Rough Week?

If you did not end your week with a 4 lb cat dangling from his claw painfully embedded your right nipple, you had a better week than I did!

Knee Blow-0ut & Rib Party

Ribs are not the only things he likes.

My week started with an emergency MD trip where hubs had 34 cc of fluid drained from his knee (it blew up for no apparent reason). In between, while preoccupied caring for hubs, our pure white Maltese managed to get into leftover ribs and have a BBQ party all over himself, the kitchen floor and into his crate (housed in the carpeted living room of course). Can you spell MAJOR CLEAN UP TIME?

Wind, Leaves & No Heat
Also included in this fun filled week: The day before my hubs hurt his knee, he removed the pool cover to add winterizing chemicals. That night we had a raging windstorm that blew a massive quantity of leaves into the now uncovered pool and brought us our first frost of the season. This necessitated moving plants and covering fruit trees. (can you spell SPONDYLOLISTHESIS ouch!) The aforementioned pool remains partially uncovered and full of leaves.
And BONUS....Our furnace is not functioning and without funds to repair, our home temperature ranges between 60 - 64 degrees...thank God we live in California.

Nipple Incident Revealed:

Innocent looking offender.

We have a very frisky 5 month old "kitten" named Shiloh. He brings much joy into our household. He gets quite excited to see me first thing in the morning. While getting my first cup of coffee of the day, Shiloh bounded into the kitchen and did a flying leap, ostensibly into my arms. This is a "new" trick" so I was unprepared for his acrobatic assault and as he hit me chest high, he attempted to grab on with his paws. While sliding down the front of my nightgown (it was the first cup of coffee of the day remember?) he managed to embed his very sharp left paw into my very large right breast and dangled there while I, screaming in alarm and pain, attempted to gingerly lift him, removing said embedded claw from my bleeding nipple. How I managed to do so without spilling a drop of coffee is beyond my memory recall.  All the while, crutch impaired hubs was sitting at his computer in the kitchen seriously trying not to laugh. By the time I extricated the cat, and showed him my wound (nipple exposure over morning coffee woohoo!) we were both laughing so hard we scared the offending cat away. BTW- If I were a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills I would have been knocking on Adrienne and Paul's mansion door requesting immediate intervention for nipple repair. Since I am a Real Housewife of Merced, I cleaned it, slapped on some antibiotic ointment and proceeded  to finally enjoy my first cup of coffee of the day.

It's Good for Balance
There is a fine line between laughter and hysteria....which we dance along quite often these days--it's good for balance.

If you had a rough week too, tell me about it! If I made your week a little bit better by making you smile, leave a comment and let me know.  It's kind of lonely doing this balancing act here!

A Tale of Two Cookies

This is a story of two cookies. One cookie lives in Los Angeles. He is quite large at over 12 inches in diameter and decorated in frosting depicting the finest of Halloween. He is a proud cookie. As he looks around in the bakery section he sees no finer cookie. He is sure he will be bought and taken to someone's home and be a much appreciated tasty holiday pleasure.

The other cookie is from New York. He is a small cookie. This small cookie sits atop a mound of other small cookies of varying shapes that have all been similarly decorated to celebrate Halloween. The small cookie is no where near as grandiose as the large cookie but he also feels that decked out in his pumpkin finery, he and his plate-mates will also bring holiday pleasure to some family soon.

As unlikely as it seems and although they come from different coasts, both of these cookies are destined for the same family in Illinois. This family in Illinois has been having some difficulties of late so a relative from each side of their family decides to purchase them a special holiday treat and mail it to them. Both purchase their favorite treats and put them in a USPS Priority shipping box.

One day before Halloween, both surprise treats arrive at their destination
in Illinois: The proud Mega-sized decorated Cookie and the plate full of small but wonderfully decorated cookies.

But alas, upon opening the treats it is obvious that something had gone awry.
The proud large finely decorated cookie arrived at it's new home shattered. It was a crumbly mess of has-been frosting decor and small pieces of cookie that had been battered and beaten much like sea glass when it spends a decade in the ocean.



On the other hand, the small cookie perched atop the tray of other finely decorated treats arrived in perfect condition. Small but proud he sat high on the pile and accepted the oohs and aahs of pleasure at his arrival. He knew he would be a welcome holiday treat in his new home!


The difference?? Although shipped in the same box, via the same USPS:

The tray of small cookies had been thoughtfully surrounded with small Styrofoam peanuts, while the large cookie had not.


Now the moral of this story could very well be that a little bit of thought goes a long way when shipping a fragile item. HOWEVER, this is not a story about the foibles of shipping. (I think you could find many of those on EBAY if you wish!)

This is a story about thoughtful gifts to others who are having a bit of a rough time. The thankfulness and the genuine pleasure at the surprise and kindness it bespeaks. And the gratitude that our Illinois family feels for all the love and support.



Oh, and the crumbled cookie? It still tastes pretty good---especially when you put some in a bowl and cover it with milk and eat it like a bowl of chocolate chip cereal! Happy Halloween!

Thanks Aunt Lynn

Thanks Aunt Monika