Day Five
It has been a pretty eventful week thus far. Emily and I have found out the dances we are doing for the recital in June. Our oldest cat, Tuxedo (14 years old), is quickly declining in health.
Monday Sara Ellen and I took a walk up to the library. We also stopped into Blockbuster to rent Ratatouille and got lunch at Subway. The whole trip took about an hour. At ballet Emily and I learned that Carol’s ballet will be Balero, an abstract ballet with a Spanish flair. Instead of this dance Katie M and I will be dancing a modern dance choreographed by Kristi to gives the other ballerinas time to change. We were originally given the choice to do this dance with Kristi and her friend who is the current jazz teacher. Now… the dance will be a duet for Katie and I!! Monday afternoon we learned that Tuxedo, who has been suffering for a while from renal/liver failure was bleeding from his mouth. I found him in the basement with red on his front paw and matted fur. He didn’t have much energy and sat in front of the water dishes while I did the litter.
Tuesday was a great day because it was very productive. Early in the morning, so it was ten but that’s a quick start for us, Sara Ellen and I headed out to do some errands and Christmas shopping. I sent a pair of boots to Lands’ End. They have a great return policy and we have been giving them a bit of business lately finding the right boots, jackets, and accessories. I got a Weatherfield Jacket in white and I love it so far. I am waiting for a larger size in Chalet Boots. I got Sara Ellen adorable faux-shearling tassle boots but exchanged them for furry snow boots.
Then I had to return a new cell phone to the at&t store. Long story. The nokia I had been using was not ringing consistently. Tim said it was within in the contract time-frame that I could upgrade. I decided to try outside nokia (my trusted fave) and got a free pantech c150. It worked ok but a lot of things were different and I didn’t like it so we returned it just on time to an at&t store on Saturday. I got a Nokia 6126, I love nokia. I like using sound profiles and the text messaging is smoother than the pantech. On Sunday, it was beeping for a battery charge so I just turned it off, pretty unusual for me. I plugged it in overnight but it wouldn’t turn on. The mini-screen said local mode. I was told that’s a problem with the charger. So I returned this phone to a local store and got a refund, also hoping I could reorder it online and get it free. That didn’t work. I called for help and customer rep said I had to go to the store and he could give me a $100 credit. Later (in between to follow), I returned to the store. It was loud with some company rep talking and I spoke with the girl I was helped by earlier. The account info wasn’t letting her upgrade so she called customer service, information was not getting through. The store employee, Kristine (very helpful), got her manager. I think she was confusing people talking about upgrade and exchange but when it got down to it, I just bought a new Nokia 6126 and sent in the rebate form. The $100 is apparently being credited to the account, not the phone purchase!
Back to the day. So we headed to Harbour Center to buy a christmas present but power was out so we went to Bowie Town Center. We had lunch at Panera. I was looking for a pay phone to call home collect. I had a chiropractic appointment scheduled and my father was to watch Sara Ellen. But I was in the area and would just take her with me. I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond for bathroom stuff and once back in the car saw I had lots of time so I just headed home. Sara Ellen fell asleep and I had some time before heading back to Crofton. After getting well-adjusted, I parked outside Michael’s Crafts in Riva Festival which is near the at&t store. I completed the phone mess, got a gift at Michael’s, then dinner at Giant. I wasn’t parked near Giant and had to carry the 4 bags (including 6 soup cans) and a box of diapers. When I put them down I saw a hole in a soup bag. I consider it big blessing that didn’t happen as I walked. I had lots of time to make dinner, eat, and read to Sara Ellen before heading out. I picked up Emily at work, went to the then lit Harbour Center where I got a birthday present for my baby. Modern class was fun and we helped to decide on a costume. The music is Phillip Glass (very cool) and the costumes are black and white with a floaty wrap top and black shorts or gauchos.
Wednesday at lunchtime I picked up Emily and we briefly went to Harbour Center. We all went into Old Navy to return jeans I’d bought Sara Ellen. They didn’t have an elastic band and the button didn’t want to close under her baby belly. The adjustable waist band doesn’t help. Then when Emily decided to get a smoothie at Robeks, I decided to wear Sara Ellen on my back and trek over there instead of wasting gas. Emily treated me to a smoothie so I chose the pineapple eggnog… uh, it was a little weird. Emily got a chai smoothie which was a little better. Sara Ellen fell asleep while I drove home from returning Emily to work. At home I started working on a new advent calendar and then watched The Time Machine which had come in the mail. It was actually pretty good. I like that though he started his work because he lost someone, and wanted to know why, he also saw how humans evolve, destroy, and survive. Sara Ellen and I talked to Tim a bit as he walked home. We could hear busses and trams go by and I wished we could be there sharing it with him. At ballet we learned Ms. Easter will be remaking Pastorale by Beethoven using “gorgeous” blue costumes. Most exciting was that I put on my pointe shoes for the pointe work and I didn’t take them off until the end of class! I even did a tricky Paquita combination. Over the last couple days Tuxedo, our cat, has been quietly lying in a basket, climbing out for a little water. Last night I was told he tried to climb out and fell. It’s hard to imagine this spry cat who has scared off dogs from our yard, fading like this. Disappearing/Lying quietly in a basket is natural, and far less traumatic for all involved than the efforts it takes to get him in a carrier to the vet.
This morning, I learned that Tuxedo died during the night. Dad covered him with the sheet he’d been on and took him in the basket to the shed to be buried. I had made an appointment to see a nurse during Emily’s lunchtime and hoped there would be time to come home so we could see Tuxedo before this evening when he would be buried by Mom and Dad. Lately I have not had much use for animals except for their entertainment value to my daughter. But looking at Tux lying with his mouth open, made me sad, realizing how long he has been with us, half my life. After returning Emily to work Sara Ellen and I returned to the yard. She has discovered she loves jumping in piles of leaves!
So sorry to hear about Tuxedo … we just learned this morning that our Shadow, who was almost 18, was hit by a car.