Pecan or Pecan???

Settle this debate for me, please!!

My husband insists that the word is pronounced "pee-can"....with a short "a" sound.

I, on the other hand (like any good southern girl), believe it is pronounced "pecahn"....with and AHH sound.

What do you think???

In other news, (and, also, on opposite spectrums) we adopted a kitten this week. But, this is merely the ending of a VERY strange journey.

In the beginning of the week, there was an ad on Craigslist stating that the neighboring county had an overabundance of kittens...to please come and adopt them, or they would be forced to put many down. I checked their hours (8:30-4:30) and headed that way, with the three kiddos in tow. We got there at 4:00. (It is important to note: This facility is run by the local government. Yes, folks, OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!!!)

The gate was closed, but the parking lot was full. Full of cars, and full of people. Lots and lots of people. LAZY people. People that were employees(OF THE COUNTY!!) After standing at the gate for 10 minutes, a guy(*thug*) sauntered lazily over to the gate and proceeded to tell me that they were closed. (Umm...that isn't what your website said!!!!) Apparently, they really weren't all that concerned with me, or my time, or their actual hours,or the fact their neon sign was flashing "OPEN", or their animals(that were, by their own advertisement, going to be "put down".) So we left...kids crying...me furious...and made the 45 minute drive home.

On the way home, we decided to stop in Petsmart. I didn't figure that they would have any animals there, but thought maybe they would have some advertisements for people. They, instead, had an adoption center for the county that we actually live in. So we browsed. Played with a few kitties...and the kids fell in love with one. In this county(AGAIN:TAX DOLLARS AT WORK!!!!!), you have to fill out an application, provide current and past vet information, ages of your children, phone numbers, employers, pets owned within the last ten years, height and weight, social security number, references, type of food you intend to feed this pet, number of hairs on your butt...etc, etc... COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY RIDICULOUS. After they reviewed my application, I received a phone call (a few days later). At this time, I was told that I needed to establish myself with a vet, and prepay for the kitten's first visit(ummm...excuse me?? You haven't even approved my "application" yet!!!) The first kitten visit was described to me as comparable to a well-baby check for my children. I was interrogated about all kinds of things (including whether or not I would allow this kitten to go outside...They prefer that their animals never breathe fresh air....It's not a safe environment outdoors for animals.) , and then told that once I had established myself with a vet, they would need to complete a HOME STUDY before they could place an animal with our family.

Are you kidding me?

I mean, seriously!! I am all about people taking their jobs seriously...but this really, really seems like overkill. Is it just me?? We are paying these people's salaries!!! Is a happy medium really too much to ask?? I mean, we have the Inefficient-Lazies-Just-Collecting-A-Paycheck... or the Overzealous-Cat-Lady-On-A-Mission.

Needless to say, I got back on Craiglist, and was able to quickly locate a very sweet little kitten that we have named Berrie.