The Life of a Bathroom Cat

I wasn't always a bathroom cat.  Here follows the timeline of my life...some dates are approximate:

2-1-99     I was born.  Let the party begin!

3-20-99   My brother, Agua, and I moved into our new home.  There is another cat there, Forest.  She thinks she is the boss.  She's wrong.

5-1-99     Our first home (Grandma and Grandpa's house) burnt down.  I was glad we didn't live there anymore.  The only cat in residence at the time was our father, Pooh Bear, and he survived the fire.

5-31-99    Mom peed on a stick.  She got very excited.  I am not sure what implications this has for my life.

8-31-99    Mom must have quit her job or something.  She's home all day every day now.  Dad better keep working.  I like to eat!


10-1-99    Agua ran away today.  I hope it wasn't something I said.


10-2-99    I heard word of Agua's untimely death.  Such a young lad, so many years ahead of him.

11-30-99   Forest escaped the house today.  And got ran over by a truck.  From this day forward, I will spend (almost) all of my days indoors.  Outside is just too scary!  This is now a one cat house.

2-14-00    Mom has disappeared.  I hope it has something to do with removing that watermelon she has grown in her belly.

2-21-00     The watermelon has returned with Mom.  It makes a terrible noise.

10-1-00     Our family has moved.  We now live in a trailer on Grandma and Grandpa's lawn.  They have just moved into their new log house.  Oh, the scratching I could do there...

 3-14-01    I am a hero.  A fat rat tried to move in from the farm down the road.  I served him with his eviction notice. ;)

4-1-01    I have given birth to the 4 most beautiful kittens in the world!  If only I knew who their father was...

6-1-01    All of my children have grown and flown the coop.  Now to get this body back in shape.

6-5-01    I went for a car ride today, and then a nap.  I must have been robbed while I slept, for I no longer have claws.  I don't think I will have any more kittens either. 

9-1-01    We have moved again.  Definitely a downgrade.  Our whole family in one room at Valoo's house. 

1-1-02    We moved AGAIN!  This place is beautiful, with plenty of room for the four of us.  I love to sit on the couch and watch the birds in our yard.

2-16-02    That squawling watermelon has grown and is not quite so bothersome anymore.  I hope that never happens again!

8-1-02    We are moving again.  Back to Grandma and Grandpa's again.  Perhaps this is my destiny.  Oh, and there is another kid now, but he is not here all the time.  And he didn't start off as a watermelon. 

10-15-02   Moving. Again.  At least there is plenty of space here in this yellow apartment building.  Plenty of catnip smoking college students, too.  I wish they would share.

8-1-03    Story of my life.  Moving again.  Back to Grandma and Grandpa's, but in our own apartment this time.

1-14-04   Furnace broke during the coldest winter ever.  Thank God for moving this time!  Back in with Valoo while we look for a new home.

2-21-04   My family moved, but left me behind.

5-1-04    Mom says she's so sorry, and now I can come live with her again.  Someday I will pee on her favorite shoes for that.  This house is a lovely trailer in the country.  And I do mean country.  Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  There is a swamp behind our house and a bunch of giant fans in front.

5-19-04  I feel a need to explore the great outdoors.  In fact, I think I will go on a month-long survival expedition in the swamp behind our house.  Maybe I'll pop back in just as my funeral is being performed, covered in burdocks so sticky mom has to give me a hair cut. 

6-20-04   Mom peed on another one of those sticks again.  I sure hope it's not a sign of another watermelon.

7-31-04  Definitely another watermelon growing.

2-19-05  That watermelon is huge.  And we are moving.  Not sure how this is going to work out.

2-20-05  Mom is on her way to...somewhere.  I think she's having kittens!

2-22-05  Nope, just one smelly watermelon.  I don't know why she likes those noisy things.

4-30-06  Just living the life...it's good here.

5-15-06  I have a feeling...another watermelon.  The second one isn't even grown yet!

2-9-07    Mom left in a terrible blizzard.  It must be important.  Like she wants to buy me some cat food?

2-10-07   Nope, just another watermelon. The biggest one yet!  I wonder how many times this will happen.  This house is filling up.

4-16-07  I've been put in kitty jail.  I don't know why.  All I did was pee on...everything.  How else will I show my disgust with all of these children?  I've heard this is the bathroom, and nothing terrifies me more.  Don't they know cats don't like water??

8-23-07   Maybe it's not so bad here in the bathroom.  The kids don't bother me and I get lovins every time someone has to pee.

10-13-07  Not feeling so well.  I decide to go on a hunger strike and scare the crap out of Mom and Dad.  Finally, they narrow it down to a tooth in an awkward position.  Dad grabs his pliers, Mom wraps me up in a towel, and...problem solved.  The best part?  Wet cat food for a month!

12-27-07   Mom peed on another stick.  Oh boy...here we go again.

7-20-08   My family appears to have left me.  I don't know why and I don't know where.  Occasionally a stranger comes and feeds me.  I wish Mom would come home and change my stink box.

7-28-08   Mom was home for a little while.  She forgot to take care of my stink box.  I shall make a mess on the floor for her, now that I know she is alive and well.  Hmpf.

8-1-08   Mom is home every night now.  She cries when the kids go to bed.  They all leave early every morning.  I don't know where Dad went.

8-8-08   Dad is home.  I think.  It looks kind of like him.  But all he does is lay in bed.  Sometimes I can leave my prison to snuggle with him.  I like that.

8-27-08   I hear the new watermelon is coming soon.  This should be a trip.

8-29-08   This last watermelon is the worst one.  She took over my snuggle spot on Dad!

2-1-09    My 10th birthday!  Guess what Mom and Dad got me?  Two puppies to boss around.  Yay. :S

4-30-09  I can't figure it out.  Dad keeps going away to be "fixed up" and comes back in much worse shape.  You'd think they would figure that out and stop taking him there.  I can't even snuggle him any more.  Darn pups...

7-05-10  It has come to my attention  that I have a boring life.  That's okay.  I like it here in the bathroom.  It's a great life, you know...eat, sleep, leave hairballs all over Mom's towels, occasionally and randomly puke all over...it's great!

8-1-10   We had two temporary houseguests.  Cute little whippersnappers they were.  Reminded me of my own children.  I wonder why they never bring the grandkids to visit.  Our visitors didn't stay long. :(

7-13-12   I am sick.  Sick and tired.  I'm 13 years old, what do you want from me?

7-18-12   I think I might die.  I hope I have lived my life well.

7-19-12   I saw a vet today.  He gave me a shot that should help me regain my youth.  I don't think so though.  I am so very tired.  I want to sleep forever.  I have to wait for Mom to go to sleep first.  I can't bear to hear her cry again.  I will miss her.

7-20-12  When I woke up, I saw the most wonderful thing!  I now live in a mansion.  I think I'm waiting for Mom to join me.  She's going to like it here.  And...there are no stink boxes here!

RIP, sweet Coon-Coon.  You lived a good life.

That last watermelon turned out to be alright, after all.

My Wild Girl

Hannah is my wild little country girl.

We go to Grandma's and she stalks garter snakes that frequent Grandma's flower garden.

She has found and captured 5 caterpillars just today.  We'll keep two of those and hopefully watch them turn into butterflies!  The other three were tent caterpillars and are now deceased.

She can spot a tiny little turtle from a mile away (okay, maybe that is an exaggeration...).

She has a "toad of the day" club going on, then releases them every night and catching a new one the next day.  Or it could be the same one again, I suppose, because I don't want to admit there could be that many toads on less than an acre.

I love you, Nature Girl.

Tractorversary and other things...

These were the 5 repeated phrases from the VBS our church just finished:
Day 1:  No matter who you are...trust God!
Day 2: No matter how you feel...trust God!
Day 3: No matter what people do...trust God!
Day 4: No matter what happens...trust God!
Day 5: No matter where you are...trust God!

Do you see a common theme there? ;)  I was a crew leader (aka helper) in the preschool.  I felt kind of obligated to be there because both of my kids were there and one of them is a super duper handful (take a wild guess...starts with an L).  It was (mostly) a good time though and I was very often reminded that I need to trust God with every tiny detail in my life.  All of them.  Just trust Him.

You wouldn't think trust would be such a hard thing.  After all, God has never ever ever proven Himself untrustworthy in my life.  In the past, every hard thing, even the really terrible things, have been used by God for my good.  I can see it, looking back.  Why then, is it so very difficult to see the good in the "now" hard things?  I guess it's all a matter of faith, of constantly choosing to see the end result is going to be good...even when what I see now is terribly hard and definitely not good.

The 4th tractor-versary of Brian's accident was last Friday.  I meant to post something here that day, but it was the last day of VBS.  And my 13 year old cat died the night before.  And I had a massive headache all day from a "flying truck" incident at Day 4 VBS.  So...I let the day go by, just trying to hold on and get through it.  Which I did, in case you're wondering.

I've come to realize that for Brian and I, life will always be split into two sections...before and after.  I've also come to realize that, except for those who are very close to us, other people don't see our lives that way.  For them, 4 years is long enough that Brian just "is" the way he is.  The accident is water that has long ago passed under the bridge.  There is no then and now, no before and after.  I think they don't even remember him/us before.  They don't live it every day, so I can't really blame them. 

But I remember. 
I remember a father who loved to hike off trails with his kids. 
I remember a father who could kick or throw a ball without pain.
I remember a father who could relieve me every night, even after he worked all day. 
I remember a father who would climb the stairs every night and put the kids to bed.
I remember a father who rough-housed with the kids, rolling on the floor with them, roaring with laughter.

Some of my kids don't and won't remember that dad.  I am glad they still *have* a dad.  Don't get me wrong.  But it breaks my heart to think of all the "can't dos". 

I remember a Paul Bunyan of a man...logging and cutting up our heat for the winter.
I remember a man who liked to rollerblade and ride a bike.
I remember a husband who could go for a walk around the block.
I remember a husband who wasn't afraid of anything.
I remember a man who really didn't know what pain was.

God has done great and amazing things in our life since the accident.  And yet...so much is left undone still, even 4 years later.  I never imagined we would be floating in limbo this long, not sure of what to do or where to go next. 

I would have though by now, God, You would have reached down, and wiped our tears away.

God is still good.  Life is still good, even if it takes a little longer to find the good.  We will make it through this, even if "this" is the rest of our lives, as it appears to be.  I must daily choose to trust the One Who knows my name, the One Who sees my hurt, the One Who loves me.  There really is no other option, besides despair.

Through the fence

A conversation overheard between Levi and the next door neighbor (7 yo), through the fence...

Levi: Hey, you know why I'm home all the time now?

Neighbor:  No, why?

Levi:  It's because I'm homeschooled now.  So I'll be home always.  Except when I leave.

Neighbor:  Actually, it's summer break.  That's why you're home.  And I'm home.

Levi:  Really??



Uh-oh.  I may now be in trouble for having him do school work when it's supposed to be summer.  LOL

Under the stars

Essie:  Hey, Momma...look at all those stars!

Me:  I see!  Can you count them?

Essie:  Yep.  1, 2, 3, ... 26.  26, Mom.

Me:  There are way more you can't see right now.  God knows how many!

Essie:  I'm going to put one in my pocket.

Me:  Ookaaaay?

Essie:  And put it in my underwear drawer.



She sure is cute though. :)