After Ali and Justin’s bad accident and long recovery last year, our move last summer, my car being totaled by Frank (age 19 – thank GOD he was not injured!!), our Thanksgiving family reunion, and, of course, Christmas, I told Richard that I want to spend January doing absolutely nothing at all. I need a month of nothing so I can de-stress – no drama, no injuries, no illnesses, no trips, no holidays, no nothing.

That night, Frank backed our truck into a car in the bowling alley parking lot. It was his second accident in just two months. This little fender bender resulted in $1500 damage to the other guy’s car. Frank was very remorseful but we told him he can’t drive our vehicles anymore and he must get his own insurance now. Our rates are going up again regardless.

We were babysitting Ali and Justin’s dog, Jax, for a few days while they were out of town visiting Justin’s family. First thing Monday morning, Jax started vomiting white foam. We rushed him to the vet. He had Pancreatitis (again). After some anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea medicines, he was better. That was only $98.

At 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, I woke up to our bedroom door making a funny sound. It was slowly banging against the wall from the wind. Curious, I got up and investigated. The front door AND the screen door were wide open, having blown inward when a strong cold front arrived. I yelled, “OH MY GOSH!”, waking up everyone except for Max and Mason. You see, we haven’t let the cats (four of them!) outside since we moved here because of the alligators, snakes, wild hogs, and panthers.

We all darted around, trying to find all the cats. We found three of the four. Max’s beloved cat, Rambo, was missing. Richard, Frank, and Caleb (who is visiting on Winter Break) all donned their jackets, grabbed flashlights, and rushed outside. I stayed inside with the little ones, still running around, thinking Rambo might be sleeping under a bed or hiding in a closet. It only took about 10 minutes for the guys to find him. He had indeed escaped. He was standing on the outside steps behind the house, by the lanai, probably trying to figure out how to open the back door and get back inside the warm house. Thank Heaven we found him because Max would have been beyond devastated if his best friend had been eaten.

On Tuesday afternoon, we had to take Rambo to the vet because he had a rash and digestive problems that I won’t go into detail about here (it’s pretty gross). Turns out he’s allergic to something. We have to figure out what. In the meantime, he’s on steroids and antibiotics and we’re changing his food. That cost $200 and change.

Looks like January isn’t going to be a stress-free month after all… What was I thinking?!

This week’s Masonism:

Two of Frank’s female friends walked in the front door last night and Mason (age 5) slowly said, “Well, hellooooo ladies!”

Big hugs!
Angela

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HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY! by Angela Hoy
Using Angela’s MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years, and record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook. Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography! **Also works for biographies and memoirs.**