Can You Hear Me Now?

Ok, here’s a quick wrap up on what’s been going on at my house.

I finally got my landline phone back to working yesterday. Verizon replaced about 10 poles and probably a quarter mile of line to get my neighborhood back in phone service which had been out since the big storm earlier this month. I also learned today that Verizon is not going to cut us a break by pro-rating our phone bills for the time we did not have service. I also learned that Verizon has been bought out and we will soon be getting a new phone company. Kind of explains their slow response after the storm, not giving us a break on our bills and not upgrading the local phone lines to allow highspeed internet! (I miss GTE!!!)

Work has been crazy. I am not sure if it’s possible and I don’t believe in that wacky "aura" stuff but I swear that ever since that storm (whatever it was) went through, Southern Illinois and its residents - including me - have been altered about 15 degrees. Now, you have to know that people in Southern Illinois are already about 15 degrees off plumb, so now we are really cockeyed! (Maybe it’s the influx of tree trimmers from every corner of the country or the generator fumes we all inhaled for 6 days or that everyone was eating questionably safe food out of coolers in the aftermath of the storm.) Whatever the cause... and I am not alone in this assessment... things are just different.

Oh, and the cat got sick shortly after the power returned. We don’t have a cat carrier so I wrapped up the cat in one of Luke’s blankets and the four of us headed to the vet’s office across town after dropping Luke at a friend’s home. $275 later and a Rx for some medicine which I ended up squirting on my shirt in a feeble attempt at shooting it down Ally’s throat, I learned that she just had a UTI and that I needed to change her cat food. The Vet actually sent me home with "special" litter in order to collect urine from Cindy’s (!) cat. I have my limits and waiting for a cat to pee is where I draw the line!!! (I hope Ally enjoyed her last trip ever to the vet!)

True story: One Sunday afternoon I was reading the paper and checking out the coupons to see if there were any that we really couldn't pass up. I told Cindy, "Does Ally need cat food? Puppy Chow is on sale." She said, "Puppy Chow is on sale?" I said, "YES! Puppy Chow is on sale." She said, "Puppy Chow???" I said, "What don't you understand? PUPPY CHOW IS ON SALE." She said, "PUPPY chow??? WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!? WE HAVE A CAT!!!" I'm really not as smart as everyone thinks.

To answer another question that had come up in a previous blog entry - yes, I am dating someone. She is a wonderful, understanding woman who has helped smooth out my life, adores my kids and makes me happy.

‘nough said.