantastic dream sequence with the thought of Lily eating a magazine, but before she completely chewed it up, she found something in there she wanted to have. Pigs are smart (certainly I've learned this the hard way...they are like kids, you have to learn to use your brain to its full potential), they have excellent memories and it's difficult to outwit them. Mostly I've learned to compromise. However, faced with Lily and her wanting something from a catalog she was in the process of eating, set off the whole puzzle of how this was going to come to pass.

First, there was the matter of opening a checking account. (See? I told you this dream was great!) No matter how terrible my own signature becomes, it's better than Lily's. So, I pictured the horror of taking her to the Secretary of State's office...in order for Lily to have a valid picture ID to write her checks. (She absolutely can never have a driver's license. No matter how the car could be equipped, her hooves would never be able to operate a moving vehicle. Plus, I would worry that she'd stop at every blade of grass to investigate.) I could see the person trying to take the photo for Lily's ID say "Step up to the line" and looking through that silly viewfinder, only not seeing a person...not seeing anything, for Lily would be below the line of the camera. I'm disappointed she didn't smile for the picture.

On other news fronts here, Tyler James has begun a cute behavior pattern with the cats now. When Tyler first came here, he not only was smaller (in height) to LennyCat, he was terrified of all the cats. Now it seems he's learned this great way to have his snout and neck rubbed for him. He simply walks slowly up to a cat who happens to be on a chair or the loveseat in the living room, then he gently rocks the cushion until the cat sticks out a paw that Tyler can rub against. This scratching procedure has been beneficial for Tyler's social interaction with the cats and it also puts him in a trance.

Louise just had her fifth birthday the other day. All three of the girls here have their birthdays in April. That makes it handy for me to remember and it certainly makes Tyler feel very special, since his birthday is in October. The kids all got baby carrots as a treat.

Last month, the pigs were all telling me they wanted to go outside and play because it was so sunny and warm. This month, we've been having the weather we should have had last month, so all of them have been rather content to stay inside and snuggle in the huge pile of blankies. Hopefully, it will be warm enough soon to let them have a great time outside. .