Sorry Verizon Lady

Somedays can literally chew you up and spit itself ALL OVER YOU. Today was one of those days. I watched Anthony this morning, a favor LONG overdue since Julie has kindly watched Ellis a number of times when I needed to do preschool stuff with Clara. I knew that he would either be really easy or a handful so in preparation for his arrival, I put Ellis down for a morning nap, something he often needs but never really gets. I mostly don't put him down for a morning nap because then there is an even less of a chance that Clara and Ellis will go down together and I will get a break that I usually need badly by 2 or 3 o'clock.

Of course I could have made the day simple and do only one thing, but today was the first day I could upgrade my phone (some silly thing to do with Verizon's billing cycle) and since I am NOT good at waiting, I ran over there with the kids right after Julie and Brandee left.

I take my kids with me everywhere. And when I mean everywhere, I mean everywhere. I am rarely anywhere without a child asking me for a snack or a skinny boy on my hip. And there are times when I know it is inconvenient but that is what kids are sometimes. I have no family out here and I don't like to ask favors of friends unless it is 100% necessary. And I get that my kids are not always as desirable to other people than me. And of course today was one of those days. Ellis threw up TWICE while we are Verizon. It is gross for me to deal so I could only imagine what the twenty-somethings that were waiting on me were thinking.

It was so gross, the whole thing. And there I am, standing in the store, hugging my crying, stinking, phlegmy baby, while the woman handing me my sparkly, pink and professional new phone, is doing her best to not throw up on me because of what she saw, trying to keep it together myself because I am tired, headachy and honestly a bit hungover from my rare night out last night, all with a smile of apology on my face. So sorry pretty and dressed up Verizon lady, I hope you have a good story to tell your co-workers later. Sorry I made you let me into the back section where customers normally aren't allowed because my hands were full of half digested salami. Sorry that I threw away that grossness in your garbage because you took me to the break room sink instead of the bathroom sink like I asked. I hope that does not smell later for you. And please don't lock the door when you see me walking up the store next time because I promise he won't barf again! (fingers crossed)

To our Nut Nut

We had to say goodbye to our beloved striped orange kitty today. Smithers, or Nut Nut, was a great cat. He was a loud, little and sweet thing. He always sat with his tail curled around his body. He liked to pee and barf in inappropriate places but you could just look in his eyes and see what a gentle heart he had. We had to let him go today because his kidney's had failed and we did our best not to fail him in his last hours. We brought the kids to say goodbye and Ellis saw him and said, Nu Nu Hu (which is Nut Nut Hug) and leaned his head in to rest on his small body. He looked much better with the IV fluids and the care he had received at the hospital so it was nice for the kids' last view of him to be "normal". But unfortunately that was not enough and we kissed him goodbye.

The best we can do is remember all the wonderful things about him, the every day stuff that is so easily forgotten. His favorite places to be were under the dining room table on one of the chairs, curled up on the third step down from the middle section of the stairs, or curled up in the bean bag or chair in the living room with Monty. Smithers liked to roam the hallways in the middle of the night with his little BIG meow. If you went in to pet his head, he would make a little whirring noise. If people were around, Smithers would be no where to be seen but on the off chance someone pet him, he would be their best friend forever. He loved to be scratched HARD and let the kids poke and prod him and he LOVED it. His favorite game was the laser pointer and would look for it for a long time when it was gone. He LOVED turkey and any cold cut that crossed his path. He knew when it was cheese time or if sushi was at the table. He let Monty eat all the food and never complained once. He was the first pet for all of us to lose. It was a lesson of life to have to say goodbye to him today. All in all, he was a good cat and a cat that will always be missed. RIP Nut Nut, we loved you. Waylan Smithers "Nut Nut" Owen - Feb 20, 2000 - May 14, 2008.

My Nut Nut

So Nut Nut is sick. We noticed over the last few days that he seemed to have lost weight but he was acting pretty normal. He was still eating and doing normal Nut Nut stuff. He did not look so great today so Matt took him to the vet. It is not looking good. According to the vet, he is really sick, really dehydrated and really small. He has lost a lot of fat and muscle and is just skin and bones. His temperature was down and they were able to bring that up and maintain that through a warming cage. He is on an IV and they are doing tests to see what is wrong. Basically we are preparing for the worst. We talked to Clara about it and she tried to wrap her three year old head around it. She asked if Smithers barfed (because apparently the stomach flu has left quite an impression on her). She wanted to know if Daddy could get in his car and go bring Nut Nut home tomorrow. She then said, I don't feel like barfing today but I might barf tomorrow. Anyway, back to Nut Nut. I hope things turn out well but it does not sound promising. I just want to scratch his tennis ball head one more time!