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Of hairballs and other accumulations

As I remarked in a comment on Cheryl’s blog yesterday, I have an abundance of revisions to finish by my deadline, which is today. As a result, I have

(1)an abundance of food past its throw-out date in the refrigerator.

(2) an abundance of cat hair lying in gray drifts in corners, on the stairs, under the bed, the sofa…you catch my—er—drift.

I have an abundance of (4) dirty laundry—just like the blessings promised in the Bible—piled together, pressed down (into the laundry hamper) and running over.

(5) I have abundance of leaves covering the patio. Not your colorful red and gold autumn leaves. They’re a sort of gray-green, dropped because of the extreme dry heat of the last several weeks. Regardless, they need to be swept up, and they haven't been.

I’m not even going to talk about the (7) shoes lying where they were kicked off, or the (8) mail waiting to be sorted.

And you know what? I’m grateful for every one of them—including the revisions.

Because the reason I have all this abundance at this point is that I’m writing.

But I don’t have quite as much money—have you ever noticed that it does not pile up as other things do? Crystal, my cat, got very sick the other night and we were off to the emergency vet at midnight. She’s fine now, but I walked away $350 lighter in the wallet.

I tell her, as soon as I'm done with the revisions, she had better be $350-worth of entertaining. She sneers. She stalks, stiff-legged to her food bowl, swishing her tail (rather grandiloquently, I think) and says, "Bt what have you done for me, lately?"

There's nothing like a cat to prevent an over-abundance of ego.

I'll tell you about SEALed Forever some other time.

Comments

  1. I got caught up over the weekend--laundry, dishes, even finished 1/3 of The Wolf and the SEAL, making me way ahead! And then Deb called with a revision request on Book 7. Okay, so now I'm behind again and have an abundance of word cut out for me. :) And about the money, MM, don't you hate how that goes??? :)

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  2. Oh Terry! To be ahead of the clock and then to have the past catch up with yo--and pass you!

    But I will say I'm almost gleeful at the thought of getting to do the housework.Is that twisted, or what?

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  3. Great post, as always, MM! I am SO with you on the cat expenses, though my more expensive vet bills have mostly been due to dogs and horses. The cats are pretty healthy most of the time.

    I still haven't gotten my revision request for Virgin, but I'm expecting it any time now, and then I'll be back in the same boat.
    *sigh* Just when I'd gotten some of those cobwebs cleaned out of the barn....

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  4. ---> There's nothing like a cat to prevent an over-abundance of ego.

    What's that saying..."Dogs have owners, and cats have staff." SO true! But I love my two little beasts to death. Weasel got stung by a wasp over the weekend, which was definitely a trauma - for me, not him. ;-)

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  5. Mary Margaret, anyone who is gleeful at the thought of doing housework is indeed twisted to the point of being in need of hospitalization (at least in my opinion). But my loathing for all things cleaning related (except for shower scenes) is already well documented. I have hair balls all over the house and told my children it was their job to make said hair balls disappeared. Of course, they despise cleaning almost as much as I do. The difference is I spent the first 40 years of my life doing that which I despised and I think they should too.

    Great post, btw. I'm amazed you came out of an emergency vet visit only $350 lighter. I can't get out of a vet's office (at any time) for under $500. You must tell me your secret.

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  6. gotta love cats. ours was a rescue - I drove all over the place for this "free" cat and spent beaucoup bucks on food, scratching post, toys, litter, not one but 2 litter boxes, etc. and the darn thing won't come up me at all. She hates me. sigh.

    I even put up bird feeders right outside my office window for her to enjoy and she "suffers" to sit in the same room with me.

    but have her favorite Kid be gone overnight and then see who she comes sashaying to...

    and silly me scoops her up and just loves her to pieces. Yeah, she's got me wrapped.

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  7. Why is it pets and kids always get sick in the middle of the night? I've done the ER thing with my cat and my baby in the last 6 months. I think the cat was more expensive, but she cried less.

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  8. I'm glad your kitty is okay!

    I'll be in your revision boat soon. My third ms is due on the 1st of October. It's done. I'm just picking at it (obsessively) in hopes that I fix it enough that it doesn't need revisions. Yeah, right!

    I, too, have an abundance of unfinished housework and unsorted mail.

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  9. Mary Margaret how did you get in
    My house:).

    Oh do I have some ofthe same abundances you have. And now I have a really great one. I'm sitting at hospital with hubby who just had back surgery for severe ruptured disk. He just got out of surgery and the pain is already gone. Yay! He's been in agony. Could only move from bed to couch.

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  10. How true, MM!

    It always piles up and easier to ignore. I'm very good at doing that.

    Yes, the critters tend to do that, don't they?

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  11. I'm glad to hear Crystal is better! Your description of her attitude is perfect! I know what you mean about the vet bills, though. My "free" rescue dog cost me over a thousand dollars the first year I had him, mostly because the vet misdiagnosed him! But he's worth it, and I have a new vet:)

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  12. Sorry I haven't been around to respond to comments today. Finally hit"send" on the revisions at 6.43 PM EDT. Previous to that magical hour, I was in complete nose-to-the-grindstone mode. Which means NOOOOOOOOOO internet. There is no limit to the amount of time I can waste doing nothing in particular on the web.

    Thanks for all the cat stories. They made me laugh. After I sent off the ms I went to the grocery. First time I had left the house since Saturday. Crystal gave me H***! Apparently, after I left, she discovered that she could see the bottom of her food bowl. Nothing ticks her off more.

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  13. I did the unthinkable last Christmas and brought home a kitten into a house with two adult female cats. Oh, did they ever make me pay (literaly)!

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  14. Hi Mary!
    I fear we have similar abundances around our houses. ;}

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  15. Your list was great! I can totally relate. I've got a full time job, four boys, a husband, the house to tackle, two dogs, a squawking bird, the never ending piles of laundry and of course the writing gig...and I wouldn't change a thing. Well...like you said...more money would be nice. :)

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