Hi, my name is Star. I’m ten years old, and I’m a Norwegian Elkhound. Here’s a picture of me and, aren’t I the cutest?

Oh and here’s a picture of CT (I think that stands for Crooked Tail because she’s got a banged up tail, but with my mom, who really knows for sure, though Star, well, that speaks for itself).

Anyway, Mom lets all these cats just wander through MY yard, sun themselves on MY deck, and she feeds them, too! No wonder they keep coming around like flies. In addition to CT, there’s Peach Ball (he’s peachy colored and fat like Jabba the Hutt from “Star Wars”) and Cyclops (he lost an eye in the coyote wars), and then there’s all the unnamed ones, not to mention the raccoons, possums, and skunk who come for the good eats, too.

But enough about the extended family. I figured I’d introduce my mom because she couldn’t decide what to say (geez, and she’s a writer!). She’s a pretty good mom, but she doesn’t give me enough treats (because she doesn’t want me to get fat, she says). My dad, on the other hand, he’s great and gives me a LOT of treats. But anyway, about my mom, she spends a bunch of time writing and researching, of course, but when she’s not, she does some fun things. Well, at least they’re fun to her. Like watching old black and white movies. She loves those old classics like “The Adventures of Robin Hood” with Errol Flynn. I like them because I get to lay on the couch next to her. And sometimes they have popcorn, and Dad throws me a few pieces. I love popcorn. In addition to old movies, she’s totally into “Battlestar Gallactica” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Again, it gets me popcorn so I’m down with it. And while we’re watching TV, she’s working on her needlepoint. It’s this hobby she’s been doing since she was a teenager, and pictures are hanging all over the house. Here’s a photo of one. She calls it her masterpiece, and it took three years to do the whole thing. My mom, she doesn’t do anything small or fast.