Be Careful What You Pray For

When I taught, I was always able to tell when a student was lying. Other than the obvious signs of: no eye contact, fidgety behavior, eyes looking off to the right (or is it to the left), there was the story itself. When you teach middle school it's always amazing how a lie grows. As I would, with one eyebrow raised, listen to their excuse for anything, they would begin to embellish their story with "and thens." And THEN, the dog ate my homework. And THEN, he ran away when I tried to chase him down.... you get the idea.  Well, what I want to know is when did my life...the real life I am living, live itself out with "and thens????"

My true life, no embellishment necessary tale begins on Monday. Monday was the day I took Blue in to be spayed and get her shots. I had made the appointment two weeks before. Blue and I dropped Nate off to work and then drove to the vet to get in on their "October Spay/Neuter just $55" Special.  I was under a time constraint because I needed to drop her off and then get back across town to work, so efficiency was of the utmost importance. I walked in with Blue to meet a very unsmiling person behind the desk who asked, "are you here for surgery?"
Yes. (Remember short and sweet. Time is of the essence.)
Have you filled out your paperwork already?
No, I haven't.
You need to leave your cat in the car until you fill out the paperwork. 
Excuse me?
Leave your animal in the car, then come in and fill out your paperwork, then go get the cat.
SIGH (yes, it was a very big, very loud sigh. So, I took Blue back out to the car wogged (walk/jog) back into the vet and began to fill out the paperwork. Unfortunately, I had questions. So, I went back up to the counter to my arch nemesis, the woman behind the counter. and said, "I have some questions." She arched her eyebrows and blinked. You know the look I mean? The one that communicates, "you are annoying me to no end woman and yet I cannot say that out loud. So, I will say it with my facial expression. Now, ask your question."
I don't know how old our kitten is. She's a stray and we've decided to adopt her. (I guess I did probably expect that little tidbit to melt the annoyed behavior right out of the woman, but instead it caused h
er to roll her eyes. At this point, I will admit that after the eye roll, my attitude began to reflect hers more and more.)
We can look at her teeth to determine how old she is.
Yes, but, you are asking me if I want her to get the rabies shot, and I don't know if she's old enough. You want me to sign off on whether I want the shot and I just don't know.
We won't give it to her if she's not old enough.
Ok. Thanks.
I finished the paperwork and went up to the front. There was now a line. I waited patiently for my turn (I may have tapped my foot a little....and there wasn't any music playing.... so I wasn't communicating that I could keep time...more like, I have NO time left for this!). I finally make my way to the front of the line.
We don't do cats on Mondays.
Huh?
We don't do cats on Mondays. I guess I could have told you before.
I don't understand.
We only spay/neuter dogs on Mondays. You'll need to come back tomorrow.
But my appointment is today.
No, it is tomorrow. Come back tomorrow. Next?
Seething might be the appropriate word to describe how I felt inside. I now had to take Blue back home which is in the opposite direction of work AND THEN, I couldn't just drop her off, I had to feed her, as she hadn't eaten in preparation for surgery. I did all of this realizing that all it had been was a dress rehearsal for the next day.
On Tuesday, October 4th, I took Blue back to the vet and I walked in. It wasn't too surprising to me that the lady didn't ask who I was or why I was there. She calmly picked up my paperwork from the day before and asked if I wanted the same shots as yesterday. I said, "yes, as long as she's old enough for the rabies, that's fine."
When I picked Blue up that evening I was given two "make sures"
Make sure that Blue does not lick at the incision. Cats don't normally lick at the incision site like dogs do, but if she does, give us a call. We're here until 7:00. (at that time it was 5:20). You'll be in a world of hurt if she licks away the glue holding her incision together. AND make sure that she goes to the bathroom.
My thoughts were pretty simple. First of all, how do you make a cat go to the bathroom? AND, what happens if Blue starts licking after 7:00???? But, I kept my mouth shut, cheerily said, "have a great evening!" and got Blue and I out of there. I probably should have asked my questions...
Because, at 7:05, Blue started licking at her incision. Nate and I did our best to distract her and entertain her but that can only last so long. We attempted to make a cone for Blue. We made one out of cardstock. It was too small. I had the idea to use the lid of an empty Cool Whip container that was now in the recycle bin at the end of the driveway. At this point, you must know, it was 10:45 pm. We were both exhausted. All I wanted to do was crawl into a corner and start sucking my thumb because I learned very early in life (in utero, to be exact), thumbsucking does make all things better. Nate decided to bring the recycle bin up to the house in the attempt of looking somewhat natural in rummaging through it instead of going through it at the edge of the driveway. He opened the garage door for light and that's when, he realized that Buddy had been out in the garage. Buddy took off like a shot. Nate came running into the house looking for a flashlight because, of course, Buddy is black and there's no way we were going to find him without one. And of course, none of our flashlights were easily accessible nor did any of them have working batteries. So, as the flashlights are being tried and batteries are flying, I'm trying to keep Blue from licking at her incision. Nate caught Buddy and brought in the cool whip container for it to promptly fail about 20 minutes into the wearing of it. I was beyond tired and we just prayed that Blue wouldn't lick away all the glue by morning. I tried to sleep with my hand over Blue's incision.... that worked for all of about 42.5 seconds. The next day, a trip to Petco allowed us some much needed rest because Blue now has a cone. When we first put it on her, we put her in Lucy's crate so that we could see if she was able to remove it. Thankfully, it stayed put!

I have been praying that I would be more like Jesus. I want to honor Him in what I say and do and in my attitude. I think I failed on this day, but I know that there's always tomorrow...and a whole lot of other opportunities await! I don't know whether I feel very thankful for that or not.... right now, I'm exhausted!