It's always something

Okay, so my parents are safely back in their own home after a visit here in May.

We're over the flu, which hit right after they left.

We're past Vacation Bible School (and did I mention there were fifty preschoolers in one room? Yup, I'm pretty sure I did.)

We've almost successfully navigated the big Detective-themed birthday party that is Betsy's dream bash (I'll report back on that soon.)

So, what should arise on this fine morning? Just some suspicious-looking sores on Mr. Putter (that would be the cat, not my husband, for any new readers.) So, I whisked him off to the vet and was told, after a considerable wait (are suspicious-looking sores going around? There was a bloody cat in the waiting room ... arrgghh....) that it's not mange, and it's probably not ringworm (but let's send that culture out, just to be sure, 'kay?) and that it's possible that it's due to an allergic condition in the cat. If he is allergic to something in his food, then he'll have to go on a special diet (and that's going to cost a little more than Purina Cat Chow, isn't it? Oh, yes, we all know that it will.)

In the meantime, he needed to be wormed (again) and his ears are infected (again.) I'm giving him pills, a topical skin treatment and ear drops. Twice a day. Again. And he's an indoor cat. He gives new meaning to the experience of rescuing an animal from the pound. I think I know why someone abandoned him.

Of course, the vet hadn't been on my list of things to do today, and it ate up the whole morning. I still needed to get home, feed the kids lunch and decorate the house with crime scene tape (Betsy's idea: yellow crepe paper with "Police Line ... Do Not Cross" written in black marker.) I needed to frost and decorate the magnifying glass cake. I needed to vacuum (to get rid of as much pet dander as I could because one little guest is allergic to our cat.) And, I needed to call the other moms and make a full disclosure about the condition of Mr. Putter (everyone is still coming.)

Life doesn't settle down. It just keeps happening. And this is the little stuff. But, this kind of little stuff, on top of the big stuff is why we should never wait for life to settle down before _________ .... fill in your own blank. There's always a reason to put something off, to wait, to hope that things will be better or quieter, or more routine or more planned. But, it won't happen.

Life doesn't settle down. And that's why, as much as I love plans, I don't rely too heavily on them. They're as changeable as midwestern weather and a cat's health.

Oh, I'll still make them, to be sure. But I never expect them to unfold as anticipated. Life just keeps happening.