The Cat That Wasn't Really Lost (Also Titled: Why I Drank Three Glasses of Wine Last Night)

Prior to leaving to pick the boys up from school yesterday, I gave our sweet kitten a nice big bowl of stinky canned cat food. She was happily gulping it down when I left.

Upon arriving home from school we had a nice little visit from Aunt Roxanne and Uncle Ron who were passing through KC in their way home from a vacation.  We all sat and chatted for a few minutes in the family room. Then the boys went cat hunting. Aunt Roxanne assured them that she had seen the cat. Pet the cat. Held the cat.

After thirty minutes of searching and reassuring the boys that the cat HAD to be inside because all the doors had been shut since we walked in from school, I realized that the back door had been left open. Crap!

So the search continued. And continued. And continued. Three hours of searching. One boy in his room crying. Another boy not really understanding that when I say, "I have no idea where the cat could be", what I really mean is, "Ah crap. We've lost the cat. I'm done. No more pets for me. I can't take this anymore."

Then, while one crying boy sat on my lap, we found the cat. In the ottoman.

Now, you're probably asking yourself, "How could you not see the cat on the ottoman?"

Just to be clear, I said IN the ottoman.

Here, let me show you.

Here's the ottoman in the family room where we sat talking. Pretty innocent looking, right?

 

 

Ahhh, but here's the ottoman turned upside down.

 

 

 

Here, take a closer look. See how that one edge is pulled away from the structure of the ottoman? Our sweet kind little kitten pulled the fabric away from the staples to make a nice cozy little hammock for herself.

 

 

 

So when you are frantically searching for your cat that is in a food coma from all the yummy deliciously smelly canned food she just ate, she is sound asleep IN the ottoman like this.

 

 

So, when you move the ottoman FOUR times just to make sure she is not underneath, you can't see her sleeping IN the ottoman. Not a peep from her. No meowing. No purring, No scratching or moving. Remember, she is in a full bellied sleep coma.

 

As the boys and I searched the house for THREE hours carrying around an open can of cat food to lure her out, we had no idea she was IN the very ottoman that I sat on while typing my lame "lost cat" post on Facebook. I am certain Cookie was laughing silently at me the whole time.

 

While I know there is a lesson to be learning in this, I am not sure what it is.

 

On second thought maybe it's "Always keep a stocked bar", because that's what I needed after three hour of searching and two stressed out kids.





Two Things

Two things happened today.

Cam asked me to tie his shoes. Specifically he said, "Mommy, will you tie my shoes?" He said mommy. My heart melted.

Tonight at bedtime Colin held out his arms as he was crawling into bed for me to give him a hug. He held on for a long time. And then whispered in my ear, "Mom, I really love you". My heart melted.

My boys are growing up so fast and yet they are both still so young. Today took me back years ago when nap times and sippy cups defined my days.

Sometimes it's hard to love the season that we are in. I desperately miss those sticky kisses and pudgy boy fingers wrapped around my neck.

I love my big boys but I miss my little boys too.

Dear Muscle Head...

Dear Muscle Head (and your Muscle Head Friend Blocking My Car),

I have a very busy schedule today. In the time that it took you to roll out of bed and arrive at the gym, I have already packed school lunches, dropped both kids off at school, paid some bills, read the newspaper, exercised for an hour and thirty minutes and stopped by the post office. Now I need to shower, do a load of laundry, plant the three mums I bought this weekend, wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, balance out my household budget, go to the grocery store and find a solution for world peace all before I pick up my kids at 3:30pm.

But I digress, back to the subject, could you please kindly NOT block my super cool mini van in the ever packed Lifetime Fitness parking lot when I walk out at 9:40am? I realize the parking lot is full but it appears to me that you and your muscle headed buddy are either stupid or rude. Maybe a little of both.

Your God's gift to women (aged 22-28) attitudes have no effect of my late-thirties brain. Yes, you have super human biceps and your quads scrape together as you walk. But I rock some amazing crows feet near my eyes that can only be placed there by years of sleep deprivation due to my stellar parenting skills of walking and rocking my babies while they screamed each night. You don't come by my extra pounds and twitchy bad back easily. You have to work on years of stress eating, baby lifting, lego floor playing and mac n cheese dinners to look like this.

Hence, the reason I am AT a fitness club. Last week I was in la la land as I exercised at 1pm. I should have known better than to arrive mid-morning rush but it seems that you are in no rush. You are standing there drinking your crap GNC protein shake (I can see the four pound canister sitting in your beat up Impala) talking about God know's what with your sidekick Robin in his way too tight matchy matchy outfit.

Your mothers would be embarrassed at your treatment of elders. As I walked to my car and pointed saying, "This is my car", I assumed you would understand that my tired, sweaty body was getting ready to leave. Instead you checked yourself in the mirror five more times. I'm not sure why you were checking yourself in the mirror since you literally had no hair. Again, maybe due to your crap GNC shake.

I know I sound angry but I'm really not. I'm dismayed. The fact that you and your buddy could stand in the parking lot talking with his car sitting idle directly behind mine is baffling to me.
I thought that by starting my car and putting it in reverse, you might take the hint. Maybe years of too loud music piped into your ears while you lift massive weights has made you deaf. Or maybe at some point those massive weights were dropped on your head.

Here's the kicker, when I finally got out of my car and asked you and your friend to move, I realized you were both actually employees of the gym. Bravo. Now I have your names from your cute shiny name tags. I'm pretty sure it's frowned upon to treat your guests like a nuisance to your otherwise very busy and important job.

I was a little awestruck to be in the gym last week. With all the shiny equipment, flashing televisions and never ending supplies of towels, you had me hooked. Then this morning I drove into a packed parking lot, had to witness lots of naked ladies in the locker room, felt like an out of date idiot in my one good work out shirt while all the cute thin little ladies ran a 6.30 mile in their perfectly thought out running gear. From start to finish I felt out of place, out of touch and out of breath.

The parking lot debacle left a bad feeling in my brain and a tiny bit of resentment that I'm almost 40. I'll still make it to the gym tomorrow but probably not until 1pm. I think I'll go eat a cookie now.

The "Lazy" Summer 2013

The kids and I make a list every summer of the activities we want to do during our lazy summer days. As you might suspect, this list makes the summer not so lazy.

While some people make easy summer lists that include things like "catch a frog" or "blow bubbles in the back yard", our list is easy for the kids but sometimes difficult for me. Weather, attitudes, budget, and Steve's availability all play a role in how I plan our activities.

With that said, summer is fun but exhausting. Isn't that how it should be though? I have my moments of longing for the kids to be back in school but for the most part, I enjoy having my kids home. I enjoy seeing them decompress, laugh and be carefree. Being carefree takes a lot of work!


Here's our list and what we've done so far.....

COMPLETED!

GO TO NEIGHBORHOOD POOL

Like, a zillion times.

 



PLAY DATES

Both kids have had several play dates.

 



FIREWORKS AT UNCLE TOM'S AND AUNT STEFF'S

So. Much. Fun!

 



 

 

MAKE STEPPING STONES 

We missed doing this last year because of our move.

 

GO TO STARBUCKS WITH MRS. ZIMA

Cam's First Grade teacher. Love her!

 





GO TO ROYALS GAME

Two games so far.

  



GO TO THE MALL

 

Of course, they can't be away from video games for very long.

 

TABLE ROCK LAKE

 

Double bonus since we were with the Lee's!

 

 

 

 

SEE A MOVIE

Ironically we have seen Monster's University and Despicable Me Two but had our photo taken with a Turbo sign.

 



SCIENCE CITY



Steve showing off his robot skills.

 



PICK FRUIT FROM AND ORCHARD

Blackberries!

 







SILVER DOLLAR CITY

 

We are now season ticket holders.

 

 

 

 

SEE FAMILY 

 

Yes, the Lee's are family.

 



 

Aunt Roxanne and Uncle Ron came for a weekend visit.

 

On the boat with the Silva's!

 



 



FISHING

 

This was early in the summer but it just got too hot!

 







JOIN LIBRARY READING CLUB (NO MUSH BRAINS THIS SUMMER)
No photos of them reading. :-(


WORLDS OF FUN

Hanging out with Snoopy.

 

 

Can you spot Colin, Cam, Steve and Uncle Ron?

 

 



OCEANS OF FUN

Colin got stung by a wasp on the walk over to Oceans of Fun so he sat and waited for his brother for 2 hours. He did get his feet wet the last 5 minutes we were there. The wasp sting is still a little swollen. Keeping an eye on it.

 



CAMPING

 

Again, early in the summer so we'll have to do it again when it's cooler.

 



LEGO DISCOVERY

We spent 6 hours at Lego Discovery. That's a little hard to do but they managed.

 



STILL ON OUR LIST
CAMP SILVA (HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON ME AND I'M NOT SURE I HAVE IT IN ME) 
GREAT WOLF LODGE
COLORADO (SAD TO SAY WE HAVE CANCELED OUR AUG. TRIP)
TYE DYE SHIRTS (ALREADY HAVE ALL THE SUPPLIES)
NASCAR RACE (I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THEY RACE IN THE SUMMER??)
KALEIDOSCOPE
DEANNA ROSE
SCHLITTERBAHN

Only a few weeks of summer left. :-( I'm not sure we'll be able to get to everything left on or list (Nascar race??) but we're going to have fun trying!

Questions??

These are the questions bouncing around in my head today. If you have any great answers, feel free to share! I'd love to hear them!

1. Why do so many people around here drive UNDER the speed limit?

2. When is my dog going to stop shedding her winter coat in globs?

3. What must be going through my 9 year olds emotional brain that he has worn his "last day of school" shirts from the last three years over the last three days this week?

4. Why can't I come up with a video game idea like mine craft or a mutli-million dollar create your own stuffed animal idea? So simple yet so lucrative.

5. How can it already be 80% humidity at 8am?

6. What is the fascination that children have with eating meals on the couch?

7. How come neither of my children are inclined to really want to play in traditional sports?

8. How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? (Just wanted to make sure you were still reading.....)

9. Why do you have to be so old to realize how great you had it when you were young?

10. Who says minivans aren't cool? I drive mine like a sports car so therefor, it must be cool. (Refer back to question #1.)

To My Husband on Father's Day

To my husband on Father's Day....all I can say is that our kids adore you. They are entranced everyday when you teach them. Everyday you hug them, kiss them and tell them you love them. When you take time out of your busy day to jump on the trampoline or throw a baseball to them, you make them feel like the most important people in the world. You are an encourager, a role model and a great father to our boys. I could not have asked for a better person to spend my life with. Here are a few pictures taken throughout the years that just how how you take time everyday to put smiles on their faces.