Ho Ho Ho

Misty-she carried on the fine feline tradition of molesting my smiley face Santa, then chilled with me and watched The Food Network . 

Giselle (Gigi)

When your mother has occasionally been hallucinating a black kitten for a couple of years what should you do? Take a ride to Mazon to Just Animals and adopt two black kitties! LOL Introducing Giselle and Misty! Giselle is 2 and Misty is 3. I love them and I really think that I am growing on them. I didn't purposely go to pick 2 black ones. The nice girl at the shelter told me Misty was one of her faves, and when I picked her up she immediately charmed me. I'm so easy. I said I'll take her! Then I asked if they had another kitty they thought would get along well with Misty and they suggested Giselle. She charmed me too and that was that. 

When I was checking out it was noticed that Giselle was due for her rabies shot, so they set up an appointment for their next clinic. The whole adoption thing was a blur and happened really fast. Yes, I am making excuses for not being sure which black cat was Giselle and which black cat was Misty. After a musical ride home I brought the kitties in, took them in carriers to introduce them to Mom, released them, then 2 cats disappeared immediately. Who would think in this little house you couldn't find a cat, wow. The next day Misty came out, and was immediately lovable. Still no sign of Giselle. I was afraid she had somehow gotten out. Well she finally turned up and wow what a relief. I had no idea there was a space for a cat to hide in the back of my stove. Or in the recliner there is this little shelf. Wow. So I didn't get to touch Giselle for a couple weeks, boy is she quick. She'd let you get close, but no sudden moves or she was off like a shot. So the day comes for her rabies shot and there is a lot of suspense. Can I catch a cat? OMG it was a fiasco. 60 year old slow fat woman vs. 6 pound cat. I think you can guess how that will go. Well it was worse. Lots of sweating and cursing ensued. Poor kitty. Finally the terrified cat goes in bathroom and cowers behind toilet and I get to catch her. Another complication . . . I think I know which cat is Giselle and which cat is Misty, but I'm not sure, so I have to take both cats just in case I don't have the right cat with me. Oh dear, the people at the shelter tried not to laugh too hard, but I can't blame them. It was very embarrassing. They are so nice over there it was fine that they laughed at me. Hard. But I did have the right cat! Whew. Poor Misty waited in the car. 

There was a mix up with our appointment so I was waiting with Gigi, at least I had my fingers crossed, (I didn't officially change their shelter names, but Giselle gets shortened to Gigi quite often) and wow what a parade of cats and dogs that came by, it was fun to see the owners and their dogs and cats and hear their stories. If you have to have a little wait that is a great place to do it. Everyone was very friendly and nice to the disheveled, sweaty, exhausted woman waiting on a bench who confessed that she didn't even know if she brought in the right black cat. It helps to have a good sense of humor if you are me. Anyway rabies shot accomplished and things are going better now. Giselle lets me catch her more often now. Both kitties are nice mix of sweet and sassy, and I'm tickled to see Misty settle on mom's bed with her more and more often. I'm sure she likes Mom  . . . and her heated mattress pad too.

Speaking of Mom, her home health care nurse talked to me about switching over to hospice because mom had been complaining of some pain. She just said she hurt all over. I agreed and hospice had already done an evaluation so it was a quick transition. First day the nurse comes she arranges for some pain medication for mom and wow it helped right away. And it was delivered to the house, no more pharmacy line at Wal mart. Mom took the pain pills for a few days and started feeling better. She started sleeping better and glory be, she is in a better mood, sleeping better and her appetite is great. Such a gift to have an upswing in the way she is feeling, especially this time of year. About the same time her hospital bed had ceased to function, it got stuck with the head fully elevated, so she had been back in her old bed, just flat all the time, which is rough for her and for caregivers too. So between the pain pills and getting the hospital bed repaired (motor went out), things are much better. The house was chaos with an extra bed in her room and her not feeling good, so getting things restored to order and mom feeling better is wonderful. 

Very glad John made it home from his Peru trip and is not one of the stranded tourists I have been reading about in the news. Unfortunate about the pulled muscle, the food poisoning, the weird bites, and the altitude sickness, but he did see Machu Picchu! 

This weather is awful! My boss let us out at noon on Thursday and I don't go back to work until Tuesday, so a nice break. 

I picked up a nice rib roast for Christmas. I hope I don't screw it up. I am making some horseradish cream sauce to go with it, so how bad can that be? There will be bread and potatoes and a veggie so yum. And pecan cream pie, curious to see how that turns out too. 

I hope everyone is well and Merry Christmas to all. Here is to a good 2023!

Kay 🎄