In Memoriam

Yesterday was a hard day for the Johnson family. After much consideration, and almost two years of trying to solve the problem in another way, we had Richard Parker put down. We have been battling a problem with him peeing on our futon and then our couch for some time. We tried all other ways to treat the problem--we took all advice people gave us--but to no avail.

Although we loved our baby dearly, we decided it was best to say goodbye. We adopted Richard Parker only a few months after we got married, so he has been with us through it all.

All craziness and agression aside, he was a good cat.

We loved him.

We miss him.

Hidden Treasures

As I was cleaning the kitchen today, I decided that I should sweep under the stove.

This is what I found:




These are all cat toys.

Gross.

Recovering (read this after Venting)

It didn't work.

But he brought be cookies.

All is well.

Venting

Here I am trying to write a quiz for my students to take on Friday (being so proactive because it's only Wednesday, after all), when I hear one of the cats throwing up. I immediately go running to find the culprit and attempt to move him to a non-carpeted area. I was too late. It was the kitten. Again.

We find cat vomit all the time. All the time, I say! The kitten (still unnamed) doesn't seem to understand that he isn't a stray anymore. It's like he lives by the feast-or-famine rule and always thinks that the food will someday disappear, and that he will be back on the streets scavenging. As such, he eats a lot. A lot, I say! And as such, he vomits.

He also wakes us up every morning about 15-30 minutes before my alarm goes off. Not cool.

The other one, Richard Parker, the eldest and so-called example for the kitten, continues to pee on my furniture. Two days ago, he peed on my quilt that was on the couch. Sorry Mom and Dad; I hope it doesn't smell when you use it in two weeks. And today, I stopped at Subway for dinner on my way home from the gym because Chris had a work thing he was going to and I really didn't want to eat another frozen dinner, and when I got home (ten minutes after Chris left), Richard Parker had peed on the couch. Again.

For those of you who don't know, this has been a problem for almost a year and a half. We have tried everything, including depression medication. At what point do I say, "That's enough"? (And yes, the question mark is supposed to be on the outside of the quotation mark because the statement inside is not a question, rather it is the whole sentence).

And all of this is on top of my already overwhelmed feeling from work. I bring it home everyday. I grade papers, plan lessons, agonize about their success, and worry about my job status for next year (last hired, first fired) all the time. I can't seem to relax.

And spring break is still over two weeks away!!!

AHHHHHH!

I hope you have found my venting enjoyable. I just wish I had some ice cream. Maybe if I think really hard, Chris will sense my need and stop for some on his way home.

If you can hear me honey, Ben and Jerry's Half Baked.

Happy Memorial Day!

For those of you who don't live in Charlotte, allow me to explain. You see, this city is not built to handle snow. As you may remember, I have already posted about the ridiculous snow day of January. As it turns out, we had another one since then.

In states that are accustomed to snow, snow days are built into the schedule, allowing the schools to miss a certain amount of days without having to make them up.

However, here in Charlotte, we have lost two teacher work-days in order to make up for lost time. I won't bore you with the details, because to be honest, I don't understand them. But essentially, I now have to go in for a workday on my first day of Spring Break.

The first three days of Spring Break were supposed to be the make-ups days, but I guess the community thought that was a bad idea, so just the teachers have to come in.

Now, this left us with a major problem yesterday as all of the news channels were calling for 4-8 inches on snow overnight. So last night at about ten, the superintendent decided to cancel school for today and will be asking the Board to approve Memorial Day as the next make-up day, making today, Monday, March 2, a holiday for all staff and students.

So, Happy Memorial Day everybody!

This year, my birthday happens to fall on Memorial Day. Does this mean I should have cake and ice cream tonight to celebrate?