Rave: Today is my birthday!!

Rave: The weather's been beautiful in Houston all week.

Rave: My teenage sons are still really sweet.

Rave: Lunch today with DH at a lovely restaurant outside on their patio; lunch tomorrow with Mom.

Rave: No soccer tournaments to attend this weekend.

Rave: No Rants!!!

Happy May and Happy Mother's Day!

Susan

diazkris--So happy for you! That waiting is the pits, but glad you got good news:)

Happy Birthday Susan!

BELLAIREGIRL:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!

I hope you had that margarita and flan for me last Saturday at the GTG.

Rave, Rave, RAVE for MMS. Yeah!!

Bellaire Girl: Happy Bday---you're 3 days older than me...Hope you do something fun.

Margot: Hope this week is easier than the last couple for you!

Starrsville: I'll be wishing for plenty of blue skies for ya!

Rant: The seller of the house we want drags her feet every step of the negotiations. My husband got so pissed today that he told our realtor we will walk if she doesn't adhere to timelines and fix the items that came up on inspection. We close on our condo May 26th so we need to get this deal finalized or find an apartment!

Rant: I forgot to get my mother a Mother's Day present but did get a card in the mail. What's the statute of limitations on stuff like that for daughters? I know the grace period for sons is a bit longer ;)


Wishing everyone a happy weekend!

ttt for P_M

Rave: Love FFRR. Sorry to see that it wasn't around last weekend.

Rant: teenager who is trying to spread his wings and fly!!!

Rave: Beautiful Tennessee Spring weather. Flowers blooming and yard looks great.

Thanks for topping this for me, seetheworld.

Rave: I had a great time at the Houston GTG last weekend. Happy Birthday to bellairegirl, the organizer of the GTG.

Rave: An entire week of lovely weather.

Rant: The bluebonnets are dying.

Rave: I found $24 on the ground. I included it with my gift to Mom for Mother's Day. She got a huge kick out of that and said it made her feel special.

Rant: I found out I will be spending 2 weeks on business in a place I don't like. I will be there in July, and that place is an absolute cauldron in the summer. I will not name that city in case we have posters from there. Just let me say that city will never be called the entertainment capitol of the world.

Rave: That city has a few bars, which will get my business.

Rave: I'm lucky to have a good job, even if it means occasional travel to someplace you really don't care to go.

Major Rave: Very happy for mms.

Wishing all mothers on the board a very happy and joyful Mother's Day!!

Seconding the major rave in the post above me: very happy for mms. Can't think of anything else worse in the world than worrying about your child. So very glad you got good news!

OWJ -((F))Thanks so much for your special good wishes and [-o< best of luck on getting the house!

Rave: I don't have to cook the Mother's Day dinner all in a crockpot. The electrician/ plumber/ handyman drove up after work as I was trying to rush out to Atlanta. It made me late, but he finished wiring the kitchen so now I can use the stove. (Vintage 1953 General Electric in perfect condition found on craigslist.)

Rave: After we eat here, we'll caravan up to visit my 103 year old grandmother for Mother's Day!

Bonniebroad you expressed the bittersweetness of having them still here but not always "with us" so well.

Happy Birthday, BellaireGirl and OWJ!

Safe travels, Tracy.

Ani, glad you enjoyed Savannah. I learn more about it every time I visit - and grow to like it more.

Thanks for the good wishes Fodorites.

tpatriccio - Is the cat on steroids (not a joke question)? My lab puppy regressed to "pee wherever she was" but it turned out the medication she was on was the culprit. Just a thought. (The meds were for her fried throat after she chose a lamp cord to chew on!)

mms~such fabulous news!

Raves, Raves, Raves for mms! What wonderful news!

OWJ, Happy Birthday!

starrsville, no steroids for kitty, just some amoxicillin after urinary tract blockage last week. I have been researching how to deal with the anti-litter box issues, and have some things to try. No quick fixes though, which is not fun.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! Trish

Trish--Thanks for the bday wishes. Happy Mother's Day to you...

My cat was going on the dining room carpet and I bought Four Paws brand "Wee Wee" that I found at Petsmart or Petco--have you tried that? She hasn't gone in that spot again...Years ago, I had a cat that went all over the house after a urinary tract infection, even after it was treated. It was a mess, so I feel your pain. Oreo did not like the sound of aluminum foil so I put it around the perimeter of rooms (boy was my house so ala Jetsons!). That helped temporarily. Adding pepper to the foil was better. The biggest issue was trying to get the odor away. I tried everything. Finally, it took cleaning the carpet and replacing some of the pad. It was a nightmare!

Good luck!
OWJ

The vet may suggest a little valium too, mine did.

OWJ, thanks for the advice. I did get an enzyme based cleaner to spot clean around the house from Petsmart, but we will probably have to get a steam cleaner and do the whole carpet soon. Have been in touch with the vet regularly, and he too mentioned if we can't get Gordon to resume consistant use the litter box then drugs can be an option. My husband has less patience for the situation than I do...but both our nerves are wearing thin for sure!

Hi tpatricco, OWJ comments about possibly needing to replace the carpet padding is correct, unfortunatly. I learned this the hard way when I had tenant's in a rental I owned. They had 2 cats, which I did not know about. They vacated the house without notice. Long story short, had the carpet cleaned and all seemed just fine. Within a week the odor was back. We had to replace the padding. It was explained that just cleaning the carpet does not get the stains out of the padding, which of course makes sense.

Good luck to you. Pets are precious but they can cause a lot of stress, and money, at times.

tpatricco: if your cat has been urinating on your carpet for quite a while you will probably have to change your pad, if not your carpet but also you need to check the subfloor and see if you see any urine stains in the wood or concrete. If so, go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or the paint store and get a product called KILZ. Paint it on the stains in the floor before you put down the new pad. It will keep the oder from coming up through the carpet again. Also, if you get new pad, there are some pads with a skin on the top that keep liquids from seeping into and through the pad. If there is any oder left, either this cat will just keep going or if you get a new cat and they smell it, they can start going...they think it's OK. I haven't had cats for many years but at one time I had 6 and there are some cats that just don't litter box train. It's unusual, but it does happen and you could possible have one of those. There are animal lovers that will take an animal like that, so if it has to go, be sure to get a home for it. By the way...floor covering is my business so that's why I'm such a "know-it-all".

Crefloors, interesting information from you. My rental house had hardware flooring underneath, but I can't remember if that was treated too and if so what was done.

I didn't know you were in the flooring business. I think the availability of different flooring these days is staggering. So many beautiful choices. Take care and have a beautiful weekend.

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm actually an Interior Designer & we are big time Do it yourselfers too, so I'm quite familliar with carpet replacement issues, KILZ primer etc. The cat has only had the problem for 1 week now, and we've been spot cleaning our commercial quality carpeting (has fibers with anti-microbial properties) with enzyme based product for cat urine elimination the whole time. Replacement of the carpet won't be necessary, just a thorough cleaning of the whole thing once we work through the problem. I doubt the urine made it to the padding (I'd be surprised as the carpet is acrylic backed). Our subfloor underneath is plywood, so no worries about destruction of precious hardwood floors.

We've taken some measures to ease the cat's stress and the situation seems to be improving already.

Thanks again to all! Trish :)

Rave: Went to Miami today for my great niece's graduation from Barry University (magna cum laud, no less). Actually finally met a great-great niece and great-great nephew for the first time as they came in from Alabama and saw other relatives I haven't seen in years. The whole extended family (14 of them) is renting a 6 bedroom house in Marco for this week, so we can spend some time together. My mother will also be thrilled to finally see her only two great-great grandchildren.

Rant: Driving home across Tamiami Trail, I saw an endangered Florida Panther bound across the road and get hit by a car. I stopped along with several others and they called the wildlife people whom I passed on their way there a short time later, but I doubt there was any hope for him. This is the first one I've ever seen, and not the way I wanted to see one.