In which someone tries to turn my home into a drive through.

Emergency crew gossips
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll

So...we're sitting in the living room, all kinds of mellow, trying to get Em to bed when we hear a revving noise. Then there are a set of headlights glowing into the window to accompany the revving noise. Now when you live on a street with some car traffic this isn't toooo unusual. When the revving and headlights are coming from the direction of your side yard, the one that doesn't have a street associated with it...that can't be good.
M called 911, I got the kid settled and then went out to see what was up, what with having had minor EMT training in HS. When I got there she was seizing. I did what I knew to do. The crew got there quickly and stabilized her, the wrecking crew was there shortly after to remove the car. I hope she's ok.
Our stone wall is cracked a bit but really, I'll take a cracked stone wall over no living room wall any day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day
Originally uploaded by The Paper Doll

to you and yours!

In which the bodily functions of my cat are discussed (Disgusted)

Daniel is a stinky boy. A really really really stinky boy. Even the vet says so. So now, in my home, reside 1 really smelly kid with bowel issues, 1 really smelly dog with no bowel issues but gas that curdles the nose hairs, and 1 horribly smelly cat with bowel issues. I don't think they make candles, sprays, or air fresheners strong enough for what I'm up against. Perhaps I should call in an exorcist.
M and I were sitting quietly, watching TV when he suddenly winced and complained of a terrible stench. I just looked at him and simply said "Oh, Daniel must be down here" and sure enough...he had just walked out of the kitchen. M is still laughing. I'm not sure how he can laugh with a cloud of horror floating in the air, but he did and he is. Tomorrow I get the meds from the Vet to start Daniel on. He's going for another bowel test this week. I don't envy them. Nor do I grudge them the money to do it. It beats having to do it myself.

Someone please pray that I make it through the next month without being disgusted into vomiting by the emissions coming from my loved ones.

-S

In which Daniel is settled and I visit the dentist

He's officially settled. He is now happily spazzing around the house, eating, sleeping, chatting and all the other things happy cats do. He doesn't hide under the beds as much as he did. I took the time to finally read his medical records (very slim pickings indeed) and discovered that he's 1.5 years old. He's small and slim and probably won't grow any larger than he is now. I'm sure if he's anything like Molly he will grow a bit wider. M has taken to calling him the "poop monster" because he has some seriously loose bowels. I spoke with his foster parents and they said that he's always been like that. Tomorrow he'll be going to the vet for his booster shots so I'll talk to them about it.

I went to the dentist today and you know what? It wasn't half bad. I have really bad teeth. I think I had a total of five cavities, they filled two today. Usually I'm the most anxious patient you've ever met, but these guys use Nitrous to gas...erm I mean sedate you so that you're not wigging out. That stuff ROCKS. I can see how people wind up being addicted to it. It was like a vacation from all my racing thoughts. Everything sloooooowed down. I was capable of processing one coherent thought per every 30 seconds. I just chilled and drowsed and let the dentist do his thing. The funniest part was that there was music playing, but I could never identify what it was. I was playing this guessing game with myself and then I'd ask the dental assistant what was playing, she'd tell me, and it wouldn't be ANYTHING like what I thought it was. For me, this is unheard of. M likes to play "Stump Sasha" by trying to find songs that he thinks I won't be able to recognize and he considers it a success if it takes me over 30 seconds to identify something. I giggled quite a lot.

Anyway, now that the anesthetic is wearing off, I'm in a bit of pain so I'm going to find some ibuprofen and stare at the walls some. Ta!

-S

In which Daniel starts to settle in...

Daniel had a rough night last night. I don't think either of us slept very much. At one point Marshall had to come retrieve me from the bathroom. I had brought a pillow, snuggie and book into the bathtub and was determined to stay in there until either Daniel came out or the morning, whichever came first. After Marshall made me get in bed I cant' say I slept very well. I think I woke up five times to check on Daniel. He stayed put under that shelving unit until morning.
After a big internal debate I decided to go to bible study with Emily and not stare obsessively at Daniel for the entire morning. While I was getting ready Tom (Daniel's foster father) called to offer to come out and get Daniel settled. He figured a familiar voice and face would ease his transfer better. We agreed on a time and off I went to bible study. I usually reserve my prayer requests for what I deem important stuff, but I actually asked that everyone pray that Daniel's transition to our home be eased and that he settle in. I kinda felt like a dork when everyone was asking for prayers for people with cancer and job losses, but prayer works. I needed all the help I could get with Daniel.
Once Tom and his wife Barbara got here, everything went swimmingly! All he did was stick his head down where Daniel could see him and talk to him for a few moments, then he stuck his arm under there and Daniel scooted right out. Meanwhile I had tried for a half hour earlier to get him out of there and it was like pulling teeth. We spent an hour walking around the house with Daniel as he sniffed and poked and explored and chatted. T&B liked the house, which really put me at ease. I would have been devastated if they'd decided that this house was all wrong for him. At one point Daniel and Molly met and happily, the fur did not fly. Molly kind of jumped away a little and then spent the rest of the time trying to smell Daniel's rear end. Daniel wasn't thrilled, but he was very tolerant of the entire thing.
While he was investigating my room he found the full length mirror and nearly jumped out of his fur. Apparently he'd never seen himself before. His tail got HUGE! He looked like a squirrel. It was pretty funny. After we pried him away from the mirror he investigated the rest of the house and found it to his liking. After dropping off two of his old beds from his old house (how sweet is that?) T&B went home with many well wishes and thanks. Daniel spent the rest of the day investigating, chatting and finding new places to hide. Emily and I played the "Find Daniel's New Hiding Place" game a few times and every time he was somewhere else. Marshall played with him while he was under our bed, Emily crawled under the guest bed and played with him for a bit and I managed to coax him onto our bed for some tummy rubbing time. I even managed to get him to eat! I really hope this means that Daniel is coming to relax and enjoy his new home. I know it'll take him a few more weeks to really settle in, but this is a really good sign.

More news tomorrow!
-S

Bringing Daniel Home

Today we brought Daniel home. Within minutes of bringing him home he hid under the bathtub. The bathroom is supposed to be his safe room. It's got litter, food, water, a door to close, a couple of hidey spots, and quiet. He hasn't come out from under the tub since he scurried under there.

I'm very worried. I hope we can make him feel safe enough to come out one day. I finally had to close the door and ban the room's use after the kid, hubby and dog had all gone in there to harass the poor blighter. Molly ate his food (twice), Emily poked him, and Marshall dragged him out to try and sit him in his lap. After treatment like that I wouldn't be surprised if he never came out. Poor guy.

I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight.

-S