Archive for March, 2006

Evil Cat

// March 31st, 2006 // 3 Comments » // pets


IMG_7021

Originally uploaded by cathymccaughan.

I’m keeping watch for falling squirrels while I blend in with the birdbath to fool the feathery creatures. Bwa-ha-ha-ha

It’s raining squirrels

// March 31st, 2006 // 1 Comment » // parenting, pets

This morning Tommy and Molly stepped outside for a game of ball (to calm Molly and focus Tommy) when a squirrel dropped from the sky.  Well, maybe it fell off a power line or a tree branch but from my point of view it seemed to just drop from nowhere.  I looked at that little white furry tummy in horror and my mind raced.  Bird flu?  Poison?  Rabies?  Oceanic Air?  Where did it come from anyway?  Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Tommy was paralyzed like a deer in headlights.  As Molly trotted to the squirrel and leaned over to give it a big sniff, Doug sprung into action.  He screamed at Molly to go back in the house as he ran toward the cat who was making a single leap across the length of the entire front lawn to pounce and eat the poor creature.  As Doug attempted to keep the cat away, the squirrel suddenly flipped and flopped like a fish before scuttling up a nearby tree.  The cat was annoyed, the dog was oblivious and Tommy was confused.  As the bus pulled in, Doug warned Tommy to carry an umbrella today in case any more squirrels fall.  Tommy will be flinching and ducking all day.

Technical glitches

// March 31st, 2006 // 2 Comments » // blogging

I like this theme, but I’m going to have to find a new one if I can’t figure out how to make flickr and cartoons work correctly.  The pictures work in Firefox, but not IE.  The cartoons don’t work at all.

not me

// March 30th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // parenting


not meOriginally uploaded by cathymccaughan.

“Who colored on this door?”
“Not me. Evan did it.”

but her face is clean and soft

// March 30th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // relatives

Since her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s, the transition from living in her own home to an assisted living facility has been the most difficult thing for my grandmother. Her physical and cognitive downhill slide has been slow and appeared slower because she retained the ability to hide her confusion. Although the periodic anxiety attacks that landed her in the hospital were exhausting to my mother, some primal survival instinct has my grandmother convinced that if she goes to the hospital frequently enough, doctors will find anything that goes wrong and “fix it”. Unfortunately or fortunately, doctors are disinclined to do anything but make comfortable an 80-something woman who has been in physical decline since having polio as a young adult. The most recent hospital visit revealed a huge drop in short-term memory and significant brain shrinkage. While adding more personal assistant time to assist with my grandmother’s daily schedule, it was discovered that she hasn’t bathed in over a year. Apparently each shift of helpers believed that bathing occurred during someone else’s shift. We can certainly understand their confusion, since each shift observed my grandmother fastidiously following the Clinique 3-step skincare ritual. Everyone believed that anyone that careful about their face would be equally concerned about their body. Baby wipes helped hide the absence of bathing until recently, but this time something didn’t quite smell right.  My grandmother may be filthy, but her face is clean and soft, thanks to a lifetime of Clinique.  Maybe they can use her in their next campaign.

Sick Brain

// March 29th, 2006 // 8 Comments » // media

Who changes the Teletubbies’ diapers?  Why is Caillou bald?  Are the Berenstein Bears barefoot because they are hillbillies?  Does Mother Bear wear a long dress and head covering for religious reasons?  Does Daniel Cook ever need a time out?  If one of the Higglytown Heroes gets chicken pox, do they give them to another character’s insides when they do that wierd nesting doll thing?  Why are Robbie Rotten’s pants so unflattering and Sportacus’ pants so extremely flattering?

Blue + Yellow = Green

// March 29th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // me, parenting

Doug found some long forgotten effervescent bath tablets and dropped them into my bath to see if it helped with my achey body and congested head.  The tablets turned the water blue.  I think I’ll use them the next time Amy takes a bath and warn her that the water shouldn’t turn green.

Boston Legal

// March 29th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // me, media

My bucket is full.

No take backs

// March 28th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // parenting

Amy ceremoniously handed a pacifier of hers to her baby brother this morning.  “I’m a big girl and I don’t need bops any more.”  Evan clutched it in his tiny fist and crawled away.  I’m guessing Evan understood the temporary nature of Amy’s generosity.  He promptly flushed Amy’s bop down the toilet. 

I sing the body disgusting

// March 28th, 2006 // 3 Comments » // parenting

If the stuff between my children’s dirty, sweaty toes is toe jam, what is the yuck in the neck folds of my chubby baby?  Neck jelly?

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