I recently turned 57. In order to celebrate in style, my friend Toni and I planned a girls' getaway weekend at her winter home in Florida. I took a personal day from school so I could extended my visit in the sunshine state. The goal was to enjoy as much sun, laughter, fun, wine, and girl bonding as possible. It was another highly anticipated Toni and Denise Adventure! They are epic! This adventure was definitely epic, but not in the usual way!
We weren't even sure if the trip was going to get off of the ground! Forty eight hours before take off, I was diagnosed with strep throat! Fifty six years old and I have the sickness of the month. The doctor asked me if I was exposed to it recently. I responded with my normal sarcasm, "I'm a teacher! What the hell do you think?" Then I whined about my trip! Thank goodness the doctor gave me the okay to fly! By the time I departed, I was on an antibiotic for 48 hours. I called Toni, and let her know we were back on for our girls' weekend.
When Toni picked me up at the airport in Tampa, she had some bad news. Her husband, Keith, had taken ill in Ohio and was in the emergency room. He assured us that we did not have to cancel plans. Talked to him again on Friday, and the same reply, "Everything is fine and you don't need to come home". Well, Saturday on our way to the beach, we stopped for breakfast at my favorite coffee shop, Caribou. While there we got another call from Keith. This time he didn't sound as fine. When Toni got off of the phone, I said, "Turn this boat around. We are going to Ohio!"
So, back home we went to her house to pack! That's not that remarkable until you throw in the fact that she has 4 cats! That's right, we had to pack up 4 cats before we could leave for Ohio! Never in my life have I traveled with one cat for 16 hours much less 4! Now, Toni is the ultimate cat lady! She has these cat condos for the car! Never I have ever seen anything like it! Two cats per condo! Each one takes up a whole seat. So we had two cats in the back seat and two cats in the back hatch. There was very little room left for human needs! It took us about 30 minutes to get everything in, but we are packing engineers! Once we got everyone in, we headed to I-75 and Macon, Georgia, our night's sleep over.
Now you can only imagine the serenading we got from the cats. Sidney, Simon, Corky and Ellie were not happy campers. Apparently cats don't like to be in the car. So to soothe them, we found a smooth jazz radio station to play for them. On their maiden trip to Florida it was Christmas time. They loved Christmas carols. We thought we might have listen to them, but the jazz worked. About 30 minutes into the trip, we smelled something rank. Yep, one of the cats shit! And to top it off, we were at a standstill in traffic! That's right, we now had to smell shit for the next 5 1/2 hours! After all, cats aren't dogs or kids! You can't just stop and take care of it!
Five hour later (11:58 p.m.) we arrive at the hotel. Talk about one comical event after another! Toni goes in and gets registered. I stay with the kitties and soothe them with my loud voice, baby talk and head scratches. When Toni comes out, she's like we are only allowed to have 2 cats! Oh freaking great! How are we going to smuggle in a second very large cat condo with 2 more cats! Did I mention that they take up an entire back seat? They don't even fit on the luggage carts that hotels provide. Once again we had to call on our engineering abilities and find a way to get the carrier on the cart. We finally got a plan in order, but then couldn't get the hotel door open! The kind girl behind the desk came to our rescue and helped us. Of course, she now knows we have 2 cats. How the hell will we get the other cat condo in later? I stayed with the other two while Toni went upstairs. She returns and we load the other one up. Once again the kind girl helps us get in. She's looking at them and we are holding our breath when lo and behold a guy wants in the other door with a 9 week old German Shepard puppy! While the clerk was oohing and aahing over the dog, we took off for the elevator! Possible eviction thwarted! Of course, once we got in the room we had to address Corky's accident in the car!
Corky is a beautiful long haired white and orange cat. He is actually my personal favorite of the 4. Well, you can only imagine what kind of a mess he was! There we are at 12:30 in the morning trying to clean him up. We have him in the tub. I"m holding him down rubbing his head while Toni is cleaning him. I can't even describe the smell. I look over at Toni at one point and said, "If this isn't true friendship, I don't know what is!" We did the best we could and let him go. Finally at 2:00 a.m. we are in bed with Sidney growling at us. Corky is hiding underneath a chair. Simon is under the night stand hissing . Good old Ellie is literally jumping through the air from the one bed to the other and then on the TV stand. She is doing a full circle! Good night to us!
Now, when we checked in the night before, the clerk warned us about letting the cats out to roam. While the beds are on a box, there is a small opening at the head boards where cats have been known to get behind. Toni, the pro, said, "Yes, I'm aware. I just block them off before I let them out!" Okay, cool! We cat proofed the beds before letting them out. All seemed good! The first thing I did in the morning was do a cat count. I'm sure you can guess where this is going! Only 3 out of 4 cats are accounted for! Really, this is how we are going to start the day!??!?! We were optimistic and decided to get ready and pack. Surely Sidney would come out eventually. So, once everything was ready to go, we still didn't have a Sid! Toni's plan was to catch the other 3 cats and put them in the carriers. She did so with little opposition! My plan was to take a load to the car and start packing it. Of course, we didn't take a picture before we left Florida so I had to rely on memory of the day before! Then when I got back, we would call maintenance to tear the bed apart. When I returned to the room Toni met me at the door with good news/bad news. I walked in the room, and it looked a little like a bomb went off. The good news was Sid did not go under the bed after all. He had situated himself between the bed, the wall and the nightstand. The really good news was she put him in the carrier. The bad news was he managed to bust the zipper and escape. Toni fixed the carrier and was now trying to capture him again. He was pissed, and she had to throw a towel over him so he didn't bite/scratch her. She's a warrior and got it on the second try!
Our goal was to leave at 10:00 a.m.. I'm happy to report that we left at 10:06 a.m. with 4 cats a squawking just like we did the day before! I looked at Toni, and she looked at me, and both said, "Smooth jazz!" The rest of the trip was uneventful! No cat shit! No more growling, hissing or crying. As long as the music played, they were as content as could be expected. Ten hours later I was dropping Toni off at Riverside, and I drove the kitties to her house. Luckily Mark and Sondra met me there! We safely got the cats in the house! As I was leaving, they were hissing and growling again at the other two. Me, they let me know pet them and comfort them before I left. Apparently we bonded enough on our adventure that they saw me as their second mommy! I think they wanted me to stay!
While this is just another comical experience in my life , there is a lesson to be learned. Well several lessons, but we will focus on the most important one. We never know what God's plan is for us. What started as a girl's weekend quickly became a trip of love. God put me in Florida that weekend so that I could help my friend in a time of need. We found out what we are made of and we strengthen our bond. There's nothing like cat shit and smooth jazz to solidify a friendship! My birthday celebration lasted 48 hours instead of 5 days. But that's okay! There is no other placed I wanted to be! So, what about Keith? He is still in the hospital, but they have determined what ails him, and he's on the road to recovery! Hopefully he will be out tomorrow! So, say a little prayer for him tonight! And always remember that God has a plan for all of us. We just have to wait for him to present it!
Make Everyday Count.........
Denise
