A Pictorial Ode to George

George is still at the vet.  We all went to see him today.  He's incredibly thin.  He's now down to 12 pounds.  For him that's skin and bone, practically.  It was surreal to pick him up and not have to heft him at all.  He was very lethargic from the meds and the like he received today.  His prognosis is not looking good.  We're probably going to give him another day or so to see if the new meds work or not, and if not, he's not coming home.  He will be very missed.  He's our first pet.

We got him in February of 2002 from the Alexandria Animal Shelter.  He was by far the most awesome cat there!  The worker was taking us around the cat room and showing us the different cats.  We got to George and she said, "And this little fella's name is George.  We can't put a tag up for him because he keeps ripping it down."

All we saw was an orange paw sticking out of the cage.  The worker left us to see if we could make a decision.  The first cat I grabbed out of a cage was George.  He snuggled right up in my arms.  He was very vibrant and ALIVE.  I handed him to Matt, and he snuggled into his arms too and then licked Matt's nose!  We knew he was the cat for us.  I still took one other cat out of its cage and held it, and it just sat in my arms like dead weight.  George was definitely the right choice.  We took him home that very night.  A quick stop by Wal-Mart to get the needed items for owning a cat, and we were on our way.  He is/was many things to us:

Our forever curious kitty, always investigating

Our playful kitty, playing with whatever he could find.  Sometimes he would try to hide toys under his belly and then look around like he didn't know where it went. 

Our confused kitty.  Sometimes he acted more like a dog than a cat.

Our sharing kitty.  He liked to share Dad's lap with the babies (Kirstin here).

Our dirty kitty.  Any time he could get outside in the dirt, he would do this.  He would come in gray and wouldn't turn orange for a while.

Our clean kitty.  Sometimes he needed help.  I haven't done this in a long time.

Our annoyed kitty.  Especially when I wouldn't let him rest or would purposely pet his belly.  I came away with many scratches from trying that too often.

Our personable kitty.  He generally loved being around visitors and the like.

Our catable? cat.  Only with Felix though.  Any other cats and he would fight.  He and Felix had many fights at first, but then became good friends with only an occasional skirmish.  Usually in the middle of the night.  On our bed.

Our long tailed cat.  He was forever getting in the way with his tail.

And sometimes he didn't seem to understand his tail was part of him.  He would catch it to clean it.

Our tired kitty.  He looks so ferocious when he yawns!

Our resting kitten.  And let me say, he was always a good foot warmer in the night.

Our patient kitty, especially with our girls.

Our supportive kitty.  He liked to help.  Or get some love.  Whichever.

A member of our family.  He would often try to get in on the photo shoots.

And so we say good bye to a wonderful orange cat.  George, Georgous Gorge, Long Tail Stinky Butt, Little Demon, you'll be missed greatly.  Thank you for all your wonderfulness over the years.  Love ya, buddy.

One of THOSE days

I'm having one of THOSE days today.  A four year old that won't listen or do anything but torment her sister, a baby that's into everything and keeps getting stuck behind the rocking chair, no matter what I put there to block her way, and a sick cat that just hides under our bed and pukes for us.  Great. 

Yet, during the chorus of:
Don't do that!
Emily, NO!
Kirstin, stop!
What fell now?!
No, you cannot get that out right now!

All I can think about it my play.  I'm wondering if I need a cohesive plot or if I can get by with a bunch of somewhat unrelated scenes.  My plan for now is to just write the unrelated scenes and see how it reads.  If it seems too fragmented I'll put in a plot line for filler.  That seems to be the backward way to write a play, but it's working for me.

I've made my prerequisite phone calls for the day.  I called the vet to see if we could do something about George the Cat's medication.  We can't get him to take it.  The one time we got a pill down his throat he vomited it up right away.  So the vet is changing it to a liquid of something else.  That should go easier for us.  I also called the clinic to get Kirstin in for her 4 year check-up.  That's on Wednesday.  I'm pretty certain she has shots coming.  I really hope her daddy can be there because she's going to scream.  And I called in a refill for my prescrip so I can sleep again at night.  My mind's been going too fast and I can't slow it down.  Too many minutes passed by on my clock last night with my knowledge. 

But on the better side, I'm coming out of my winter funk finally.  There are times I swear I have part of me that hibernates or something.  I think that part came back for the warmer weather now.  I'm feeling more upbeat in general.  I actually WANT to be around people again.  I don't have to force myself as much.  And I have a good excuse to have friends over.  Angie just got back from visiting her family in Texas for two weeks.  I missed her greatly during that time.  Catch up time is always a good excuse!

So here's to the rest of the day, and making it be brighter.  I'm thinking naps for the three of us here.  Soft snores from my girls will be a wonderful sound.

I did it!

Very excited.  I did it.  I took the plunge, I walked the wire, I ate the spicy pepper?  How else can I phrase that? 

I joined Script Frenzy.  I played with the idea for weeks now, ever since Mary mentioned it to me.  I just signed up.  I know I will get nowhere near 100 pages.  I just want to write my one little script.  Instead of earlier ideas, I've found something else.  A fun look at communication.  The idea came to me as I watched teens texting, tweeting, facebooking, etc.  And from my own conversations with the dear supportive husband. 

I have this tendency to not voice all my thoughts when I talk to him.  I have ideas and the like, and I'll start in the middle of the conversation.  Then I have to backtrack after saying, "Oh, you weren't there for that part of the conversation, were you?"

And of course he wasn't.  It was all in my head. 

A good example:
I'll be thinking about getting something for Kirstin for her birthday, and I'll start the conversation with Matt like this:

Me: You know, I don't know if that would be a good idea for Kirstin.
Matt: Umm...What?
Me: Well, the thing I was thinking earlier.
Matt:  Okay...
Me: Oh, you weren't there for that part of the conversation, were you?

That type of conversation happens often.  Maybe it's from being with the kids so much, I don't know.  We laugh every time it happens though.  Then I have to go back and fill him in on what he missed.  If he could just read minds, life would be easier. 

But so excited, and so much to do!  Oh boy...I can do this, I can do this, I can do this....

Birthdays and Cold Feet

This was taken in May of this last year.  It doesn't reflect how grown up she is now, but does show how pixie-like she is.  My baby is four today!  She's lost a lot of her pudginess and is growing up so fast!  Sometimes I wish life just had a pause button.  It's bad enough that I have to get older, but my kids have to get older too?

Of course, Kirstin finds turning a year older great fun.  And why wouldn't she?  This year we had a party planned for her, but it got postponed due to weather.  Instead Grandpa and Grandma stayed the night at our house and she got her "big gift" from us: a new to her wooden train set, complete with table and storage drawers.  We went against our own advice and got something big, once again.  And because Grandpa and Grandma stayed with us, she got to help pump up their air mattress, and how fun is that!?

And on top of all of that, the next morning we went to church, and Grandpa and Grandma went with us.  After church, instead of Sunday School, she got to have her birthday party with all of her friends and her other set of grandparents too!  Yay!  She got to play games and eat cake and ice cream right after church.

And now she's officially four.  As of six o'clock this morning.  I feel a little old when she says, "And next year I'll be five and can ride the school bus!"  It's been a wonderful four years, and cheers for another wonderful year to come!

Now, on the serious side...

I HATE COLD FEET AT NIGHT!  And no, I'm not talking about Matt's.  I'm talking about my own.  Lately my feet have had their own thermostat or something.  The heat turns off as soon as they hit the sheets.  And those toes get downright icy.  I have an absolutely wonderful husband who allows me to put them on his warm legs and indeed, he'll put his legs over them to help warm them up.  And that's great.  It works, somewhat.  But, then inevitably I'll have to move back to my own side of the bed and once again they get icy.  I even put them under my own legs in an attempt to warm them up.  Nothing seems to work.  Not even a cat sleeping on them works.  Socks don't work either.  I just have to tough it through until they warm up.  Because of course I can't sleep until they do get warm.  I even go through a nightly ritual of "mind over matter" and imagine the heat from the rest of my body flowing down to my feet.  And they still remain rather frigid.  Ugh.

And yet, once I do get to sleep, I wake up and toss the covers off because I'm too warm.  Is there no happy medium?

I will achieve the just right temperature sometime.  I just don't know when.  And until then...TV turned low, captions on, and mixed attempts to regulate...It's all I can do.