LauraCatoe.com

So I was loading the dishwasher this morning, right? And we used the crock pot last night, so it was soaking the sink, you with me? And I was dumping out the water so I could fill it with warm soapy water and I look down AND A LIVE BAT IS IN MY KITCHEN SINK.

“Nnnngggaahhhh!!!”

This bat, too, met an untimely death.

The “bat man” comes out tomorrow to give us an estimate.

Out tax stimulus check is in the mail; I hope it’s enough to pay for a bat exclusion.

The two bats that got into the house this week were both pretty small. I’m hoping this means they are the bat babies born this year. Cause if those suckers can fly, it’s time to find a new roost, baby.

P.S. Illustration of the month for July already uploaded because Kris and I are “staycationing” next week and I don’t know how much I’ll be online.

Today is our one-month anniversary of living in the new house. We’re still only using one shower (Kris wants to re-grout the upstairs one), the built-ins have been scheduled and postponed twice and there’s a ceiling fan in a box in one room and a light in a box in another. But we’re parking in the garage, and there’s a fancy custom gate on the deck and window treatments in the living room!

And now we’ve had our first bat in the house. It coincided with finally getting to watch an entire movie* on the big TV in our fancy new living room. Ben was asleep on Kris on the couch and Satine was curled up on my lap on the chaise. I heard something, which I assumed to be Frodo, at about the same time that Satine freaked out and Kris stage-whispered (sleeping kid and all) “There’s a bat in the house!”

I never actually saw said bat. It was dark (movie lighting) and by the time I opened the front door and we turned on the lights, the bat had taken to hiding behind the entertainment center. He was given ample chance to escape and chose not to do so.

Kris called his dad for reinforcements. While Ben and I waited upstairs, the wayward bat met his demise.

I think it might be comforting to at least know how the bat got inside.

*August Rush. Y’know, I knew it would be cheesy. But the monumental melodrama and epic improbability I did not expect.

Five years seems like a long time, but it doesn’t feel like you’ve been gone so long.

I wish you could meet Ben. It soothes my soul that he often reminds me of you.

Twice this year, I have tried to tell someone about Google Documents. Both times I have been met with a look that tells me they don’t “get it.” Neither time did I have the internet handy so that I could do a visual demonstration.

I often lament a lack of visual demo when trying to explain to someone the concept of a vector illustration. I can only say “it’s not actually text anymore, it’s just the shapes of the letters” in so many different ways. I digress.

With Google Documents, I can create a word processing document, like a letter, and save it on the internet. Big deal, right? I could do the same with Hotmail. But I can also open .doc e-mail attachments even if I do not have Microsoft Word on my computer. You’re glazing over, I can tell. And also, you have Word, so why do you care?

But hazzah! I can also create spreadsheets. I created a spreadsheet for our household budget that I can check from home or at work when I look at my calendar and realize it’s the 18th and that the Mastercard is due tomorrow and oh, no, did I pay that already? Whew. Yeah, good thing I could access my Google Doc from anywhere!

Still not sold, are you? Gah, what is your problem? You must not be a cloud computer.

Also useful: let’s say I’m working on a bazillion certificates for the Gadsden Times’ Readers’ Choice awards and that all the winners are in an Excel spreadsheet and that tomorrow I will be working from home because Ben has a cold that’s contagious and can’t go to daycare and my Mac laptop doesn’t have Microsoft Office. Let’s just say that.

Good thing I can access my Google Doc from anywhere.