Mary Joseph-Alvarado:  

Life My life...boy is that alot to ask. I am married for 26 years to Jesse. We have two children. Hannah, 20, is a college student. She is working on a degree in Multimedia Graphic Design. Our other daughter is Sarah, 17. She is still in high school. Both our children have serious medical problems. Hannah was born with Aortic Stenosis and has had an Aortic Root Replacement. Sarah developed intracted epilepsy when she was 8 months old which required a Left Temporal Lobectomy in order to stop her from seizing 6 times a day. She has many other medical problems and Texas Children's Hospital and our family are on a first name basis. Although I can no longer work (I am 100% service connected disabled) I am trying to write a book. The optimal word here is trying. My life is not dull. We live in Houston, Texas. My husband is a Secondary Education Teacher (History and Geography). We have ..(are you ready and no we are not insane..) 16 cats and 6 dogs. They are in order CATS- Pretty Girl, Nuisance, Tabitha, Sir Turkalot, Angel, Cuddles, Streak, Gabriel, Xena, Bullseye, Braveheart, Goldenstar, Isabel, Galahad, Gwenieviere and Salem II. Now Tabitha is the mother of Angel, Cuddles, Streak, Gabriel, Xena, Bullseye and Braveheart. She got out before we had her spayed and she mated with Socks and had Angel, Cuddles, Streak and Salem I. (Salem I died when she was a month old). Then three days before we could get the boys neutered she went into heat. She locked her up but not fast enough. Sir Turkalot is the father of Bullseye, Cuddles is the father of Xena and Braveheart and Angel is the father of Gabriel and another cat that died of FeLV Tigger. Goldenstar and Isabel were strayed that Hannah and Sarah "rescued". then came the day I was called out the lawn to find two 10 day old kittens....abandened by their mother (actually the neighbors kids took them and then the mother could not find them). With eyes closed and weighing 4 ouces we started on the every 2 hour around the clock feeding of two babies...so entered Galahad and Gwenieviere. Finally there is Salem II, he was brought to the house by Hannah's fiance with the statement but they were going to put him to sleep. This is how you get 16 cats....and no brains.....Then dogs are a whole other story.....There is Brandy, Midnight, Missy, Bear, Turner and Cookie. Brandy was the first dog. She appeared on the scene when there was only Pretty Girl and Nuisance. My husband brought her home after the store threatened to have her shot because she would run in the store and "acquire" packages of meat...pretty smart stray dog. She is a German Shephard and beautiful but big. The cats were not happy to see her come through the door. One went one direction and the other went the other direction. Midnight was a gift to my daughter from a friend. She was spoiled from day one and she loves cats and is loved by the cats. Missy and Bear are the children of Cookie and Turner. Cookie and Turner were the neighborhood strays that everyone fed and took care of. These dogs would watch the kids in the neighborhood and walk them to the bus wait with them to get on the bus and then go about their business. Well one day Harris County Animal Control decided that the...Expand for more