Let me tell you about the other reasons that I’ve been stressed out and short-tempered. I mentioned a while back (I think) that we were having some renovations done. They’re still in progress. It’s taking far longer than we ever thought and now I’m worried it won’t be done before winter hits. It was not supposed to be a huge job, but of course nothing is ever simple when it comes to a house. Our brand new front door has been installed, but there is no stairs built yet so we’re still using the old door (which is in a different location – we’re moving everything). The room with the new door was a breezeway and will now be an entryway open to the kitchen. It will be good when it’s done. It will. It will. I keep repeating this to myself.

Last week there was an incident where we thought one of our cats had gotten outside somehow. We couldn’t find him anywhere. Turns out he had gotten into our attic from the room-being-renovated, which at that point had just had bare ceiling joists, no insulation or drywall or anything.

A few days later when Den opened our front door to let a visitor in one of our cats when running inside. Seeing how our cats are indoor cats and are never ever outside my dearest husband was all, “What the fuck?!” He discovered our new front door wide open. I know both cats were inside that morning so at some point that day the door must have blown open or something. No one was working that day, no one was using that door at all. But it was wide open, poor Merlin was now in the middle of our living room twitching because he had seen The Big Outside and was freaked out and our other cat was missing.

Said other cat was not found by us searching up and down the streets – which we dutifully did – but rather he showed up on our front porch hours later, meowing to be let back in and be fed. A huge relief! Unfortunately once Jo gets outside once he thinks he is a Jungle Cat and he proceeded to spend the next week running around the house yowling and clawing at windows like a friggin psychopath. He also started beating up the other cat. (He has calmed down again, thankfully.)

Because we have people working on the house, sometimes all day long, our German Shepherd thinks it is his duty to bark ferociously at them until they leave. Zeeke is crated in the basement during all of this, the furthest we can put him from the bedroom where Kate naps, but our floor isn’t exactly soundproof. And no, it doesn’t matter how many times we tell him to knock it off, he is a Shepherd and that’s what Shepherds do when there are strangers afoot.

Did I mention the people working on the house? Banging, sawing, thumping? Lullabies and white noise is the only way Kate sleeps. Thank goodness it is not every day, just a couple days a week. (But that is also why it is taking so long!)

There is stuff piled all over my kitchen counters and in the center of my kitchen and soon my fridge will be in front of my dishwasher. (We’re tearing down a wall. It is/was supposed to happen quickly but ahahahah nothing is quick around here.)

And, to add insult to injury, with all the rain lately the current front door is swollen so much I can barely get it open or closed. I literally have to kick it open while juggling a baby, a diaper bag, and any other bags I may have with me. Kate has probably picked up a couple of choice words from me while struggling with the door lately – thank goodness she’s too young to speak.

Some day I will have a beautiful house. That day is not now.