Of Teeth, Flowers and Home Improvement

Our poor little kitty, Max, had his teeth cleaned yesterday and ended up having his two big fangs yanked because they were falling out. Good dental care is important for all tooth-ed creatures! And dry food is important for those who don't or won't brush. Apparently he had mostly wet food until we got him, so it all caught up to him. I felt so bad dropping him off at the vet. Every time he's ever left his home in a cat carrier he has gone only to the vet, so between getting shots, being fixed, being declawed and being detoothed he really isn't too happy to see that carrier come out. Not to mention the time we wrenched him from the only home he'd ever known to bring him here. That was traumatic for him but he is much happier here so score one for the cat carrier. He's currently hiding because I'm sure his mouth is very sore. I hope we see him soon. And more trauma lies in the form of shoving a pill down his throat, which ought to make us even more unpopular. And I can't really blame him.

The good news about yesterday is that I had the day off and raked out all the flower beds in the front yard. It looks so good! Our house looks best in the springtime and this year is no exception. I planted a bunch of tulips and daffodils last fall and they are so cheerful. Speaking of our house, we're going forward with our plans to do some revamping work -- new, wider front stairs so we can put pumpkins and flower pots out there, an overhang over the front entrance as a little shelter from the elements when trying to open the door, a new driveway that will drain into the yard instead of the garage, and a new deck with a pergola out back! The builder thinks it should all be done by the middle of the summer, which is very exciting. The only holdup could be ye olde conservation commission, as the house is close to a little stream. I'm crossing my fingers on that one. It will be nice to have all that done before Baby X arrives in the fall. Not to mention that it will be nice to come in out of the winter weather with the bambino and not have him/her get rained/snowed upon.

Sunday, Sunday

Its amazing how quickly the weekend flies by. Since we're fast approaching Easter, this week there is a lot of preparation at church. I like participating in these simple ways of giving back and over the course of a year its not a huge time commitment, but there are certainly bigger weeks than others. Saturday was the Altar Guild's annual cleanup. Yup, just like the ad on TV, I was one of those church ladies with the Murphy's Oil Soap shining up the woodwork. And there's a lot if it, just for the record. Once we'd scrubbed and polished every surface thinkable, we had our spring meeting. I figured I'd be outta there by noon, but it was 1:45 by the time I got home. Yeesh. After that, a little cleanup around the house, run the dishwasher, flip the laundry, fill the birdfeeders, take a shower and off we went to a dinner where my boss was being honored. It was at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, which is quite lovely. I'd never been there before although its been around since the early '90s at least. The event was OK as events go, and the food was actually fabulous. There must have been 250 people there and the dinner was as good as if they'd made it special order. Love that! Tim and I both had the pan roasted cod served over mashed red potatoes with some lovely grilled aparagus on the side. The salad was great, and now I have to figure out how to make fried leeks as Tim was going wild over them. One scary moment with the dessert - flourless chocolate torte, but the menu didn't say it had hazelnuts in it. If you'll all recall, it was one lone hazelnut that almost did Tim in a little over 9 years ago. Luckily he'd only taken a small taste so we were in the clear. Talk about buzzkill!

Today I had to be at church at 7:30 to set up for the 8am service, and then checked in with Tim's annual booksale following. He had another session after the 10am service, but I didn't hang around for that. My purchase was Plan B by Annie Lamott. I've done a lot of spritual searching in the past several years and her previous book, Traveling Mercies, was very helpful. After the second book sale, we were off to Lexington to meet my brother, Drew, and his wife, Suzanne, for a belated birthday lunch. Very lovely. Then a quick zip to Marshall's and Whole Foods, a dash back home and this evening I'm off to church yet again as part of the committee searching for a new rector. Lots-o-church this weekend!