Hi Darling Ones,

Let’s lighten things up a bit here in Supergeniusland. Enough of the life and death of it all. Instead I’m gonna write about my cats.

I was just sitting here resting after vacuuming this place and messaging with a friend about my cats. I was grinning because she’s funny and also because I realized that I am so fortunate to have so many crazy cat ladies in my life.

My mom is A-#1 crazy cat lady and it is marvelous. My dad was very anti-cat so any cat in her life always came with some strife, but since his death she is filthy with cats. She lives with Sister #4, who moved from South Dakota back to this area for my mom. They have five cats and Dolly, a dog.

The other day I quizzed my mom on all the family pet names. She was kind of offended and rattled off 15 of the 16 names with no problem (between us there are 13 cats, 2 dogs, and a hedgehog). She struggled a bit with Sister #2’s Franklin, but that’s it. This is also a woman who has not called me or any of my sisters by the right name the first time around in decades.

When she comes over every week to take me to swimming she shows me pictures of her cats and Dolly. I told the Sisterclub how cute it was and Sister #4 said, “That’s nice. There are no baby pictures of me.” She’s right, there aren’t.

For the record, I’m not a cat mom. They are not my fur babies. I often say we are colleagues. I’m the CEO of Supergenius, Inc. and they are my employees.

“I don’t see them collecting checks,” Sister #4 said when she was here doing my laundry on Tuesday.
“We’re a nonprofit now,” I said.

If our nonprofit had a website, this is what the About page would say about the cats.

Wendell Gary Hobbes

Senior VP of Sales & Cuteness

Name origins:

• Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Sister #2’s long-dead cat Oliver
• Michael Gary Scott from “The Office”
• Walter Hobbes, Sister #2’s dog who got his last name from the “Elf” character

Nicknames: Cutie with a Big Bootie, Wendell Bendell 9:15, Lucky Bucky Boy, the Pride of Milwaukee

Fun Fact: Wendell came to the family in summer 2017 through BFK, who fostered his mom and siblings. Also, I named him even though he wasn’t my cat yet.

Wendell joined Supergenius, Inc in Spring 2019. He came to stay when Sister #2 and Ben sold their MN house and I kept him.

Mortimer Fignatius O’Reilly

Inventory Manager

Name origins:

• Mort the Mortician from “Bob’s Burgers”
• Ignatius Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces Quotes

Nicknames: Baby Bop, Schmortimer, Mort the Sport

Fun Fact: Mortimer is often called “rebellious and ungrateful of my love” like William Miller’s sister Anita in “Almost Famous.”

Mortimer joined Supergenius, Inc in October 2023.

Duchess Fergus Bernadette McClurg

Royalty

Name origins:

• My imaginary boyfriend in this Scott Hutchinson video. He’s the guy in the stripey shirt. I named him Fergus.
• Sinéad Marie Bernadette O’Connor
• Edie McClurg the actress who played Mrs. Poole in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

Nicknames: La Gatita Bonita, Fergie Ferg, Ferguson, Fergalicious

Fun Fact: Fergus was almost named Fig, but Fergus won in the popular family vote. She is a strong believer that girls go to the bathroom together and will come tearing into the bathroom if she notices I’m in there without her. She loves to jump in my pants while I’m going which means I shout “Ferg stay out of my pants” about 12 times a day.

Fergus joined Supergenius, Inc in October 2023.

Those are my cats, Darling Ones. They are awful mischief makers and I love them. The kittens call Wendell, Padre, and love/annoy him to death. As my nephew hilariously said, “He’s might be the real dad, but he’s the dad who stepped up.”

Meow,
Jodi