Curveball.

I woke this morning at 2 a.m. to the sound of shattering glass. My first thought was, “What have those cats knocked over now?” If only it had been just something simply broken…

When I opened my eyes, I saw smoke filling the apartment and fire in my dining room. I jumped out of bed, ran to the dining room, and my first thought was that it was just my apartment and what should I do? It didn’t take but a split second for me to realize that this wasn’t the time to stop and think, it was time to act. I ran back in my bedroom, threw on clothes as quickly as I could – jeans and a t-shirt, no shoes or socks – and grabbed my dogs, who, thankfully, were sleeping with me. Penny (my smaller dog) jumped out of my arms and ran to the living room. I chased her down while holding Puddin’ and managed to grab her by the scruff of her neck, but she escaped again and ran back to the bedroom and on the bed. I ran after her, grabbed her again and headed for the front door doing everything I could to make sure I didn’t drop the dogs.

 The front door stuck, but I pushed it open (it was a handicap access apartment, so the door opened outward). The fire was already on the wood banister bordering the concrete walkway. The fire was also engulfing my dining room at this point. I ran past the fire, hoping that I wouldn’t get scorched, and across the parking lot in front of the building across from mine.

Before the firetrucks arrived, my apartment was completely engulfed in flames, along with half of the building. I couldn’t do anything but watch everything I owned go up in flames, along with my five sweet baby cats.

I know I should be thankful to just be alive. I know I should be extra grateful that I managed to get my dogs out as well. I’m absolutely devastated over the loss of my beautiful Pip, Felix, Piper, Xander and Bella. I didn’t have them long enough.

The material possessions can be replaced. Everything I lost that really mattered can’t. I know I have to go on. People are being extremely generous with money and clothing and all the help they can offer. Tomorrow I will go and get a new driver’s license and a rental car (the front of my car melted). Sometime soon I will look for a new place to live.

 Tonight. Tonight I will hold my dogs tight and love on them both because I am thankful to have them and because I miss my kitty babies so much.

I’m staying with my best friend. She has done so much to help me, in ways I will never be able to repay her. I’m alive and I have a roof over my head and shoes on my feet (thanks to another dear friend), and clothes on my back and food in my stomach.

One of my neighbors died in the fire. Two others were injured after they jumped from their second story apartment. Everyone else got out alive, but the buildings are a total loss.

This is the second fire I’ve experienced IN THIS BUILDING in my time at this apartment complex. I spoke to the apartment manager today and she offered to let me lease a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment for what I was paying for the one bedroom I lived in. I told her that I didn’t think I wanted to live in that complex anymore.

She had the gall to say, “May I ask why?”

Be thankful tonight. Be thankful for all that you have and all those you love, and remember that you should never take them for granted, because it can all be gone in an instant.

Much love to you all.

The silver car in the picture is mine. It was parked right in front of the walkway that led directly to my front door.

I need a reminder

I know intellectually why I am taking chemistry. However, I don’t recall exactly why I thought it was a good idea.

Let me just say that chemistry is turning out to be more of a challenge than I originally anticipated. Not that I thought it would be easy, but, even with a good professor and a decent lab TA, I’m struggling. I know that part of it is that it’s been a long time since I had any chemistry, so there is much much information that seems completely new to me. I know that part of it is that I’m older and, frankly, my brain doesn’t feel as sharp as it once did. Perhaps some of that is repercussions of the medication I take and the battles with depression I’ve experienced … I don’t know.  Part of it is also likely the fact that I’m taking 4 credit hours of classes while trying to work a full-time job, and the lab part of it alone takes at least 5-6 or more hours a week, in addition to the 4-hour lab class. The lecture part, which is technically more important, takes many more hours of study. And I need sleep sometime. And I have to get my work done for the job I’m being paid to do, which is also extremely busy right now.

I’m going to meet with a tutor on Thursday night and make a point of going to problem solving and review sessions that my prof offers, and office hours for my prof and my lab TA for extra help. I’m going to do everything I can do, everything within my power, to succeed in this class, but, to put it plainly, it ain’t gonna be easy.

Again, I didn’t really expect it to be easy, but I also didn’t expect it to be more difficult than the 5 credit hour physiology class I took, for which Chem 101 is a prerequisite! Clearly, I didn’t know what to expect realistically.

So, remind me why I’m doing this again?

Look at this kid’s hair!

Little miss Katie-Lee Webster, 10 weeks old:

You can read about her here.

Yay for chicken feed crumbles!

Well, I’m sold on using chicken feed crumbles as cat litter. I finally transitioned over completely to the crumbles (instead of crumbles topped with clumping clay), and it works great. It doesn’t stink – well, unless you think chicken feed stinks. It smells grainy, like corn. It looks like SwheatScoop. It clumps, but falls apart completely in water, making it perfect for flushing, assuming you can flush your litter where you live. Other “flushable” litters I’ve used have been problematic, as they tend to clog your toilet if you try to flush too much at one time. It also doesn’t track nearly as much as the other litters I’ve tried – no sticking to cat feet, which is fantastic.

I bought a new bag of crumbles at Southern States this weekend – $10 for 50 lbs., which will last longer than 50 lbs. of clay litter would have. The cats are used to it now, and scooping the litter boxes doesn’t seem like such a chore, as I now don’t have to wear a dust mask, and as the litter is lighter weight than the clay litter was.

I’ve seen elsewhere online that a few folks have had trouble with bugs in their crumbles. I have been using the crumbles for a month now and haven’t had any problems, though, so I would still recommend chicken feed crumbles as cat litter. Make sure you get the non medicated kind, and the crumbles, not the pellets!