Kittens

Oy.  Toot Toot was noticeably slimmer last night when she stopped by for dinner.  I've checked under our shed - but didn't see any evidence of kittens.

I did find a Trap-Neuter-Release program here in New Orleans.  I've left a detailed message for the owner of the non-profit.  Hopefully since we've gotten the three "regulars" that come by at pretty standard times, the non-profit will be able to live trap the kitties and spay/neuter them.  I wish I knew where the kittens were stashed -- I'll have to keep looking.  They must be close...

Atticus is really sad that Toot Toot doesn't want to live with him in his house... He knows that she's still scared of people, but he's really been trying to talk to her nicely when he puts food out in the mornings. She's tame enough now that she'll stay within 5-8 feet of the door (cowering under the sand/water table) - but if you make any sudden movements, she'll still go running.

Feral Cats

Hmmm... seems we're now up to four feral cats in our backyard.  "New Toot-Toot" appeared tonight.  This little lady is a spitting image of Toot-Toot, but just a tad bit darker.  NTT also appears to be rather round in the belly as is Toot-Toot.  I'd love to do some sort of spay-release on them, but we can't get anywhere near them without the cats scattering to the winds.  Toot-Toot is the least scared -- she'll actually stay on the porch (within about 10 feet of me/kids) when we put the food out, but the others go a running.  I'll bet with some patience and treats, I could get Toot-Toot to come around -- but with only 9 days left, I don't think I'll have the time!

Kate Spade

There is some kind of wicked sale going on at KateSpade.com.  I found out about it early on Facebook.  I know, right?  The catch -- I think I'm in love with at least a dozen of the handbags (and let's not even mention the shoes).   Apparently the sale is still top secret -- I can't even find a link from their main page!

The bright colors of the Wellesley Quinn... (I'm rather fond of the orange sherbert), the oh so girly Wellesley Rachelle in pink.....the vivid green of Southport Avenue Cameron.  Grant Park Shelby in red is totally an everyday sort of bag, isn't it?

But I digress... maybe if I go sell some more stuff on Craigslist, I can justify a purchase?  :-)

Oh Boy, More Rain

Where is Noah?  Seriously folks... it's been raining here for at least 40 days and 40 nights.  The town is floating away.  Greg saw a manhole cover actually come lose and wobble around with all the flooding! It's just a matter of time.

I couldn't get to the grocery store because the road was flooded and I was afraid the car would get stuck in the water.  No joke.  There was that much standing water on Tchop -- that the cars were turning around.

Normally, I'd love a nice rainy weekend - curled up with a good book, a movie, some coffee or a glass of wine.....  Sigh.  It's an entirely different experience with two out of control kids who just want to get OUT!  I know it's a blessing to have such active children.  But... when it's only just after 10 am and you've already done puzzles, painted with water colors, pounded some play-doh, read a book and destroyed the living room -- you just need to get outside.

Not sure what NYC will bring, but at least there will be other kids in the building and maybe I can let the kids run the stairs or something to burn energy if we can't get outside???

You Have to be Kidding

Wow.  It really must be an election year.  I am normally pretty go with the flow - I follow the topics and vote, but I never feel the need to stand up and shout my feelings/opinions.

I saw THIS STORY on the news this morning and about fell over.  Yes, he's said he may have misspoke, but seriously -- how can one say this even "off the cuff"??  "Legitimate rape doesn't result in pregnancy?" Oh... so nice to know there's legitimate rape and illegitimate rape.  And.... that only the illegitimate kind can cause pregnancy!!!  OY VEY.  That was the reason this ding-dong gave for disagreeing with abortion.  Had he said anything along the lines of the value of all life, the medical risks, anything.....

Regardless of where I stand on any other issue -- these sentiments are enough to make me vote for the other party.

I'm honestly speechless.

Infuriating

This can go along with the earlier post about how nothing in this city works like it should... Atticus had a 9 am appointment this morning for his four year old vaccines.  At 9:20, I went to inquire as to why we were still sitting in the waiting room.  Someone went to go "check".  At 9:35, she comes back and says there was an administration error of sorts and even though the system showed us as checked in, the doctor had never actually ordered the shots.  I wrongly assumed that by 9:35 when she came to tell me this that they had discovered their error, spoken to the doctor and we would be taken back any moment (after the doctor signed the "orders").

At 9:45, I pretty much had steam coming out of my ears as I was trying to wrangle two kids in the waiting room while every other kid got called back.  Through gritted teeth let the receptionist know that I was NOT happy and could they please speed things along.  When the nurse opened the door to call back someone else, she looked at me and repeated what the first lady had said and apologized for the wait.  Seriously?  Poor Atticus was just about beside himself by this point.  It's bad enough he had to get shots but to make him sit in anticipation for an hour was just bloody ridiculous.

I was just about ready to tell them forget it, we were leaving when a different nurse called us back.  From the time they called us to the room until we were back in the car?  8 minutes.  No joke.

What a crock.

The only upside is that Atticus was already slightly worn out from the random fever a couple days ago, and now with the four shots today -- both kids are actually napping at the same time.

I've cleared out a bunch of crap from under my sink and under the kids sink.  I'm about to go take some more pictures of stuff to post on Craigslist.  We've only got a week and a half and I'd love to get some more stuff sold!!!

Politics, Smolitics...

I've decided that FB really isn't the place to voice my political values or my personal thoughts on most deep matters.  This may not be the best venue either... but here's an abbreviated version of my two cents.

Chick-fil-A serves great food.  They have fantastic service with genuinely caring employees.  I needed to get out of the house today and since we can't go to the parks or any other outdoor setting (hot, muggy, rainy, west nile carrying mosquitos...) we headed to CFA for dinner and to play.  The employees helped me wrangle the kids while ordering.  They brought the food over to my table.... the woman who took my order caught me looking around with a funny look and came over to see if I needed anything.  (We had just started eating when Atticus decided he needed to go to the bathroom!)  The lovely employee actually sat down at the table and stayed with Wren so I could take Atticus to the restroom.  Seriously.  And then she refilled my sweet tea.

I don't agree with the Mr. Cathy's views, but that's OK.  I don't have to.  I appreciate the majority of his values and I think the company as a whole does good things within the communities where they operate.  I think it's ridiculous for people to want to ban a restaurant from operating within city limits because you don't agree with their views.  I think it's wrong for people to vandalize a restaurant because you disagree with someone's opinion.  I think it's wrong to give money to organizations that promote hate of anyone.  I think it's wrong to hate someone you've never met.  I think it's wrong to think that your way of thinking is the only way of thinking.  I also think it's OK to disagree.  That's one of the joys of living here.  We don't have to agree.  You like drinking from plastic cups and I prefer glass - that's OK.  You like to wear socks with your sandals and I think you look ridiculous.  That's OK too.  Etc, etc.

I'm starting to think there needs to be a Karma party.  Just be a good person.  Be nice to those around you.  Don't do bad things.  I suppose that's the problem tho... we each have our own idea of what "good" means.  Sigh.

Eh.  Will I probably eat less CFA knowing that they donate money to organizations I disagree with - maybe.  I certainly won't announce going forward to anyone when I choose to eat or not eat there.  Oy. I'm not sure I'm making any sense.  It's late and I'm just typing because I don't want to call someone this late on a random Saturday night.  :)

Overnight Thoughts

When I went to wake Atticus up this morning (I know - crazy enough, right?) the first thing he said to me -- no joke:

"Mommy, I don't think I'm going to have very much fun at Pops' Birthday Party."

Huh?  We've been talking a lot about birthdays lately due to all the parties and the kids have asked whose birthday is next.  They know that Pops' birthday is next -- but what a silly thing to have been thinking about right before he woke up!  I wonder what he thinks we'll do for Pops' birthday when we're in town?  :-)

Maybe we can take Pops out to the indoor trampoline place that my friend just told us about?  Check out Got Jump.  I seriously can not wait to take Atticus.  He's going to have so much fun!  Thanks CM for the recommendation!!

Inept.

I know there are a lot of nice things about New Orleans.  In theory.  But there seems to be a serious case of ineptitude here.  The simplest things prove so difficult!  We were expecting a delivery today between 4-6.  Greg just got a call to reschedule for this Saturday because the subcontractor apparently didn't show up.  Seriously.

This weekend, I ordered take out -- and got home only to realize that one of the entrees was missing.  She even read the order back to me while handing me the bag of food.

There is a sewer line (?) or something that involves a manhole cover just down the road from our house.  Part of the street is caving in around the cover.  At least a foot worth of caving in... a couple of weeks ago, two orange cones appeared to "mark" the spot.  Then someone stole the cones.  They lasted a few days.  Nothing else has been done...

I had one other recent example from the past week, but I'm not recalling it now...

23 Days.

Disappointment.

Atticus was so excited about Eve's birthday party... right up until the moment it was cancelled.  SIGH.  The party was supposed to be today at an actual gymnasium.  With a trampoline.  And a balance beam.  And a PIT!  How dare the birthday girl choose this weekend to come down with the crud! 

He has asked if I can find someplace in New York that has a trampoline.  I suppose I'll add that to the to-do list, right after finding a pre-school. 

Sweet Dreams Grady

To cap off an already long and exhausting weekend, Grady wasn't feeling well and had already been into the vets a few days earlier.  By Monday morning, he was starting to slip away and my Mom had to make the decision to have him put to sleep.  To be honest, I know it was cancer and his kidneys that were failing -- but I truly believe that he was just heartsick without his brother.  Those two boys were a pair of odd ball kitties.  I still swear that they were normal up until the flight to Dallas that forever changed their lives.  My parents weren't "cat people" yet they took in my two little ones and loved them for 12 plus years.  We will certainly miss the little milk mustaches and Grady's head butting... but I know that he isn't in any pain now. 

Sweet dreams kitty cat.  I miss you.  The house won't be the same when I come to visit...

Fun Times - (Note the sarcasm)

Let's see... Atticus got sick with some sort of fever/coughing thing.  That lasted about 3 days.  One and a half day reprieve, then Wren woke up with a slight fever yesterday.  By the time she woke up from her nap, the fever had spiked to over 102 and she was having trouble breathing.  I was able to get in right away with the pediatrician (thankfully) and at the doctor's she received a steroid shot and an albuterol breathing treatment.  About 30 minutes later, she was still wheezing enough that the doctor said she wasn't entirely comfortable sending us straight home.  They have a different kind of inhaled treatment at the ER that works better on the croup type wheezing/strider since it appeared that the albuterol hadn't helped.  Apparently your airways can be restricted either down low (more of the asthma type of issues) or up higher by the vocal cords (croup).  Who knew.  The ER doc said he can normally tell by listening to someone breathe and by seeing if the wheezing sound in on the breath in or the breath out....

Anywho - after a while at the ER, and once Wren stopped screaming for Greg, her breathing slowly seemed to return to normal.  The steroid shot it seemed was finally kicking in.  So, we packed up, paid our $55 and headed home.  We got the kids off to bed, I watched some gymnastics (Go Fab Five) and then turned off the lights downstairs.  After I turned off the lights, I turned to grab my phone and laptop to carry them up when I kicked the foot of the leather recliner and jammed the daylights out of my pinkie toe.  I'm still not sure if it's just jammed or broken. Ugh.

What was supposed to be one of the highlights of the weekend, going to get snoballs (see earlier post) didn't go as planned either.  We packed into the car after naps on Sunday (when everyone was feeling fine) and headed over to Hansen's.  There were a dozen or so folks outside, but we parked the car and got in line.  I never in a million years would have guessed that the line would take well over an hour.  We all stood in the heat for an hour to get a snoball.  Greg was furious.  Eh... the kids loved them, so it all worked out OK.  I actually stopped by again with the kids today on the way home from camp since we were driving past and there wasn't a line (only 3 or 4 folks waiting inside).  I do admit, they're really good snoballs.  Ha!