Hoping to adopt a miracle: Yaya's adoption website

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about my friend Yaya. Today I'm posting the badge that links to her adoption website:

Do me a favor, kittens. If you have not yet done so, and would like to help out, click on the badge, which will take you to Yaya's adoption website. (I'm sorry, Josh is in the picture here, I can't forget about hubby!) Anyway, click on the badge, and grab the code from the sidebar. Post the badge to your blog. Let as many people know about this as you can. Help get the word about these two loving, giving people. If anyone deserves to be parents, it's them!

Writers Workshop: Destructive kitties

Click here to play along with Mama Kat.

Here is the writing prompt I chose this week:

Describe the most destructive thing your pet has done.

I am fortunate that my kitties are not terribly destructive. They are very good cats overall. They have never scratched furniture or chewed anything of value up. I hate to brag, but they are naturally well-behaved.

However, there is one incident which made me so mad at Maggie.

It happened about three months after I moved into my condo. At the time, I just had Maggie. When I first moved in she used to love to climb on top of the cabinets. From the cabinets, she would climb to the top of the refrigerator, and would dangle her paws in such a way that they brushed against the door to the freezer...and then the freezer door would open.

Can you see where this is going, kittens?

So one morning--the morning of my first dinner party, as a matter of fact--Maggie woke me up, acting more anxious than usual. She was pacing the bed, pawing my face, doing everything within her power to get me out of bed. So finally, I got out of bed, walked to the kitchen to get breakfast...and saw my freezer door, wide open.

How long had it been open, you ask?

Long enough to defrost nearly $100 of frozen goods.

On the bright side, I had the menu for my dinner party ready to go.

And Maggie is a smart enough cat to know that what she did was a big mistake. She hasn't climbed to the top of the refrigerator since.

That, and the fact that I now store my toaster, coffee maker, and several other things up there has been a good deterrent, too.

Prayer request

Please send your prayers, good thoughts, and any other good karma over to my friend Yaya. Last week was a very trying week for her. At the beginning of the week she and her husband experienced a tragic loss in their family. At the end of the week, she received a call from their adoption agency, telling her that a birth mother had selected her and Josh as her adoptive parents. Yesterday, she got another call from the agency: The birth mother decided to keep the baby.

Yaya and Josh have been trying to have a baby for the past seven years. They have been through fertility treatments and have had several miscarriages. I, like many of her followers, felt tremendous joy when she first made the adoption announcement last week. Now my heart is heavy with grief.

Please go over, if you are so inclined, and leave a positive comment for her. This is a tremendous loss for her and she needs a lot of love and support right now.

Maybe an angel IS watching over me

In one of my last posts I had mentioned that BFF and I were going on our fourth month of not speaking to each other.

Well, that all changed tonight.

It happened on my way home from dinner with a few girlfriends. I had pulled onto the highway, looked at my dashboard, and realized that all of the lights were out. I started panicking, thinking that if my dash lights were out, so were my headlights. I pulled over and put on the hazards. I adjusted the brightness dial on the dash, and things seemed fine. I went to pull back on the highway...

...and realized my hazards were stuck. I couldn't shut them off.

Now, yesterday, kittens, my car went in for service, and part of the service involved the replacement of one of the dashboard lights. (Insert gratuitous Meatloaf lyrics here). This made me wonder if some other things went wrong when the dash was put back together, causing the hazards to get stuck.

Well, long story short, I pull off the highway, into a gas station, and call AAA. If you have ever called AAA, you know that you can wait forever for help to come. It was 9:30 PM, and I was alone, at a gas station, and just a tad nervous.

I needed company...and I did have a friend who lived ten minutes away.

That friend happened to be BFF.

I put my pride--and whatever bitterness I felt--aside and called his cell. No answer.

I called his landline--no answer. He was out for the night.

I then took my owner's manual out and searched for an 800 number for Kia. I was on the automated line when BFF called back. When I realized I was getting nowhere with the robot voice, I hung up on Kia and called BFF.

I told him about my problem. He was indeed out of town, but stayed on the phone with me as I explained what had happened.

He offered some suggestions to help get my hazards unstuck, one of which was banging on the dashboard with my fist. It worked. I was stunned.

He then advised me to call AAA to cancel the service call, which I did. He then told me to call the dealer on Monday and explain what had happened, especially since the dash had come apart yesterday.

And finally, before I hung up, he asked me to call him when I got home. He added that if he were in town, he'd drive to the gas station to keep me company.

Half an hour later, I got home and called him. He was glad that I got home safely.

The timing of this incident couldn't be stranger--at least to me. Over the last couple of days, I had been really missing BFF. Today was particularly difficult, since I was spending the day with a mutual friend of ours who sees him on a regular basis. I started to feel really sad, wondering when, if, and how BFF and I would reconcile.

Well, tonight my prayer was answered--albeit in a strange way, but it was still an answer.

BFF came through for me. He was there when I needed him.

And that's when I realized what a totally selfish ass I had been. I had read too much into a situation that should not have been read too much into. Which was what led to our not speaking to each other. And I felt awful how much I had let it get to me. I'm sorry if I sound so vague about this, but I don't want to go into details about our fight right now.

Besides, I don't think those details matter anymore. He could have ignored my call. He could have chosen not to call me back.

Dear God, now that I am writing my expression of gratitude, I feel even more like a selfish bitch for letting myself be so upset at him.

The important thing is, he helped me out when I needed it. And even though he wasn't physically present, I felt safer and more secure just hearing him on the other end of the line.

I definitely think we're going to be okay.

Thank you God, and car, for helping me realize this.

Favorite commercials

Even though I have DVR, and am able to fast-forward through most of the ads, there are still some that I'm able to catch through random glimpses of live tv. Here are my two current faves.

First up is one of the latest Fiber One commercials. I don't know why people find it so funny when little kids use big words, but it's cute when they do.



Next up, an AT&T commercial featuring Bill Kurtis. I love how these serious, starched-shorts anchormen types don't always take themselves too seriously. (Note: Ignore the ads for the Brooklyn Fair and the Lake George tourism board).




Hope you've enjoyed this little bit of randomness!

Meh.

Today was a day when I felt emotionally void--dull, empty, blah. That's what I said on my Facebook status.

I didn't feel great, but I didn't feel horrible, either. There are many reasons why I felt this way:

• I've been to four wakes/funerals since the end of September, and I have another one to attend this coming Sunday. Two of those wakes have involved former colleagues and friends of mine.
• One wake involved a colleague/friend who was also a member of my book club. I am hosting book club Wednesday night. It is our first meeting since our friend died. I'm not looking forward to the emotion that is going to come out of it, as necessary as it is. I hate crying in front of people.
• I haven't had time/felt like reading or doing any of my hobbies lately. I just want a day to do nothing at all, and not feel guilty about it.
• My car went in for emergency service this afternoon. The engine light came on, and they're doing a coolant flush and something with the temperature gauge. Nothing serious, thank goodness, but still, it's another car repair.
• My coworkers are starting to drop like flies due to H1N1/norovirus/strep throat/whatever other bug is going around. I am grateful, however, to still be healthy.
• My BFF and I are going on our fourth month without speaking to one another. I've been somewhat okay with our quasi-estrangement, but this morning, I woke up really missing him. As much as I want to reach out and pick up the phone, I really think he needs to contact me first--and not just via a forwarded E-mail.
• I had to cancel dinner plans with Mama and Papa Cat Sunday night because of the aforementioned wake.

And just as I was moaning about my fate, this song popped into my head:



Thank you, Eric Idle, for helping me put things into perspective and making me laugh at the same time. For this is what I've realized:

• Meeting with my book club will help me--and everyone else--grieve our loss, but remember our friend in a special way.
• I have a job where I can afford to repair my vehicle. I am also lucky to have such a reliable form of transportation.
• I have not succumbed to illness, and I was one of the lucky few at work to receive an H1N1 shot.
• I am going to see the whole Cat Family in two weeks, on Thanksgiving day. My absolute favorite holiday.
• And as for me and BFF...I think we'll eventually be OK. We have a lot of mutual friends, and we both don't want to put anyone in the middle of our squabble, which is ours and ours alone. It's just going to take some time to heal...but I'm not going to lie, kittens, it's been very painful for me. I don't know how he's felt about it, but it's hurt like mad on my end. I'll blog more about it at some point.

But right now, I need to listen to Eric Idle again...and find my copy of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Always, sometimes, never

Special thanks to my good pal Jenners for allowing me to steal this meme. Well, she didn't give me permission, but I'm going to do this anyway (and give credit where credit is due).

I ALWAYS...

• start my day with a large mug of coffee from the Keurig
• wear a strand of pearls...they go with any outfit, even jeans
• have my iPod and a book in my purse...portable entertainment wherever I go
• wear my aquamarine birthstone ring on my right hand
• listen to NPR on the way to work
• visit the websites of the New York Times and CNN to get caught up on the news
• have a square or two of dark chocolate every day
• take my vitamins every morning
• roll down the windows of my car and crank up the radio as loud as it will go whenever it's a nice day
• am reluctant to get up in the morning--especially before sunrise
• make an ass out of myself
• look for the humor in everyday life
  

I SOMETIMES...

• make the time to catch up on my DVR shows
• let my nails grow past my fingertips
• go to bed when I'm supposed to
  
• eat my daily required fruit and vegetable servings
• make exercise a part of my daily routine
• prefer to stay home rather than go out with friends
• feel that a totally lazy day (i.e., staying in my PJs and sitting on my ass) is totally necessary to my well-being

I NEVER...

• go a day without snuggling with my kitties
• eat peas, Brussels sprouts, or beets
• have consumed a Whopper or a Big Mac
• met a potato product I didn't like
• knew the way to San Jose
• drink pulpy orange juice...OJ is not meant to be chewed
• watch horror movies. Too scary.
• have had such a difficult time thinking of things I never do!