me: “One down, two to go!“

This morning I was in the process of one of my least favorite tasks, the cleaning of the litter boxes. We have three cats and as such should have four boxes, one more than the cats you own, or that own you. I’ve heard these words of wisdom somewhere along the way and have always followed them until our orange cat, James, walked into our lives and we went from a 2 cat, 2 dog, 2 kid family to simply crazy cat people. It had been hard enough to find room for three large, covered boxes much less four. So it has remained at three.

James typically “helps” me with this job, closely supervising as I scoop, robustly paw waving through the cascade of litter flowing from bag to box as I refill, and happily swishing the sweep up litter piles caused by previous paw waving while eagerly attacking the broom bristles as I try to clean up. But this morning he was busy laying claim to the cat carrier I had brought in for his sister Leia’s vet check-up.

me: “One down, two to go!“

I headed out of the laundry room and down the hall to the master bathroom to take care of the remaining litter boxes. The boys were milling around in the kitchen as teenage boys apparently do.

Cody: “You are like a hit man!” he said, acknowledging my comment. This made me smile as I considered how his comment elevated my humdrum job to something more, albeit a bit fringe, dark ally, and unconventional.

Carter: “Target eliminated.”

I’m not exactly sure what to make of their comments, but I appreciate their sense of humor and how it will henceforth alter how I view this task.

By the way…

It appears from my last blog post that I have been absent since October. There is no one reason, but rather a lot of little reasons. This has been a tough time for me with work and life in general, but we are good. I am good. As a teacher this school year was by far the hardest and most emotionally and physically draining of any. Coming home from work, when I was not teaching virtually, and trying to help my boys navigate online learning was frustrating for everyone. Grades suffered, rebounded, and hovered around acceptable. We are calling that ok for this year. We have made it to summer!

Cody had a major operation to support his mobility caused by Cerebral Palsy in January, during the height of COVID here in Arizona. The timing was right for his body, but did not feel right in any other respect. Growth plates were destroyed to even a leg length discrepancy, hamstrings were released, leg bones were cut and rotated, an arch on his right foot was artificially created using bone grafting among other techniques. Eight weeks in a wheelchair followed by many more using a walker. Physical therapy has just dropped from three times a week to two. He is just now starting to put some weight on his right foot without the aid of a brace. All of this is wonderful and is going well. But all of this has added to the stress and lack of energy I have been feeling.

But I am good and I am moving forward with purpose and hope today instead of robotically lunging with starts and stops through the dreary of day as I have found myself doing. I hope you are well and for those of you who I “know” through blogging, know that I have been thinking of you, wondering how you are doing, and wishing you well.