there was a litany of people we knew...
who had either retired...
then dropped dead of a massive heart attack...
or who hadn't made it to retirement...
then they both looked at me, [Dar & Deb]...
and said..."that better not happen to you, etc..."
after reminding them...
that though they were still toiling...
I was into my 4th year of retirement...
and getting healthier every day...
after much discussion...
we decided that besides the obvious "elephant in the room"...
[horrible, spirit killing stress & unrelenting pressure...]
the problem was that those who retired & died "soon"...
[within a year...]
couldn't cope with the lack of stimulation...
"outside" the school site/district....
I don't seem to have that problem...
I have a herd of demanding felines...
& a smart, inventive canine to keep me, "stimulated"...
[ie...now, how... do I deal with THIS mess ?...]
case in point...
today, my area rugs that I sent out to be cleaned on August 4...
[after Robbie was gone... along with his "bathroom problems"...]
were being delivered back to me...
I had planned to leave them with Coit, for the bath redo period...
[which hasn't happened yet...]
and then re-wax the floors before bringing them back...
after the foot traffic & debris removal...
[the "best laid plans...etc"]
so when I saw the Coit guy drive up this AM...
before I was ready for him...of course...
I knew Molly would need to be in the now safely fenced backyard...
so I took her out and around back...
she barked a bit, but not much...
when I put her in the yard...
I told her NOT to chase the Piglet...
who wasn't visible to me, but I knew she was there...
locked the gate...& went back to the front...
hearing pitiful whining from "Devil's Island"...
[Miz DramaQueen could just get over it...]
the Coit guy brought in the 5 rugs...
2 2'x 10'runners,2 5'x 8'area rugs...
and a 2'x 3' door mat rug...
all the same pattern/colors...
now cleaned, sanitized, deodorized...
rolled and wrapped in plastic...
I had been told...
that since I gave them my credit card info...
when the rugs were picked up...
that they were paid for...
not exactly...
after some discussion...
and a call to the office...
I wrote a check for $644.00...
[the card info was just a "bond"...
and all charges are "COD"...]
after he left...I went around back to get Molly...
I began to realize that it was too quiet....
[no more pitiful whining...]
and I soon saw why...
when I opened the gate...she wasn't right there...
I called...
and she appeared...
coming out of my bedroom window...
and down the ramp...
the cat screen door is 8" x 10"...
[bottom right in this picture...I measured it...]
she barely fit...[it's not broken... I checked...]
[so...FFers...fear not...
I have plenty of "mental stimulation"...]
the "drama" portion of our morning complete...
we went back inside...
where I had to finish sweeping debris...
[shredded cardboard, bales o' cat hair, dead leaves & dirt...]
and then move & reorganize the boxes...
containing my bathroom which are stored in the DR...
[the rolled rug stashed here goes where all the pile o' bathroom is...]
then I began laying the rugs...
which also involves moving furniture...
[as well as Gracie...]
and "relocating Molly" every time I turned around...
first I laid down the runner to the nook...
I didn't get it on my camera...
but Miz Sneaky Pie had a marvelous time...
running up & down it... rolling on it...
scritching it...and generally going "cat"...
I was beginning to wonder if they soaked it in catnip...
she's currently playing "Queen of the Mountain"...
at the top of the rearranged "pile o'bathroom"...
then I put down the doormat rug...
and moved on to the LR...
where a lot of furniture had to be moved...
a bunch of times...
I finally wrestled the 5'x 8' rug into position...
and began adjusting the furniture...
which involved finally moving the sofa onto the edge of the rug...
and positioning the coffee table...
of course, nothing's easy with Gracie in the way...
when moving the sofa to clean...
I had found Molly's lost chew bone...
which kept her out of the way...
after laying the 2nd runner...
and repositioning the furniture, yet again...
I was sweating... & sore ... & tired...
I also repositioned Herself's nest...
farther away from the furnace grate...
in preparation for the new heated bed I ordered...
[we'll see just how long it stays there...
although the runner will make it harder for her to scoot it over...]
but as you can plainly see...
she now prefers the runner...
never a dull moment...
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