Been too busy to babble, but I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I’ll be back to babbling as soon as I recover from Christmas … and the last two days.

The kittens and I had a good nap. A good long nap. A whole six hours of nap. Oops. I guess I was REALLY in need of sleep. I am feeling a lot better, but my time for getting things done is wasting away to almost nothing. Oh well, a person has to sleep when a person needs to sleep. Getting things done but being a frazzled and half-dead mess afterward does no one any good.

The kittens seem to be feeling better too. There’s a whole lot less hissing going on anyway. Several LJ friends, having experience with multi-cat households, have informed me the post vet visit hissing and spitting is normal behavior, because they don’t smell right to each other. I figured it was. The kittens don’t smell right to me either, and my nose is not nearly as sensitive as theirs. Also, they are back to getting into things and being little monsters. Both of them are really glad to be home too. Lin and I have been getting all sorts of kitty love and attention.

Now it’s time for the Dr. Who season finale, so I have to get to the living room. In closing, a photo of what Lin brought home for us today … plus a nosy Ronin, of course.

The babies came home about an hour ago. While they are happy to be home and thrilled to be with us, they are not so happy with each other … to the point of hissing and growling at each other and not wanting to be in the same room together. Is that normal? I may have to call the vet and ask. I realize they are in some pain and likely quite grumpy about the whole thing, but I’d expect it to be a general grumpiness and not just directed at each other.

They are home, safe and sound, which is the most important thing, and they don’t seem to hate us at all.

In other household news, I meant to work on the Xmas cards last night, and that just didn’t happen. I had a bit of a headache by the time Kenny got here, so I took some aspirin and laid down on the bed after dinner. I did not wake up until this morning when my alarm went off. I’d gripe about all the time lost sleeping, but something tells me that if I managed to sleep for some ten hours straight, I must have really needed to sleep. I almost never sleep that long at one go … only when sick or really stressed out. I’m not sick, so that leaves stressed out, and I am extremely stressed out. Though I have to admit to not feeling all that well today either. Massive headache and upset stomach, both of which are still probably stress related (at least I hope so).

Lin is stressed out and fried too … and more than a little annoyed with work. Not going to be talking about that publicly, though I’ll probably rant about it somewhere more privately later. I’m a little annoyed with his work too.

We may or may not be going to a Christmas concert tonight. I don’t feel like going anywhere. I’d rather be at home working on the things I need to be working on, but if Kenny gets us free tickets, I’m sure we’ll feel like we “should” go, and so we will. It’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy it immensely, it’s that I have so much on my mind and so much to get done, I’m not in much of a mood to go have fun right now. I’m sort of hoping he calls to say he can’t get us tickets. He’s never managed to get two tickets to anything before (which is why Lin gets to go to all sorts of cool things without me), but you watch, this will be the first time he pulls it off … the one time I really don’t want to go.

My mission, as of right now, is to simply physically survive the holidays. Anything else either gets done or doesn’t get done as it relates to my mental and physical state. If that upsets anyone else, too bad. If my own family can’t understand that Lin and I have a pile of crap on our plate to deal with right now, and thus we might be a little frazzled and not quite in the holiday spirit, screw ‘em. Sometimes you just have to put your own self and your own household in the top priority slot, even if that means putting family holiday things on the back burner.

The dryer just stopped, so that means the kittens’ blanket is finished drying. It must be time to round up the hissing, spitting monsters and see if I can convince them a nap would be a wonderful idea. They seem to be settling down a little now. I know I could use a little snoozing in the sunny spot on the bed. Yes, even though I slept so much last night, I still feel wiped out.

Lin just got home from work. The vet called him around 10 am this morning to tell him they had both been through the operating room and were doing fine.

Thanks for calling ME to let ME know!!! I really am always the last to know everything … the important stuff anyway.

Yeah! My babies are now sterile, and I no longer have to worry about any accidental inbred brother/sister kitties! Also, they don’t have to go back again until next December, so we have gotten through the major expenses. I am so relieved about it all.

Done, done, and done.

OK, I didn’t mop the kitchen or wipe down the fridge, but everything else is done. I am declaring it a day as far as anything work related goes. I think a ten hour day is long enough, don’t you? The dishes are stacked and ready to wash as soon as the greasy pot in the sink has a chance to soak a while. I’ll be knocking them out any minute now. There were hardly any dishes at all in the sink. It just looked like a lot due to poor stacking. No need to put them off if there aren’t but a few.

I pulled out the papercrafting box to get ready for making cards tonight. Lucky me, I have a brand new package of blank red cards leftover from a previous year! I was afraid I’d have to pester Lin to drive me to Hobby Lobby tonight, or I’d have to get really creative with the stuff I have on hand. All I have to do now is come up with a design idea, print out some stuff, and make those cards! It’ll be fun and a good way to end my day.

But first, I have to go kill our smoke detector, which is beeping every 60 seconds due to its battery being dead (I guess that’s what it’s doing), and I think I’ll knock out those dishes so I can spend an hour or so playing a video game or watching TV. Heaven knows with two men in the house tonight, I won’t have any control over the TV programming, and I doubt they will want to watch anything I might be interested in. Looks like once I get the cards done, I will be retiring to the bedroom with my iPod and listening to a book or something. Or maybe I’ll just go to sleep. I could use some more sleep.

Since the vet hasn’t called to say my kittens are dead or disabled, I have to assume everything went off without a hitch and they are sitting in a pen somewhere being extremely grumpy about things. I thought about calling and asking how they were, but I am trying not to come off as a Crazy Cat Lady, even though I am a Crazy Cat Lady. It’s not that I am so much worried about their actual health, because I am sure they came through their little operations just fine. I just miss them, and I am a little worried about their mental health. They have been in this house for 16 weeks now, and I can imagine they must be a little freaked out about us just dumping them off there and not being picked up again. I also hope they behaved as well while we weren’t in the same room with them as they do when we are there at the appointment. At any rate, I am sure they are a bit scared right now.

Oh, I miss ‘em. I really do. It felt strange doing housework without my kittens “helping” me and being constantly underfoot. It’s still something like 18 hours until I get to see them again. TOO LONG!!!

Well, the laundry is ready for the dryer, so that’s my cue that break-time is over for now. Just the dishes yet to finish, and then I am definitively DONE with housework!

It occurred to me while I was sweeping the house that I haven’t posted a photo of my bathroom since we moved in three years ago. There are likely a good number of new readers around here who have no idea why my bathroom makes me want to kill myself.

Behind the cut: photos and explanations.
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It’s already 1 pm. Ask me what I have gotten done today!

So far, I’m still scrubbing away in the bathroom. It’s one of those hormone-induced, insane cleaning sprees … or One Thing Leads to Another. The shower looked good, so I had to do the sink. The sink looked great, so I had to wax the floor. The floor looked great, so I had to wipe down the door. The door looked good, so I now have to do the walls. And then, of course, there’s still the toilet, which I always leave for last. The good side of this is the bathroom is going to be really, really clean, though nothing can be done about it still being hideous and pink. The bad side of this is the rest of the house still looks like hell.

I shouldn’t really say the house looks like hell. Hell was when it was terribly cluttered and I had a hard time cleaning anything for having to move stuff to do so. The house never really looks like hell anymore. There are a few things that have been ignored a little too long … like mopping/waxing the kitchen floor and wiping down the fridge (inside and out). Though these things aren’t especially horrible either. I mean, I could continue to ignore them, and I just might for fear of One Thing Leading to Another in the kitchen and me finding myself spending the rest of the day going cleaning crazy in there. I just don’t have the time or energy.

My plan, once I finish in the bathroom (soon, I hope) is to sweep the whole house, vacuum the rugs, mop the kitchen, do the dishes, and then collapse in a heap on the bed to listen to a little more of one of my audiobooks. Tonight I’m going to make the Xmas cards and get out the soap making stuff. If I can get all this done today, I am going to allow myself the day off tomorrow to enjoy the kittens being home. Nice excuse, yes?

Saturday we are going to Mom’s for an early Xmas celebration, so that day will be fun, but it will be a waste as far as getting anything done. Saturday night I want to work on making a few ornaments and baking some cookies. Sunday is soap day. Or, you know, I might start feeling less crampy and cranky and wake up tomorrow ready to take on the world and get everything done early. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it could happen.

I talked to Mom about presents for the family, because my thinking had been along the lines of gift certificates, so I wanted to find out what stores they mostly shopped at that weren’t Walmart. She seemed to think the cash idea from last year was better than gift certificates. I agree, mostly, but last year I got all creative with money folding. I don’t want to do that again this year, because I’d have to learn all new folds. If it’s going to be cash, it’s going to have to be some other creative way to give it. I know, I’ll embed it in plastic bags in the soap. Mwha ha ha ha ha! Just kidding … I think.

I know! I could use the cash as the bow on the bag with the soap and ornaments! That sounds sort of silly, but I think my family is used to silly things from me by now. At least they should be.

I better get back to the bathroom if I am ever going to get it finished to my Inner Neat Freak’s standards. I have no idea when Kenny is going to be arriving, and I don’t want to be in the middle of cleaning when he does get here.

Yes, I know, boring, stupid, pointless post, isn’t it? Mostly it’s just to remind me of what I need to get done and when. I just thought I’d share, because it seems like when I post it here, I actually stick to it. It’s way too easy to ignore a text file sitting on my desktop.

I MISS MY KITTIES!!!

There are two means of refuge from the misery of life; music and cats.
–Albert Schweitzer

“Hey. Wait a minute. We know that nothing good ever comes of being put in this box, and this time you starved us to weaken us first! What gives?!”

I miss them already, but secretly a large part my me was thrilled to eat my insta-food breakfast while sitting at my computer reading the news without being out-flanked by two rowdy kittens.

And let me tell you, they were none too thrilled by the still-empty food bowls either. It nearly resulted in the total destruction of the living room.

I have now totally hosed my sleep schedule. I accidently allowed myself to achieve a fully prone position on the bed this evening, and as soon as the kittens started sucking on the sheet hem, I went out like a light. I needed the sleep, so it’s not a bad thing, but it didn’t exactly do anything for making my long list of things to do any shorter.

Aside from sneezing all day (Cedar Fever) and being a crampy, cranky, hormonal woman, I didn’t have an altogether horrid day. Fighting the mold in the shower area was the only real thing I got done today, but that was quite a task. It won’t last, because I just know the space between the shower stall and the walls around it is just full of mold. I just know this. It comes back far too quickly. The bathroom is not that much of a moist environment, particularly when the furnace is on a lot. But for now, it looks good, and I’m going to try to stay on top of it.

That leaves all the other housework and craft making for tomorrow. The housework I am not all that concerned about. It’s only Kenny spending the night tomorrow night, not someone who really needs impressing. He’s seen our home at it’s worst, and I know all about his housekeeping skills as well. In other words, he better just be thankful I’m letting him sleep on my couch, so he better not have any issues if the floors haven’t been mopped. I’m cleaning the bathroom very thoroughly, so he should be thankful for that. I was going to ignore it until after Xmas.

The Xmas craftiness? I don’t have the energy or willpower. I have to make the soap ASAP. I’ve promised a few bars out to some folks, and I need to restock sales supplies as well. I’m looking forward to making the soap. I may not be making it tomorrow. It’s all going to depend on how I feel. If my energy levels are too low, I’m putting it off until Sunday. It’s not something you can start, get tired, and then put away to finish another time. Once you get started, you sort of have to finish the project … from making it to packaging it. I also need to make Xmas cards for my family, and that I can get done tomorrow. In fact, that’s probably the perfect thing for me to do tomorrow.

As far as presents go, the family will be getting soap (as always), the cards (as always) and gift certificates. And a few other little things I’m not going to mention here. I’m still stressed about it, but that’s just the way I am wired. I know everything is going to be fine and I will pull off giving great gifts again. I always do. I don’t know why I worry about it so much.

How is the other hormonal female in the household doing? It wasn’t so bad today. This afternoon while I was busy working on the bathroom, I alternated having one of them in the bedroom for about an hour at a time. That wasn’t too horrible after the initial rounds of meowing because they hate closed doors, no matter what side of them they are on. This evening I wore them out playing, and kept Myu close to me, which she didn’t seem to mind at all. She never minds getting a ton of attention. Lin didn’t get why I was being so careful about no copulating going on, seeing as they are getting operated on tomorrow, but well … the vet may decide she wants to wait with Myu until after she’s done being in heat, which means we could end up with a pregnant cat if anything happens before now and when they go to the vet in the morning. That is just not happening. They’ve both been really good about it all, but mostly I am thankful that Ronin is apparently a little too juvenile yet to realize what his part in this whole thing is supposed to be. He’s just grumpy because his playmate is being odd and not playing right.

I can safely say, I have now had the experience keeping an eye on horny teenagers.

They spent most of the late night being extremely grouchy about the lack of food in their bowls. They usually start panicking when they can see the bottom of the food bowl, no matter how much food is pushed up around the sides, so you can imagine how they have been reacting to bowls that are 100% empty. That hasn’t been pretty. Lots of moping and whining, and begging anytime Lin or I ate something. At one point, Ronin made a huge show of slowly and noisily pushing both of the large, plastic bowls slowly into the middle the kitchen floor … making as much noise with them as I think he possibly could … and then sitting by them looking sorry for himself. Poor, poor kitty.

Now they are passed out on the bed, and I think I’ll go lay down with them for an hour. I should probably get something constructive done in that hour, because I’m really quite awake right now, but since I’m not going to get to cuddle with them until sometime Friday morning, I better go get my fix while I can. Besides, I don’t want to leave them in the same room alone for too long, especially not lounging on a bed. Ronin might start figuring things out.

Oh, and proving that you can find chemicals powerful enough to handle any plumbing job on the planet, we poured something completely toxic down the bathroom drain today and prayed. It worked. While I am thankful the bathroom sink is once again functional, we’ve probably single-handedly destroyed the water supply in our area. Not kidding about toxic chemicals. Yipes. Scary stuff. At least it was cheaper than needing to get a plumber out to look at it. Of course, I am now having visions of gaping holes in our plumbing system caused by putting whatever the hell it was down the drain. Oh well, the water drains away now, so I’m just going to be happy about that. In fact, it’s working better than it ever has. No telling what was down there. This house did use to have small children living in it, and there’s no cover over the drain hole. There’s no telling what has gone down that drain in the past.

Yup, time for some kitty cuddling. I could do with a little nap. Then I can hit the housework list hard after I make Lin’s coffee and see the babies off to the vet’s office.

Wah! I’m going to miss my babies!!!