I love cats. Always have. There is even a chance that one day I could become an eccentric old lady who "collects" them. Hopefully not. But, it is a possibility. Which scares my husband Jeff. Who isn't a cat person.

Our current feline is Wilma and she has been with us for almost 10 years ......a gray fluffball who we consider our "baby". She's somewhat cranky, set in her ways and for some reason, will NOT let us hold her. We can pet her (actually she demands it) but don't you dare try to pick her up. Wilma is also a talker. We're not exactly sure what she is saying but she seems to have an opinion on everything although we're not sure if she's for Obama or McCain yet. But I'm sure she'll let us know when she makes a decision.

Recently Wilma has picked up a habit that I find especially annoying: whenever I talk on the phone or start a voice recording session she will show up right at my side and start meowing.....loudly and incessantly. Sometimes it gets so loud that I have difficulty hearing the person on the other end of the line. And, I can't tell you how many recording sessions had a string of MeOwwwww's in it.

For example: today I was trying to record this one sentence for my client and this is how the recording came out: "Thank (mEoW) you for calling (meowmeowmeowmeow) Verizon (meow meow meow) Wireless (meow) today."

Maddeningly, sSSSsshhing her doesn't work and firmly moving her out of the way (with swift foot action) does nothing. She comes right back.

However, PETTING her..... nonstop..... while recording or talking on the phone does stop the annoying meowing.

Unfortunately, she has now LEARNED that by being a PAIN she gets what she wants. All I have to do is snap on my headphones to get ready to record and she is right at my side meowing her furry gray head off.

Thankfully, cats do sleep a lot. And now that Wilma is a "senior citizen" she spends a good portion of the day snoozing. So, I tiptoe quietly to my studio and get my work done then.

Until the phone rings and she comes running again!