Metal Meredith

Can anyone believe it? It has been 6 damn months. I am the last person people would ever think to admit that a pregnancy is flying by, but it is. I am less sick than last time. I feel a bit better and although all of the annoying things from last time are still present (the gagging, oh god, the gagging), I am functioning better on a daily basis than I was with Vivienne. Of course, Phil would disagree solely based on how clean the house is not.

Tiny Boy Human is now kicking the crap out of my insides. Phil is even shocked at how strong the kicks are. I am just a bit terrified that they are this hard and he only weighs a pound and a half. What the heck will they feel like when he is 6 lbs?

Vivienne has started school and is loving it. She comes home every day with a new story or song or tale about something she did that day. Mostly, she just sings songs and makes up words. Last night, Phil and I were serenaded with a lovely song about how Vivienne and Mommy and Daddy cleaned up, ate dinner and went to the playground. Hooray!

We spent a good portion of this weekend cleaning up and clearing out, getting the baby’s room cleaned up and ready for paint. During this time, Phil went crazy on the floors downstairs, vacuuming, mopping and practically buffing on hands and knees. They look wonderful and the whole house shows it. However.....he did crack at one point.

We have always had quirky cats. I am not sure if we are just a magnet for cats with some unusual behavoirs, or if this blanket statement really encompasses all felines. With Kitcha, she would pull her water dish with her paw. At first, she would dip her paw in and feel where the water level was. Then, she would hook her paw over the side of the dish and pull it toward her. The dish would lurch forward, spilling the water all over the floor. Sometimes, once was enough. More often than not, we would wake up in the morning to find the water bowl anywhere from 6 inches to 6 feet from where it was the night before. Many times, it was moved into a totally different room than where it started, leaving a trail of cat water in its wake.

We tried many things to keep the water bowl in place, rubber bottom bowls, heavier dishes and even those rubber shelf liners, which worked for a good while. Finally, we bought a large bowl with a water reservior that made the dish almost too heavy to move.

Once Kitcha was gone, we enjoyed a few months of stationary water and food bowls. Then I had to go get these kittens. Much to our dismay, the female of the two, Liesl, is a water dish puller. We bought a plastic mat and watched in amazement as she pulled and yanked at it until it dislodged off and spilled all over the place.

My husband, being the competitive sort and with a wild look in his eyes, fastened two hook and eyes on the back of the water dish and affixed it permanently to the wall. He put it down, showed it to the cats and watched in glee as Liesl pulled and pulled but to no avail. He looked up, smiled and let out an evil laugh.

“I WIN!”, he shouts. Yes, dear. you won.