Um, what day is it again?

Seriously, it doesn't feel THAT long since I blogged. Sorry ... I've been insanely cleaning, trying to get ready for a bunch of people (you know, that bunch called "my family" ... the bunch that I love and adore?? ... And even though I love them all so, I still KNOW that I'm not the bestest housekeeper ... but I want to have a clean house for them. One with softly-tinted wall colors and ample amounts of diffused lighting ... Yes, I've obvs been reading too many home-improvement blogs. Color me discontent. :P) this weekend.

But, yes.

• The kids' room has been (key word: HAS BEEN. Isn't quite there at present.) cleaned and organized.
• I cleaned my desk. (Try not to look shocked.)
• I've updated the rosters for YW (Young Women. For church) and did the January newsletter/calendar.
• I've cleaned the living room.
• The kids' bookshelf has been put back into a semblance of order.
• I'm caught up with the dishes. For now.
• I've organized the kitchen cupboards. Seriously.
  (I KNOW. I AM SICK IN THE HEAD.)
• I've cleaned off the junk counter.
• I've swept and mopped the kitchen.
• I cleaned and swept the laundry room. (It's not reorganized. YET.)
• I've cleaned the kids' bathroom.
• The Christmas decorations are all back in the shop.

I still need to:

•  Vacuum. Like a thousand times. 
• Make the kids' beds.
• Pick up their room. AGAIN.
• Take the new clutter off my desk. Or just put crap away, you know?
• Make the cakes (so Michael will decorate them. The plans are easier this year. Bruise wants a "Captain America shield." Bucket wants Hello Kitty. We can do this.)
• Wash the windows. Or, at least, take down the OLD window stickers that the kids haven't played with in AGES.
• Fill all the water bottles that are currently sitting on the counter by the sink.
• Put the slipcover back (PROPERLY) on the couch.
• Michael will go through the pile o' mail on the junk counter. And then, after Mom takes the pile of videos back home, it will be clean!!!!!! Mwhahahahahaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
• And countless other minutiae. Like, I COULD clean and organize Michael's and my bedroom and bathroom. But I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. 
• Oh, I have to finish folding/putting away laundry. It didn't get done New Year's Eve.

I mean, yes, I still have TONS of STUFF without a set home. Most of which, right now, are school stuff for Bruise and Bucket. So, until next Fall, when they're in school, it's staying OUT. So, yeah. Oh well.

I also have been working out most days with the WiiFit. I know, go me, right? Especially since the only thing I have to work around to do it is the kids. I mean, I can do it in my jammies. I can do it whenever. Not too shabby, eh?

I've also been crazy-exhausted. Which, I'm sure, has NOTHING to do with the fact that I've been cleaning the house or exercising when I haven't been on Facebook. Or reading overdue library books. Yes, I was bad. They're getting turned back in today. Promise!

But, yeah ... I've felt really busy. And really tired. And stressed.

In other news, Jazzy-cat died Monday night. Jasmine was the cat that we've (my mom and I) have had for nearly as long as Gingi-cat. I brought Jasmine home, tucked into my jacket, back in the Spring of 1992 (or was it 1993? When I was in sixth grade, anyways). I had run into a couple of girls giving away kittens on my way to the post office, before walking home from school. And, if the kittens didn't get adopted, they'd go to the pound and be PUT TO SLEEP!!!!!

You know that I couldn't handle that. Especially not when I was 12. (Must have been 1993.) So I picked the cute little black, orange, and white calico. And when Mom got home, I held her out and proclaimed, "Mom! Look what I got for you!!!!"

And that's how we got Jazzy-cat.
She was tough and amazing and crazy.
For a while, I thought we had a run of thunderstorms ... which turned out to be Jazz running around on the roof. 

She was best friends with Mom's dog, Dottie (who passed away a few years ago).
Once, I was picking up the apples in the yard, when Jazzy and Dottie both couched down and raced each other ... however, since Dottie (who liked to go on walkabouts in her spare time) was on a dog run (you know, she had a lead attached to a cord above? That thing?), as Jazzy sped past the end of it, Dottie was jerked back. It was pretty comical. And Jazzy came back to console Dot. Good times.

One of Jazz's granddaughters, Lily, is still at the house. But Jazzy-cat was pretty much one of a kind.
It'll be weird to go to Mom's and not have her there, prowling the yard.

Mom brought Jazzy inside (a rare occurrence. Jazz was VERY MUCH an outside cat) to spend the night, since Jazz was cold and wasn't able to walk. Or eat. She drank some milk, purred like crazy as she slept, and ... slipped away in her sleep.

I'm glad that she went purring. 

And I miss her.

She was a good cat. And she had a long life. She liked us well enough to hang around for, what, about 18 years.

I hate outliving people and animals. It makes me feel ... old? Brittle? Sad? Small?
It's not a happy feeling, anyways. 

But I know that she's not in pain. And I'm still glad that she went purring. That is a comfort.

...

...

Okay, I should get dressed. Vacuuming obviously isn't my priority right now.