The Cats and Jammer Kids

No, this isn't about the two little blonde cartoon kids getting into trouble- this is about pet adoption and whether it's right for you. Or me!

I'm a dog person- I like the way dogs run up to you for affection, and give you unconditional love. But we can't 'do' a dog right now. My husband is a cat person, so we considered a cat. Two actually.

A friend of mine took in two feral kittens abandoned by their mother about ten months ago. All well and good, but these boys were kept in a very cluttered porch for most of their lives, and the only socialization they had was a nightly cuddle session with my two friends. Their college-age son is severely allergic so they can't have the cats in the house, and I offered to see if they would be a good fit for us. One is named TC, the other Curious.

They brought them over the other day, and we waited expectantly, hoping to have two new members of the family to play with and cuddle. We opened their box and waited for them to come out, all smiles and willing to give them all the attention they wanted.

Unused to having any open space, all these kitties wanted was to hide- they hid from us the entire day, and I told my disappointed children we needed to let them get used to the new environment. So far they've only come out when the kids are in bed, and though they aren't aggressive, these guys aren't the cuddle cats we were lead to believe. We've had them a total of two days, and so far we've had to dismantle the front of the dishwasher to get them out of hiding, and have lost three plants due to a certain feline wanting to see out our windows.

And we know it's all TC (now dubbed Trouble Cat), because he's the leader- Curious just wants to hide and be left alone to pout.

We are also learning that cats can hide in a myriad of places we wouldn't expect a mouse to take up residence (hence my surprise when I saw a little kitty face poking out of the side of my dishwasher- how both managed to jam themselves in there I have no clue), and this morning we can't find one of them. Apparently TC found a place we haven't thought of yet.

I'm beginning to like dogs more and more at this point.

Don't get me wrong, I love animals! But you also have to gauge personality as well as the species; just because you can care for a cat, doesn't mean you can care for any cat. Or two in this case. TC and Curious don't seem to like kids and noise (something that automatically comes with kids), and that would these guys would be a bad fit for us. But we are giving them a week or two to get used to the idea. And if they're still scared, it might be best to let them go. However, I plan on talking my friends into sending them to a no-kill shelter instead of back on their porch. That's no place for two fully grown cats. They seem to like the company of adults, and somewhere quiet as well.

Frankly, we might not fit them, either!

So we'll give it another week or two and see whether we can get along. I hope so- they are really nice kitties. When they aren't trying to destroy the place!

Just as I finished this last sentence, my son found TC- in a cabinet. How he got in there was a mystery, until I looked in the back- apparently there was a hole big enough for the cat to get through. Sigh. I never realized just how small a space a feline can wedge themselves into! And just how 'catproof' my house isn't. Hopefully we can all learn together and be a good fit. I know I hope so!

Time for Fun!

Looking out through the snow-leaden windows, I'm feeling more than a little house-bound. Much like the felines in the large cat exhibits at the zoo, all I feel like doing is pacing, pacing, pacing at the windows, hoping for spring to come and melt the snowy tundra, so I can get a glimpse of green again.

The house is clean (sort of), and I glance into the hallway mirror looking much like a forlorn Saint Bernard in need of a walk.

I gaze at the clock, seeing I've finished the chores in time to have a little fun before the kids come home from school, and my mind goes into overdrive. But there is a major problem here. You see, I have way too many interests!

I've done scherenschnitte (paper cutting), quilling, beading, cross-stitch, card making, scrapbooking, quilting, fabric crafting, bags and tote-making, gardening, and many others. And I have an 'idea' box stuffed full of things I had just enough time to jot down, but never pursue. I think if I did, God would have to let me live at least another three-hundred years- and that's if I never had another idea starting right now!

I can't help it- thoughts pour into me like rainwater into a barrel, and I can't get rid of it unless I write it down. Oh sure, I could just forget the idea entirely, but then I'll wonder if it would have been just the thing I'd need in the near future. So I invested in a ton of 3 x 5 cards and started writing every little idea down. If you're like me, you have a similar collection.

So I ask myself the scariest question I could ever ask. What am I going to do with my free time?

And my hyperkinetic brain answers, Everything!

Not the best plan, I admit, but it's a start. So I go up to my sewing room to explore. I'm not being metaphorical either- I have a lot of stuff in that little room!

I toss project after project on the table, acting as if I have all the time in the world to finish these projects before my children come home. But it's fun just going though everything, even if I only accomplish a single task. And fun is what I was after in the first place. This is also the reason I have many UFO's (UnFinished Objects) in my room. There are also PhD's (Projects half-Done) and WIP's (Works In Progress), but there is nothing actually finished yet.

Yet.

I hope to change that this year. Just remember, even if I finish one project, it still counts- no matter how many projects I have left!

Of course by the time I get started on something, the kids will walk in and it'll be time to make dinner and help with homework. But that can be fun too- just in a different way. So do what I do- take a deep breath, do what you can to relax, and have fun in all you do- no matter what it is. That's really all that matters....right?

Snow Problem? No Problem!

As many of you know, the Eastern region of the US got pummeled by large amounts of the white stuff for three days straight. I've lost track of the accumulated inches, but it had to be around the forty inch mark, give or take.

That is a lot of snow.

So I started thinking...what could we possibly do with all this stuff? And how can we help others with it?

Well, we could make the worlds biggest snow fort (call Guinness!), but that really won't help other people. But then I started to think about other parts of the country and the world that are dry as a bone, where water is hard to find.

Is snow is lighter to transport than water? It probably is, simply because you can't pack as much in a container when the snow is still in it's flaky state. So maybe the government or several teams of missionaries can come haul off every inch of this stuff and send it to those who need it.

For the record, I would happily offer my entire yard, pavement, driveway and street side parking spot, and I'm sure if I passed the word, my neighbors would oblige as well. All we would need is a convoy of refrigerated trucks- is that so much to ask? It's for a good cause, after all!

Better their fields and crops than my sewer!

In case that idea falls through, maybe we can load it in trucks and take it all to a local park, dumping it and turning each truckload into a vast array of temporary snow slides, sledding slopes, and forts for snowball fights. If someone had a snowblower, there could be a 'SnowFall' feature that would bring the kids running.

And it would keep our children off the street!

Do you have an idea on how to use a lot of snow for the good of the world? Share it at my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Footprints-In-The-Mud/288917434104?ref=mf

Don't have a Facebook account? Then share it here in the comments section below!

What If The Power Went Out?

It's been a long time since I had to redesign a blog- technology sometimes makes my head spin! I see kids now with all these new networking gadgets, and I wonder- what would happen if we ever lost our link with the networking world?

Teens would panic, business people would cry out in fear, and even us stay-at-home moms would be upset- imagine life without being able to email someone!

I lived on the cusp of the computer age as a teen; they had just brought PC's to my high school when I was a junior, and we were taught how to make programs. Things like 'GoTo' and 'Line 80' were droned into our heads, and it took forever to get a program to run right.
After that I never touched a computer screen until the late 80's, when the Xerox machines became computerized.
I worked in a copy shop when things were simple- it looked much like the original Star Trek show, where the buttons and displays on the copiers were just monochromatic covers over top a push button. But then the machines were upgraded, and I was dealing with high-tech- or at least high-tech for that time. Now there are touch screens for every possible copy combination and the machine does everything for you.

But that can also be it's most fatal flaw. Once the electricity goes off, you're doomed.

So what would happen if there was no power worldwide? Pandemonium, that's what.

Kids would panic when their computer screens went blank, and they would be forced to play outside, having to get along with the other children. Teens would have to go to each other's houses to talk to each other, instead of sitting on the couch texting fifteen friends at the same time. And since there's no more emailing, people would have to start writing letters to communicate. Even meals would change, and we'd be forced to cook on the grill, go back to lighting up gas stoves with a match, or start using those wood stoves you used to see on Ebay under 'Antiques'.

Car batteries would die eventually too, and people would have to start biking everywhere to get where they needed to be. I wonder just how long it would take someone to invent a human-powered generator by hooking up a treadmill or bike to a battery, just so some things would start working again. Can you imagine having your teenager running on a treadmill just so he could take the car out for the evening? Me neither, but it's a nice thought.

People would lose weight too. All those people exercising just to get a few precious hours of power to fulfill their needs. Eventually people would start to feel better, and not miss those TV shows or the DVD player as much as they used to.

We would be talking to each other a lot more- and finally see the faces of people as we speak to them- not just some made-up photoshopped image on a screen. I just knew Aunt Bev didn't really look like a anime chipmunk!

And don't forget- people would go to bed earlier too, because there would be no lights.

You know, I think I'm starting to like this idea!

More sleep, less weight, happier people because we're actually talking to one another, and kids that have learned to get along and stop hurting each other, because there are no violent movies to emulate.

I don't know about you, but I think I'll be praying for a blackout tonight!