Road Trip?

First of all, I'm currently working through a bit of post-traumatic stress.  Yesterday morning (it still haunts me), while we were rushing out the front door, our huge, puffy, panther-of-a-cat-with-the-disposition-of-a-golden-retriever bumbled out in front of me, drunk from all the sun he just soaked up.  (Buy the way, we just found out he is a "he" last night.  He adopted us a few months ago and my kids called him Black Jack from the beginning.  None of us ever bothered to check if he was a Jack or a Jacquelyn.  I don't think we wanted to know.  He just seemed like a "he."  Besides, he's just so huge and... puffy; it'd be awkward.  But finally, Jeremy put our inquisitive minds to rest last night and we discovered that he is a snipped tom who felt quite violated by the gender-identifying procedure.)  Anyway, back to the front porch...  I didn't see him over the 21-month-old I was holding and I stepped on his stupid little paw.  He let out the most horrific scream, I almost blacked out.  It's playing back in my head so clearly just from writing about it.  And that's enough of that.  The dumpy fat cat is just fine, in case you were concerned.  I, however, am still recovering.  Thanks for asking.

And now, we interrupt your normally scheduled program of Katie's Quick Home-Keeping Hints and feline horrors to bring to you a special report: Katie, along with her four children and husband might be leaving the house.  Overnight.  She is definitely more shocked than you are.  Her husband was offered a last-minute event in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  They have a ninja black belt house-sitter on standby to guard the homestead.  If all goes as planned, she and her four kids will accompany Mr. Riddle on this excursion.  Katie can no longer write in the third person, so we're turning the mic over to her.  Katie?

Sorry.  That was... disconcerting.  Have mercy.  The trauma is still great from the dumb cat's blunder.  So why aren't we definitely going?  My sweetest little 4-year-old started coughing nonstop today, and she might have a low-grade fever.  She just recovered from early pneumonia a month ago, and this just isn't right.  A friend suggested it might be a reaction to all the pollen from the early-blooming fruit and nut trees, but I don't like that.  Spring is too beautiful to cause sickness; it looks and feels like life, not illness.

It is probable, though.  Allergies do run in the family.  Regardless, I'm taking her little self to the doctor's ASAP tomorrow and contending for speedy healing.

The kids are so excited about the prospect of going on a trip with daddy again.  We've done it before, but that... that's a whole other post that will surely end up being written one of these days.  The kids, resilient as they are, have recovered from that trip.  I, however, might have become agoraphobic because of what transpired.  

In all honestly, though, it could be fun.  Ever since Jeremy came home from Klamath Falls a few years back with these pictures...

Klamath Falls, itself!

Lovely...

Ahhh...

Um, well, this one's just for Mama Rissa.

... I've been longing to visit.  Heck, I've already gotten a good school lesson into the kids just from the idea of going.  We learned a little about Klamath Falls and planned a meager itinerary that got us all adrenalized.

So, if you're one of my few Oregonian readers and you happen to be in the area, we'd love to say hello!  Also, from a local perspective, we'd be forever grateful for a few insider must-see, must-eat, must-shop pointers. 

I really hope my 4-year-old recovers.  I hope we go to Oh-ree-gone with Jeremy.  I hope the trip cures me of agoraphobia.  We'll know by tomorrow.  I'll either have a happy, healthy 4-year-old report while we stuff our suit cases or a I-don't-have-to-leave-home-afterall-because-my-daughter-needs-recovery-time report.   Until tomorrow then...