Seriously?!

One of the cats peed on our kitchen counter last night. ON OUR KITCHEN COUNTER!! We don't know who the culprit is, lacking any visual evidence other than the pee, but we suspect Eva. She does weird stuff like that. We think. Again, lacking any visual evidence, we can only guess based on our knowledge of our cats' personalities.

I don't think it's a medical issue. When the cats are sick, the let us know directly, not round-about. So it's a behavioral thing, but I have no idea why this is cropping up all the sudden. They all have their annual vet appointment in a few weeks, so we'll discuss it with our vet then. In the mean time, we're going to be more vigilant about scooping litterboxes, keeping the counters clean and putting the motion sensor air canisters back up. The cats aren't supposed to be up on the counters at. all. So clearly we need to re-establish some rules in this house.

I feel like my life is kind of a wreck at this point. We have all of our paperwork done, and I'm getting back in to a groove at work, and those are all good things. But our weekends are super busy lately with classes and events and such and I feel like I have even less free/relaxation time. Plus, the house has been in a state of chaos for the past few weeks. It needs a thorough, top to bottom cleaning and I just can't find the time to do it. When the house is a total mess, like it is now, my whole world is in chaos. I need order in the house to have order in my head and right now I have neither.

Sorry for the whining. I'm just flustered lately. I called Barker to get an update on paperwork on Monday and they said our FBI/police clearances had come in, but not our CPS clearances. When I inquired as to how long the wait would be for the CPS clearances, I discovered that Barker hadn't even sent off for them yet! We turned our paperwork in over 2 weeks ago!! How could they not have sent those off yet?! When I pressed for more details, they said they "sent off for the clearances" on Tuesday, but I have no idea if they meant CPS or police/FBI. I have no confidence that any of the clearances are actually in hand at Barker. Good thing I called, otherwise I would have been sitting around waiting god-knows-how-long for clearances that hadn't even been requested yet.

I'm not really sure why all of this has to be such a clusterfuck. Adoption is not new. Barker is not new. Police/FBI/CPS clearances are not new. So why is it like starting from scratch with every single family who applies for adoption? It's so frustrating. This whole process really makes me appreciate the value of patience, but it also makes me appreciate the value of screaming your face off until your voice gives out.

This will all be a hazy memory when we have our child safe at home, but until then it's an uphill struggle. Some days it's an easy grade, some days it's steep. Today is a steep day.