Kitty

This morning I woke up again to Kitty crying at my door.  

So I let her in--but just for a minute.  (At least that's what I told myself).

Then I found myself making her eggs.

(Because I googled: "What do cats eat if I don't have cat food?").

But I should have googled was: "What is wrong with me?" 

because I don't even make my kid's eggs for

 breakfast, let alone a CAT, for crying out loud!

I was falling in love with Kitty.

And so was everyone else.

Every few hours, I'd get texts from Lottie's Gizmo watch

asking me if Kitty was still at the house.

Lottie has been SO EXITED to come home from school to Kitty!

Then I called the animal shelter to ask if there was someone who 

was missing a beautiful white (maybe Siamese) cat, but no one was missing a cat that fits that description.

I decided to ask neighbors if anyone was missing a cat.

Nope.

I went online to missing cat forums. Nothing.

Now, what was I going to do?!

I'd have to buy cat food for her because

I mean, I don't want to make eggs for her every day!

After she gobbled down a heaping bowl of eggs, 

I let Kitty outside, and she disappeared out the back porch door.

One hour passed.  She didn't return.

Four hours, no Kitty.

I was becoming a nervous wreck, and the Nies thought

I had lost my mind.  I thought I had lost my mind!

As it was getting dark, Kitty returned, meowed at the 

door, then jumped back to her spot on the couch and fell asleep.

Where the heck did she go?

Why didn't she ask me if it was OK to leave?

So many questions.

I can tell this relationship isn't going to work for me.

Officer Oliver

 Ollie woke up early today and along with his FFA club 

hosted a breakfast for the local farmers 

to show appreciation for them and what they do for our community.

Since he is an FFA officer he gets to do cool things like that.

He and Gigs are participating in the 

state cattle handling competition next month.

(Jane placed 2nd in the state a few years ago!)

Meanwhile, when I woke up this morning,

 Kitty was still meowing at my back door.  

I took Lottie to school and came home and Kitty was gone.

But, around 6:00 this evening, Kitty came back and meowed at the door again.

Lottie and Gigs played with her, then she jumped up,

and cuddled back into her bed on the couch.

A New Friend.

Today was the first day I really felt Spring

 in the air and the earth warming up.  

After school, we all went outside and sat on the front porch.  

The boys threw the football around, and Lottie practiced her cartwheel.  

I sat near Jane while she carefully drank a smoothie with swollen cheeks.

We talked about Portugal and how we can't believe she's

 actually going there on her mission!  It's so surreal!

In the distance, we heard a cat meowing which

 gradually got louder and louder.  

The sounds were coming from across the street.  

When the noise persisted, I got a little worried

 that maybe there was a poor cat stuck in a tree or the 

gutter, so I walked across

the street and saw a white cat sitting on our neighbor's porch

 staring at the door.

But it wasn't the neighbor's cat.

Lottie ran over to the top of the road that faced the neighbor's front door

and instantly fell in love.

When the cat saw us, she stopped meowing and came over to Lottie 

and practically jumped into her arms as if to say,

"I've been found!"

Then she wouldn't leave us alone.

She followed us home and sat meowing at our door for the evening.

Before bed, Lottie made kitty a little house outside 

on our porch couch with an umbrella and blanket.

Right now, she is all cuddled up, sleeping in her little bed.

Hopefully, tomorrow she'll remember who she is and run home.

Since we're only renting The House on the 6th, we aren't allowed

to have pets...even Angus.  

(We miss him so much.  He's been living in an

 animal boarding facility.  We visit him, and when we do, I feel like

we're visiting a family member in jail, and

it's weird to have to say goodbye to him.

(Good news is, we don't anticipate this situation to last much longer).

Jane got her Mission Call TWO-day!

 TWO-day was just TWO TWO TWO much!!  

(You know, It's February 22, 2022.  Or, 2/22/22)

TWOday Jane got her MISSION CALL!!!!

With swollen cheeks, Jane walked into the kitchen as I was making dinner,

sat at the table and watched me as I began chopping vegetables.

She looked dazed and in a little pain.

All of a sudden, she gasped and said to me and with slurred speech said:

"Mom, my mission call just came to my inbox!"

I dropped the knife and ran over to her.

Her hands were shaking, and I was screaming.

I immediately called Christian (who was in Nashville), and we 

were able to text Claire in Brazil because her mission President said

it was OK for her to Facetime her opening the call.

Jane told me she wanted to read it alone first.

She walked into my bedroom and calmly shut the door while

the rest of us were bouncing off the walls!

Five minutes later, she walked out with tears

 in her eyes and a huge smile on her face.

"Are those happy tears, honey?" I asked her.

"Yes, oh my gosh, Mom, yes, YES!"

Once we had Christian and Claire 

(and about 10 other sister missionaries with her)

on the phone, she began reading her assignment.

(Jane's ice pack!)

PORTUGAL LISBON MISSION!!!!!!

Jane will report on July 25 and do two weeks of home MTC

then fly to Provo and attend the MTC there

for the remaining 4 weeks.

I am so excited for her!!  

I am most excited that my girls will both speak PORTUGUESE!!!

I tell you, these sisters can't be divided!

On another note, one of her best friends from Provo, Hannah

was called to the exact same mission!!

(Jane and Hannah, in the Albuquerque airport, 2017)

With all her crying, smiling, screaming, and talking, Jane went to

bed with a very sore mouth and ice packs planted

on the sides of her mouth.

It was worth it.

Jane gets her wisdom teeth out.

 Today has been a dreaded day for our new 19-year-old, Jane.

Today Jane got her wisdom teeth out.

She's been dreading this day for MONTHS!

When the dawn broke, I woke her up, gave her a Xanax

(prescribed by her doctor, of course),

and together we drove to the oral surgeon's office.

The first half of the drive Jane was worried and on edge.

But the second half of the drive, she was groggy and carefree. 

 (Thank you, Xanax!)

I waited in the lobby and worked on some church stuff while

she got her three wisdom teeth removed.

It's funny, Jane was born with only three wisdom teeth- missing her 

top right, and Claire was born with only one wisdom tooth

 which coincidentally is her top right! 

My girls are so interconnected. It's crazy and cute.

One of Jane's fears was I was going to film her saying silly things

like all the goofy kids are doing these days.

I promised her I wouldn't film her talking, but she was a little silly

and started crying when she told me that her doctor

(who is also in our church congregation, Brother Doctor Smith) 

didn't say goodbye to her after the surgery.

I assured her that he probably did, but she forgot.

She didn't believe me.

She must have told me that story 60 times.

That, and that the nurse took blood from her arm.

I drove to Target to get her pain med prescription and 

told her not to text anyone while I was gone.

Apparently, she forgot that, too, since she sent out a family text

with a photo of her holding her wisdom teeth:

"Oh this is sad."

We had a good laugh a few hours later.

I am a PRO at texting/blogging/calling people while under the influence

of pain meds, and it ain't pretty!!

We came home, and she fell asleep in my bed, where she stayed for

about a week.  

On the Road over the Phone.

 Christian and I share a joint photo gallery, and when he

 takes photos they automatically upload to the cloud where 

I can see can them.

It's been fun to see him in Nashville working, exploring, 

 meeting farmers and ranchers, touring facilities and farms with

  the AG tech group and BovIQ.

I miss him, but couldn't be more pleased about where he

is and what he is doing!

Hold up! Jane is 19!.

 Today my beautiful Jane Bronwyn turns NINETEEN

which is so unthinkable to me because she'll always be my little Janey.

Early this morning, Jane and I went to our usual Barre3 workout.

Our bestie and instructor, Hope, knew it was Jane's birthday, and we worked out

to a bunch of Jane's favorite tunes; it was so fun!

She did this for Jane when she turned 17, too!

She'd have done it when she turned 18, but COVID!

I cried a few times while we working out and listening to remixes of U2 

and My Chemical Romance blasting over the speakers.

I always feel a little emotional on my children's birthdays.

They're so bittersweet!

Hope wrote Jane a cute message on the mirror in the studio and

she felt SO special and loved.

We love HOPE!

Chrisitan and Oliver showed up at the studio and surprised Jane

and joined us in class.  

What troopers! What dedication! What cute boys!

After class, we drove to Wegmans, our new favorite grocery store

(Move over Whole Foods!), and bought some fancy juices and treats.

We love fancy probiotic waters, protein & Kefir drinks,

 or things that generally sound gross.

And there is always a 50/50 chance they will be disgusting, but then again,

We've found some fantastic drinks this way.

(Like, the vanilla coconut Koia protein drink!)

Then the four of us grabbed a veggie burger for lunch at Freddy's

(they have the best fries).

I always feel bad when we leave out Nies.

I am sorry to Nicholas and Lottie, who were back at school.

(And Claire, who has been missing out since 2020).

We watched a movie together in the evening, 

opened her gifts, and ate the confetti vanilla cake I had made.  

Jane-bug, I LOVE YOU and

I couldn't be more proud of you!

I'll never forget when you popped out of me WITH RED HAIR!

It was the best surprise I'd ever been given.

You are such a treasure!