Before Pia got her reverse Mohawk haircut, she was angry at us for trying to comb and Furminate her back fur mats out. It was hard to imagine whether she was mad at us for trying to untangle her mats or at us for simply thinking about untangling her mats. Or maybe because we talked about little else for a week.
Nope, you do not want a ginger girl mad at you. No one wants to see this angry, disappointed face day after day.
Oh, Mom. You didn’t get all the things done you said you needed to get done last week. Color me a little disappointed. You had the best plan, I’m sure. And even though you paid a lot of attention to me, I’m sure I wasn’t the cause of all that work left unfinished. Hey! Maybe it was The Baby’s fault!
“Hey! That wasn’t my fault! And stop blaming me for every little thing, big brother! I can’t help that I’m cute and curiously cute and helpfully cute all at the time,” Viola smirks.
You’ll have to admit, my baby sister does stick her nose into everything and it’d be perfectly understandable if she were the reason you didn’t get everything done, Mom. Purrrrr-fectly understandable. You’ll get it all worked out. You go on out there and get to painting and cleaning and whatever else you needed to do. I have complete confidence in you, Mom!
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Last week started with great plans, yes, that’s true. A slight derailment when, just before 4 a.m. Tuesday, Mom discovered she had a flat tire. With no way of picking up her car pooler and getting across town to work, she could only opt for taking a hit on her attendance record (1 point), wait for the tire place to open, and hope they could get a new tire, the same as the other three, shipped the same day.
Lots of angst here but, anyhoo, the tire got replaced and other than cost, the only hit was to Mom’s personal goal of not having any work absences, ever. Angst lessened.
The rest of the week went okay-ish. The side garage door is fixed, the house trim color is on hold (rain, 100+ temps coming, finding the matching paint color), the blinds people tentatively promised blinds by September something-or-other (NOW, the problem is an installation scheduling backup, but hey, maybe it’ll still happen this year!), the fountain Hudson valve repositioning is happening today, and well, the cat den closet cleanout, sale and donation plan will have to happen later. Mom’s working a 2-week straight shift with no days off starting today. She really did have a big, perhaps a bit unrealistic to-do list, don’t you think?
Pia is much happier with her back fur mats removed and with a cooler feel. Think of it as a kind of reverse mohawk look. Someday, she’ll actually let Mom clip those longer-than-long smelly pantaloons, too!
It’s also the time of year Mom takes a bit of time off from blogging to recharge (while still working 40+ hours a week doing manual labor) and to get some home repair things done. This year her list includes: Fixing the garage door jam surround that’s rotting (1 day fix), touch base with window blind people, yet again, to find out when, if ever, our spring-ordered, heat-blocking blinds will arrive AND be installed (1/2 hour of work, weeks upon weeks of continued angst over already paying for this and getting nothing in return), backyard fountain Hudson valve repositioning (2-3 day fix), clear out cat den closet for Craigslist sale/donation items (2 days work), and repaint outdoor house trim (4-5 day job).
Mom says she’ll relax this coming winter. Maybe. Tessa’s skeptical. Not sure why.
