COMING OUT OF THE FOG

TUCKER FOUND THE THE KITTY TOY BASKET

MY, WHAT BIG TEETH YOU HAVE MANDY

Please forgive my absence. Tucker is fine. He's more than fine. He seems happy and healthy and is eating, playing, and using his litter box. I'm the one who has been under the weather - feeling as if I was in a fog.

It began Friday, about 2 hours after my friend, Chris, and I had eaten a chicken salad lunch at a local restaurant. I dropped her off at her home and was invited to come inside and greet her cats, which I was more than happy to do. As Chris and I sat and visited, I began to chill and feel achy all over. You know the feeling of being hot and cold the same time. I didn't say anything to Chris because I thought maybe I was just tired. I left for home but started feeling queasy and more achy with each passing minute.

Spouse was home when I arrived but I asked him to fend for himself for dinner and I went to bed but couldn't get warm enough. I spent the rest of Friday, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday, either in bed or snuggled in a blanket on the couch. Spouse fixed soup and beverages and made a special trip to buy some ginger ale, but nothing tasted right and everything I ingested caused severe stomach cramping and all that entails. I took meds but nothing seemed to help until last night. The fever is gone and so are the chills and aches. I still have a little bit of stomach cramping but I'm sure the worst has passed. I'm wondering if I had food poisoning, but I have no way to prove or disprove it. I've yet to call the restautant to ask if anyone else encountered a problem.

To top off the weekend, our realtor called on Saturday night to tell us our house deal is not going to work. We had been in a holding pattern since Sept. 28th when we showed up for the closing, but the seller did not. He sent word through his lawyer (while we were sitting at the signing table) that he had no intention of showing up nor was he going to sign any papers. We were stunned, to say the least. This seemed to have come out of the blue and took everybody by surprise. We were advised to sign our part of the papers anyway, and to leave our deposit check to show good faith. The explanation given was that the seller owed his lender some money for other transactions and the lender was demanding to be paid AT the same time we were trying to close our deal. What all of that had to do with us or how the other deals could possibly be tied to ours, is still beyond our comprehension, but the seller and lender were able to successfully derail our closing. Our contract gave us until Oct. 8th to close, so we had to wait over a week to hear what was going to happen. It was out of our hands. Neither the seller nor his lender seemed to care that we were the ones most affected by all of this.

We anxiously awaited the realtor's call and that came Saturday night. It seems our deal fell through because instead of the seller's lender not compromising with him this time, he (the seller) decided to not cooperate with the lender and is, in fact, planning to sue him. How he can do that I have no idea, but that will tie up the house for as long as it takes to make things right. Our realtor advised us to move forward and look for something else. She also offered us the name of a real estate lawyer. Spouse and I have not discussed that option yet. What a weekend.

Our present house is in all stages of moving. Many things are already packed in boxes and stored in the garage. We've sold and/or given away some furniture and other belongings. Some things are piled here and there waiting for the boxes we'd planned to take to the house and empty the day of the closing. All wall hangings and other decor are off the walls and Spouse has spackled the nail holes. Half the things in my kitchen have been packed. We don't know what to do from here, but I guess we'll have to move forward and try again.