Day 9- Blame it on the Rain

Ok so today is actually day 11.  A little depressing  that I am almost halfway through but we won't talk about that.  I am behind on my "days off "blogging but nothing too exciting happened.  I cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more. The only thing I haven't finished is the basement.  I have half of it finished. So let's talk about that "other half". This whole story is Stranger Cat's fault because she broke my basement window.  I blame it on the cat.  I could blame in on the rain but I am sticking with the cat.


The basement is unfinished and gross.  I got most of the hard part done. Excuse me.. I got most of the hard part "finished." ( My teacher, Ms. Faherty always said "Cookies are done , People are finished".) I have a refrigerator down there that I got from my wonderful aunt when she moved.  I know that mine is going to break soon so it's nice to have a back up.  Now if I didn't have a back up , my fridge would have broken two years ago.  The metal shelf holder thing for the fridge is on the floor.  I have moved it out of my way several times.

Two nights ago, the house felt cold.  I went down the basement figuring that the plywood ( from Stranger Cat breaking my basement window) had fallen and the cold air was swiftly moving in.  I was right (I need to get glue that adheres metal to wood so this no longer happens). So it's really dark down there and the light for the basement has to be turned on from the other end of the basement.

I walk down, in the dark (the light from the kitchen was on but I still couldn't see). I get to the bottom step and it is COLD . I stepped right into water.  Flooded .. again. Since my cousin  fixed the sump pump (thank you again) I haven't had too many issues so I wasn't expecting that but because of the amount of rain (and high winds that knocked that board out) it flooded. Not just a little flood, a big one.  Two days later, the sump pump and my mom's borrowed pool pump are still pumping out the water (almost finished though).  So I roll up my pants and turn on the light and wade my way over to the window (the window is on the uncleaned end along with the fridge). I still can't see too well but I see the metal shelf holder thingy and move it (again) out of my way.  I put the wood back on the window and try to use tape to secure it.  Ok done. Now I will make my way over to the sump pump to see if it's working. Not the end of the world.

As I start to walk, I step on the metal shelf thingy. Then I trip and fall. In my cement basement, in about 6 inches of water. It all happened really fast BUT what I do remember is that the metal shelf thingy was still in my foot , I was soaked and I crashed into the washer. I got up and cursed like a horny sailor and immediately took my clothes off. I hit my knee and it hurt.  I tossed the metal thingy out of my way and limped (naked) up the stairs and got changed. My knee hurt for a few minutes then I forgot about it.

Knee bruise. Actually right under my knee bruise.

Then I realized that my back , my finger , my foot and my wrists all hurt. I looked at my foot and it was just throbbing.  Usually a piece of metal will do that to you. So naturally, I did what any adult who fell and got a boo boo does.  I texted my mommy to tell her I was about to die. She told me to soak my foot and I did.  But it still hurt like hell. I also texted my sisters because they needed to know that their clumsy sister was in pain.  My sister Kristi, who lives with me and was at work called me to tell me she was taking me to the hospital.  Nope not going.  By this point I was laying in bed sulking.

She did bring home some peroxide and gauze and I soaked my foot in that (she's nice sometimes). Then started to sleep. As I am about to drift away, I hear a loud bang. The plywood fell again. Really?? I was done. She went down and put it back up. My mom and both my sisters said I probably need a tetanus shot.  They were right. So I did go to the doctor yesterday. My foot still hurt and was all puffy.

I must have caught myself with my finger because I jammed it. I still can't really use it too much. I have chubby fingers but my finger looks like I stole it from the Marshmallow Man. No one should have a finger that looks like that.

Ok so now you have seen some body parts. Don't you feel better?  So I get up the next morning , go to my mom's and get her pool pump. I hurt, the basement looks like the Atlantic (lots of dirty water) and I am down there hooking up the pump and hose. Then I go to the doctor and they give me a tetanus shot and tell me I won't be able to lift my arm today. Well, that's just great. I was intending to do some chin ups today so I guess that's out of the question.  She pokes all over my achy foot and finger , I say OW about 10 times and she says I need xrays.  Now I figure nothing is broken because my bones are made of steel and I never break anything. But I don't have a choice.  They give me my shot, I ask for a lollipop and they laugh. Um that's not funny. I want my lollipop. I don't get one.  I go over and get the xrays and have about a half hour conversation with the checker inner lady about Christmas and how her grandson has issues with textures

(I can appreciate that , I am that way with food) and she buys him the same kind of jacket every year because it's soft and fluffy. She can't find one this year. So if anyone knows where you can buy the kind of fluffy, soft jacket that her 10 year old grandson likes, let me know. I will relay the info to Mrs. Checker Inner.  I go home to rest because I ache and  instead vaccuum and clean up because that's what resting means. They called this morning.  Nothing is broken (I knew that.. remember me? Steel Bones??) This is what my xray looked like:

Yes, I carry the gun at the doctors. If they are going to give me a shot, they are getting one too.

So far the arm isn't too bad but I am waiting. They called this morning. Nothing is broken I just have muscle tear in my foot and my finger is jammed. I have tissue swelling blah blah blah and was told that those things will take longer to heal than if I had broken something. Merry Christmas to you too. If I had a video of that fall and the cursing episode that followed I would have my 15 minutes of fame on You Tube. But I don't.

Gotta go. The Price is Right is on. Have a Happy Friday!

Day 3

Ok yesterday was drama free. I finished the kitchen. That only took me 2 1/2 days and the kitchen isn't even too big.  I also got my bedroom done.  I didn't have that on my "
list of things to do" but it needed to be done. So I did it, then wrote it on the list and crossed it off :) I got the paint out again and painted my bedroom and closet door ( and the hallway door) . I also did the door in the kitchen for the basement.  I wiped walls, cleaned under the bed etc... My room  is pretty clean but it just needed a "winter" cleaning. 

I am almost finished... I have the basement left . I started weeks ago and then never finished.  It's unfinished and gross and I don't go down there and really clean it  but it needs to be de " linted". The dryer is down there and the wires needs to be cleaned off .. etc.  Not a fun job but I will get it done.

The biggest drama yesterday was Tommy's gas.  I don't know what he ate but we all suffered the consequences!!
Today , I am off to my grandmother's to put up her decorations!!! Fa la la la la

Day 2 of vacation: The Stranger Cat Saga continues

Day 2 is complete. Yesterday I had a bit of A.D.D and found it difficult to focus. I got a call in the morning about a good sale (that was only running yesterday) on a gift for my nephew so I drove up to Toys R Us and got it . I came back and the Price is Right was starting so that was how I spent the next hour.

I did work on the kitchen. I cleaned out the inside of the refrigerator, I cleaned the oven (and inhaled the fumes of the Oven Cleaner spray , looked at the back and saw that it was really NOT a good thing, coughed and gasped for breath for about 5 minutes, drank some water and all was well).  I cleaned the stove top.  I took the burners off and the drip pans.  I knew the drip pans weren't in good shape but pulling the last one out and having it crumble in my hands reconfirmed it.

The piece on the side of the oven that holds the handle to open the door is a little loose. Most times when you go to open the oven the handle comes off ( it's an older oven, just like the fridge) so I decided to crazy glue it. Sounded like a good idea until I crazy glued 3 of my fingers on one hand and 2 on the other together. It was a good 15 seconds before I got them apart.  May not sound like a long time but you think that you are about to become a 7 fingered girl because you can't get them apart it's disturbing. I put the crazy glue away.

 I cleaned out the last cabinet under the sink and I used  Murphy's Oil on the outside of the cabinets.  The kitchen is almost finished.

 Then I went out shopping.  I got another present (2 presents is wayyyy ahead of where I usually am with my Christmas shopping at this point). I got new drip pans as well.

We stopped on the way home and got sandwiches because at this point ( about 9 p.m) I realized that I was starving since I barely ate between early shopping, cleaning, pacing because I had A.D.D then shopping again. So I ate , watched T.V and went to bed. This is GREAT for my diet.

At about 2:20 a.m.  I hear it.  The sound of cats trying to murder each other. I opened my eyes and laid there for about 30 seconds before my sister comes in and says "Stranger Cat is back."  I was really hoping that my two cats just got in a really bad argument about who got the "good" spot on the couch and were having a moment. So she asked if she should just close her door to the basement since she was down there.  I said "No just let her back outside" knowing that the basement door shuts but it doesn't  latch shut right so it can easily be pushed open ( yes my house has some issues).

Then I had some second thoughts because I knew it was probably a little cold outside. Now I know that this cat has a home and I know that her owner let's her out to roam around. When I find out who this person is, we are going to have a little talk. Anyway, I get up and go down the basement and see my sister with the window in her hand and glass all over the ground.  The window sits funny down there ( more issues) and she managed to push it open to get in.  In the process, the window hit the basement floor and broke. There is a big ass hole in the screen.  She said that Stranger Cat must have jumped back out because she wasn't down there.  She proceeds to go back to bed and now I have to figure out how to temporarily fix this, unassisted, at a stupid hour in the morning. I found duct tape but the duct tape was not cooperating and it was ripping of all uneven. After about 5 minutes of trying ,I gave up.  I found different tape and started to ghetto rig the hole in the screen. As I am doing this, standing on a step stool, waiting for her to come back and try to get in, she jumps from behind me and goes right back out the window. She scared the hell out of me, because I thought she had already left and I almost fell off the stool. I call her a bitch. I finish taping the screen. I then put a big box against the window, just in case. Now I have a ghetto screen, no window ,a new project on my hands and a bad attitude. Stranger Cat has a new name " I am beginning to not like you Cat."

At 3:10 a.m I went back to bed.  I woke up this morning at 7.   I am tired, my back hurts and am not in the mood.  So I decide to go to WaWa and get a low fat Vanilla Cappuccino.  It will make my mouth happy and wake me up so I can get all this stuff done so that it's out of the way and I can enjoy the rest of my 25 days of vacation.  I pull into WaWa.  It looks a little crowded but I got a front spot. Sweet.  I open the door and the amount of people in there had to far exceed the fire laws for maximum person limitations.  They were everywhere. People who looked like me- sloppy and half awake, people dressed like they are going to a formal affair (you know the ones that get all dressed up from work because they think they look hot but look like the cover of a Frederick's of Hollywood catalog) and about 500,000 construction worker dudes with their fluorescent smock things on. I had to fight to get a cup. It was stupid and I will not do that again.

So now I will start day 3 and try to get the kitchen finished BEFORE Price is Right even comes on. Next is my bedroom... We will see what the day brings.

Vacation is great..........

Day one of my 27 day Vacation....

So I have racked a bunch of vacation time at work and if I don't use it by the end of the year, I lose it.  I lost about 3 weeks last year and this year I decided that I wouldn't let that ever happen again! This is the slowest month of the year at my job so I took my days. 

My vacation started yesterday and I am off through Christmas.  I go back on the 26th. What am I going to do with my time  you ask? I have no freakin idea. This week I am working on getting my house cleaned, including closets ,cabinets etc. I got started before my vacation started.  I sanded and painted the window in the bathroom (which really need it because the geniouses who built the house put a window in the shower..they were rocket scientists.) The window sill gets all nasty so it's a constant battle to avoid issues.) I cleaned out the linen closet, I started on the unfinished basement (I am procrastinating finishing it because I hate down there), I cleaned the living room (very thoroughly) and I started cleaning out the kitchen cabinets.

So yesterday I decided I would work on the kitchen.  I did start  last week (as stated above) and cleaned out some of the cabinets so I figured maybe a couple hours ( I am very anal and it takes awhile to do it RIGHT) and I would move onto my bedroom.

Well, I got a late start because the Price is Right was on. Clean kitchen...watch Price is Right? Duh  . Drew Carey won. But at 12:00 I did go into the kitchen.  The windows are wood (and painted) and the sills and bits of the window paint were peeling, so I decided I would scrape, sand and paint.. So I did.. then I cleaned the windows, then I painted. Took much longer than I thought.  I decided to paint the back door also. Then I moved on.  I washed down the refrigerator. The fridge works great but it's old.  It was here when I bought the house 8 years ago and was already there for awhile.  There were brown spots ( some big , some small) almost like rust spots all over it. No matter how much or how often I clean it,  they aren't going away.  Then I came up with an idea.  I had the paint out so I painted it ...( this is after I had already put all the magnets back up and placed then strategically to cover the brown spots). Looks MUCH better!!! Then I decided that I might as well put up some Christmas decorations ( for the kitchen) while I was at it.  You get my point.  I was in that kitchen from 12-7:30 and I am still not finished.. I will finish today...and hopefully start on my room.

That is once the Price is Right is over!!

A Stranger in the Night

So I was house/dog sitting for my sister. I was laying in bed watching T.V. and kept hearing a noise that sounded like the faint sound of a car door. I knew it wasn't a car door but every time I heard it and hit mute on the T.V. it would stop. After about the10th time muting the T.V I heard it. It was coming from inside the room but I didn't know what it was. Being in a strange place, I got a little freaked BUT I got up and figured out what it was. It was just one of doors shaking a little from the wind. All was well and I went back to my show and eventually to sleep.


The dog sleeps on the bed and she is quite snuggly. However, the bed sits high. Too high for her to jump up on so you have to lift her on the bed. She can get down just fine. At 3:30 a.m I hear her jump off the bed and start to growl a little. Well not really a growl but not a bark either.. let's call it a grark. So she is grarking at me to get up. It's very dark and I am not too pleased but I know that if I had to pee (and was a dog) and no one let me out I would not be a happy dogger. So I get up. She takes off and runs downstairs. I follow.


I am now downstairs (still in the dark) in the hallway by the light switch that I haven't yet turned on. I look out the doors from the kitchen and I see someone standing on the back patio. I pee a little. I just stared for a minute thinking that I am going to die. My heart is beating out of my chest and I have no idea how to proceed. Do I run and hit the alarm button for the cops to come?? Where is the closest alarm ??? Do I go to the front door and run outside?? If I do, will they catch me?? Will the dog follow me or stay and grark? Wait she isn't grarking??? I can't leave the dog there. This is all in a matter of about 10 seconds as I am staring straight into the face of the dark killer outside,our only seperation a glass door.

So I duck into the powder room that was right next to me. I peek my head out again and he is gone. OH SHIT.. where did he go? I step back out into the hall and there he is AGAIN!!! OH SHIT!!!.. Oh wait.. that's my reflection in the glass. The killer was my shadow. Duh.


So I let the dog out to pee. I am relieved that I am the killer but ready to go back upstairs and cover myself with blankets ( because blankets will prevent an intruder from being able to find you) and try to get back to sleep. The dog seems to think it's time to stroll and play in the yard and won't come in. ( I should have put her on a leash so it was a quick pee but I was freaked out and had no intention of stepping out that door).


I had to go out because she wasn't coming in, it was now 3:40 and I can't start screaming her name . So very hesitantly, I go outside and whisper-yell her name. She looks at me and runs to the front of the house. I walk to the front of the house and whisper-yell her name again. She grarks and runs away. After circling the house several times she has had her fun and finally comes inside.


Upstairs, I pick her back up and put her on the bed , close my eyes and start to go back to sleep. Then I hear her grark and jump off the bed again. I know she doesn't have to go pee and I know that I am the killer but everything scares me now. She comes back to the bed and grarks for me to put her back on the bed. We do this twice more. She is now tired and goes right to sleep.

Me...not so much.

I couldn't make this up!!

I was laying in bed yesterday morning at about 6:00 a.m trying to wake up to get ready for work. I was still half asleep when I heard the most ridiculous noise one should ever hear at 6 a.m. My two cats fighting.  They play and sometimes they get a little too into it and they chase each other around the house like lunatics. That is what I heard BUT it was a very disturbing fighting that seemed to be going on. I heard them FLYING down the stairs and before I know it they both jumped on my bed scooted across my face and ran back out.  Then I heard the picture frame on the end table in the living room fall over.  Both my sister and I got up real quick (she was asleep on the couch) and were like WTF?? They took off and it all stopped. I got up, saw Tippy, told him to knock it off (or did I???). I took a shower and went to work (my sister did the same shortly thereafter.)

My cats are Tippy and Vinca.  Vinca is tiny.  She is all gray and she took off so fast I didn't see her.This is Tippy (Exhibit A)

So I come home from work (in the snow) and get stuck in the driveway. I had to get the shovel and clear the driveway to get in.  It's October I find this annoying. Then my sister and I decide we are going to watch some movies.  We go to redbox and get a scary movie and a chaser non scary movie so we can still sleep at night.  We watch the scary movie get freaked out and watch our chaser to calm down. We are laying in the living room, it's dark except for the tv and the cats are just walking around like normal.

 At one point. my sister goes into my nephew's room ( he wasn't there) and as she comes out, I scream and scare the ever lovin shit out of her.  I was quite amused.  I think she peed a little.

Halfway through our non scary movie (The Lincoln Lawyer) just as we both are about to fall asleep, we hear it again. It sounds like a herd of buffalo coming down the steps, loud meows, the sounds of the end of the world.  My sister says "See that's not normal, why are they doing that??"  I say " I don't know they are fighting but it does sound a little nuts."  I get up and walk into my bedroom where they seem to be having a "Who Can Make the Most Obnoxious Scary Cat Noise Contest."

It's still dark and I am still a little freaked out from the scary movie and I turn on the light. I think " Oh Shit" then walk back to the living room and very calmly say " Yea ummm one of those cats doesn't belong. I don't know where it came from". She gets up and we are both like UMMMMM what now??? The two cats like just like each other.

Tippy runs into the bathroom, my sister shuts her in there.  I close Stranger Cat in my room so they don't kill each other and then the search for Vinca begins. We call her and call her ..she doesn't answer (and yes she does answer when I call her name, both of my cats do). We search the whole house knowing that she is probably freaking out and isn't going to come out of hiding.  I open my room and check about 5 times. Nothing.  I knew she wouldn't be in there calmly while Stranger cat is in there. Then we go outside. Vinca will run out if the door is open but I don't let her out.   I always grab her and bring her right in.  If she got out, I have no idea where she could be or how long she was out there. 

Me and my sister spend about five minutes trying to figure out how Stranger cat could have gotten in and how Vinca got out. Vinca got out once before and she was across the street behind my neighbors trash can on the side of their house.  I go that way and look. Nothing.. It is 10:00 at night and we are trying to call her without waking up the neighborhood.  I knocked on my neighbors door to let them know that if they see footprints on the side of their house, it's not a robber it was me.  My tracks are all over in the snow. The lady next door to them has a cat so she calls her to see if her cat is missing. She says " Erica is here she is wondering if you are mising your cat.  She may have yours and thinks you might have hers." Yea UMMM  I never said that.  I really don't think that the cat's emailed each other and said " Hey let's play a joke,  you come here and I will go to your house.". Anyway, her cat wasn't missing. We did discover that one of the basement windows was slightly cracked and while it would have been a little tricky Stranger Cat could have gotten in.   After about a half hour we went back inside.

My instinct says that Vinca is inside the whole time and I go in my room for the 50th time and she is in the corner behind furniture looking at me like " You better get this bitch outta here."  Stranger cat was just chillin on my bed.

Exhibit B: Stranger Cat

While Stranger Cat (we were trying to come up with a name but by the looks of it this cat belongs to someone and isn't just a stray so I am guessing she has a name). While Stranger Cat is not nearly as fat as Tippy, they look alot alike.  You can't see if here but  both their paws are white and their striping is very similiar.  I think Stranger Cat pounced on my face in the morning and I had no idea it wasn't my cat. She must have been in the house all day.


So I have 3 cats in my house.  Stranger cat is upstairs.  We put her in my sister's room (with the door closed) and put litter (which she used), food and water up there for her.

My sister called the SPCA last night when I went back outside ( before we found Vinca)  and the lady answered the phone by saying "What do you want?"  Really???? My sister said " Hello??"  Lady ( I use the term lightly) again says " Yea what do you want??" My sister proceeds to tell her that our cat is missing and another cat is in the house and we aren't sure what to do." The lady says something along the lines of " Don't you know what's going on out there, people don't have electricity." Yea because electricity has EVERYTHING to do with my missing cat and Stranger Cat  as does the SPCA. My sister at one point, while I was standing there said " You don't have to be so rude we are just worried about our cat if it's out there in this weather," I could hear the lady talking trying to be a little nicer but who does that??

Anyway,  we can bring it to a shelter today but first I am going to try to see if I can find out who is missing a cat!!!!! It's gonna be a long day.

Boo

Let's talk about Halloween.  I have been in my house for 8 years and every year I follow the same routine for Halloween. My cousin (who now has a little girl.. cutest thing ever so she won't be there..waa) and my mom come over (she doesn't get any kids) and we sit on the front porch and hand out candy.  I get a good amount of kids. The past 2 years I have gotten less kids than years before.  I always wondered where they all come from because my neighborhood is mostly old people. However, last week I was driving into my neighborhood and had to stop for the school bus in front of me. I was shocked.  There were at least 20 kids that got off at that stop. I see a few kids here and there when I walk or ride my bike but had no idea that there were as many kids as there were that piled out of that bus. I also think that the kids from the apartments about a half mile away come up this way as well. But there is always a pattern as I am sure there is in most neighborhoods.

Now you need to know that when they walk down the sidewalk, each of our houses have a few steps up and there is a sidewalk (path) up to my house.  There are another 4 steps that lead up to my door.  We sit on those steps so the kids don't have to climb up those too. The front yard is a tiny little " hill, The lawn isn't completely flat.

Here is the way the conversations go. First is the real conversation, then the conversation (or thoughts in my head) after they walk way.

Children 4 and under:

Me: " How cute are you??? Take what you want. Happy Halloween! Be careful going down the steps."
After:" Aw how cute was she/he?"

Children 5-8:
Me: : Who are you supposed to be?  You look great! Take what you want. Happy Halloween! Be careful going down the steps."
After: " Isn't that age fun? You get so much candy and can trade with your friends."

Children 9-13:
Me: " Hello there (insert name of apparent video game character here). You can take 2! Happy Halloween. Be careful going down"
After:  "Now why do they ignore the path they just walked up and walk down on the grass ? And why do I have to tell them to take 2 ?  Because the last group took 5 each and I am going to run out of candy. They are lucky they are still kind of cute."

Children 14-17:
Me: " Happy Halloween"
After: " Ya know they could at least speak. They walk up here with no costume on, with a little fake blood on their face pretending to be something asking for candy. Aren't they too old for this?? I am turning out the light."