This past weekend January and I watched the movie "The Proposal," staring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, and I can unequivocally say that the best part of the movie was the american eskimo puppy named Kevin. I've always thought that the idea of giving pets names that are traditionally very non-pet -- such as Stephen or Elaine -- would be really funny, so I was very amused at the idea of a cute little puppy with the name "Kevin."  That said, let me reiterate that this was the best part of the movie. Seriously, don't see it. An hour and a half I'll never get back.

January and I both have a history of coming up with strange names for our pets. Even from an early age, we typically didn't settle for sticking with the customary "Bailey" or "Fluffy" for our cats or dogs.  The very first pets that I personally owned were a pair of goldfish that I won in my school's "Fun Day" carnival.  Did I give them normal names? Bubbles? Goldie? No, I named my fish Dmitri and Sviatoslav, after two characters from the cartoon Count Duckula.  My parents didn't really fight me on it -- they were my fish afterall -- but I could tell they were a little confused by my choice of names. Being goldfish, however, they didn't live terribly long.  In order to not rock the boat, I went with the more traditional "Frisky" and "Rascal" for the hamsters that came shortly thereafter.

While I apparently preferred traditional Russian names for my pets, January opted to go the Biblical route.  Before her most recent dog Roman and her cat Barnabas, she actually had a pet sheep that she raised for a 4H competition. She named it Baaaaaathsheba. That's right. After King David's mistress. Despite the inappropriateness, you have to admit that's pretty clever for a middle schooler.

Our current batch of pets have seemingly pretty normal names -- Sammy, Frankie, and Gus -- but you might be surprised at their full names.  Whenever we take one of them in to see the vet, we're always a little amused that the paperwork is all written out for "Sammy Soell," "Frankie Soell," or "Gus Soell." Don't they know? They have different last names, they're adopted.  So, for the record, I'd like to introduce you to the rest of our family.

Samantha Jane