Let's talk about cats, man!
We don't have any cats. We don't have any pets at all, actually. John used to have a few fish during his whole Feng Shui phase, but they died and weren't replaced. Actually, there's a funny story to that - he named his three fish Dory, Marlin and Nemo. Cute, huh? Yeah, the kids thought so, too. They were about five years old at the time.
Do you know the life expectancy of a fish that you pay nine cents for? We're talking the fish that are marketed as food for larger fish. Exactly.
Nemo died first.
After a heartfelt and delicate explanation of the whole "circle of life" to the children, Emma asked: "Where is Nemo now?"
To which my mother, who had just entered the room, said "We flushed him!"
Nice.
Dory and Marlin didn't last much longer. Our only other foray into the world of pet ownership (since the kids, I mean - we used to have a Jack Russell terrorist pre-kids) was Pumpkin, the hamster. She lasted 9 days. After 4 days it was obvious that she was sick with wet tail so we took her back to the pet shop where they said they'd "take her to the vet." John pointed out that it was very unlikely that they would attempt to save an $8 hamster and perhaps "vet" was a euphemism for "dumpster". In any case, they called us 5 days later to say that our hamster had "passed away" and that we could come choose another one.
No thanks!
And by now you're probably hoping that I'm not going to announce that we've acquired a kitten. We haven't.
No, the title of this post refers to my husband, who must have a bit o' the feline in him because he definitely has nine lives, at least with me. Somehow he always gets out of scrapes. The discarded BB&B and LnT coupons are now a non-issue because LnT has a Veterans Day coupon, good tomorrow and Saturday, that gives you 20% off your ENTIRE ORDER and BB&B will accept it! Meow!
Speaking of cats, I would be remiss if I didn't gush on my dear friend Cat, who lives in the land o' banana slugs and was grand help and company at the Bellevue show. Cat, Sandy and I went to dinner on Thursday after setting up the booth, and as we waited for a table we engaged in typical mindless chatter:
Me: So have you always been "Cat" or do you also go by "Catherine"?
Cat: In high school I was Catherine but I changed it to Cat in college.
Me: And do you know Kitty?
Cat: Kitty Foster? Sure. Why? (looks at me quizzically)
Me: (realizing that the cat connection isn't really as interesting said out loud as it is in my head) Uh, because you both have cat names? (babbling now) I mean, it's kind of cool that I have two friends with cat names. You know - cat, kitty - get it?
Cat: I get it.
Me: Well . . . plus there's my good friend Puss.
Cat: (laughs, but quickly turns to Sandy, who is not babbling incoherently) So how did you and Karen meet?
Sandy: We met at a stamp store where she used to teach. She invited herself to a party I was having.
Me: Yeah, I really did. She was having a CTMH party and I'd never been to one so I asked if I could come. I was eavesdropping on her and her actual friends.
Cat: Hmmm, typical. (turns back to Sandy) Has she started stealing your jewelry yet?
Me: Ix-nay on the ewelry-jay! I've got my eyes on a nice brooch! Plus, that's how I lost my good friend El Gato.
And then we laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I pretty much called her El Gato for the rest of the weekend. Good times.
In other news, Karl lost a tooth yesterday at school and they sent it home, nicely packaged, in a small sealed envelope. Now I've mentioned our whole penchant for losing lost teeth, right? And yet, I thought if I just explained to Karl how careful he needed to be with the tooth it would be fine to take a picture in the grass.
Picture #1 shows the gap (lower his-left, your-right)
Picture #2 shows him looking down at the tooth
Picture #3 shows him (you guessed it) dropping the tooth
Karl, Mom, Emma in unison: AAAUUUUUGH!!!
But actually, we found it! How amazing is that?
Now to explain this next part, I have to paste in an excerpt of Karl's first note from the tooth fairy, back in the summer of 2005:
Congratulations on losing your first tooth! This is my first time coming to your house. I like your room. That was a nice song playing on the CD player. I danced just a little bit. (Shhhh, don't tell anyone!)
Karl used to listen to music on his boombox, but since he got his iPod, he now uses an iPod pillow (you can find them at BB&B, and receive 20% off if you're lucky enough to have an unambitious husband and therefore; a coupon)
Karl announced last night that he would be writing a note to the Tooth Fairy but that none of us would be allowed to read it. It was private, he said.
However, the Tooth Fairy generously let me know what it said:
Sorry but now you might not be able to listen to my music. Can I have two dollars?
Yes, my son attempted to weasel double payment from the Tooth Fairy! How very industrious of him! The Tooth Fairy left him the standard dollar with a note of explanation:
I'm leaving you a dollar for your tooth. I know that you requested two dollars, but the 2006 Standard Tooth Price List requires me to leave one dollar per tooth.
And this was, of course, completely reasonable to Karl. If there is a guide/standard/owner's manual, that's unquestionable authority!
He's doing very well at his new school, by the way. We had a conference yesterday and his teacher said that he's adapting nicely, but that he tends to forget to raise his hand and sometimes interrupts and/or shouts out the answers.
I discussed this with him this morning:
Me: Karl, your teachers say that you're doing well, but that you're not remembering to raise your hand and that you sometimes interrupt. Why is that?
Karl: Well I usually know the answer.
Me: I understand that, but the other kids might also know the answer and are just taking a moment to think about it. You need to wait until you're called on, and you need to stop being such a know-it-all. Nobody likes a know-it-all.
Karl: Well it's hard not to be a know-it-all when I actually know it all.
True story.
RKQOTD (Mom, I want Emma to stop pulling my finger!)