2014 Memory Jar #2

-written by Nathan

Tonight, we came home after a week of sleeping at Harvella's house.  On New Year's Eve, Dan came and put the coat of stain onto the new floor boards he installed.  ATM and LGM came over for drinks and appetizers.  When MNG was preheating the oven, she noticed that the smell of the stain was strong inside the oven.  She looked it up online and read about people in similar situations.  Apparently, appliances can trap some of the fumes.  Not a real danger, but a stronger smell to deal with.  We decided to let it go and just use the oven to make appetizers.  We celebrated the new year, and then we went to bed.  Later, MNG woke up not feeling quite right.  Juliana also woke up, but it was hard to know if she was feeling well or not.  Another internet search turned up stories of people spending anywhere between three days and two weeks away from their homes while work was done on their floors.  We decided we would have to stay somewhere else while the few coats of polyurethane were applied.

GG was willing to let us stay in her basement suite.  So, on Monday, after MNG went to work, I got things cleaned up, got clothes packed up, and got the little ones loaded into the van.  We put Chloey in the master bathroom upstairs, with her food and water.  We kept her in there during the nights with the window cracked.  We left all the other windows open for as much circulation as we could get.  We started by going to 4385, where I worked for a while and they napped.  We went to GG's in the evening and had dinner when MNG arrived.  She had stopped at the house after work to take care of Chloey and get the last things she needed.

We stayed there all week, most days including MNG going to work, the babies and me spending the morning with GG and then making our way over to 4385.  Dan put the polyurethane on the floor, one coat per day on each of the first three days of the week.  During our stay, MNG and I ended up watching The Way We Were when GG had it on, and JLG watched Aladdin twice (GG's Disney library on VHS!)  It was good to give the grandparents and grandbabies lots of time together, and I got in some good hours of work.  But it was great to come home!

2013 Memory Jar #67

-written by Nathan

As I cleaned Chloey's mess, Jack laughed about the flies that were circling.  Having heard us talk about all of the fruit flies in the kitchen, he said, "Those are poop flies, right, Daddy?!" I laughed and then he followed with, "They just want to eat poop!"

2013 Memory Jar #40

-written by Nathan


I pet Chloey for a while, and as she was walking away, Jack said, "Can I pet her?"

"If she lets you," I told him.

He went after her, shouting," Pet her!  Pet.... her!  Pet!"

She retreated into the laundry room, and he said to her, "That's all I need to have from you!"

Chloey...

...doesn't let our life get in the way of her sleeping.

Chloey has finally realized what I learned long ago... that the best way to get attention from Nathan is to come between him and his computer (where the music is).

Welcome to my Mornings

How do you tell a cat it's summer, and you don't have to get up yet?!

Fierce and Fluffy Feline

I have been hesitant to tell the story of Chloey's recent shenanigans. Even though it makes me sad, I know that many of the people I love think Chloey is ornery and cantankerous. They ridicule her when she hisses at their vain attempts to stroke her. They laugh when she bolts away from their outreached hands. And they resist the urge to kick her when she ventures too close to their vulnerable bodies. (Yes, you know who you are, oh family of mine!) I understand that Chloey has earned this reputation through her actions in the past. However, with the recent addition of Nathan to our little family, Chloey has developed a much more agreeable and mild personality. (Yes, it's true.) She's actually a sweet cat.That said, recently Chloey really surprised me. I was at my computer (surprise, surprise). I had no idea Chloey was even in the room and then, out of nowhere, she flew at my arm and chomped down HARD. I don't think anything has hurt that badly since my eardrums exploded when I was sick a couple of years ago. The result was that my arm swelled up and began to get red. And boy, did it ache.I began to worry that it might be infected. So, a day and a half after the attack, I called my mom, the registered nurse. Apparently, when a cat bites you, you should immediately go to the doctor because most of the time cat bites get infected.

I hate going to the doctor. More than anything.

The next morning, luckily, the swelling had gone down a little and the infected area was not quite as red. That was the only excuse I needed to decide that it would get better on it's own.

And it has.

But, the problem of Chloey's behavior remains. Nathan and I have decided that she might be bored. I am not as good about playing with her as Nathan is and this incident occurred shortly after Nathan returned from being out of town and we had been away from home for hours. We think she wanted attention, and she found a way to get it.

We are hesitant to bring another vulnerable animal into the situation and so, in our desperation, we sought out some distractions.

I have never spent so much money on cat toys before. But, (as the video clearly shows) it turns out we only needed one of them!

Because, what happens after that is this....

And we get our passive, mild, sweet, and exhausted "fluffy Chloey" back again.

The Love Affair Continues...

I may have the skills in the kitchen, but Chloey made all the right moves in the dining room!

They Love Each Other

Chloey

She's always hogging my chair!

The Love in Our House

Valentine's day was lovely at our house. I got out of my afternoon work meeting a full hour early (that never happens)! So, I was able to come home and straighten up the house before Nathan arrived home from work. We had decided that, for our first Valentine's day as a married couple, we would stay home and break out the fondue pot that we received as a wedding present. This was the very first time we have used it. Once Nathan arrived, we started with cheese fondue. We got a package of ready-to-go fondue from the grocery store, so it was pretty easy. We dipped bread, tomato, and olives in the cheesy goodness and it was tasty!

We had decided that we wanted to put more effort into the chocolate fondue dessert so we actually followed a simple recipe for that part of the meal. With strawberries, bananas, angel food cake (my fave!), and marshmallows, it was SOOOO heavenly! The only problem- the recipe made too much and we couldn't eat it all. SO... some of the chocolate got dumped at the end. We couldn't figure out what else to do with it. What a waste!

The evening concluded with Nathan singing a song he'd written about me. It was very sweet! Being married to a musician definitely has its perks! :)

Valentine's Day certainly was romantic around here, but I'm afraid the real love in our house flows between my cat and my husband. Chloey simply adores Nathan. And I'm really not exaggerating! Once upon a life before Nathan, Chloey would actually pick her rear end up off the couch to greet me when I arrived home from work (granted she was usually just anxious to be fed). But these days, her four legs stay planted in my recliner until she hears Nathan pull into the driveway. I believe she waits just as anxiously as I do for Nathan to come home each night, because when the faint crunching sound of Nathan's tires finally drifts through the house, Chloey's ears immediately perk up and she emerges from a dead-to-the-world slumber (otherwise known as 'maybe if I ignore Marika she'll leave me alone' sleep) to bound cheerfully, ears perked and tail wagging, to the back door. Nathan can barely get into the house before Chloey is practically climbing up the side of his leg, mewing pathetically. And she will spend the rest of the evening following him uselessly around the house, never letting him wander far from her sight.

I blame Nathan for this.

He does these ridiculous things like pulling ribbon around the house just so Chloey can chase it and scratching behind her ears for minutes on end... just to make me look bad. He even spends time cuddling with her. Brown-noser.

cuddling

following around pathetically

I know Chloey is hoping for a Valentine's day alone with Nathan next year. (She probably wants her own song, too!)

A Saturday in the Life of Chloey, the Cat

Early in the day...

A little later...



Even later...



The next day (Sunday), Chloey decided to add a little excitement to her routine... she spent the day in the other box.

Chloey.



Chloey... three hours later.