Like herding cats

Last night, the cats had to go for their annual checkups. Actually getting them to the vet's office is always a crapshoot, because (a) they spend most of their time outside, and (b) they most emphatically DO NOT come when called.

They were actually supposed to go last Thursday, but when Little Girl refused all attempts to come inside after two hours of calling for her, I had to call the vet and reschedule.

But last night, I lucked out. It was a crappy, rainy day, and when I got home from work they were both snoozing in the bedroom. I ran to the kitchen and locked the pet door to prevent possible escape attempts, and scooped them both up and into their carriers before they even knew what was happening. Success!


Then we got to the vet's office and had to wait for AN HOUR due to a surgery that ran long. I totally understand how shit like that happens (annoying though it may be), and honestly, the cats were so bored with the whole thing by the time they saw the vet that they kind of forgot to freak out when it was time for their shots. They still had to be burrito-wrapped for their rabies shots, because that's the one that involves an air gun that makes a loud POP when activated. And whichever son-of-a-bitch developed THAT particular vaccine-delivery system deserves to have it administered to himself. Repeatedly.

But! They were very grateful to come back home, eat dinner, and head right back out the door. And they are protected against rabies, feline leukemia, distemper, and who knows what-else-all for another year. Good to know.

Misc. List

1. I have to decide whether to continue carrying collision insurance on my nine-year-old Saturn. Strongly influencing my choice is the knowledge that the day after I drop the coverage, someone will t-bone me at an intersection.

2. Despite warnings to keep it outside, last night the cats gifted me with an eviscerated mouse. All that remained was the back end, the spinal column and some unidentifiable organs. Thanks a bunch, sweeties.

3. The cats have to go to the vet's for their annual checkups tonight. Payback, muthas.

4. I've been trying to watch that documentary series thing about the national parks on PBS. Three words: Boring. As. Shit. Ken Burns, you need to change up your game.

5. I've discovered that when you buy a house, a list immediately appears of repairs that need to be made. The list is endless.

6. I haven't mowed the lawn for a couple of weeks now. I think it'll need one more mow to even it out, and that'll be it for the year. Then it'll be time to start shoveling snow.



7. I need to quit bitching. Look on the bright side: I'll never be bored, because there will
ALWAYS be something that needs to be done around the house.



8. Look! A rainbow!

.... because I'm an idiot, that's why

Seriously? I know me. And I know that between now and next spring, I will have totally forgotten what the poison ivy on the edge of my property looks like. Thus, a visual aid:






I think I'll put that up as my screensaver. Just to make sure.

I think it's a muskrat ....

See that thing there, in the middle of the pic, with a bunch of grass in its mouth:

I don't think he even noticed me standing on the bank. He just swam right by. (You can click on the pic for a supa-dupa closeup.)

'

And the fact that this little dude happily exists in his watery, wild home a couple hundred yards from my house? Blows my mind. We're neighbors!

'

I can't believe I'm here.

I don't even know what this says about me .....

..... but I just signed up for a Saturday afternoon weatherproofing workshop at Home Depot.

Maybe I'm taking this whole "home-ownership" thing a little too seriously.

Flintstones, Meet the Flintstones! They're a Yabba Dabba Family ........

Finally buying my own home got me thinking about apartment-building neighbors I have had. Several years ago, the person who owned the apartment building I lived in at the time at the time filed for bankruptcy, and the bankruptcy court appointed a lawyer to oversee the building. He was under instructions to keep the apartments filled, no matter what, and you can imagine what happened from there. Welfare city, baby.

I already wrote about Kelly. And there was the guy next door who broke into my apartment so he could use my phone to call phone sex lines, and threatened to kill me when I called the police. And then there was the couple downstairs, whom my boyfriend-at-the-time and I used to call Fred and Wilma, because they were so stupid, they were practically prehistoric. There was no love lost between Fred and Wilma and my boyfriend and I. One time I was looking out my (second floor) living room window. Wilma was downstairs in the driveway, saw me looking out, and actually spat upward at me. With predicable results (Me dry, Wilma wet). I still laugh when I think about that.

I wrote extensively about Jabba the Hutt, who was my impetus for finally getting off my keister and looking for a house. And then there was my last neighbor, the Pakistani terrorist. When he first moved in, I was just grateful to finally have a quiet neighbor. But then I noticed that he never left his apartment, like, EVER. He supposedly worked for a local IBM spin-off, but he'd be home when I'd leave for work in the morning, he'd be home when I got back from work, and his car never left the driveway. If he went out on the weekend, it'd only be for, like, fifteen minutes, and then he was back again. And he was really quiet, except for when people came to visit him, like, every few months, and then they'd all be up all night long, talking away in Pakistani. And he'd hoot. I shit you not, I'd be sitting reading a book, and all of a sudden I'd hear, "hooooot! HOOOOOOT!" coming from his apartment. It was the damnedest thing.

Oh, and the Pakistani DID NOT LIKE the lamp-stealer downstairs, because he thought the guy was a "thug" who "intimidated" him. The last I knew, the Pakistani was house-hunting, so he might not even be there anymore.

My gosh, these are just my apartment-building neighbors from the last apartment I lived in. I haven't even touched on the OTHER apartment buildings I've lived in, not to mention the trailer park. Stories for another day .....

Help me, O wise Internet

The previous owner of my house had the washer and dryer in the garage. When I asked him, at the closing, if he had problems with the washer freezing up in the winter, he kind of hemmed and hawed and avoided the question. So, I am assuming that yes, the washer froze up.

So! I have a choice. I have been told that if I finish insulating the garage (a couple of the walls are insulated; a couple are not), I should be able to have a washer out there. And the furnace, which is in the garage, has a vent on the side so I could heat up the garage before I did laundry. Or, I can buy an apartment-sized (portable) washer and keep it in the kitchen; you know, the kind you hook up to the sink.

I don't really want an apartment-sized washer; I want a big one. But a full-size would have to go in the garage (that's where the hookups are), meaning I would have to find someone to do the insulation. And here's another problem: I know some guys who are unfortunately out of work and would be glad to help me out for cheap, but, well ....... they're drunks. As in, drunk-by-noon drunks.* And as someone who used to be involved with a drunk, it makes me really, REALLY uncomfortable to be around a hard-core drunk.

I could try to hang the insulation myself; is it hard to do? I'd probably buy those rolls; how do you get it to stick? Do you nail it to the walls? Oh, and if this involves any tools that could possibly injure me (power saw, nail gun) all bets are off. I know my limits. Should I just say screw it and buy the apartment sized washer? Could I buy a full-size washer, put it in the kitchen, and run a water hookup through the wall to the adjacent garage?

Questions. I haz them.



*Maybe that's why they're unemployed? Hmmmm.....

Movie Review - The Wrestler

"The Wrestler" is about a washed-up professional wrestler (duh) who decides to make a comeback. Mickey Rourke plays the lead, and he's just fascinating to watch. He's got a body like you wouldn't believe, but his face looks like ten miles of bad road, which makes you wonder what the hell he's done to himself over the years. Marisa Tomei co-stars, and I've always had a soft spot for her, even though she seems to play the same character (hooker-type person with a heart of gold) an awful lot, and I'm beginning to suspect that she's not all that great of an actress.



Anyway, it was a really good movie, and for some odd reason, it wasn't nearly as depressing as the storyline would lead you to believe. I mean, as I was watching it, I kept thinking, "these poor peeps can't catch a break", but the characters just kept trying, kept plugging away, and it was actually kind of, well, uplifting. I recommend it!

Yeah, like THAT'S not gonna give me nightmares.

Warning: This post is NOT for the squeamish! You've been warned.


Friday night, I was out in the garage wrapping the water heater with insulation. (My new motto: "Insulate!")(I know, it's a thrill a minute around here.) I looked down on the garage floor and saw ....... something ........ some kind of fur. It looked like a little pelt, lying on the floor. I looked a little closer and saw what looked like .... teeth .... in the middle of the thing.

Holy shit, I thought. So THAT'S what's been smelly out here!

I'd been smelling a sort of an odor in the garage for the past few days. And in my usual highly efficient manner *cough*, my method of solving the smell situation was to walk around the garage, sniffing, wonder what the hell was smelly out there. Yeah, that works real good.

I'm not sure what that ...... pelt thing on the floor originally was. I'm assuming mouse or mole, but honestly, it looked kind of big to be that. But then again, I think I may have, um, stepped in it when I was working on the water heater, flattening it out some.

Jeezus, I'm giving myself the shivers again just thinking about it.

Anyhoo, just when you think things can't get any worse, you realize that you've got to get that thing OUT of the garage if you want the smell to stop. And, on closer inspection, you realize that the pelt is now host to lots of little writhing maggoty friends. Then again, once you realize that you've probably already STEPPED in it, how much worse can it get, right?

Time to grab the dustpan and a broom and man up. Scoop up the pelt thing and its little friends and heave it into the woods out back.

And try not to scream.

The end.


Oh, and thanks a lot, cats. Keep that shit outside, mmmkay?

Getting to know you

This is a leetle blurry, as I took it through my screen door:





The black cat lives diagonally across the street. He's a rowdy little thing - last night he was doing a hinky boogie-shuffle across the road, skittering sideways and jumping at leaves. That's The Runt hunkered down on the right. They do a lot of posing, but I haven't seen any actual fights yet. I think they're just trying to sort out territory - some of the neighborhood cats cut through my backyard to go hunt in the woods.



Oh, and some good news - both of the cats finally figured out the pet door! Amazingly enough, The Runt was the first to go in and out, and now Little Girl has it down as well, although she still prefers to sit by the door and meow until I open it for her. She reminds me of my sister Ditzy - why do the work yourself when you can sweet-talk someone else into doing it for you?

Good luck with that .....

Sign seen in a downtown storefront:

Well, whadda you know ....

...... it turns out that "Movie Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" was my 1,000th post. Woot for me!

Completely Unsolicited Product Recommendation

I noticed that the toilet in the new house had hard water stains in the bowl. I tried my regular go-to cleaner, Mr. Clean, and a scrub brush, with no results. Tried a couple of other cleaning products: No dice.

And then I remembered back many years ago, when I lived in a trailer park (that's right, I said trailer park) with hard water. And how the toilet bowl was awfully stained, and a plumber recommended Sno-Bol toilet cleaner. I'd never heard of it before, but I went to the store, bought a bottle, sprayed it in the toilet, and voila! Sparkly clean. Those hard water stains, which I had tried everything short of dynamite to get rid of, vanished in a minute.

Other places I've lived in between then and now did not have hard water, but I toted my half-full bottle of Sno-Bol from place to place, sure that one day it would come in handy. (Confession time: We are talking about approximately twenty years of shlepping a half-full bottle of Sno-Bol, retail value approximately one dollar, around and storing it on various cleaning supply shelves. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not.)

So! After scrubbing the new house toilet with other night, with no results, I went and grabbed my twenty-year-old bottle of Sno-Bol. Sprayed it in the bowl, and ...... yesssssssssss! No more hard water stains.

Sno-Bol. Remember the name. It's like a freakin' miracle for your toilet.

And sometimes that twenty-year-old bottle of cleanser? Comes in handy. If you're insane enough to drag it from place to place like some odd totem, that is*. I wonder if that tv show Hoarders is looking for new people. Call me!


*and people wonder why it took me A MONTH to move. Sheesh.

Orange

'
I found this gigantic ........ thing ......... in the woods not far from my house:






My foot is in the pic for size reference. (I meant to do that!) (yeah sure.) (no, really, I did.) I think it may be a jack o' lantern mushroom, based on a quick search, but it kinda looks like something that should be growing next to a nuclear power plant, doesn't it?



Oh, and there's plenty of kid-built stuff down by the creek:





This is some kind of a fort, with tree branches interwoven in a circle around it. There's a fire pit, chairs made out of stone (ouch!), and a table made of tires.

It's good to know that kids still do this stuff.

I know it's fall .......

...... because I can't stop eating.

Cookies, lasagna, popcorn, salad, chips, steak, cheese, veggies, crackers ..... it really doesn't matter what. I'm just an eating machine.

And this would be worrying, except that I go through this every year. The days get shorter and the nights get colder, and my body decides that it's time to eat. All the time.

And just about the time that I start to think I'm going to be facing a pretty stiff weight gain, and I start to worry that this year I won't stop eating, it ends. Oh, I mean, I still eat, I'm just not eating like I'll never see food again.

I go through it again in December, although it's hard to tell how much of that is my body stocking up and how much of that is Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's and Holy God It's Cold Outside So I'll Make A Huge Pot Of Food.

So it's fall, and I'm eating. Keep your hands and feet away from my mouth, is all I'm sayin'.

Movie Review - "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"

Whooooaaaaaaa. This is the most depressing movie ever. I mean, of course a movie about the Holocaust is not going to be uplifting, but seriously, the ending of this movie may have put me off Netflix for good.


Warning: If you were possibly planning on using this movie to introduce your children to the concept of the Holocaust, DO NOT DO IT. Seriously. I think a kid would be scarred for life by watching this sucker.


That being said, it is an extremely interesting, absorbing movie about a little boy whose dad runs a concentration camp. The boy befriends a boy inside the camp, without understanding what's going on.


But if you're feeling emotionally fragile, do not watch this movie. I'm warning you. The ending will shatter you.

Holy shit my heart just broke ......

I just read this postcard on the postsecret site:



I'm SO GLAD I stayed in the room with Rocky. I couldn't have imagined being anywhere else right then.

Recently Read

Standard disclaimer - go ahead and skip this if you want to.

1. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas - Novel about a Colorado mining town in the 30s - interesting and enjoyable. I like this author's books.

2. The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson - I really enjoyed this memoir by a local author (and newspaper advice columnist), although I cried my eyes out reading the "Livestock in the Kitchen" chapter. A short, very interesting read.

3. King of the Hill by A.E. Hotchner - Memoir about a boy growing up in St. Louis during the depression - Funny, sad and really, really good.

4. Tell Me Where It Hurts by Dr. Nick Trout - One day in the life of a veterinarian - good.

5. As Hot As It Was You Ought To Thank Me by Nanci Kincaid - I got quite a way into this before realizing I'd read it before - Hello, old age! Still, it's a good book about a small southern town.

6. Bitsy's Bait and BBQ by Pamela Morsi - Novel about a small Ozarks town. A little formulaic, but still very enjoyable. There was a sex scene tossed in toward the end, which was kind of odd, because the rest of the book was basically rated G. It reminded me of the movies "Stir of Echoes" and "Sling Blade", both of which threw in sexually charged scenes right at the front of the movie, I guess to make sure they'd get an R rating. Not sure why you'd do that with a book, though - especially at the end. That being said, I DID like this book. (Just in case the author's googling!)

7. Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenburg - Nonfiction about a man whose 15 year old daughter becomes mentally ill. Interesting, but I guess I've just read one too many of these "family member goes insane" books - after a while they're all the same.

8. Everybody Into The Pool by Beth Lisick - Brief, humorous essays about modern life - funny.

9. Hannah's Dream by Dianne Hammond - Novel about an elephant in a run-down zoo - I really, really liked this one.

10. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audry Niffenegger. Confusing ("Clare is 28. Henry is 36, and 41.") and kind of sappy. Meh.

11. The Curing Season by Leslie Wells - Novel about an abused woman with a crazy husband. Interesting.

12. Democratic Camera by William Eggleston - Coffee table book. This was an interesting guy - He was a photographer who claimed that he thought all his pictures were equally valid - He'd let other people pick which ones to exhibit, because he thought they were all the same, quality-wise.

13. That Went Well by Trent Dougan - Memoir about growing up with and caring for a mentally disabled sister - Interesting.

14. Black Flies by Shannon Burke - Novel about an EMT in Harlem based on the author's experiences - Very good.

15. Jellicoe Road and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - A lot of people recommended these two Young Adult books. The problem I have with YA books is, well ...... they were written for kids. I mean, I'm sure if I was 14 I'd really enjoy this type of book, but I'm not and I don't. Sorry!

So! That's it for now. I'm hoping that with the move behind me, I'll be able to settle down and do a little more reading. Any suggestions?

Last night

I was working in the garage, trying to get some weatherproofing going on, when I noticed a diffuse reddish/pink light coming through the windows. I walked outside, and ......




Purty. I think I'm gonna like it here.

Why I don't watch Y&R anymore

"Daily update for Tuesday, September 1, 2009:

Mac and Lily commiserate about their happily-ever-after not being everything they thought it would be. Later, Mac gives Lily a lot to think about where Cane is concerned.

Jeff and Gloria take Patty to the Abbott cabin and Patty immediately assumes that Jack is meeting them there to renew their vows. Jeff takes a photo of Patty to send in for the reward money. Later, Gloria and Jeff stand off over whom to term Patty over to: Victor or Jack. Meanwhile, Jack tells Billy about Victor's involvement with Patty and that they need to find Patty before Victor does in order to bring him down.

Still in lockdown, Nick is adamant about telling Phyllis about the baby before she leaves on her trip to Switzerland. Meanwhile, Phyllis brings Summer by to see Victor to say goodbye and fishes for a clue towards Victor's involvement with Patty Williams. Later, Sharon tells Nick that she was happier when he didn't know the truth because she is tired of all the drama.

Victor takes the defensive with Phyllis and swears that he had nothing to do with bringing Patty back to Genoa City, while Adam listens from the shadows. Meanwhile, Nick finally realizes Sharon's true intentions in lying about the baby and is hit with the enormity of what she did for him.

Billy admits to Jack that he had second thoughts about the divorce but he has moved past them but Jack isn't so sure. Meanwhile, Mac tells Lily that Billy's second thoughts may have changed everything between them. Later, Jack tells Billy that he needs to figure what he feels for Chloe before he commits to Mac completely.

Phyllis and Noah discuss Sharon and Nick being in lockdown and Phyllis admits that although she trusts Nick again she is still wary of the two being locked up together for a night. Later, Sharon tells Nick that needs to be left in the mental hospital in order to find a way to stand on her own two feet for the sake of her children. Nick leaves to catch Phyllis but promises Sharon she is no longer alone.

Jeff and Gloria decide to flip to see whom they give Patty to and Jeff wins but his phone has no signal. He decides to drive down the road in order to call Jack. Meanwhile, Jack stops by the hospital to check on Sharon and tell her that Mary Jane is in fact Patty and Sharon is forced to tell him that Nick knows about the baby. Later, Jeff finds service but her account is suspended before he can make a call. Meanwhile, Patty is furious when she realizes she has been tricked. Mac tells Billy that he needs time alone to figure out what he wants, whether he wants it or not. Meanwhile, Cane panics when he realizes that Lily has a fever.

Phyllis and Summer wait at the airport terminal for Nick, realizing that he may not make it in time for their flight.

Paul confronts Victor about bringing Patty back to Genoa City."

- Synopsis from the Y & R website.


Let's face it, War and Peace had a less convoluted plot. And the above recap is for one day of Y&R. And yet, amazingly, you can watch Y&R for years (take it from me) and nothing ever really happens. I shit you not; a fistfight between two characters can last, like, weeks on Y&R.

And rest assured, Katherine Chancellor is still alive and well. Or so I'm told.

What are people so afraid of?

Okay, so President Obama gave his health care speech last night. And it sounded reasonable to me. I mean, health care for everybody is a good thing, right? Every other civilized nation provides it, so surely we can too, right?

Obviously there are a lot of people who don't see things that way. I mean, look at those town hall meetings, where people got all hysterical over the thought of *gasp* providing health care for everyone!

What's wrong with health care for everybody? Sure, our taxes might go up - hell, they might even go up as much as they will to pay for the stupid f*cking wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But shouldn't everybody be able to go to the doctor when they're sick?

I guess that according to some people, the answer to that is "no". That not everybody "deserves" health care. That people who are unlucky enough, or, let's face it, not "smart" enough to work for an employer who provides health care, are just shit out of luck. Tough on you.

And here's where I really don't get it: People aren't just opposed to health care for everybody; they act like they're afraid of it. Like it's some big boogeyman in the closet that's going to jump out and rip their face off in the middle of the night.

I just don't understand.

Push It

Did anyone else besides me watch "Glee" last night? When they sang "Push It" at the school assembly?

I kind of tend to think the show is overrated, but that performance cracked me right up. Why couldn't something like that have happened at one of my high school's boring, interminable assemblies?

Family Cook-Out

Oh, sure, I could do a post about my family's Labor Day cook-out, and how my one nephew is fresh out of rehab (again), and how my niece's boyfriend was so drunk he fell over a chair, and how my sister Ditzy showed up driving her ex-boyfriend's car, but it just seemed unfair. Like shooting fish in a barrel.



My family alternately amuses the heck out of me and depresses me. I'd have to guess that I'm not alone there.

Step into the sun, step into the light ......

The cats leave the garage to explore the yard for the first time:

And they're off:

The Runt got himself into a little jam (look at the top of the shed):

But he got himself down again.

I don't know of anything more nerve-wracking than letting them out for the first time. But they handled themselves well, and are now getting re-acquainted with the great outdoors.

Take it easy out there, guys!

Nowhere to run to, baby

Seriously, I feel awful about this:




Poor Runtman is still having a hard time adjusting., although he has seemed much better the past couple of days.



Little Girl, on the other hand, is now more sanguine about the situation and is ready for her spa treatment:



Please ignore the other stuff going on in that pic, including the mid-air spike bar. I'm still moving in, peeps, cut me a break.

The lions of the Serengeti explore their new surroundings:

(and no, I DID NOT paint the living room baby blue. Sheesh. It was like that when I bought it. New paint coming this winter. Oh, and check out how Little Girl camouflages into the couch.)


They're starting to get used to the noise from the kids in the park next door:



I think this weekend it may be time for a little backyard exploring.

Five

It's been five months now since I stopped smoking.

Time to run the numbers:


Number of cigarettes I would have smoked between April 3 and now, had I not stopped smoking: 4,500


Amount of money saved: $802.50


When people light up around me, the smoke just smells like chemicals, not like something good, the way it used to. And I watch someone blow out smoke, and I'm amazed to think that all that smoke was in their lungs a minute ago.


Really, that was one of the main reasons I quit. Way back last winter, I was holed up in my apartment on a cold day with all the windows shut. I lit up a cigarette, exhaled the first puff, really looked at the amount of smoke that filled the room, and thought to myself, "That can't be good." I think that was the first time that a little inkling crossed my mind that maybe it was time to quit.


So! Five months. I still think about smoking sometimes. But the fact that I've made it this far, well, it gives me hope that I can keep it up. I mean, heck, if I can abstain from smoking for five months, I can do anything!

.... and tell those kids to get off my lawn!

I've noticed an alarming trend lately: Women wearing stripper shoes out and about. I saw a woman at CrapMart the other day wearing shoes very similar to these:





And my first thought was, "Really? You really wear your S&M shoes to run errands?"

I couldn't help but notice that she was having a hard time actually, you know, walking, what with the four-inch stiletto heels and all. Not very practical when you're just dashing in to pick up some toilet paper and dog food.

And then I noticed more women, out and about, proudly tottering through the grocery store and the RiteAid in their stripper shoes.

And I mean, it's a free country and all, but is this really some new trend? Because it kind of scares me. For one thing, I cannot effectively walk in anything taller than about a two-and-a-half inch heel. For another thing, I think these shoes are just ....... well ....... a little inappropriate for daytime wear. If you know what I mean.

What's that? Why yes, yes, I am a kabillion years old. Thanks for asking!

It was worth every penny

The shower is fixed! In the end, they had to replace the faucet and the pipe that the showerhead connects to, and it cost a hundred and twenty bucks*, but I now have a working shower!

Thanks, Auchinachie** Plumbing! Your plumbers are awesome.



*Welcome to homeownership. Get out your checkbook.

**Pronounced Ah-HAWN-ah-hee. Yeah, I don't get it either.

Continuing On ....

(See post below for Part 1 of the moving saga.)

So! I got another wagon load of stuff back to the new house, unloaded, and decided it was time to let the cats start exploring. I opened up the door to the spare room, looked around, and ........ nothing. No cats.

I finally found them scrunched behind some boxes in the closet. I called, and called, and called, but no dice. There was no way IN HELL they were coming out of that closet.

Aw! Poor kitties!

They finally came slinking out into the living room around eight on Friday night. They'd do a quick recon and run right back to their safe closet again.


And now, five days later, they're still uncertain of their surroundings. They'll come out and explore for a little bit, then go back to the closet, or under the bed, or in the bathtub. Any unexpected noise sends them running for safety. Little Girl is doing better than The Runt, which doesn't surprise me, since she's always been the bolder of the two. Last night I unlatched the pet door, which leads to the garage, and propped it open so they could start getting used to the garage, which they'll have to go through get outside, once I start letting them out. They were fine as long as the pet door was propped open, but they can't seem to figure out how to work it on their own. *sigh* I had no idea there was a learning curve for pet doors.

I feel bad, because I had no idea that this move would be so traumatic on them. I thought they'd scope out the new place for a couple of days and then be fine. Poor Runt looks like he's about to have a heart attack half the time; I hope they calm down soon. I know they'll love the new place once they get used to it.

In the meantime, I've got two disconcerted kitties on my hands.