Caterwauling

I’m in a minor cleaning frenzy this evening. The apartment is in an emergency state. I figured I’d let the kitties have at it while I was gone, but playtime’s over. Time to get the skid marks outta the carpet and try to make the place party-time presentable.

Kadi’s in her cage, and both kitties are happily snacking on turkey while I nuke the bathroom. I’ve developed an obsession with changing the shower liner every two or three weeks. Of course, Kadi uses it as a scratching post and rips holes in it daily. She also likes to eat the bathroom rugs, and there are always dark blue pieces of fabric littering the floor.

I’m not catering this soiree like the last one. I have tons of cookies and alcohol. I may toss together a spinach dip or something, but about 70 loads of laundry need to come first. And the car looks like I drove it to to the North Pole, it has so much salt and other crap from the highways on it.

Next Christmas, Bryan and Paul have sworn to rent me a maid for a day. I think they should just rent ME out and let me earn some money cleaning like a maniac for other people!

Damn it, what the HELL did I do with my Swiffer?!?!

Rejected title: Better late than pregnant

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?

Securing my promotion and handling it like a champ with next to no staff. It’s always nice when people say, “Gosh, I just don’t know HOW you managed to do that job all by yourself for so long!” I have an amazing portfolio that I can’t wait to share with potential future employers! 😉

2. What was your biggest disappointment?

Depends. My biggest disappointment with myself is that I had about four million ideas for businesses I’d like to start, and I didn’t have the necessary discipline to actually put a single plan in motion. My biggest disappointment with (some) others was because of some of their actions that really, really hurt me. And the lack of apologies really burned my toast. I mean, are people that fucking stupid that they didn’t know that they were trampling on my heart?

3. What do you hope the new year brings?

Inner peace and outer beauty.

4. Will you be making any New Year’s resolutions? If yes, what will they be?

I have always been pretty balls-to-the-wall, say-what-you-feel-whenever-you-feel-it, but I made a resolution last year to introduce tact into that quality. And I’ve succeeded somewhat — I have cultivated this amazing ability to say exactly what I want to say at the exact moment I want to say it, and I can leave people not knowing if they were just insulted or complimented. That, my friends, is a gift that I don’t mind having.

BUT …

I have lost some of my assertiveness, and I WANT IT BACK. There are several fights I could should have picked this year, and I either walked away from or simply downplayed my reaction to the things that irritated me. I kind of justified this as not caring enough to find out what the fuck the other person was thinking when they did/said whatever incensed me. I always hope that people will go away and think about what they did to cause me to want them out of my life, but that’s too passive-aggressive for me — I should take some small amount of joy in telling someone that he or she was a complete fucking asshole and that reparations need to be made. But when I get burned, I shut my heart down where that person is concerned. It takes a lot to make me become numb, but when I reach that point, there is no return. Ever.

In any event, I want to be more assertive in the new year. Damn it. 🙂

5. What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?

I’ll be hosting a get-together for a few other wayward souls. And let me tell you, this is the one time of year that I absolutely DESPISE being single and having no one to kiss at midnight (this year being another shining example), so I choose to surround myself with amazing friends to remind me that I really do have a lot of love in my life.

“Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.”

— Bill Vaughan

Hope everyone had a great holiday! I personally spent more than 16 hours in my car just going to and from my destinations, so to say that my ass hurts is the understatement of the year. 🙂 Also, to say that Mom put 10 pounds on me is the other understament of the year — we don’t do gifts, but four-course meals every night are a given. Damn it — nothing FITS!!!

I left Pittsburgh at 10:55 a.m. yesterday, went to Wheeling to pick up the boys and proceeded to be stuck in traffic on I-70 for hours upon hours. I came home after 7 p.m. to find a happy Maddie and a surly Kadi (who’s about five pounds heavier from parking her ass at the auto feeder for five days). Maddie immediately jumped up into my lap and wanted to be petted; I put her down after awhile to give Kadi some attention, and this little brat immediately scratched me.

I heard from Shawn that Kadi trashed the kitchen on my first day away, and I saw for myself that she trashed my bedroom. I have shelves of Garfield collectibles, and Kadi managed to get even up to the shelves nearest the ceiling and knock shit over. One item is an irreplacable, limited-edition figurine (that retailed around $200) — actually, pieces of it are missing or broken. I will kill that cat. I swear, when I take her to get declawed, I may just ask the vet to put her to sleep instead!

Shawn took good care of the lil rascals, and for that, I’m grateful. I was hoping, though, that the girls would learn to get along in those five days together, but the minute I walked in the door, Kadi walked up to Maddie and smacked her in the head, so Maddie body-slammed her across the room. Heh. That earned Kadi 12 solid hours in her cage, and Maddie was rewarded with Honeybaked Turkey from Grandma.

My tired ass was in bed by 8 ish last night. I just woke up, and I feel pretty good, although I know I am walking into a crisis situation at work today. When it’s important enough to get two calls when you’re out of state, you know shit’s gonna hit the fan when you get back in town. *sigh*

The girls were in dire need of litter when I came home, but because I had taken the last parking spot in the lot, I actually walked up the street to Safeway rather than drive. Seriously, when you are lucky enough to get a spot at my complex, you don’t get rid of it. Had I driven to Safeway, I would have been wise to just leave my car there, because it would’ve been impossible to get a spot any closer to home!

On that note, need coffee. Have a good day, and if you have a blog, I’ll stop by later!