Curtin Call

It’s sad to say but I must say it – “Boy, am I glad that’s over!”  Christmas was very strange for me this year.  My brother, who has the foster boy that they’re hoping to adopt, refused to go anywhere on Christmas, this being their first year with the child they’ve always wanted in their home.  I can’t say I blame them.

My sister, who has 3 daughters (18, 16 and 7) refused to leave their house this year as they did last year. 

These two siblings live within one mile of each other and neither of them would budge 1/8 of an inch so that we could all be together to open our gifts with our parents like we’ve done every other year of my life.

Since I was invited to my brothers but never heard from my sister, we drove the 40 or so miles to his house to exchange gifts and then we went home and had friends over.

Yet, in all of this, I ended up the bad guy?!?!?!    I just don’t get it.

Yes, you’re reading correctly.  I have a plant that actually makes me feel old:

That plant was actually given to me by a childhood friend.  Without giving too much away, that means that that plant is 30+ years old.  How can that be?

This picture actually doesn’t do it any justice.  It’s actually much bigger than it appears.  The picture wasn’t taken to show off the plant, it was actually taken to show the color of the walls.  A coworker and I were discussing wall colors and her living room is a dark hunter green and her bedroom is a very deep maroon.  Another coworker piped in that her kitchen is the same bright red that is in our new office.

I tend to go with pastels.  My bedroom is a pretty mauve:

And my living room/dining room/hallway are a very pale yellow.  I hope to have a peach bathroom soon and sometime thereafter, a baby blue kitchen.  I think I just find light colors to be more relaxing and after the insanity of any given day in my life, relaxing when I arrive home is just right!

So, how about you?  Do you prefer dark colors or light?  Why?

Brian managed to get Shadow into his carrier and off to the vet yesterday.  If you ask him how he did it, he’ll tell you he “offered him an ultimatum”.

I’m happy to report that the vet called to let us know that he is out of surgery and resting comfortably.

We call at 3:30 to see what time he’ll be ready to go home.  I’m hoping I can pick him up on my way home, if Brian isn’t able to pick him up earlier than that.  I miss him!!!

So, the question has been asked – when IS Shadow going to get “fixed”?  Tuesday.  Yup.  That’s the plan.  We’ll bring him in after work on Monday (there’s someone at the vet’s office 24 hours a day to watch them).  And he’ll get fixed Tuesday.  Yup.  That’s the plan.

Yeah.  Right.

Twice now, I’ve tried to post a nice update.  The first time I decided to bounce out and add another picture and when I came back, the post was gone.

So, I started again and did the entire post.  When I went to create the news item, I had to go over to another application and when I came back – poof! – gone again.

So, here it is.  A nice short, boring post for all my followers to  read so that I can see if this blog is still working without frustrating myself to the point of no return.

Hope everyone is well.

Okay.  So, today was supposed to be “the” day for Shadow! 

As you may have read previously, Shadow does not want to go to the vet.  He actually makes it quite clear that he will not go to the vet.  However, after four attempts and a bit of trickery on my part, I managed to get him in last month for his second shot.

When leaving the vet that time, they suggested that I bring him back on December 4th, between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. to get his final shot and to be “fixed”.  Yeah.  Right.  Just like that.  Waaahaaahaaaa!  They are funny.

As I was getting prepared to attempt to trick him into letting me get him in the carrier this morning, he once again made it very clear that he would not go to the vet.  Now, I know this sounds rather harsh but since he was not able to eat or drink after midnight, I figured my only weapon in this war on vet visits would be food.  So I sprinkled a few niblets on the kitchen floor  (which he prefers over the bowl anyway) and as he bent to take a bite, I went in for the grab.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough and he flew (almost literally) down the hallway and under the spare bed.

So, out comes the box of food again and this time, I pour some into his metal bowl and sure as heck, here he comes!  I again go in for the scoop and he again takes off down the hallway and under the spare bed.

Okay, I think.  I’ll get him!  So I proceed to close the doors to all the bedrooms which will leave him only the bathroom to hide for cover.  I figure if I can get him in the bathroom, he’s all mine!  Yeah.  Right.

So, down the hallway he goes again, this time confused for just a brief moment when he discovers the doors closed!  Ah, ha, I think!  I’ll get him now!  Yeah.  Right.  Rather than get himself trapped in the bathroom, that cat did a 180 faster than I could blink and came running back at full speed to get downstairs.  Unfortunately, I was in the way and he barreled into my shin at such a speed that I thought I would be knocked to the ground.

Now, I was concerned for him  because I figured with the pain I was feeling in my leg from this collision, he would have been all but passed out (which would, of course,  have made it easier to get him in the carrier but we wouldn’t want things to be that simple).  So, downstairs I went and in my search, went into the storage room only to have him go running out of that room, once again at break neck speeds and back up the stairs!  I did peek again, and he was lying under the pool table and actually allowed me to get within a few feet and he appeared to be back to his purring self so all should be well in that department.

Needless to say, Shadow didn’t get to the vet today and in his efforts to be certain that he did not, I darn near needed a visit to the medical center myself!