The look

Sometimes I cause Alex to look at me with concern.

Which causes me to crack up laughing.

And oftentimes -- much more often than not -- his concerned look is sparked by something I have said regarding the cat.

Please maintain your shock.

Let me walk you through a few examples.

***

On what was technically our third date, I started to tell him about talking to my cat.* You know, the cat meows, the human talks baby talk back. Normal stuff, right?

Well I made the mistake of using the phrase, "...and while we were having this conversation --"

And then I stopped because Alex was giving me that look that I would see again.

(*On our first date, I had a book about a cat in my bag, and when the date was over, I took a webcam photo of me and my cat and sent it to him. He must really think I'm hot...)

***

Next, Alex came over and, IN FAIRNESS, started talking about someone with the same name as my cat. Which gave me GOOD REASON to be confused.

"Max wanted to Skype..." he said.

Naturally, I thought he was making a joke about my cat Skyping.

So I cracked a joke back.

And in return, received the look.

***

Finally, the other night Alex was trying to entertain the cat with one of those toys on a stick.

The cat was content to watch from afar, but wasn't quite in actual attack-the-yarn-on-the-stick mode.

At one point, he tucked his paws under his body, and Alex lamented the fact that his play partner had officially bowed out of the game.

"Aw, his paws are tucked! Now he's really not going to play."

I took this opportunity to point out the unique -- and uniquely adorable -- way that Max tucks his paws. It's a little different from the way other cats do so. Because Max is special.

While explaining this adorable life detail, I made the mistake of using another human word, such as "conversation" or "Skype," to personify the cat.

In comparing Max's paw-tucking to that of other cats, I said, "Normally, people tuck their --"

And then I realized I was receiving the look again, and I stopped short.

And I lost myself in giggles.

One of these days he's going to insist on a therapy appointment. Intensive therapy.