Here’s one you haven’t heard in a while!

There’s nothing quite as lovely as being awakened at 2am from a sound sleep to your cat puking all over your bed! She usually sleeps at my feet all night. This morning she was puking on them! She threw up in two spots and was going for a third when I was finally able to shove her off the bed to the floor, where she proceeded to stop and gag all the way out the door. After changing the bed and cleaning up her trail of woe (because I am fully aware that I would go back to sleep and in my “good Lord, it’s morning state” four hours later, forget about the little surprises in the morning until I stepped on one!), I went back to bed and promptly fell asleep.

Did I mention there was NOTHING quite as lovely? At 3am I hear a wrestling match going on in the kitchen and what sounds like the walls coming down! I jump out of bed muttering something about dead cats and as I round the corner in a crazed-sleep-deprived-fury I see pukey cat standing at the top of the stairs with a stinkin’ shrew dangling by its tail from her mouth!

Just as I exclaim “good girl!” she let the shrew go and he took off toward the refrigerator. Pukey cat was too quick for the little shrew and she had him again in her clutches.

Enter cat number two who decides to saunter in and see what all the excitement is about. This irritates pukey cat and she starts growling at sleepy cat to keep away from her prize. In her growliness she let the shrew go again only to chase it under the kitchen table where he sat frozen under a chair that pukey cat was too fat to get under. Pukey cat on one side, sleepy cat in the other. Watching and waiting. For 10 minutes!

Finding that scene a bit hilarious, I ran to the bedroom to grab my phone to video the stand-off, but my movement set off the chase again! Down the stairs, back and forth on each step, you could read the shrew’s mind… “I’ll confuse her with my stealthy back and forth motion and when she zigs, I’ll zag and I will be free!”

And that is exactly what it did! It ran around the corner into the laundry room and POOF he was gone! Disappeared!

Now it is 4am. I am almost afraid to go back to sleep for all the excitement I’ll miss!

The obvious question is, “How are you, Tina?”

The answer isn’t quite so obvious. It’s a moment-by-moment thing.

I have periods of being functional, and other moments of absolute depression. Yesterday I completely fell apart during church while today I was able to work nine hours with some semblance of sanity.

I sleep for hours and hours yet I am extremely tired.

I’ve discovered that strength training is a great stress reliever. The other benefit is that I’ve notice walking up stairs doesn’t hurt now!

I miss calling my Mom to tell her every little thing that happens. It breaks my heart to talk to my Dad and hear him so broken. I wish I lived closer to Dad, because no one can care for him as well as I can, dadgumit!

I am so very thankful for the love and prayers and emails and well-wishes from everyone. People have dropped off food, cleaned the house, taken Dad out to eat, sent flowers, and cards upon cards. I am thankful for the immense number of people who came to the funeral home and awed at the number of lives touched by my Mom. I am thankful that my Mom had trusted in Jesus as her Savior.

I am thankful.

I am sad.

But, I am thankful.