As you may notice from the picture above and the change in the title of our blog, we are now a one cat household. Sadly, I had to put our "Sweet Potada" Ada to sleep just before Calvin's birthday. She had been in kidney failure since February and she was just dwindling away to nothing but skin and bones. She was barely eating and really beginning to smell because her kidneys were no longer working properly. It was an extremely sad day for me. I didn't think I was going to cry so hard because I wasn't as attached to her as I was my Smoochi, but I cried HARD! Great big giant tears and heaving sobs. The vet assured me I was doing the right thing. I don't want to go through that again for a very long time.So now we just have our silly Archie.....the skitty kitty. He's had a pretty rough couple of weeks due to us having company and our entire plumbing system being redone. More on all of that later.
Calvin's birthday was pretty uneventful. We made him steak, sausage and potatoes (a manly meal!), then had some cake. He got a new bike for his birthday but was much more excited about the $65 he got in the mail than he was about the bike. The brat! He still hasn't really learned how to ride it. He and Dwayne practice every weekend. He's slowly getting braver and better. We may have his birthday party here in a week or so.........secretly I'm hoping he forgets. Birthday parties are such a pain in the butt! No one RSVPs so we end up paying for more than we should. And I want to know who came up with the stupid idea that we have to give the kids who come to the party gifts? Uhhhggg, don't get me started.
We went to my step mom's sister's house for Christmas Eve. This is a CRAZY house! Her sister is married to an neurosurgeon and he is VERY eccentric! He owns 3 houses in a row and he loves Las Vegas. Every time a casino goes out of business he buys up part of it's landmarks and puts them in or on his house. He has the roller coaster from the top of the Stratosphere on one of his roofs. SERIOUSLY!! I'm not kidding! He has Liberace's staircase in one of his houses, the giant pot of gold from the old Hilton sign is above his bed. You name it he probably has it. It all sounds cool but it's kinda all thrown together....... he needs a museum curator on staff. Let's just say that HOAs were probably invented because of Lonnie Hammergrin! Any way, it was a lot of fun. Santa came and gave the kids some presents when they sat on his lap. Before he left Calvin asked him for a time machine next year, Santa got a chuckle out of that one. After lots of good food and too many cookies we headed home to open one present each then it was off to bed so Santa could come by.
Christmas morning Calvin woke up at 5:30am! I heard him open our door and thought "really, please don't make us get up now." To our surprise he looked at the clock and went back to bed! I couldn't believe it! What 7 year old does that? He didn't even go back to sleep or check to see if Santa came! He just went back and laid in his bed! It was such a treat! He finally came in at 7:30 and made us get up. Bless his heart! Zach really wasn't too in to opening presents, I opened most of them for him. Calvin on the other hand had his all opened in what seemed like a minute. Zach got some Thomas the Train stuff and Calvin got some Transformers. They also got lots of clothes and books since I let everyone know they needed no more toys. It was a good Christmas.
Our great friends the Waddells came up to see us for New Year's Eve. They're the Arizona family we went to Mexico with. It was wonderful to have them, once again they were the first to visit us in our new house, just like when we first moved to Vegas. We had Sandi and her family over and we all had burgers and hot dogs and donned our party hats. We put all the tiny tykes down about 8:30 and the bigger kids played in the play room while the parents drank cosmos and vodka and redbull and played games. At 5 till midnight we bundled up the big kids, put on our party gear, grabbed our noise makers and headed outside to ring in the new year right. It was so much fun. I couldn't think better people to bring in 2009 with. We all had a wonderful time. Although, I wasn't feeling too hot the next morning (wink wink).
On Jan 2ND Sandi and I headed down to Arizona for the weekend without any kids. That was great! We relaxed at my Mom and Dad's cozy house, drinking wine and soaking in the jacuzzi. Sandi got to see her sister and her new baby while I went to see my dear friend Kristen who is sick with Breast Cancer. I was great to see her, it had been too long, almost a year. She's hanging in there even though it's spread to her spine. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. There isn't a whole lot they can do for her but she still has the greatest attitude and still thinks of others before herself. I miss her so very much and it breaks my heart that I'm not there to help her in this battle for her life. I beg everyone to please think of her and say a prayer or whatever it is you do. I love you Kristen.
Now I'm home and dealing with plumbers and drywall guys tearing up my house. The builder had a problem with the pipes so they're replacing all of them. It's not fun. The guys are nice but I hate being put out of my home, there aren't a lot of options here in Vegas. Zach and I invaded Sandi's house one day and we may be back on Monday while they texture and paint the dry wall. Uhhhhggg!
Poor Archie! He's had a rough couple of weeks. First it was May and family, then I was gone for 3 days, and now our house is full of strangers with hammers and drills! I'm the only one that he'll come to because he's afraid of everyone else. The poor guy, I'm surprised he still has any fur left! At least they got the dry wall hung without sealing him in the wall. That really happened a few streets over! The poor cat was in the wall for 2 days before they realized what happened!
I think I may be getting Archie a playmate soon. He's going to need it because I'm actively searching for a job. I need to get out in the real world again. I need constant adult conversation and Zach needs to be around more kids. Sandi put Christopher in daycare and he's doing great. It's time for me to bring home some bacon!
Well, that's it for now. We sure hope everyone had a great Holiday Season and that 2009 is a terrific year for all of you! I'm so looking forward to seeing what our new president has in store for us! I believe if anyone can help us, it's him. Take care until next time.......Love ya, mean it!
