Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Apparently, I Suck at House Sitting

To be fair, I suppose it's not something I can really blame myself for, but to be clear, perhaps I am not the best person to ask when you need your animals fed.

For the sake of my friends and some family, I am glad that their 2010 has come to a close. For some it couldn't get any worse. Take for example, my good friends Bill and Deb. In a random sequence of tragic events, to put it in a nutshell, their house caught on fire.

The upside? Actually, there are several:
*The home wasn't destroyed.
*For a short while they had to live in a hotel, which homeowners insurance covered the cost of, but they got to 'move' back home before Christmas.
*Most importantly, no body was hurt.
Second most importantly, our clan of friends really banded together, put some cash in an envelope and sent them a very healthy "we're thinking of you" gift basket.

I like to try and put a positive spin on things. It makes me feel better to put an upswing cast to it, and I was amazed at how generous this group of people is, and how much we really love and care for each other when it counts. I really do know who I can count on in times of need.

Also, not having such a great ending to 2010 was my brother in law. He went on a little trip to Cali, so he asked me and the kids to feed his pet kitties. Sure thing. The kids loved the task, the constant routine of doing it for a week was a good show of responsiblity, and I think I may have nipped the "We want a dog" argument in the bud, because they know realize how much work animals require.

Anywho, when said Bro in Law returned home Sunday, I asked him to text me and let me know if everything went okay. I was amazingly patient, and took good care of those cats, or so I thought. And everyone knows how much I really dislike cats, so this was a big deal for me. I was proud of myself and my ability to help someone out with a rather unpleasant task.

So, Sunday night the phone rings around 11, and it's my BIL saying that he was robbed. And do I have his garage door opener? What???!!!! What garage door opener? The one that was left on the table....that I never saw. What was taken? The t.v....that I had NO idea was even missing. Or the computer hidden in the kitchen. Or the gaming systems and games and movies. I mean, it's not like I rifled through cabinets looking for things to be missing.

Ugh. What a mess for him. And of course I feel guilty because I should have somehow known. But I didn't. Again, most importantly, nobody was hurt (because no one was in the house, but the gangsta's must've been aware of the fact that nobody was home for the week). I'm still waiting for the local authorities to start questioning me and the kiddos, but apparently this was the second break in that happened recently in this neighborhood in the past few months. Because it seems the thing to do, I'm going to blame these a*hole criminals on the economy.

So what to do for him? Because I'm pretty sure a fruit basket isn't going to help, I've invited him over for pizza/movie/Star Wars night hoping Nate ropes him into a dastardly game of Super Hero Squad Chutes N Ladders. And I suppose I'll start praying that 2011 gets better for him.

As for me and my immediate family, 2010 was a good year. We all learned important life lessons and are better people for it. We got a little closer to each other. We laughed out loud. And we loved indescribably. Cheers to 2011 to be even better than what we thought we could be!

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