To Bathe a Cat

To bathe a cat, you have to feel pretty gutsy. Or you have to know it doesn't have front claws.



I saw a couple of fleas on Kiki, our kitty. This will not do, so I decided to give her a bath. I've done this before with a Persian that always pooped on himself, so I know how incredibly difficult it is.

The girls and I were off to the tub with Kiki. I had to clear all objects from the bathroom that could hurt someone if knocked around, understanding that a wet cat can cause some "get me the heck out of here" damage.

Georgia and Maggie situated themselves on the toilet for the show, while I armed myself with my grossest shirt and latex gloves. Notice Brad isn't mentioned yet. He's coming up.

The water flows, the cat freaks, and Georgia starts crying. "You're hurting Kiki!" she's wailing at me. Not helpful as I'm trying to hold onto a slippery mass of hysteria. I tell Georgia that I'm not hurting the cat. If anybody was to get hurt it'd be me with her back claws. She isn't buying it. Maggie desperately wants to cry in a show of compassion towards the cat but just can't muster up real tears.

The bathroom door swings open and there's Brad - with a camera. "I can't get a good shot of her" he complains as he directs me to turn her for a face shot. Brad is nothing if not helpful.



Lots more tears from Georgia, general unhappiness from Kiki,complete boredom from Maggie, and photos from Brad. Relief from me to finally be done.

Back to School Again

The completely awesome "Back to School Again" song from the American classic, Grease 2, is on repeat in my head the entire months of August and September. How cool were those Pink Ladies?!? Minus the smoking of course. Forget East High (High School Musical), Rydell High was the place to be. I digress.

School is back. I thought after the long, hot Summer, I was ready to get this ball rolling. In reality, getting up early, packing lunches, folders, and backpacks isn't all that appealing. But a must. Georgia was rezoned this year - much to her dismay and my delight. She did really like her old school, but her new school is much closer and smaller. The new school playground has been voted Worst In Class though, and that is okay. Priorities please.

Georgia was very happy Day One. Well, she was happy until she actually got into the classroom. I'm afraid her first impression was less than impressive.

Nice "I hate this face", huh? Let's get a closer look.

No worries, things have improved.

Maggie and I started this week. Let me say, my class is quite interesting this year. Turning my back for too long is not an option.

Here's Maggie on her first day. Shoes were added later.

She seems to like her class. It's right next door to mine and is connected by an interior doorway that only has a curtain separator versus an actual door. The result is Maggie periodically appearing in my room to show me things. And to point out that every stuffed animal in my room looks like one she has at home. Coincidence? I think not.

Happy Birthday Granny Di!

Tellin it like it is. That's why we love her.

One Hot Summer Day

One of many actually.

We went to Cheekwood's Happily Ever After "Garden Experience" this week. Boy was it hot! The kind of hot where your shirt sticks to you as sweat rolls down your back. Who cares about that though when you can cross the Three Billy Goats Gruff bridge into the mouth of a troll (that cooks no less)?



Or climb Rapunzel's hair to the top of the tower?



Wait - here's the big bad wolf with a little piggy in its mouth:



We had a great time despite the heat. So much so that we were back the next night, getting our sweat on again.

Of course we can't have a week without a medical co-pay, so Maggie got a really nasty bug bite while there on her belly button that got infected. It was pretty yucky. She's now on an antibiotic cream for 5 days, and I clean gunky stuff out of her belly button with q-tips. With every swipe I think fondly of creepy little Rumpelstiltskin weaving straw into gold or that poor princess having to sleep on a pea.

Happy Birthday Maggie!

The Big Oh-Four.

A Week in My Life

Wednesday, June 25th, 8pm: 'Fall' in hole and hurt foot. Didn't actually hit the ground, but managed to cause quite a bit of pain. I did the same thing about 4 years ago at a cementary in my hometown of Rogersville. I had to yell for 2 grave diggers to help me up and help get Georgia (3 at the time) back into her car seat. For grave diggers, they were some tiny men; I was a bit worried. At the hospital, the nurse asked what my pain was on a scale of 1 to 10. I said, "I'd like to say 10, but I've had kids so let's back that down to a 6."

Wednesday, June 26th, 9pm: Realize foot is no good and cancel 5 day trip that was to start the next day. Bummed.

Thursday, June 27th, 1:30pm: X-rays show fracture and bone chips. Talk Dr. into air cast vs humongous boot. Last time I wore the boot a piece of pepperoni fell in and I didn't realize it until 5,000 ants made their home in my little piggies. It took 2 days to find the pepperoni.

Friday, June 28th, 3:30am: Wake up with pink eye. Hey, why not?

Wednesday, July 3, 6pm: Realize thing on my boob (how about that word?) is looking weird. Maybe a spider bite?? Confirmed spider bite. Get oral antibiotics. I had a really nasty spider bite on same boob last year. Are there a breed of boob lovin spiders in my yard? Reason #267 why I don't like to pull weeds.

What a great week it's been. Oh, I forgot one highlight last Saturday. Brad and I were at the Green Hills Cinema, and as we were walking out Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were walking in. Everyone was staring, including me.

Happy 4th. Keep it injury free.

Happy Birthday Wayne!

I couldn't ask for a better father-in-law. Happy Birthday. We all love you very much!