If she had the proper words to say,

There's only one day left of the boys' holiday vacation, and I know they're sad for it to be over. However, they're very excited to go back to school and begin riding the bus for the first time! All of their snowgear arrived on the 22nd, but their last day before the break was the very next day. That didn't give me enough time to 1) unpack the items (the movers didn't leave that night until 6:30pm), and 2) go to the school to let them know to add them to the bus schedule (which meant I would've gone in on Tuesday morning, and they would've had only the ride home that day... which seemed kinda silly). So, I'll take them to school again on Monday, and while I'm there, I'll head into the office to fill out the bus paperwork. They'll begin riding the bus on Tuesday...

... and I'll begin the jammied, goodbye-kisses-at-the-door! Wheee! (Yeah, I may be even more excited than THEY are! *wink*)

We need to find a larger size 'plate holder' for one of my Coca-Cola® trays in the dining room. We've hung the other ones on the wall, but the largest size we could find was adjustable from 11"-18". My tray is about 20" in length, so no dice. I had the idea of extending the stretchy brackets with zip-ties, but that didn't fully work either. (Philip tried for a good while, too.) We'll find or figure something out, I'm sure.

Speaking of Coca-Cola, we took two of my large puzzles to Hobby Lobby today to be framed. I put these puzzles together about 15 years ago, back in my freshman year of high school. In fact, Philip helped me to make one of them while we were dating. I've carried them from home to home for years, and they've never been on display. I am über-excited to get them back in a couple weeks and put them up in my dining room. Depending on how much I love them (and I'm sure I will!), then I'll take my largest puzzle in to be framed as well. It's about the size of Jack, so it'll be a pretty penny, I know. Still, Hobby Lobby was having a 50% off sale on custom framing, so I figured it was a great time to get them done.

Poor Baby kitty is so frightened of the main level of the house. The living room and the large office both have high ceiling fans, and she is just scared to death of them. Honestly, to see her expression, you'd think there was a giant monster with 200 teeth coming after her. It's been three weeks now, and she's just not warming up to them. The kitties have had their food, water, and litterbox down in the basement, but today, we moved the food up to the office. She has stood in the hallway and mewed at us in the most pitiful voice, and we keep inviting her to join us in one of these rooms. Philip and I have both brought her in here several times to show her the location of the food, calmly petting her and trying to reassure her. The last time Philip did so, she ate about four little kibbles. She'll get there, I know she will, but it's pretty pitiful to see right now.

Kiki, on the other hand, is perfectly happy anywhere now. She was cautious near the fans for the first week or so, but now she's very content. She's currently sleeping on my Coca-Cola bin near the windows while I'm here in the office.

I found a neat, wrought-iron plaque on clearance at Hobby Lobby yesterday with a cut-out design on it, as well as the text, "HOPE." I really waffled on buying it though, as I could see a small scratch in the finish. Philip and I tried to rub it out in the store, and it was almost gone... but I could still see where it was. Even though I thought we might be able to do a better job of it with a cleaner or a special pad at home, I walked away from it. I figured it just wasn't meant to be. I will be keeping an eye out for the perfect "HOPE" decoration this year, as I wanna celebrate and commemorate my word!

I've received a ton more Christmas cards, but I've been remiss this last week in thanking so many of you. Thank you to donnazita, hermioneluna, m1x3d3m0t10n5, and scarletharlot52. A special thank-you also goes out to tabbyfoo!

I'm not sure what the day holds tomorrow after church. Maybe I can get all my guys to sit around the table on our new chairs in our gorgeous dining room and play the new game I picked up - Milles Bornes! I loved that card game when I was growing up, and I hope they like it, too. :-)

Tuck has been pooping outside of the litterbox.

It first began about three years ago. I wrote back then that we were frustrated to no end, that he was pooping right in front of the litterbox, but not IN it. He would pee in there just fine, but he would only poop outside the box. We would clean and clean the floor, as well as use the pet odor neutralizing sprays. The spray only succeeded in him pooping in a slightly different spot than the time before. At the time, we had one very large box for all three of our kitties, and several folks suggesting that he might no longer be willing to share with the girlies. We bought another giant litterbox and immediately all was well.

Until about a year ago, when he began doing it again. By then, we had moved into this house. Once again, we used the sprays and cleaned up everything immediately. We had also begun buying completely new boxes and rugs for the cats' room (they have a rug beneath the two litterboxes, helping to catch the litter from their paws before tracking it all over) every six months. When he started with the behavior last year, we realized it was about time to replace everything again, and we did so. He immediately began using the boxes again.

A little over three weeks ago, he began pooping outside the box again. Twice a day, he would poop in either the office or a little-used corner of the living room. We replaced the boxes and rugs - no success. We tried extra positive attention and loves. We would literally talk to Tuck throughout our entire day, and we would constantly call him up onto the couch or bed to snuggle with us, ignoring the girl kitties in the process. It didn't help at all, either.

( This gets really long. )

I saw this article yesterday, and I thought it was such a cute story (but only because of the happy ending!). You can read it through the link, but I'm also posting it here for myself:

Stowaway Cat Makes It Back Home

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (Jan. 23) - Some kitty math: How many lives did little tabby Gracie Mae use up when she crawled into her owner's suitcase, went through an airport X-ray machine, got loaded onto a plane, thrown onto a baggage belt and mistakenly picked up by a stranger far from home?


Gracie Mae, a 10-month-old tabby, stowed away in her owner's suitcase for a plane trip from Florida to Texas. Once there, a stranger mistakenly picked up the suitcase and brought it home to find the cat inside.

"She's got to be at four or five now," Seth Levy said after his 10-month-old pet was returned Sunday night by a kind stranger who went home to Fort Worth, Texas, with the wrong bag and Gracie inside to boot.

The last time Levy's wife, Kelly, saw Gracie was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old went back to her house in Palm Beach Gardens late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie would usually be waiting, empty.

She tore the house apart looking for the cat, who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with "lost cat" signs.

Then she got a phone call.

"Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out," Kelly Levy quoted the caller saying.

Rob Carter said he made it home with the suitcase before realizing it wasn't his — and there was a big surprise inside.

"I went to unpack and saw some of the clothes and saw it wasn't my suitcase," he said. "I was going to close it, and a kitten jumped out and ran under the bed. I screamed like a little girl."

Carter said that he eventually was able to get the cat to come out from under the bed.

"In the morning, I got close enough to see its collar and the phone number on it," he said. "So I called the number and got a hold of the crying wife of the traveler."

The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket. Carter said he considered keeping the cat before he knew she had a home.

"We were going to name it Suitcase," he said.

( Cats Survive Wayward Travels. (More pics, and another case.) )

I finished Jack's costume last night, and I'm very pleased with it. A.J.'s won't take nearly as long to make, so I'm optimistic about that one. Mine and Philip's, however, will take a lifetime.

*sigh*

There's so much stuff going on in these next couple of weeks. When I start thinking about it all, my head starts to swim. It's crazy, and I really feel like there's just no way I'll get everything done in time. I don't think I've ever felt quite so hopeless for things to turn out the way I'd like them to, but then again, I'm not sure I've ever had quite so much on my plate at one time. Darn Halloween coming at the same time that I need to worry about moving.

(Even though this is exactly what I'd hoped for, really. I can only blame this on myself, as I had wanted this all along.)

My kitties are sensing my stress. They've been right next to me for a few days now, constantly wanting to help snuggle me or purr away my worries. I'd really love to just forget everything and do nothing but scritch my furry friends, but there's just so much to do.

So. Much!

The crazy ward is starting to look a bit too inviting...

I spent a ton on the kitties today. I went off in search of an extra litterbox, and I ended up with two brand-new ones, both extra-large size. I also bought a kitty water fountain, more litter and a kitty windowsill perch (which won't fit and we'll be taking back). I was going to purchase a new litter scoop, but Wal*Mart was completely out of them.

We've had a real problem with Tuck over the past few weeks. He's still peeing in the litterbox just fine, but he'll poop on the floor in front of it instead. It's dry and easy to clean up, but it's still gross. After cleaning up poop, we'd spray it with pet odor-removing spray, but then he'd just poop on the floor in a slightly different spot. Last night, he finally had nowhere else to poop here in the office that hadn't already been sprayed, so he pooped in our bedroom - grrr! Everything I've looked up online suggested getting another litter box, and though we don't really have room for one, I finally did just that. The sites also say to keep the litterbox clean, but we're already cleaning the box 5-6 times a day, and that's more than most people I know.

I really hope this works.

The kitties are scared to death of the water fountain right now, and I'm wondering how long it will take them to come around. We tried to "show" it to them, and I've never seen any of their tails puff up quite as big as they did then. But this will be better for them, and it will keep us from refilling their water bowls 4-5 times a day, too.

I can't believe we still have to wait eight more days before we can pick up our pictures - I'm dying for these like I've never waited for pictures before! And this is much faster service than it used to be, only eleven days from the day of taking to the pick-up date. Still, I'm so excited!

I've been spring cleaning like crazy today. I washed all the windows, put up new window clings, and I scrubbed the walls, doorframes and baseboards all over the house. I'm going to vacuum and mop all the floors tomorrow morning, as I want that freshly-mopped floor smell to still be hanging around the house at 6pm when Jan gets here to watch the boys. I'm making a pan of enchiladas for dinner, so all she'll have to do is pop that in the oven for dinner, along with some chips and salsa. The boys love enchiladas, so I'm sure they'll clean their plates for her, too.

I'm fixin' to attack my desk now so that I can dust the ceilings here in the office. Then I'll be able to wipe up anything that falls on the desk and get it all clean in here as well. Kiki is giving herself a bath on the seat next to me right now, so I guess we're all in the mood for a little spring cleaning. ;-) She went out with us for a while earlier today, and she munched on some nice grass in the yard.

Speaking of ceilings, just before the boys went to bed tonight, A.J. spotted a big black spider on the living room ceiling. It might have been in the house already, but I also had the living room windows, the office door, the front door and our bedroom windows open all day. In fact, it's been so nice that I haven't shut my bedroom window since I opened yesterday morning. The kitties enjoyed sleeping last night in the cool night breeze (we have a recliner right in front of our bedroom window, and they perch/sleep on that). I woke up to birdies chirping this morning - nice!

Sometimes when Kiki sits in my lap for a love-fest, she purrs so much that I think she's going to start choking. :-)

It rained some, as predicted. I'm very glad that I'd listened to the weather reports and knew that it was a possibility. To avoid the wet and mushy mess, we all raked up the leaves in the backyard yesterday afternoon. I raked piles all over the yard, and Philip and A.J. bagged them. Jack ran around in circles, trying to "help" us all - ha ha. We got eight full bags done, and we finished in about 45 minutes. I had thought it would take much longer actually, but with such great teamwork, it was a snap. And with the rain today, I am extra pleased to not have wet, mushy leaves to get up. :-)

Annie came over last night, and we made Karyn's apple dumplings. It was time-consuming, and we poked fun at each other's dough-rolling methods, but the end result was so good! These dumplings were different than what I'd had before - they cooked in their own gooey, sugary liquid, and the dough was more like a bread when they were done, rather than just a plain crust. We added cinnamon to the recipe as we made it, and they were just so yummy - but so rich and so filling! We were STUFFED afterwards.

We also scrapbooked. Annie got a page done, and I finished sorting the two bags of photos I've had pulled out for a couple of weeks now. I really minimized my photos and what I intend to actually use. I had about 50 pictures or so of building the swingset, for example, but I've narrowed it down to only 12 pictures now, and that's an amount that I can get on a 2-page spread. We watched The Prince & Me while we worked. I'd seen it before, but Annie hadn't, and she really liked it. :-)

Tuck has finally figured out the new litterbox - huzzah! I was beginning to think we'd have to isolate him forever, but this morning I found that he'd finally done three pees in the box. I loved and loved on him, gave him kitty treats and gave him a special pouch of wet food - Tuckster!

I'm off to run a few errands with the boys while Philip sleeps. He's working at Runza this afternoon/tonight to cover for Ryan, his manager. Ryan's wife Sarah was in labor and at the hospital last night, so I'm sure a new little person has or will be gracing this world shortly. Too bad the baby couldn't wait another day - November the 13th is a much better day. ;-D

Baby's story continued today. No, she wasn't lost again or anything like that, but we did have to spend about an hour taking down all the posters we put up yesterday after lunch. We also picked up the posters at the grocery store and the Shoppette, and when we picked up the one at the ice cream shop... well, we had to have a cool treat as well. ;-)

Philip accompanied me to this week's scrapbooking group. I didn't actually scrapbook anything this time, but we went through all his pictures, certificates and memorabilia from this deployment to Iraq and labeled things and put them in chronological order - getting it all ready for me to add to his military albums (yes, albums - I'm already 1/3 of the way through a second album for him!). He took seven disposable cameras full of pictures while he was gone, plus he emailed me several pictures from another guy's digital camera while he was over there, so I've got lots to do. He also brought home FIVE DVDs full of pictures set to music. Holy cow!

Speaking of pictures, A.J. brought home his school pictures today, and I'm very pleased with them. He also brought home the pictures that Jack had taken at his school that morning, and they are very good too. I ordered two packages of A.J.'s pictures but only one of Jack's, knowing that I would order some of the pictures taken at his own school. The preschool proofs were in our folders on Friday morning, and I filled out the form, ordered the pictures and returned it on Friday when I picked him up from school. The yellow-striped shirt that he wore for his own school pictures was a fabulous choice! :-) Now, I've just got lots of labeling to do, and I've got to make my lists and start getting all of these pictures in the mail!

I went to the commissary this afternoon to do some light grocery shopping, and I was frustrated to get there and THEN realize that it's not only a holiday, but it's also a MONDAY - and they are always closed on Mondays, holiday or no. Instead I went to Wal*Mart and picked up everything on the list, and when I got home, Philip already had the grill ready for burgers and the deep fryer warming for homemade french fries. We had mysteriously run out of ketchup though, so I had to root around in the drawer to finally find two packets - one for each of the boys.

I'd rather have mustard myself, thanks.

We pulled up the tomato and pepper plants this afternoon, so now our little garden is no more. It was so sad to finish it all up, but the nighttime freezing temperatures had finally killed the plants, and there was no point hoping for a recovery - we seem to be truly into the fall season now. We still need to pull up the fence and start raking up and disposing of the mulch. We also cut down the yellow ribbon from the tree today.

I'm off now to start the dishwasher and then get some bread going - banana or zucchini, I haven't decided. :-)

I made a 'Lost Cat' poster this morning for Baby, and we made copies at the grocery store this morning before church. All during the service, I couldn't quit thinking about Baby - where she might be, if we'd find her, if she'd find her way home, if we'd see her again. I felt bad too, because I know that you're supposed to keep focused on worship, and I was anything but. I just couldn't help it.

As soon as church was over, we came home, changed clothes, ate a bit of lunch and then went out to hang posters all over the neighborhood and surrounding area. We hung posters clear from 36th to 25th streets, and everywhere in between. The Shoppette wouldn't let us hang up a notice unless it was on a 3x5 card, so I had to shrink one down to that size before we could give it to them to put up on their bulletin board (the rest of the posters were 8.5x11, and we put them into clear sleeves before hanging them up).

Just as Philip was hanging a banner on Lockbourne, a man pulled up behind our van and told us that he'd seen Baby last night around 10pm. He described her pretty well, and the location was about four streets away from our house. He said he'd put a bowl of food out for her last night, and he promised that he'd keep an eye out for her again. Of course, we drove over to where he'd indicated, and we did find another stray (a gray kitty, but it ran off as we approached it), but no Baby.

We talked to more people and hung more posters. Out of posters and with kids tired of being in the car, we came home. This evening when it got cool again, we went back out and drove for a couple more hours. We thought we saw her at one point (pretty far from the house, actually), but after getting out of the car, it turned out to be a Siamese kitty with dark markings on her head and tail. We looked until long after it was dark, and we finally came on home around 8:30pm. Jack had fallen asleep in the car, even.

A.J. was finishing up some schoolwork that he missed while staying home on Thursday, and I was standing between the living room and the front entry when I heard a high-pitched mew. I looked up and saw Tuck lounging just outside A.J.'s bedroom door, and he mewed again. Just as I looked down to pass it off, Philip jumped up from the couch and said, "There's Baby! She's outside!"

Tuck's meow down the hallway had alerted Philip to look up, and in doing so, he spotted Baby standing just outside the sliding glass door in our fenced-in courtyard. Of course, we'd checked there a bazillion times already, plus there's nothing to hide behind or under out there, but she'd come from somewhere to be back at home. When Philip jumped up, she dashed under the fence into the neighbor's courtyard. I crawled on my knees and stuck my head under the gap in the fence and called to her, while Philip climbed on top of our yard waste bins to see her - she was hiding under their pool. After a minute or two of calling to her, she finally scuffled her way back under the fence, and I grabbed her as soon as there was enough of her to grab.

Much snuggling ensued. :-)

She was extremely talkative when we brought her in, and she didn't seem to know what she wanted to do first. Not eat, really, and that surprised me. It took her about 15 minutes to settle down (and for me to leave her alone!). When she walked into the office to eat something, I shut the door to keep the other kitties out and gave her a packet of special wet food just for herself. She ate that for a while, and then she needed to use the litterbox. I swear, she must've saved up all of her pee in the last 36 hours outside *just* to come inside and use the litterbox - she peed forever! We snuggled some more, and then she laid down in her spot on the kitchen floor for a little nap.

She's pretty dirty, but we can deal with dirt. ;-) I'm just so happy to have her back. I've always said that my kitties are just more members of the family, and I always knew I'd be really upset if something happened to them, but... man! You really find out how much you love a pet when it goes missing!

*reaches down to snuggle Baby, who's now laying beneath my feet here in the office*


Baby helps to make Daddy's 'Welcome Home' banner.
(Taken on Oct. 1st)

(You can see more pictures of Baby 'helping' that day HERE.)