Last week, while I was away all week on a business meeting (or more appropriately, subpoenaed to court as an expert witness for my company), my husband started his own company.
To say that I am proud of his ability to spot an opportunity and seize the moment, would be an understatement. I have never been more proud of my husband in the 18 years we have been together. (Minus those daily occassions when I see his exemplary performance as a father and husband. But, that notwithstanding, you hopefully get the point.)
Today marks the first day of yet another full week that I will be out of town on business. As soon as we were dismissed from court this afternoon, I checked my voicemail messages and picked up one from my dear husband, Charlie.
During the course of his two minute message, he told me that he had the brakes and window shade replaced on our van and those two replacements cost a lot more than he expected they would cost. A lot, lot more.
Like $800.00 more.
But while they were waiting for the car to be ready, he and the children wandered in to a nearby pet store and they spotted a tabby cat that looked just like our cat, Bob, that we lost 12 years ago. Charlie's message went something like this,
"Oh Jen, don't you remember how much we loved Bob? We loved that cat so much. And because we loved Bob so much, I just KNOW that you are going to love this NEW cat, too. The children have called him Oliver. You will meet him when you come home on Friday. We're sending love and kisses and Oliver sends a big MEOWWW! Wish you were here!!"
Because starting his own business wasn't enough BIG decision-making in one week ... now, he has to go out and adopt a cat?! And it's not that I'm opposed to adopting a cat - I would love to do such, once we are in a larger house and I had people that would actually HELP me take care of a fellow feline, as opposed to chasing it around and grabbing it's tail and smothering it in kisses and freaking it out to the point of clawing and blood.
So at this moment, as I am comfortably settled in to my hotel room, all I can think is: Charlie?
You are the weakest link.
Goodbye.
(Note to self: You must never leave town again.)
I am delurking to say that I just totally laughed out loud when I got to the end of your post. I LOVE your blog and whenever I see it pop up in my reader it is the FIRST thing I read. Thanks so much for making me laugh this morning.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately with moments of brilliance also have moments of WTH!?!? lol
ReplyDeleteWhat? What is going on over there? The last thing you need is a smelly cat box in your 1700 square foot house. EWWWWWWW.
ReplyDeleteBut wait till little Whatever His Name is decides to piss all over your hardwood floors.
YIKES. Too late now though. I'm sure the kids are already in love. So. Meeeeooooooowwww. That's me laughing at you in Cat.
Oh geez, I have to say, I would not be happy about my husband adopting a new pet while I was out of town....but at least it's a cat and not a dog (not as much work and you don't have to walk it). I wish you the best luck with Oliver!
ReplyDeletehahahaha... lmao!
ReplyDeleteHey... are you in LA?
I am hapy about the new addition to the family---Oliver--I love the name. The children will love the cat and I bet he/she will be a good Mouser.
ReplyDeleteMOM
I think I can top Charlie. While my husband was out of the country once, we adopted TWO kittens to replace the ONE cat who had died.
ReplyDeleteSurprise Daddy!!!!
Other than that, I'm not nearly as productive as Charlie...
:::Sigh::: Does Charlie have a much older brother/uncle/cousin or ... someone who is single and just like him? I'm available! I <3 Charlie (And all of the rest of you)
ReplyDeleteForever Single
Ruth
I love our cat. My son loves our cat. My husband rues the day we got the cat. He is a clean freak and the litter box has to be scooped DAILY and the only place the litter box fits is in the corner of the kitchen (gross) so there are always kitty litter crumbles all over the floor even though we sweep DAILY. You can't use the 5 second rule at the table in our kitchen and you have to always wear shoes in the kitchen (annoying).
ReplyDeleteSorry folks. We've had my cat 8 years... probably 7 more to go... gotta say, would prefer not having a cat but who would take an overweight 8 year old house cat? (except the Humane Society and we are NOT doing that! I did let my husband fill out the Humane Society form as a type of therapy after my cat had puked in the house like 5 times in an hour BUT we were kidding. Or at least I was.).
A pet is a big decision.
The tribe has spoken................MOM! FYI the Duggars announce baby #19 is on the way!
ReplyDeleteYou are so funny! Love that you guys got a pet. It is really the cherry on the cake for your beautiful family. Can't wait to see a picture of Oliver and the kids.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I think a cat is great, if you like cats!
ReplyDeleteI went out of town and came home to a brand new 4-wheeler Big Bear ATV...with a winch.
It's all good. :)
Happy cat owning! How funny! Great message also. How is Henry handling you being gone for so long in terms of the beast feeding thing? (If that's to personal sorry, you had mentioned it before and it just a curious question, I do not want to offend.)
ReplyDeleteOMG, by the time you get home Friday he may be running for governor or have put the kids through college!
ReplyDeleteMy mom came to pick me up at camp one year and we came home to THREE female cats my dad thought we needed (there were 3 of us kids). They were outside cats and within a couple of years we had a slew of kittens (at least 20) that we were fortunate enough to be able to get away. Needless to say, he has never lived it down!
ReplyDeleteStacy
He hasn't told you about the dog yet, has he? :D
ReplyDelete~Cindy! :)
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What a legend! I'm sooo enjoying these latest posts of yours. Can't wait to hear about the cat seetling in.
ReplyDelete