Week 37 - Rejecting the Bling

It was a short week and it flew by but there was nothing normal about the four days.

At the pool on Tuesday, my friend Cheryl told me that there was tame kitten outside of Canfield (the building I work in) when she left. So instead of heading home to watch Hell’s Kitchen, I headed over in search of the kitten. It couldn’t have been easier. From 100 feet away I spotted her sitting under a bush. She was a short haired dilute calico about 5 months old and walked right up to me purring. While she dug into the food I’d brought, I tried to call Belinda – my Husker Cats cohort who lives in town and is always handy with a trap or cage. When she didn’t answer, I had the bright idea to call Troy, the man who was in line to adopt the kitten who’s living in my spare room. He was great! I asked if he would take this cat instead AND come right then. And he did. Crisis averted! He got a sweet cat and I didn’t have to figure out what to do with her when I already have mama kitty (newly dubbed Big Eddie from Gray Gardens) roaming my house and the kitten (you guessed it, Little Edie) in my spare room and no other options for segregating another cat. Since it was already so late, I stopped on the way home and picked the elderberries in the ditch that I’d had my eye on all summer.

Now to Wednesday - the day flew because I was feverishly working on a deadline project for one of the accountants. I was eating an inordinate amount of m&m’s that afternoon so had the bright idea to chew a piece of gum – something I hadn’t done in a year or more. All was going swimmingly (you can’t eat candy with gum in your mouth) until my bling tooth popped out. I hadn’t equated the dentist's warning to not eat anything chewy or gooey with gum. Damn! Luckily he could fit me right in so I left work at 4:00 and headed to the dentist. He glued it back in and I was on my way. Unfortunately, the disruption killed what is normal a productive night for me, despite the fact that I was home a bit early.

I made up for it Thursday night and got all kinds of things crossed off my to do list. I was gearing up for a productive weekend that would start with a much needed shopping trip so I went through my coupons, made lists, gathered returns (2 years worth) and generally got organized. Friday found me with a great attitude, almost done with my project for Jenny, ready to tackle some training documentation and looking forward to the weekend. I was at lunch with Layton, enjoying the Cracker Barrel fish fry with turnip greens and hashbrown casserole, when my damn fake tooth popped out again! This time on hashbrown casserole, which is practically pre-chewed. I called the dentist when I got back to work but they were closed for the afternoon so I left a message. The afternoon flew by and I hung with the kitties for a bit (I had saved them a piece of fish) before heading to Wal-Mart. They had recently remodeled the store and I had trouble finding things, plus they appear to have greatly reduced the amount of stuff on the newly shortened shelves. I left frustrated with only half the items on my list. My dentist called at 9:30 and was willing to do my tooth then but I’d already showered and was in my jammies so we made plans for the morning.

That night I slept in the spare bedroom, taking the next step to try and tame Little Edie (it’s not going well – she’s as freaky as ever and wants nothing to do with me.) Well, with none of my cats to wake me, I slept until almost 8:30, which was not good because the dentist had said he’d call between 8:00 and 9:00 and I should be ready. I quickly got dressed and slammed down a bit of cereal before he called. I was in the chair longer this time because he had to remake the fake tooth (maybe it’d been chomped on one too many times?) before gluing it in. From there I went to a Friends of the Library meeting, then out for an early lunch with my friend Lorri. We were supposed to work on the Hansen House gardens after lunch but she needed some time so we planned to meet after 3:00. I went home to write an article for the master gardener newsletter (I’m cramming to do my last few volunteer hours before the October 1 deadline) then met Lorri and gardened for a few hours. Since I was already a grubby mess and had been fortified by a soft serve from BK (they’re surprisingly good), I went right home and mowed. By the time I was done and showered, I was ready for an evening of sitting on my butt.

Having killed my entire Saturday with volunteer efforts, that left a lot to get done on Sunday. Granted, I spent a chunk of time on the phone but laundry, dishes, making flight arrangements for my trip to Carmel next month with Nancy and paying bills took up most of the afternoon. I then had a choice – Decor8 the hutch, which had been the plan, or make jam with the soon to be rotted pears Lorri had given me. The pears won. Other than having to go to Lorri’s for more pears (most of the first batch were too far gone), it didn’t take long to make the jam, something I should remember the next time I’m lamenting that most commercial jams are loaded with high fructose corn syrup. The hutch will have to wait. And since I’m headed to North Dakota next week, which was moved up a week due to Connie’s schedule, it’ll be waiting awhile. Life goes on.