Cats, Fall Decorations, and Workers

Well, I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy my post about my volunteer job - I'm enjoying it, and that is really the most important thing.  Yesterday there was only one kitty, a 4-month-old calico, called Gabby.

Unfortunately, Gabby had a pretty bad kitty cold, so in the afternoon she returned to the main clinic to get some medicine and TLC. She was so cuddly and sweet while I was with her. She *loved* all the stupid songs I made up to sing to her. ❤

Over this past weekend, when the weather was still lovely, I was folding some laundry and saw something I had never witnessed before:

Will you look at that! Miss Esme enjoying sitting in the sunshine in the guest bedroom window! Maybe she does it a lot when I don't see her, but this was the first time I'd ever seen it happen. Of course, the Koodle chased her out of the window and downstairs within about 10 minutes, because he is a brat. But she seemed to enjoy it while it lasted ... 

Even though she is still pretty much scared of everything and everyone, she has made a LOT of progress compared to the kitty who came home with us originally. I'm hoping the progress will continue as she sees that we have not yet beat up or killed any of the other cats who live here (and trust me, the Koodle challenges us 24/7 on that front).

For specific reasons that currently escape me, last week I decided that we needed some nice and new fall and Halloween decorations. So I was poking around and found some at Target online, and even better they were on sale. So I ordered two Halloween decorations and a fall wreath. Since Target is good about returning things, I figured if they didn't live up to their online appearance, I would return them.

When I opened the box, I was happily surprised! All three things were exactly what I was hoping they would be, especially the fall wreath - as a matter of fact, it might even be nicer than I was expecting! Here it is still in the box, since it's not time to display it yet. But isn't it pretty?

The Halloween things are tucked away, but I'll try to remember to show them to you when I get them out to decorate.

As I am writing this, there is a work crew in front of our house, demolishing the brick planter that partially collapsed about a month ago. Two different people gave me estimates, and both agreed that rather than fix it, it would make more sense to remove it and cement over where it had been. Apparently when it was first added, it was not connected to the house - so it would only fall apart again down the road. I liked it well enough, but it had started looking sad over the past couple of years, and then the collapse was just the end. We're just planning to buy some nice planters to fill with flowers, etc. next spring. Quite a few people around here do that, and it looks really lovely, and still gives some outside the house pretties to see.

The guy who is heading the crew doing the work looks like he would be the son of "The Sopranos" character called Paulie Walnuts. 

So I've been calling him Paulie Walnuts, Jr. (obviously not to his face, his actual name is Joe). He's really nice, but he embodies the whole Italian-American stereotype, and it cracks me up. Also, from the get-go he called me "Bridge," and it amuses me so much when people I either don't know at all, or barely know, call me that. No one in my family or among my close friends has ever called me that, but so many random people go there automatically! 😂

But you know what? God bless them for doing the work on a day like today, when the temperatures are supposed to be 97 degrees Fahrenheit with the ever-popular "feels like" temperature being 107 degrees. I would already be passed out, so I am thankful for anyone who does outside physical hard work when it feels like you've entered the gates of hell when you step outside.

And that's it for today. I'm off to work on a few projects inside, so I can get them finished and check them off the to-do list. I hope your day is a good one!

Tuesdays Are For ...

Kitties!

I have started volunteering for PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) at one of their locations in a Petsmart not too far from my house. I have the Tuesday morning shift, and this will be my 3rd week there. 

This is a location that is somewhat small, and they only adopt out cats. But that's fine with me, since as you know I am able to tolerate cats. 😏 I am only able to do this because PAWS is a no-kill rescue, so I don't have to worry about learning that a kitty I saw one week had to be euthanized for space when I get there next time. I am not emotionally strong enough for that.

But so far it's been fun. The first week, there was a bonded pair of older cats who were sisters and they were so sweet! They loved cuddles and playing. Fortunately, they were adopted together the week in between my shifts. 

The pictures above are the group from last week. The top and bottom kittens are littermates, and the one in the middle is a singleton. The littermates were adopted in my last shift, and the other kitten the day after. 

Basically, I go in and feed them, clean up their litter boxes and cages, and cuddle and play with them. I forgot how ridiculously messy kittens are! Honestly, it always looks like a bomb went off in their cages. So yeah, it can be messy, and smelly, and sometimes even gross, but being able to spend time with them is just the best. 

Whether or not they are kittens, most of them like some cuddles or pets. And of course kittens are just all over the place, so they are good for a laugh! Needless to say, when I come home, even though I wash up and put whatever clothes I was wearing into the laundry, my own cats have to do some very thorough sniffing. I can see them wondering why I smell that way. But then they know I'll give them a treat or something, so all is forgiven.

So even though I don't have paid employment, I am getting out of the house besides my morning walks at least once a week. They have never failed to make me smile, and I like knowing that they are being adopted and making people happy.

The Tim enjoys my stories each week, though he told me at the beginning that I "should not bring my work home with me." 😂😂

But it's SOOOOOO tempting!

And Now We Start Over

 

Well. Welcome to the sh**show. Since we last "talked," things have gone downhill fast. Long story short (and it is a VERY long story!), Floor Guy turned out to be a) unreliable, b) unskilled, and c) a disaster. The last time he showed up, he said hi to Alfie, and Alfie growled at him and ran upstairs! As The Tim says, when Alfie turns on you, you're done.

So we are not only back to square one as far as finding another person for the floors project, the kitchen floor will have to be completely re-done. Which means something that we originally thought was not going to cost a huge chunk of money probably will. Sigh. But live and learn. And as The Tim says, this is the first time we've been left in the lurch, and we know a lot of people who have faced nothing but the lurch with their home projects. So we're moving on and hoping for the best. I already have another person coming on Monday to give us estimates, and another one on Wednesday. Please keep your fingers crossed we have success this time around. 

Needless to say, I've been in a tizzy lately, with anxiety ramping up, and I haven't really done much knitting at all. I've done a lot of reading, so all is not completely lost. And after much emotional eventage (not a word, but I'm using it), The Tim has convinced me that this is a part of life, and none of it means that our lives are ruined, or even that our house is ruined. So I'm talked down off the ledge and ready to see what's next.

*****

In other news, the plants that I have had in large pots in our garden since last year have done really well this year, even with the terrible heat. But since I have been conscientious about watering them, they have thrived. It makes me so happy, especially since in order to water them, I have go put on long pants, long sleeves, socks and shoes to go out into the garden, since there are so many mosquitoes I would otherwise seriously be covered in bites. It's been a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts though, since dressing in such hot clothes to water the plants has helped them thrive, so I dress in hot clothes to water the plants, etc. I'm looking forward to weather where I would be wearing long pants anyway, and won't have to change just to go into the garden!

I have been watching parts for the Democratic Convention and really enjoying it. I'm sure you can imagine how happy I was to hear the Obamas the other night, and you can also imagine that once again, it made me wish we were friends with them. 😂 After feeling so despondent for so long, I'm actually feeling hopeful that the Evil Orange One may be conquered. 

This past week we have had lovely weather, so my morning walks have been the best! I love coming back home and not being covered in sweat. And having the windows open with a breeze blowing through the house. Oh summer, why can't you be like this? We could be *such* friends!

I've been reading your blogs, but admittedly not been in the frame of mind to comment much. But it has helped me stay sane, so thank you for posting. 

Yesterday was my dad's, my father-in-law's, and our late kitty Tess' birthdays. Today is my sister Mary Ellen and brother-in-law Pat's 54th wedding anniversary. So there are things to celebrate during this time that has been otherwise stressful, and that is always a good thing. Though I realized the other day that the weekend after this one is already Labor Day weekend! That's always a reset for me, so I'm thinking of what I want to include in that, and since I enjoy making lists and then lists of the lists I make, that's pleasing me too. 

This is the first day in a long time that I haven't had a feeling of dread first thing on waking up. Getting rid of Floor Guy was one of the best decisions we have ever made. 

Onward!

Snooper-vision

Well, the guy showed up yesterday to start working on the floors, and Alfie was right there. I left the cats alone, rather than closing them up in a room, because I knew that three out of four of them would hide. I told the guy that if Alfie was becoming a pest, to let me know and I would remove him. The guy assured me that he loves cats, and it wouldn't be a problem.

The whole time he was here, Alfie hung out with him - snooper-vising, I guess, since I didn't see him do any actual physical work. To Dan's (floor guy) credit, he kept up a conversation with Alfie most of the day. Covering a variety of topics. (And proving that we're not the only weirdos who have entire conversations with our cats. 😊) Alfie is not much of a "talker," but he does make sounds that sound either approving or disapproving, and he never takes his eyes off of you if you are talking to him.

After the work day was finished, Alfie sacked out until this morning. Because today is another day of floor work, as is tomorrow. And if you never realized it before, snooper-vising is exhausting work. 

Fortunately, he gives us a discount on his rates.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Resurfacing After Being MIA

Well here we are, almost in the middle of the month, and I'm finally checking back in with all of you. The past couple of weeks have been difficult, but things are looking up, so fingers crossed that it stays that way.

At the end of July/beginning of August, my Reverse SAD finally got me and got me good. It was so hot and so humid for so long that I got to the point where I could barely function. I was tired and miserable all of the time, and my depression and anxiety ramped up like it has not for a while. I was in pretty bad shape to be honest.

I did manage to get myself together enough to enjoy a weekend visit to NYC to see a lot of family, which was really nice and I'm glad we went, but then we came home to the same slop and that caused me to crash big-time. Fortunately, last week, even though it was still humid, it wasn't as hot and the rain did a lot to make the flowers, trees, etc. look and obviously feel better.

This week has felt so good! It's so nice to be able to have the windows open, especially at night, and to take walks without being soaked in sweat after a block and a half. And considering that it's August, it's a nice surprise that it's feeling that way now.

As mentioned above, we were in New York to see a lot of family for a weekend overnight. My sister Nancy and her husband live in Southern California, but they come to NYC usually every summer to visit with a lot of his family who live in the area. This year, their kids and families joined them. My nephew and his wife in Arizona have four kids, and the last time we saw them was 11 years ago. Three of them were able to make the trip, so it was nice to see them as young adults now. My niece and her husband who live in Northern California have two kids that we have never met, so we got to meet them in person, which was nice. Then my other sister and her husband from WV came for the weekend also, and one of their daughters and her family live in Brooklyn, so it was really great to get to see nearly everyone! It was loud and funny and frustrating (none of them are planners, ugh!), and of course, we always enjoy the train ride to and from there. It would have all been perfection if it hadn't been in the high 90s Fahrenheit with the ever-popular "feels like" temperature of 108 degrees. 😡

Only for family would I even consider braving it!

Then, we had found someone who could do our bathroom and kitchen floors - meaning that sooner rather than later, the new refrigerator would be in the kitchen where it should be! There were a couple of blips - the original date they said they'd start had to be pushed back, because the person they dealt with at Home Depot/Lowe's (I forgot which one) ordered the wrong bathroom tiles. 

The guy who was the head of the crew then said they would show up "early afternoon" on this past Saturday to get started on one of the bathrooms, after they finished another job. Which was fine with me. So I was going along in my day, and about 1:15 in the afternoon, The Tim informs me that he called and told the guy not to come, because it was "way past early afternoon." WHAT? I consider early afternoon  to be until around 3 p.m. Then he went on about how he told him it wasn't professional to treat people this way, etc. All I could think of - and I really don't think this very often - was WTF??

This, from the person who weeks ago explained to me (even though I already knew it) that contractors are usually working on several jobs at once, so they seldom devote all of their time at once to your project only. So I don't know what kind of needle ended up in his butt to cause him to do that, but I was really afraid that the guy would say, here's your down payment back, find someone else.

So currently, they are supposed to come tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday to get all three floors replaced. The lead guy texted me yesterday and told me he would text me again today to let me know what time tomorrow to expect them, and where they were starting, so I could have things ready. I hope it all works out this time. Otherwise, The Tim better have something else lined up.

In the meantime, Alfie will be in heaven when they finally arrive. I told a friend that it wouldn't surprise me if he has been watching floor repair videos on YouTube so that they have no excuse to not let him "assist" ... 😄

And now you are all caught up on the high-/lowlights. Cross your fingers that the next time I post, the floors are at least underway!