Four cats, a dog, and a Christmas tree walk into a room...

What a weekend.

The new dog came home. The cats objected. I needed my inhaler, but was happy because the dog being home meant Tim was home.

A turkey was cooked and a small Thanksgiving celebration had. Some cats were happy, others were not. I was exhausted, but stuffed myself on all the good food.

The holiday lights went up...and then came down...and then went up...and then came down...and then went up...and then blew the circuit breaker. The cats didn't care. I was so sore that the muscles in my fingers hurt. The tips of my seconds toes hurt. With that said, my back, neck, knees, elbows, etc, being sore should be a given.

The Christmas tree came home. The cats gave it their blessing. The new tree stand did not. I needed my inhaler again, something to get sap off my skin, and to not scratch the hives that popped up afterward.

The cats were in the local paper. Sort of. But again, they didn't care. I was ecstatic.

They did care, however, when their bathroom door accidentally stayed closed all night long. The instant I realized the door was still shut, I opened it and watched as cat after cat darted past me faster than I've ever seen them run before. Oh their poor little kitty bladders! I felt bad. :-(

And where was the dog through all this? Just being happy. Happy to be in a home. Happy to have a family. Happy to have a bath. Happy to have a toy. Happy to run outside. Happy to run inside...and happy to piss off the cats (who have a mean right hook, I must say...even though that's totally cliche!). I must say that the email that circulates every now and then about a cat's day vs. a dog's day is absolutely true. The dog was happy, no matter what, and the cats were indifferent, happy, clingy, or just pissed off depending on the situation. I was happy for the dog and felt sorry for the cats.

So to string this all together...here's how the holiday weekend played out:

Tim came home earlier than expected on Wednesday night, which was a good thing. Meri and Dad came over to help hang Christmas lights and to install a cat door in our bedroom door (due to my allergies, rule #1 with the dog is no dog in the bedroom, plus that gives the cats one sanctuary of their own). The door was no problem. The lights, on the other hand, gave us quite a bit of trouble. I wasn't exaggerating in saying they went up and down several times. I'll save you from the boredom of the event itself - suffice it to say that we replaced every single strand that hangs along our gutters with brand new strands (after shopping around at 4 different stores - why is it so hard to find decent Christmas decorations this year?).

Black Friday shopping has been a tradition in our house for many years now and we always get our Christmas tree while we're out. This year, Black Friday shopping was done entirely online, so we really just went out for the tree (always a Fraser Fir since I'm allergic to Christmas trees and Fraser Firs have small needles with soft, non-jabby tips). Black Friday this year also concluded our Christmas shopping. We are done. Everything already here is wrapped and under the tree. Everything else is on the way. So once Tim trimmed the tree and brought it inside, we strung up the lights and beads, adorned it with ornaments, and sat back with the cats to enjoy our 2009 master piece. Then I got up to get something from the kitchen and heard a loud expletive shouted from the living room. I ran back in and found the floor strewn with ornaments and Tim standing at the center, holding the tree up at a 45-degree angle. Suffice it to say that the stand wasn't adequately screwed in (it is now) and after about half hour to an hour of messing around with it, the tree was standing straight and secure, the ornaments were re-hung, beads were restrung, and the cats and we were able to sit back and enjoy our 2009 re-done master piece.

Saturday came, which started off with a call from Dad that the local paper had done a write up on our dog and my husband. I, of course, say our cats were in the paper because they were - it was reported that the new bomb-sniffing dog would be living with us and our cats, a detail that added an element of whimsy an otherwise serious article. And it got better from there because it was a beautiful day that was perfect for hanging lights. We took the dog outside and finished the outdoor decorating - without incident.

Well...until later that night when the lights kicked on and the main circuit breaker blew. Understandably, the main circuit breaker in our house is the one that controls the living room and apparently our exterior outlets. Suffice it to say that half of the Christmas lights are now running off an extension cord from a plug in the garage that runs on a separate circuit.

Which brings us to Sunday...the day Tim had to leave again. :-( He got all packed up and safely out on the road, and then I settled down to make some dinner and about burnt the house down. My memory problems have been so bad lately that I've had to break out the post-it notes to remind myself to do things - remember the lunch box, to blow out the candles, to water the tree, etc. It's been so hard to focus on things that I'll walk into a room, forget why I'm there, start doing something else, and then get sidetracked while doing that, which will also prompt a spark in my brain that leads back to the original task. What that means is many things going on at once, some things getting finished, and some things getting totally forgotten. I need to tie this lack of focus to my post-it notes and post messages around the kitchen to not walk out while cooking something. I started cooking something on the stove top, left to turn on my laptop in the living room, and then sat down in the living to get to work. The piercing shriek of the smoke alarm is what made me remember the food on the stove. I swear, after this week, I really question how safe I am when left to function on my own. I also feel for my husband and have a new appreciation for what he has to deal with when I'm in this MS-induced mental fog. Taking care of myself when in this fog is incredible difficult.

So, you might have noticed that the dog's part in the weekend was rather minimal. Well, for the most part, it really was. He's a good dog. He's quiet and well-behaved and happy. But he's not a housebroken dog, something our dining room floor learned the hard way - but it was easy enough to clean up.

At one point, we let him off the leash to run freely through the house and then sat with him in the living room while we decorated the tree. Lu popped out and sat with us, too. He didn't seem to mind the dog unless he got too close. Jonny appeared and watched the dog from afar, Neko took up residence in the cat tower down the hall, and Sake showed up and then disappeared when she realized the dog was out. There was no fur flying, no cat chomping, and hardly any barking. The dog just watched the cats, and as long as the dog kept his distance, the cats just watched him. The dog, oddly enough, was the easiest part of the weekend and actually played no part in any of the difficulties we encountered.

So, in summary, the dog is great and the cats will deal with it, the Christmas decorations are up, the shopping's done, and presents wrapped, and Tim and I got to spend some time together, but now he's back off to training, and with everything that went on, the weekend went by way too fast. Hopefully, this week, with no holiday to interfere with daily life, we'll both find time to relax and unwind, and this coming weekend will be more low key and "normal." The return of normality should ease some of the MS problems I'm experiencing, too, which will make the coming weekend all the more enjoyable.

Worlds are colliding and George is getting upset!

Just a quick note that I'll file under randomness even though it's not all that random.

This has been a whirlwind of a week. Last Friday, my husband put in his interest for a possible promotion at work. On Wednesday, on he was selected for this position, which means he will be his department's handler for their new bomb dog. On Thursday, he and two of his superiors made a 3 1/2 drive to select a dog and then the dog came home to our house. And now, he and dog have already been shipped off to training.

In addition to the speed of all these changes, we are cat people and have four cats who have never interacted with dogs. Plus, I've never owned a dog and the only dog my husband's ever owned was a dachshund. This has been crazy, insane nuts.

And then the other shoe fell off...for health reasons, the dog that was originally selected and spent all weekend with us had to go back and my husband had to select another dog, spur of the moment, to begin training with tomorrow. O_O

It has been crazy. The new dog is apparently a beast of a dog and the trainer said that "Bear" would be an apt name based on his size. I've only seen a photo pic of him, which didn't do his size justice, but he looks like a happy little sweetheart. His name will be Gunner and he is supposedly super furry, so we'll have to stay on top of brushing him, having him groomed, and hopefully have his fur trimmed.

I can't wait to meet the dog, but it's going to happen probably late on Wednesday night, when my husband returns home for the holiday/weekend. I can guarantee that this Thanksgiving is going to be interesting. I have no idea how this dog will do with the cats or how they'll do with him. The first dog was very interested in them, as though he'd never seen one before, and they were all adamant that they hated him. I'm hopeful that it'll be the same with the new dog, and that the cats won't realized it's a different dog. We shall see!

Sorry for typos and whatnot. It's late, I'm medicated, exhausted, sore as hell, and ready to hit the sack like it's the only thing keeping me going. Oh man. This whole dog and spur of the moment training thing has been a rough event added to an already rough few weeks. But, we'll forge ahead...always forward, but never straight because that'd be too easy.

Ever forward but never straight...that's like the motto for my life. Who knows where we'll wind up next? Wrestling a turkey leg from a dog's mouth? Well let's just say it's going to be interesting.

Random thoughts from a random mind

I went shopping with my Psuedo Kid today. She gets her driver's permit on Monday. I'm not going to do the whole "stay off the road!" thing, because she assured me that she got a 34 out of 35 on her test. So please, please keep that in mind if you happen to find yourself in the path of an out of control car careening your way with a hot-pink haired teenage girl behind the wheel and a parent in the passenger seat holding the dashboard while screaming for dear life. That one's not mine. ^_^

I digress. Shopping was fun. And tiring. I am so exhausted that I fear not making it to Bleach tonight. O_O Can you even begin to imagine the horror? I think the Apocalypse of 2012 would come a few years early if that happened!

Shopping. FOCUS. As you can see, my cognitive abilities have really hit their peak tonight. Both of us made another dent in our Christmas shopping lists. She bought a few things for her boyfriend and his sister, and I bought some stuff for my husband, a good friend of ours, and...myself -- including Prince of Whales tea, which I'm very curious to try.

It seems like it may be a lighter variant of Earl Grey, which is one of my favorite teas. Sometimes it can be a bit potent (especially if I leave the bag to steep too long - a frequent occurrence), so I hope that Prince of Whales can be my Earl Grey Jr., for those moments when I want something similar, yet lighter, and not quite as bland as a simple black tea like English Tea Time or Darjeeling.

We also took advantage of a great sale at Bath and Body Works, getting a little something for ourselves and others at the same time. On a quick aside, Twilight Woods is a huge part of the manuscripts I've been working on and the popularity of a certain series has required me to change the title of the first one. Now Bath and Body Works has a Twilight Woods scent. I think the Fates have it in for me! At the very least, they're working against me or trying to challenge me to do the very best that I can (which I can only hope is good enough).

At any rate, I was apprehensive, but did try Twilight Woods, the scent. I really like it. I even went so far as to buy the lotion and the body spray, even though I kind of liked Moonlight Path better (I only got the lotion). The Psuedo Kid was partial to TW for me and chose the Black Raspberry and Vanilla for herself. (Which is rather appropriate given that she's my little Goth Doll with pink hair.)

On another aside, we've had some trouble catching mice lately. (Sorry NerdGirl, skip this paragraph!) We humane trap and then take them to a nearby cemetery with a caretaker shed to let them go. Lately, we've seemed to find ourselves facing off with the Houdini of the mouse world - 5 times, it got in, ate the peanut butter, and got out. So I decided that if it was smart enough to get out, it'd be smart enough to get in if I turned the trap upside down and took away its escape path. Lo and behold, I outsmarted the little bugger. And it was none-to-pleased, rattling the ramp and shaking the whole trap the entire way to the cemetery. But alas, Houdini was set free and is no longer a part of my house.

Or so I thought. (NerdGirl, skip this one, too.) Reset the trap and checked the next day: no peanut butter, no mouse. Two Houdinis. Only H#2 isn't smart enough to get into the upside down trap. So we scoured 5 stores today looking for a different type of humane trap. Not only are humane traps in and of themselves difficult to find, but I couldn't find the one I wanted (a replacement for one that I broke and would work perfectly - and of course I come home and find it right away on Amazon). Finally found something that would work at the last store I tried. So now I just have to wait and see.

The Kid and I ate lunch at a local Asian restaurant specializing in Japanese and Korean cuisine and sushi. It's always a pleasant experience because the atmosphere is so soothing -- it's intimately lit with a dark interior, has quiet gold fish aquariums that are relaxing to watch, and classical music plays overhead at just the right level. We shared a simple entree - chicken fried rice - and I enjoyed a "bottomless" bowl of miso soup with tofu, seaweed, and green onion (she wouldn't even try a sip), and also tried my first sushi (ebi shrimp...not a big step, but still). It was really nice (and the fact that we had a handsome waiter certainly didn't hurt ^_^). As I said, always a pleasant experience. (And "V" for Victor, right NerdGirl? ^_-)

And so here I am now, with about an hour to go until Bleach, downing a Mountain Dew in a desperate attempt to stay awake, although all I'll really accomplish is keeping myself from getting to sleep when I actually want to sleep. Lu is hugging my legs like he's afraid to let go lest I leave him alone for a whole Saturday again (he hasn't left my side since I got home) and Neko is practically sitting on my head behind me on the recliner (her tail keeps whacking me in the face). Tim's out on the sofa, and every now and then, Jonny stretches his paw waaaay out to try and touch the top of Tim's head, but is just about two inches shy of reaching his goal. Lady Sakuya, for some reason, is fixated on the tv, which is on a 2012 special on SyFy currently discussing the sun's solar cycle. Who knew cats were so interested in that? Maybe she knows something we don't? (I do feel the need to comment that no matter what does or does not happen in 2012, the whole hype that continues to build behind it reminds me of the Y2K fiasco.)

In Taro cards, death is synonymous with change and rebirth, and doesn't always mean actual death. In much the same way, even though I'm very interested in watching all the "2012: We're All Going to Die!" and Nostradamus specials that are flooding the tv these days, I do subscribe more to the "Mayan calendar starting over" belief than any end of the world conspiracy theory. Yes, the sun's solar cycle is going to peak and could cause solar blackouts and whatnot...but I really don't think the Earth is going to reverse its polarity. No, I'm not a scientist or even remotely qualified expert, but other tv specials have discredited that belief and tv never lies. Ever. ^_^

So should I bring this full circle and tie my Pseudo Kid getting her driver's permit to the swiftly approaching Apocalypse? Just kidding. She's getting her permit on Monday and the world's not scheduled to self-destruct for another few years. ^_^

I think that's my sign to say goodnight and log off. Well, that and Neko's now in prime position to start kicking me in the head (her foot's already resting on my shoulder). I don't know why she does that. Maybe she's dreaming of Jonny and my head just happens to be in the way. IDK. Goodnight!

P.S. Loving Flash Forward & V, and S2 of Fringe. Gotta love Walter! And have recently discovered a new anime, courtesy of SyFy, called Monster, which is about a surgeon who made a life-altering decision to save a young boy's life and later learns that not only was the boy a killer then, but that as he grew up, he continued walking the path to becoming a serial killer. Now the doctor is the sole suspect for all the murders and is on the run, hunting the man who was once the boy he risked his career to save. Very interesting!

Graveyard Rabbit Carnival Link

Here is the link for the "Plan you own epitaph" carnival.