What a weekend!

No, still no new buyers on that stupid car, grrrr! Nope, we were just BUSY! Saturday was supposed to be a show put on by Em’s gymnastics studio, showcasing all the newly learned talents of each of the classes held there, but not being one to comfortably perform in front of strangers, Em opted out last minute. I know, shocking to those who know her, being the irrepressible ham that she is, but this is quite typical of her, until you get to know her that is! So we headed over to the mobile home lots so we could wander through them oohing and ahhing over all the cool amenities they offer for the price. Not that I’m looking to buy one, since they aren’t allowed within city limits, we like to look, just cuz. Anyway, we just were killing time until the gymnastics show was supposed to start at 1:45 because the plan was to pick Bub up so he could watch her too. Good thing she decided not to go though, because by the time I was finally able to rouse him out of bed via phone, it was already past time we were supposed to have left. Nothing new for him, he’s slept through many a special event, but I’m just glad his thoughtlessness didn’t end up ruining Em’s day… again. Anyway, I told him that she had changed her mind about the gymnastics thing, so we made plans to meet up with him later, in time for the movie we had already planned to see after the show. Whoohoo, less Bubba time, gotta like that! So we went happily back to our perusing of mobile homes, then we headed to Walmart to pick up a gingerbread house kit to decorate. Usually, we go to my dad and stepmom’s house to make gingerbread houses each year, but I guess our invite must have gotten lost in the mail this time, huh? ;D We had just enough time to get the base of the house put together before it was time for the movie, so we set the rest aside to finish later. We went to see Deck The Halls with Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It was cute and funny and… Christmasy! Then out to dinner with Bub, which Em had a sudden bout of sullen quietness on the way to. Bub, of course, got on to her because she wasn’t responding appropriately, but that’s Bub. She told me later that she just started thinking of when we left, and how upset daddy must have felt at first. She didn’t know why it popped into her head, but it did just the same. I consoled her and told her again how none of it was her doing, and nothing she has to worry or feel bad about. Poor baby, so much for one little soul to bear. After dinner, we dropped him home as he was having a “get together” that night. Meaning that he, his roommates, and a few of his friends were going to celebrate his newfound freedom and re-admittance into full fledged, guilt free adolescence with a liquor laden all night party. I must admit, I harbored a few fleeting hopes of alcohol poisoning or a drunken header into the corner of some piercingly sharp object, but alas, karma somehow managed to let the opportunity lapse once again. Oh well, in the meantime Em and I finished up our gingerbread house, and took a couple of quick shots to show off our handy work.

Sunday morning brought breakfast out, then knowing that Bub would spend much of the day sleeping off his “get together”, we took the opportunity to enjoy an uninterrupted day, and got the hell outta dodge! We went to North Little Rock, where we hit the mall and hung out for most of the day just going from one attraction to the next, seeking out whatever happened to strike our fancy. Afterwards we found a small city park and spent a good deal of time playing and burning off energy. Then, on the way back home after dark, we happened to see a magnificent Christmas light display off of the freeway, so I quickly took the next exit in hopes of finding the source of the brilliant lights. We wandered for a bit in the general direction of where it should be, but I soon realized that I was gonna need a little help to find it, so I pulled into a gas station and asked the helpful attendant for a little direction. She knew exactly what I was talking about and told me precisely how to get there. Woohoo, success! It was a drive-through light display in one of the major city parks, so not only did we get to experience the spectacular display up close, but we also found another fantastic park we can go to when we feel like playing. We saw some really great looking playground equipment that Em was just chomping at the bit to get to, even in the dark. Hopefully we’ll be able to get back there next weekend to check it out. Anyway, we finally made it home after a very long, full day out, and as soon as I opened the door it was apparent that something was very wrong in the apartment. It took a moment to register, but I quickly realized that the Christmas tree was no longer resting in its spot in the corner. There were ornaments strewn about the living room floor and down the hall, and there, at the end of the hall, half in and half out of the bathroom doorway, was the (artificial) Christmas tree lying in a big, tangled heap. Then, from beneath the pile came the most pitiful, yowling meow/moan. The kitty, (aptly named Mischief) was trapped, hopelessly entangled in the Christmas lights, and crying out for help. It was undoubtedly a disturbing sight as the poor little guy had obviously tried to chew and claw his way through the wires and there was some blood from the minor wounds he acquired in doing so. Upon seeing this, Em promptly lost her freaking mind and began screaming and crying uncontrollably. I’m sure she thought the kitty had been mortally wounded, and the image of the whole chaotic mess was just too much for her to comprehend. Then, when I asked her to run get me the scissors, I can only assume that she thought I meant to cut the kitty’s paws off in order to free him because she proceeded to lose her mind even further, as if that were even possible. I finally ended up telling her that the neighbors were going to start calling the police if she couldn’t get control of herself, and she began to calm down a little. I explained that I needed the scissors to cut through the wires, so she finally got them and I was able to free the poor kitty from confines of his Christmas tree hell. He then quickly scurried away from the evil, demon tree, showing me that he did at least have full use of all four legs, thank goodness! He seems to be okay, although extremely timid and skittish, and has absolutely no tolerance for the Christmas tree, which turned out to be totally destroyed by Mischief’s misadventures. And neither Em nor I can bear to think about how long he may have been trapped in that frightening mess, but we are so thankful that he is alive and seemingly unharmed aside from those minor defensive wounds and obvious signs of PTSD. We’ve since decided that rather than traumatizing the poor kitty further, we’re going to create a new Christmas tree instead of buying a replacement. Already, we’ve had all sorts of grandiose ideas involving large sheets of green paper and cutouts of bells, stars, and various other ornament-like things, as well as an angel piece for the top. We plan to tape it to the wall where our ill-fated Christmas tree once stood, and then place the presents on the floor in front of it. I’ll be sure to take a picture once it’s completed so everyone can see our handy work. But just to hold you over, here's a quick pic of our exhausted little kitty.

Well, that was our excitement for the weekend. As for Bub and his nonsense from my previous post, he seems to have been appeased for now by my continued willingness to jump through his hoops in the hopes that he will not feel the need to drag Em and I through any ridiculous court proceedings. Like I said, I realize that he doesn’t stand a chance, but I still plan to avoid such an ordeal if at all possible, just to spare Em (and I) the stupidity and drama of it all.