Tough Morning, Joyful Afternoon

Busy day today - wait a minute many days in the last few weeks have been busy days. I really feel like a hamster running on a wheel Tuesdays thru Thursdays. I think it's a function of extra appointments thanks to that accident over a month ago (how can that still be affecting my daily life, I don't know) and that those 3 days of the week are subdivided into 1.5 hour intervals. That gives the hamster on the wheel illusion.

Today is no different except that part of it is going to suck and part of it will be great. Let's start with the great. At I.'s school once a year, they have a restaurant day when all the classes have snack time together in a restaurant setting. They are seated, given a menu, and then a waitress comes to take their order. Their food is brought and then they pay with "money" before they leave. I volunteered for it last year and it was a lot of fun. Since my days of helping in her classroom will be limited for the next few years, I am jumping at volunteering in her class at least for all the holiday type of events (those are the most fun for me to see I. experiencing). So today I will be her waitress and I. is really excited about it. This morning when she was getting dressed, she ran up to me and through her arms around me and said, "You're going to be at my school all day today!" Does it get any better than that? Nope. So that's the good part from 12:30 to 3:00.

The not so good part is that when I drop I. off at her before school "science class" at 10:30, I will have our foster cat, Media, in the car with us, crying the whole time because this morning is when I have to take her back to Petco. I know she'll have a better chance at adoption if people see here and as luck would have it, there are very many other cats over there right now so maybe that'll help. But still, it breaks my heart because she's not going to understand that. All she's going to know is that she's been here for 2 months, getting love and attention and be able to run and play and now she'll be back in a small plastic enclosure. How depressing all the way around. Another volunteer is walking me through the process of returning cats to Petco so that'll take awhile meaning that as soon as I'm done at Petco, I'll have to race back to I.'s school. I'll have to pack something for my lunch, something that I can eat while driving. That sounds relaxing. Thank goodness that I have the positive, happy experience to enjoy after Petco or the afternoon would be swirling down the drain.

Blah Blah Blah

The weekend went by pretty well except for the discovery on Friday night that not all inflatable beds are created equal. I've slept on one before and was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was. That wasn't the case with the one at my parents' house - this one was torture. I sleep mostly on my side and when I rolled onto my side, it felt like my hip was resting directly on the wood floor which is less than comfortable to say the least. The dog successfully made it through its separation from my dad and was well-behaved, just like a kid when its parents aren't around. We had a good time Saturday celebrating V.'s birthday and all in all, it was a good weekend.

Busy week - first blood test today, helping at I.'s school, dentist appointments, plus the normal errands and duties. On top of this, I have to bring Media, our foster cat, back to Petco on Thursday and it's making me sad. We've had her for 2 months (it was really only supposed to be for 2 weeks) and now she probably thinks this is her new home. But I will have to put her in a crate and cart her back to the Petco prison. I try to keep in mind that she will have a better chance at being adopted if people can see her there. But it's not helping all that much. I've given a last ditch shout out on Facebook and there is a slight chance of hope but it's slim.

I. is in a mood this morning, actually most mornings she is. It's that "What should I play? I don't know what to play." whine that travels up and down my spine and causes me to utter old momisms like "I'm going to get a trashbag and put all your toys in it if you don't be quiet and start playing with something." It's frustrating to me. I was an only child and I don't remember whining every morning about not knowing what to do. Of course, I don't remember what I actually did before I could read because once I could read, that's what I did all morning and throughout the day. That and play in the backyard with my dog. This weekend, it was so nice to be able to send I. out in the back to play - I really wish we had a backyard. Oh well.

This is such a boring post that even I can almost not stand it. I think this whole morning is a function of not sleeping well. I had stressful, dangerous, bad, scary dreams all morning that had me waking up on edge. The only bright spot so far is that last night was the first night in almost 2 months when I didn't have to get up once or twice to use the bathroom, which means that my uterus has gravitated northward and isn't resting on my bladder any more. This Sunday will be 12 weeks - it's hard to believe. I'm looking forward to my appointment next week to hear our little rabbit's heartbeat, at least that's what it sounds like to me. That thought brings a warm glow to my heart and that may be just enough to fan into a full-fledged flame to enjoy the rest of the day.

Well, I Lied

No, I'm not ready to post about things yet. I was wrong. Maybe after the New Year when things have possibly settled down a little but not now.

Today was Christmas Eve and it was a nice day. V. took all 3 girls shopping and I lucked out with a last minute massage after a 30 minute walk at a nearby lake. It felt so good. It felt good to feel good. I came home and made some cranberry scones for our next door neighbors who bring our trashcans in almost every week just to be nice. I told the man how much I appreciated it and didn't expect it and he turned red and start giggling while saying "Ah, it's nothing." It was pretty funny and I felt glad that I did it. Then V. and the girls came home, we rested for about an hour and then headed over to Pick Up Stix for an early dinner. In my family, we always had Chinese food on Christmas Eve so this is my way of carrying on the tradition. It was a fun time and boy did that food taste good!

Now, I'm waiting for the two older girls and V. to go to sleep so that I can do stockings but of course, they are not going to sleep. Last night all 3 of them were ready for bed at 8pm but tonight because I want to be in bed by 10, it's 9:30 and everyone is awake. Wait...okay, the girls just said good night so off I go to get their stuff. I guess I'll do V.'s upstairs in our room when I go up there.

A funny aside - our foster cat had to be moved to our bedroom last night since the girls were here. I put her in the walk-in closet when I went to bed and she was great - no noise or crying until I heard some scratching around 7:15 am. I rolled over to see if I could sleep a little longer, heard no noise, but then felt a thump on the bed and thought "What the heck?" Open my eyes to see that crazy cat sitting on the bed looking at me. Turns out I should add "smart" to her personality description because she figured out how to turn that doorknob and get out!

Hope and Fear

I don't have a happily thereafter story for Media (our foster cat) but there is still hope. She charmed the girl who came to look at her, however, the girl's mom who got her cat from a breeder is not supportive of her daughter getting a rescue cat. She wants the girl to meet with this breeder next weekend to look at her cats. That's frustrating. There are too many cats as there is, with thousands being killed each day, and this woman wants her to go and give business to someone who puts more animals on the earth. If this girl was showing cats, I could understand a little. But she just wants a pet to come home to after work to give love and affection and Media fits the bill perfectly. So, there is hope but I can tell that this mom holds a lot of weight in this girl's life.

Still trying to hold my sanity and household together. It's hard considering all the swirling going on, the uncertainty, the fear, the panic, the worry, the overwhelming-ness of it all. All things considered, I think I'm holding it together pretty well. A lot of deep breaths, repeating of my "everything will be okay" mantra, just keeping focused on the present, and ensuring that I'm going to bed relatively early seem to helping. Part of me thinks things will be better once V. comes home for 2 whole days and part of me is afraid because everything will be real, not just rattling around in my mind and that scares me.

A Christmas Gift for Our Foster Cat

I've got my fingers crossed right now. Last night I got an email that I was cc'd on from the lady who runs the cat adoption agency. The email was from her to a girl who wants to adopt a cat and gave brief details on 4 cats in foster homes who were available for adoption. I decide to take the proverbial bull by the horns and advocate strongly for my foster cat, Media.

I emailed the girl back with pictures of Media and told her how sweet and awesome she was. I was really hoping that I could entice her to come and meet Media and take her home for Christmas so that I didn't have to return her to PetSmart.

This morning there was an email from the girl saying Media sounded great and that she wanted to come and meet her. I'm going to call her from the gym this morning (while I. is still in Kids' Club) and find out when she can come over. I just know that once she meets her and sees how loving Media is, she'll most likely fall in love and want to adopt her. Wouldn't that be a wonderful Christmas gift for Media? That really would make my day/month/year! Talk about making a difference in an animal's life.

Fingers crossed!

Kind Hearted Part 2

We picked up our first foster cat yesterday and it felt like Christmas for I. and I. She was so excited that she was talking even faster than she normally does and I had to tell her to take a breath. Our choice was one 2 year old female or three 10 month olds. The lady kept saying how much fun the younger ones would be but in my gut, I felt like the older one would be better at least for our first time out. Especially considering that V. is out of town and would have to be told over the phone of our new visitor.

I'm glad I listened to my gut because this cat is perfect. I was warned that she may hide for 2 days or 2 weeks, to be prepared. I went in the bedroom where she is after I put I. to bed and just sat on the ground speaking quietly. Within 2 minutes, she was crawling out from under the bed, snuggling, rubbing and purring. She's a real sweetheart.




What I love is that I can hear through the wall of I. playing with her and hearing her speaking so sweetly does my heart good. She understands that we are giving her love and a vacation from that little box she's been in at PetSmart and that we're going to have to take her back at some point. I'm really glad I took the leap and decided to do this.

Today I'm trying to keep us busy and distracted from the fact that V. didn't make it home this weekend. It's supposed to be a cloudy day which sounds perfect for spending the afternoon decorating for Christmas. I'm hoping to get our tree next Sunday when V. is here. I love the smell of a Christmas tree though I don't particularly like how small it makes our living area feel. Basically, there's one place to put the tree and that's on the entry tile area so you have to kind of shimmy around it to go to the front door and shimmy around the other side when you need to use the bathroom. Every year V. says we should get a smaller one but forget it. When it comes to my Christmas trees, I say go big or go home! That tree with the angel on top has about a 2 inch clearance every year, I swear. It's become almost like a contest for me to see how close to the ceiling I can get and I suspect this year will be no different.