Kitty Cargo

In less than a month I will traveling at least 4000 miles with a cat, a kid, a lizard and my husband. In a Car. While I'm PMSing.

I searched for a new Cat Carrier since the one I have now is one of the small hard plastic low ventilation kind you use to take your kitty to the vet.

I looked at several models. This one has plenty of ventilation, and was easy to carry, but I'm pretty sure my cat wouldn't love me anymore So I passed. :0


The next one was very affordable, easy to carry, but almost no ventilation. It did have that "Southern Flair" but I'm not quite that southern.


Finally I decided on this one. It has plenty of ventilation, can be seat belted in for safety, and still able to be carried like a purse or bag. It is designed for animals up to 16 pounds, so my 7 pound cat will have plenty of room. It's made by rubbermaid so it's washable and has a removable soft bed liner. Good deal huh?



Since the trip will be long and there is a possibility my kitty might get lost (or thrown out of the car KIDDING) I also bought a new ID tag for my cat. On one side it has contact numbers in case she is found in Canada, the other side has US contact numbers.

The Nectar of the dogs

No, that's not a typo. My life is suddenly full of small ironies that add up to a big pain in the butt.

An aside before we get started. If you do a google search for mennonite skirt length I'm #5. What's up with that?!

Anyway.. On with the show.

Ok we know my car broke down. It's still not fixed. Next:

My Gyno went out of business so I have to go the (shudder) Health Department to get a refill on my birth control.. bleah. And then:

After living in Georgia for over 10 years, I got a letter informing me I have been selected for jury duty... On the 30th. Chris was laughing. I don't think he knew his life was in danger. This "civic duty" comes just 4 days before an expensive and prepaid non-refundable deep sea fishing trip I booked for my son and 5 male family members, who I might add ALL had to take a day off work. Did I mention my car still isn't repaired? Did I also mention the site of this fishing trip is almost 3.5 hours away? Still More Coming:

My husband who lives next door to Santa in the deep north of Canada has been told he will need some specialized training. In July... A few scant weeks after my son and I drive 5000 miles to be with him... Did I also mention the training will be in.. wait for it... VIRGINIA a teeny tiny 500 miles from where I live now! You see where my life is headed? Not done yet!

AND I started my period today. Which means when my husband and I drive this 5000 miles.. in a midsized car.. with a 10 year old boy, a cat, and a lizard, I'm going to be in prime PMS mode. Valium for everyone! Only One More Thing: (thank the gods)

My "message bean" which was supposed to look like this---


Instead died a gruesome and extremely smelly slimy death. So I did what anyone curious about how these things work would do. I autopsied it and posted the pix to Flickr.

So.. THERE! Stupid bean...

In the last 3 weeks

I've also purchased a laptop PC. (Hi Moon) I took recommendations from friends into my idea/purchase....

I've now uploaded pictures of my last several weeks. However, the "smart connections" of my PC's wireless program is less than "smart"


Sooo The Pictures may not be in the correct order on Flick..They are true pictures...

Quick Recap of my life of the last 3 weeks.

note: pix on my Flickr account will soon be available.)

My son and I, along with Chris, my cousin often spoken about here, Jim (Chris' partner) and Tasha (Chris' sister and breast cancer survivor) went to Universal Studios. Chris was the only grown person, much less man, that had his picture taken with Spiderman *cough . laugh ehem..*

The next day Chris, Jim, James and I went to the beach for the day (I'm still peeling by the way...the natural white-blue of skim milk of my normal skin tone is returning). The following day, we all attended Tasha's stunningly BEAUTIFUL wedding to a man I believe is truly worthy of her.

On the way home our normal route was shut down by the Florida Highway Patrol due to severe smoke from wild forest fires. As a result we had to come home by the "nothing within 100 miles" interstate... My car, admittedly has had a teeny bit of a slipping clutch for 2 months or so, DIED in the official middle of "BFN" Bum-fuck-nowhere. All four of us were stranded on the side of the road 130 miles from home and at least 50 miles from anywhere that had a hotel.

My insurance company GEICO checked around to see where the nearest KIA dealership was. Ha. It was 90 miles away... In the opposite direction to where we were going. Still they agreed to pay for 90 miles of towing in ANY direction I wanted.

I wanted it to the west to where I lived. We got a towtruck driver that bent the "2 passenger" rules to allow all four of us to travel at the same time. If he hadn't I would have had to leave Chris and Jim on the side of the road in the middle of NOWHERE for at least 3 hours till I could have borrowed a car to go get them.

Anyway. We made it home. I only had to pay $30, and only because we went 100 miles, instead of the 90 GEICO would pay for.

Since then my car has been in the shop. Now going on 10 days. Geico, I thank you, repair shop, you better be as good this time as the last time I used you.

Sigh

The End of an Era

It's official. I have moved to my mother's to wait out my last 6 weeks in the US.

I lived for 9 years, and all of my son's life (that he can remember anyway) at my last address. Before I closed the door for the last time I walked through empty rooms, and I did feel the weight of all those years. However, I wasn't melancholy, or even terribly upset to leave it behind.

My thought: I've lived here 9 years. And now I'm leaving to start the rest of my life.

Since I'm moving to Canada I've either given away, donated, or thrown away 90% of everything my son and I owned. It was incredibly liberating to look around and think, "Ah Screw IT!" and toss it in either a box or garbage bag.

You quickly realize how little of the "stuff" you have in your home really means anything, or matters in the long run. For me the vast majority of my stuff was only there out of habit. I found things I didn't even remember ever owning!