It’s been 19 days. An eternity. For-EVER! So last year!

That’s how long it’s been since I’ve talked to WS2. 19 days ago was December 26th. That’s the day I took him back to his dad’s after my Christmas visit with him.

I tried calling him to wish him a Happy New Year even though it wasn’t “my Sunday”. Obviously, the phone kept ringing…..

I’ve called every Sunday evening during “my phone visitation” time. Obviously, the phone has kept ringing, ringing, and ringing…. Three Sunday’s have gone by.

Tuesday I sent BH an email asking him to have WS2 call me. Wednesday I sent another email asking him to have WS2 call me. Today I’ve sent another email to BH to have WS2 call me.

I’m irritated over BH and SM and whatever their part is in this. I’m irritated over WS2 not calling me. He’s old enough to pick up the phone. I also realize that he’s not a phone call kind of kid. He’s a TEXTER. But we can’t text each other since he’s “not allowed to give out his new cell number”. I do trust our relationship though. No matter how long we’ve gone without talking before, we always pick up where we left off, having a great time together.

This makes me tired. I’ve always been known for having a lot of patience, but I gotta tell ya, I’m running out. Out, out, OUT.

I’m also scared. I’m scared that WS2 will be brainwashed and then our relationship will turn out like the one I have with WS1. If that happens, I will be absolutely DEVASTATED.

Here’s where I need your help! Will you PLEASE offer me some sort of advice on what to do next so that I don’t go completely insane?

No? Well, let me be the first to tell you. IT AIN’T EASY.

Last week I had to take our cat Esther to the vet because she was having some sort of urinary problem. She kept going, and going, and going… and all her efforts would only produce a drop. Yeah that. IT AIN’T FUN.

But she didn’t complain. She just did a lot of walking. To the litter box. I first noticed it one night and decided to call the vet first thing in the morning. So I call. No vet. He’s on vacation. The receptionist, Carla, told me I could bring her in to see the vet that was filling in. Great! Except the fill-in wouldn’t be filling-in until tomorrow.

When we went to the office the next dat, the fill-in was a “she-vet”. Nice. I hadn’t ever been to a female vet before. I explained Esther’s symptoms and this is what she said, and I quote “Well, let’s just take a look under the hood.”

So, she took a look under the “hood”. She said her bladder was empty so she wouldn’t be able to get a urine sample. I asked if they could just keep her for a few hours and try later. No. The fill-in wouldn’t be filling-in the rest of the day. Or the next day, which was Friday. I am soooo outta luck. Definitely SOL.

She gave me some pills for Esther. No problem. I can do that. But, IT AIN’T GONNA BE PLEASANT.

When I get home I opened her pill bottle and what did I see? Huge, ginormous pills that would choke a horse. I only had to give her half a pill a day, but that would mean having to half the half. Ugh. Now I’d have to cram, shove, force, gently place TWO pills down her throat.

Every. day. for. 10. days.

The she-vet also told me that when Esther is almost finished with her medicine, that I should bring in a urine sample. Hmmmm, how exactly am I supposed to do that?? She said “no problem, we have some non-absorbable litter we can give you.” What did I say? “Oh, okay!” (I obviously had NO CLUE what was ahead of me.)

I survived giving Esther her pills without damaging our relationship. For some reason, she still loves me after all that. (maybe it’s the Greenies I give her that she loves?) Which brings me to the urine sample. The non-absorbable litter, called Nosorb, that she said she could ‘give’ me was only 4 oz and cost $6.10. Now 4 oz may sound like a lot, but when it comes to litter, IT AIN’T MUCH.

For Esther’s litter I put a special litter box bag in the litter box and pour litter in it. So for this Nosorb, which is really just black plastic litter, I thought I’d put another bag on top of her litter (yes it was clean) and then put the Nosorb in that bag. I thought “what a great idea!” I was all happy thinking it was going be so easy. All I had to do was be a Litter Box Monitor. My goal was fresh kitty urine. With a goal like that it’s all uphill from here! But nothing. For hours. That afternoon when I went into town, I even took the Nosorb bag out of the litter box so I wouldn’t miss anything. When I got home, I put the bag back and continued my monitoring. (By the way, she pee’d a couple times while I was gone.) That night, I worked on a puzzle until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I went to bed and when I woke up my first thought was “Oh my God! Esther’s litter!” And guess what… she had pee’d. Now what?? I’m going to have to start all over!! But now I have this bag of black plastic litter with kitty pee in it. How do I get the pee out? I don’t have a kitty pee strainer! And even if I did have such a thing, then what? Somehow I’d have to get the Nosorb dry. How am I supposed to do that? Lay it out in front of the fireplace to dry like snowy, soggy boots? Then I realize I would have to rinse it and make sure it’s clean because I don’t want the dried up old pee cooties mixing with the fresh new pee so I don’t have to go through that pill shoving mess again.

So here I sit with a bag of plastic litter and old cat pee, not sure of what to do next.

How is YOUR day?

This is the first book I’ve read from my Barnes & Noble eReader app on my phone.  I wasn’t sure how I would like it, but it actually worked great. I still prefer reading from a book-you know, the “old fashioned” way! But it’s great to have a digital book with you for all those times you’re having to wait with nothing to do. This book is definitely a soap opera….

Synopsis from barnesandnoble.com

Four people, two marriages, one lifelong friendship: everything is about to change

It was an accident. It was dark, it was raining, Alison had only had two drinks. And the other car ran the stop sign. But Alison finds herself trapped under the crushing weight of grief and guilt, feeling increasingly estranged from her husband . . .

Charlie, who has his own burdens. He’s in a job he doesn’t love so that Alison can stay at home with the kids (and why isn’t she more grateful for that?); he has a house in the suburbs and a long commute to and from the city. And the only thing he can focus on these days is his secret, sudden affair with . . .

Claire, Alison’s best friend. Bold where Alison is reserved, vibrant where Alison is cautious, Claire has just had her first novel published, a thinly veiled retelling of her childhood in North Carolina. But even in the whirlwind of publication, Claire can’t stop wondering if she should leave her husband . . .

Ben, an ambitious architect who is brilliant, kind, and meticulous. And who wants nothing more than a baby, or two—exactly the kind of life that Charlie and Alison seem to have. . . .

In each of her novels, Christina Baker Kline has explored how people tell the stories of their lives and what those stories reveal about who they are. As they set out on their individual journeys, Alison, Charlie, Claire, and Ben explore the idea—each in his or her own way—that every moment of loss contains within it the possibility of a new life. Alternating through these four intertwined perspectives,Bird in Hand is a searing novel about friendship,love, marriage, loss, and the choices we make that irrevocably alter everything we believe to be true.

Can you believe it’s 2010?   It sounds like we should be living in a space oriented, futuristic, Jetson-car driving world.

Well, the new year is here, and whether we like it or not, it’s time for the world to make their resolutions.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

I used to make them all the time. Then I got smarter. I stopped setting myself up for failure. I would usually drop my resolutions faster than a hot potato. I also stopped giving myself one more thing to worry about doing or, actually, not doing.

This year I’m trying something new. Hubby and I haven’t technically dubbed it a resolution, but more of a conscious decision.

Same thing only different, right?

We’ve decided to try to save money by only buying things we really, really need, instead of the things I we “think” we want need. It reminds me of Clark Howard, the financial guy on my favorite morning news ‘Morning Express with Robin Meade’. His slogan is “Save More, Spend Less, and Avoid Getting Ripped Off”.  We have the “avoid getting ripped off” thing taken care of, now we’re going to work on the “spend less” part, and then the “save more” part should take care of itself.

This is gonna be a toughie for me-I have a hard time passing up bargains on things I need want. Seriously! BTW, that reminds me-Gap is having a GREAT sale! I bought a $19.50 shirt for only $5.39! I also bought a $39.95 sweater for only $10.20! See??  It’s so hard to pass that up!

My new strategy is simple, yet oooh sooo difficult.  DON’T GO TO THE STORES. Then I won’t see the awesome sales that I would be missing out on. If I DON’T GO TO THE STORES, then I’ll SAVE GAS MONEY (it’s about 20 mins one way to the nearest store for me). That leaves me time at home to STAY ORGANIZED, do the ab crunches and all the other EXERCISES I learned last year, come up with HEALTHY MEAL IDEAS, and work on being A BETTER PERSON. I think that just about does it. All the resolutions, er, conscious decisions rolled up into one. My motto for 2010?

DON’T GO TO THE STORE, MAN!       (reminds me of Cheech and Chong’s “don’t answer the phone!” ha!)

Wish me luck!

What’s your resolution this year?? I can’t wait to hear…..