Karma Payback is a Bitch so We Don't Have to Be

Yesterday was a good day for moping and wallowing with the rain all day: the kind of day when it takes ten minutes to stand in front of the refrigerator staring blankly at the white door before finally remembering to open it. I did my best to go through the motions. I set up this blog. Some laundry was done. A few dishes. I ate soup. The kittens were cuddled and played with, but even they couldn't bring me to smile.


I want to say today was better. I really want to. I think better has to come in small moments for now. It was still raining when I woke up at 5 a.m. to see yesterday's bad news confirmed at the bank. Not the best motivator, to be sure, finding out that your supposed best friend and life's love is intent on screwing you over.


But I had things to do, so I just plugged away doing them. The kittens' pen was cleaned, swept & mopped. I took out the sheets they had been sleeping on when not on the kitten tree. I had noticed they were peeing on one corner, so yesterday I washed an old bed for them. They are loving their new bed!


Delynn at the bank called me to be sure I knew the bad news and the other bad news "I'm looking at it right now. I saw it at 5 this morning."


"Oh, my." We talked a bit more and she said, "Well, I just wanted to be sure it wasn't something that was important to you to get paid."


"Normally, it would be. Then again, normally it wouldn't be bouncing."


Mom coaxed me over for lunch. I realized that I was indeed hungry. Well, I'd forgotten all about eating. That could lead to hunger. After taking care of Daddy, it was time to run errands. Pharmacy and grocery store for me, Home Depot for Mom. I put in Mom's new toilet seat and finally figured out the directions. Sheesh. Recommendation: Never try to install a toilet seat when totally frustrated at your spouse for ignoring it for three or four weekends. Anger and home improvement are best done separately. Ours is broken and only half-assed installed. Worth the $13 dollars, I think, for me to get another one and do it right.


When I made it back home, my toe was aching (the one with which I had kicked his solid oak humidor on Monday). I fed the kennel kitties and then went to get my ice bag from the freezer. I guess its condensation had frozen to his lovely martini glass, the fancy blue one that we had picked out together, because it fell to the floor and broke.


"Oh. Oops. Bummer." I smiled a really gleeful grin for the first time in two days.


And now, for the next Penny Story. August, 2005


Happy Birthday, Penny

Today, Penny is 4 weeks old. To celebrate, she had her first real bath--a Bengal Baptism--in the bathroom sink, nice and warm and pleasant. Now she is also warm and pleasant, with ad elightful Pantene aroma. Sure, she got a bath every time she ate and pooped, but cotton eye pads and warmwater are no substitute for a mama cat's tongue. And even if I had a rough tongue, I'd still draw the line there. No lickin' butts.

Penny had a wonderful pre-birthday celebration at my parents' ranch in the Hill Country of Texas, where I spent the last three days helping to neuter and spay my mom's barn cats. My nephew Robert asked, "Does this mean I have two cousins?" (Rubah being the first.) Penny's Grandma and Aunt Susan made that abundantly clear. The only time I got to give Penny a bottle was in the middle of the night. They cuddled her up in her towel and laughed at the way she bats frantically at the bottle before settling in to nurse.


There are no indoor cats at my parent's ranch, so Penny got to wander all over the house. She sat on Grandma's and Grandpa's feet, and smelled all the wonderfully aromatic socks. She cuddled in the curve of Grandpa's good left armand gave him kisses. (My dad had a stroke 3 years ago and is confined to a wheelchair.) She bounced and waddled and played a bit. I am amazed and delighted every time she acts like a kitten. :)