A little catching up to do

Things have, of course, been as crazy as ever around this household. We have had Alicia's birthday, Thanksgiving, illness, 3 cats have died, craziness, the usual. I'm going to copy and paste some things that I have posted on various sites that I frequent; mainly because I'm so tired. I'm going to try to post some pictures on the photo blog as well, but it hasn't worked so well for me the last few times. I want to point out that the first cat gone was a very small kitten we rescued from our backyard. She was really too young to be separated from her mother and didn't stand much chance.

Nov. 21, 2005
We have old cats. I mean, really old cats. Not a one of them is younger than 11. Mike and I have always known that the end would be coming for them, sooner or later, and probably sooner. We used to say to each other, "Once the first one goes, it probably won't be long before the others follow."

I wish we hadn't said that.

Perla died early Friday morning. Okay, she was my mother-in-law's cat that we inherited. She was a full-blooded Persian, with the face that looked as if someone had whacked her with a flat shovel. They have a lot of problems and aren't expected to live a really long time. Basically, about 12 years was a long life for her. We knew it was coming for awhile. I was sad for Mike as that was his mom's favorite cat, but I wasn't really attached to her.

This morning, at 1 am, Target died. I'm so silly; I feel like crying even now. Mike woke me up and I went out into the living room and pet my cat and said goodbye. For some reason, Alicia wandered out into the living room. She never wakes up in the middle of the night. I told her that Target was dying and asked if she wanted to say goodbye. She said yes and walked over, pet him and said she loved him and goodbye. Then, he died. He took his last faltering breath and was gone. Mike and I were both crying and Alicia said to me, "Daddy told me that sometimes cats get old and sick and they die so they don't suffer anymore." Then she went back to bed. This morning, she asked if he was gone and I said yes and she said, "I thought so."

Target was my cat. He adopted me when he was a kitten and I was only 22. Mike and I were moving into a new place and he walked in on the first night as if he owned the place and he never left. When Mike and I were going through difficult times 8 years ago, Target cuddled with me and watched, "While You Were Sleeping" about 40 times. When my children were born and brought home, Target was there, sniffing them out and watching. For an old cat, he was so gentle and patient with them. He endured endless hair pulling, kids laying on him because he was so cuddly and being carried around by Alicia as if he were one of her stuffed animals.

I miss you already, Target.

Nov. 29, 2005
So, for the second time in about a week's span, Reece has locked himself into the master bath. Of course, Mike sleeps right through any ruckus that occurs in the bathroom/bedroom area. I think a freight train could come screaming through and he'd only mumble, "Five more minutes, please, I'm sooooo tired."
We have the safety doorknob covers on the bedroom door, but Alicia has known for quite sometime how to circumvent those. She left the bedroom door wide open for the little man to get in. I am, of course, in the living room, blissfully unaware of the goings-on in the other room because I'm doing things like folding laundry, rinsing dishes and picking things up.

Then, I hear water running. I hit the first bathroom and find Alicia trying to refill a bottle of bubbles. I usher her out but still hear water. I head for my bathroom. The door was locked. Knocking on the door and yelling threats did, naturally, nothing. Why would he be scared when mom can't even get in the room?

To the front yard I went. Luckily (for me, not him), I left the window cracked open a bit this morning. I had to heft myself up and through the window. I swear, my old neighbors would have called the cops. Thank goodness they've moved and the new neighbors have kids. I figure they'll be much more understanding of my breaking and entering skills used on my own home.
It's not a large window and I have long legs. While the length of my legs makes it easier to get to the window, it doesn't help in getting through the window. I kind of end up doing the splits with one foot on the brickwork and the other dangling through to the bathroom, hoping to find the countertop.
I finally managed to hoist myself through without falling to certain injury on either side of the wall and get the door unlocked and Reece all dried. All I can say is, there is a doorknob cover going on that door now and I am glad I have lost weight, because hefting an extra 25 pounds through there wouldn't be easy. Oh yeah, it doesn't help that the cold weather made the arthritis in my back flare up this morning. I'm too old for this stuff.

Dec. 2, 2005
I realized today that there are only 3 weekends until Christmas weekend!! Man, time has flown!! I was going to order my dad a gift online, but they are backordered until Jan. 6, so now I have to come up with something else. I think I may go drag in the tree and decorations today as it isn't raining. It's actually sunny and pretty outside.

My van is hurt. The check engine light came on and I took it in. The intake manifold is cracked. It's a very expensive and time-consuming job. Luckily, my good friend Dawn has a wonderful husband who works on cars and is much cheaper than the dealership. It's still a blow before Christmas, however. Dawn, you should have a great Christmas!!!

It has to be fixed, though, especially if we are going to Oregon the day after Christmas, which we are. I need to go out and buy some snowboots and long
johns for the family. Guess what they're getting for Christmas!!

Dec. 7, 2005
My best friend Donna and I went to tea today. One of the shops in town was having a tea/fashion show. We know the woman who was putting on the fashion show and when she found out that we were booked for the first tea, she strongly hinted that she needed models for the afternoon.

It was the most fun that I have had in a long time. The tea was very yummy. I ordered a cherry vanilla tea, which was perfect. We ate a fruit salad with a yogurt dressing, tea sandwiches (the salmon was delicious!) and scones with scrumptious lemon spread. I got a completely decadent chocolate cake for dessert, and of course, Donna did as well.

The models circulated among the tables during the meal and showed off their outfits, describing everything as they went. Once we were finished eating, it was our turn.

Cindy's Doodads, the shop for which we modeled, is a higher end store. Most of her customers are 40 and up. My theory is that they are the ones who can afford it because their kids are more likely to be grown and gone. I got to try on such beautiful clothes, and wear them around. Altogether I think I modeled 8 different outfits; every one of them was gorgeous. I also got to wear sparkly watches, beautiful jewelry and an awesome hat. I wish we had taken pictures of each other!! Cindy did take a picture of me in what I called my "opera outfit" so I'll try to get a copy of it. As a thank you to us, she let us pick one item at half price. I bought a cool black crocheted skirt that was originally $70. I'm always amazed at the ladies who look at the prices and say, "Oh, that jacket is $135.00? That's not bad at all." I'm thinking, my goodness, it's thin and just an accessory! $68.00 for the awesome black purse with tiny sparkly stars? Oh, that's nothing to these women.

The last thing I modeled (we got to pick out our own clothes) was a red Christmas T-shirt that had "Dear Santa, I want everything!" spelled out in rhinestones and a black slinky skirt, red beaded ring, red and rhinestone watch and the black starry purse. I picked the top because I wanted everything I wore today.

It was really fun, but my feet are killing me now. I guess I shouldn't walk around for 3 hours in 3-inch heeled boots. I know Cindy made a killing, because almost every woman that I saw at the tea ended up buying something at the boutique. Wish she had given me more......haha.

Dec. 9, 2005
I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. It was a bit of a lazy day; I didn't get showered until 9 am. Highly unusual, but I recovered.

The rest of the day hasn't been as great. Hmmmmm....where to begin......I took the kids to the store with me. I had to exchange some boots I bought for my niece Anayla and of course Reece wouldn't exactly behave in the store. At some point, while I was driving or getting out of the van or something, I got a kink in my neck. There's good kink and there's bad kink. This is bad kink. So, I'm half carrying a two and half year old by the straps of his overalls and begging him to put his feet down and walk and trying not to move my neck because sharp, shooting pains occur when I do.

That errand was accomplished and we headed to the grocery store. I took longer than I wanted, due to the fact that I had to twist my entire upper body to look at anything. I got an iced mocha for me and a latte for Mike. Reece managed to spill half the latte on the floor while trying to pick up the drink carrier.

Later, we're at home, and Reece has managed to make it a naked day. He has figured out how to get out of his overalls, somehow. He came up to me in his shirt and nothing else and let me know that he had pooped. Of course, the diaper was in the hall, and the contents weren't all contained. Yuck! I hate that. While I'm cleaning him (and the floor) up, I notice that he has a big hole in the front of his shirt, with suspiciously clean edges. I surmise that it was done by scissors. He tries to distract me, "Ew Mama!! Stinky!!" I keep asking him how it happened, but he's pleading innocent. I give up and punish him for totally ruining his shirt.

Later, I ask again what happened to the shirt. He says, "Sheesha did it." I hear from the bathroom, "Reece!! I was just cutting a string!" He had a string hanging from his shirt and she decided to cut it and in the process sliced the shirt to ribbons. She got in trouble and he got an apology. Haha!! He tells on her now!! She isn't getting away with as much now. She'll say, "Reece started it." and he'll say, "No, you start it!"

Speaking of Alicia, she is now dubbed the "Punk Rock Princess". I took pictures of her outfit, for posterity. She wants to dress herself and the result is kind of funny. I think she'll be the next Betsey Johnson and make a fortune dressing other people in ill-conceived get-ups.

Here is the punk rock princess, in all her glory. What you can't see is the tulle veil she attached to her hairband....(**note - the picture will be in the picture blog)

Dec. 10, 2005
As you can see, this has been a hectic time. I didn't even post about Thanksgiving, Ali's birthday on Thanksgiving or her party the following Sunday. I will, however, post some pictures in the other blog.