Chef Troy, I have found that often when bad things happen, good things follow that could not have happened if the bad stuff had never been. I know that you are hurting from the loss of your kitty, but please don’t beat yourself up about it; you couldn’t possibly know what would happen. This is not your fault. Somewhere, there is a cat that needs you, and you need them too. Please honor Astro by helping another cat. There are so many who never find a loving home.
That’s awful, Chef Troy. {{hugs}} Give yourself some time to grieve, you can get another kitten in a few weeks if you and **ChefFamily **want.
This. I couldn’t say it any better. I’m sorry for your loss. 
{{{Chef}}}
One of life’s sucky lessons is that no matter how much you love and try to protect your pets there are some things you can’t control. It’s not your fault and you gave your cat 13 good years.
Chef Troy, that is certainly not the news I’d hoped to hear regarding your cat. I am so so sorry for your loss. Please take the advice given here and try not to blame yourself. You gave your cat a good life, and a good passing.
I missed the last two days of work with the flu. I love Xmas. I really hope I feel better tomorrow.
I’m driving in Houston traffic and I think I’m going to die. To get to Bill’s office, Bill gets on a huge freeway, speeds up to about 150 mph, crosses 27 lanes of traffic to get to a ramp for a different highway and then gets off a mile later. It takes him 5 to 7 minutes to get to work.
The first time I tried it, it took almost an hour because I wimped out and missed the exit and ended up somewhere that I have no idea. I do know that I missed a lot of the right exits on the way back as well. I’m just not good at driving at the speed of light.
It didn’t get better the next time I tried it, even though Bill turned the GPS into screaming mode “MOVE LEFT NOW, YOU SILLY BINT!!!”
Turning signals are unheard of here. Or are warnings that someone wants to get over so you should speed up and get by fast.
Finally, I gave up and tried driving the surface streets. That’s much better, they only drive 75 MPH on them. Traffic lights are just a suggestion, though. Blinking red lights…which I thought should be treated as a 4 way stop…just means the biggest truck goes first.
I really, REALLY hope that one of the boxes under the tree has a flame thrower.
flatlined, two words: Hellfire missles.
Thats all.
Merry Christmas, from the nice folk at ACME.
You’ll get used to it! When I first started coming to S Cal routinely, I had to remember to not drive like a californicator when I went back to Wash because I’d scare the ever living fuck out of everyone up there. (They probably all drive like us up there now). But really, it does just become second nature, and quickly too! Takes practice 
How awful for you and your family, and obviously the cat, ChefTroy. Please don’t beat yourself up over it, although I know it’s easier said than done.
flatlined, scary traffic stuff. I just moved to the South, and I swear, they act like letting you in the lane ahead of them will cost them money. I don’t even know what their problem is! It was easier in Tucson, because the freeway goes around the town, not through it, so I never had to drive on it. Here in Asheville, I have to take the freeway everywhere.
Coffee maker (Kuerig) isn’t working…damn.
Do you want ours? We got one for a Christmas gift from Jim’s parents last night - they weren’t sure if we drink coffee or not, in spite of knowing their son for 43 years (and me for almost 13), and neither one of us ever having drunk a single cup of coffee in front of them. Not to look a gift Keurig in the mouth or anything.
No, (MiL)grandma, yelling at the toddler for playing with the lightswitch is not going to make him want to come sit on your lap for hugs. In fact, it’s time to go. Maybe you’ll learn someday that when you start yelling, we leave. But, yay, you made it almost 5 hours without yelling! We should have your boyfriend over for family occasions more often!
Got sick as hell last night. Took many trips to the bathroom all night. Got up at 8:30 to open presents with the kids, went back to bed at 10. Slept until 2 PM, missed Christmas with my mom and her side of the family (and prime rib, dammit!). Ate some rice and drank some apple juice, went back to sleep until hubby and the kids got home at 7:30. Ate some cooked carrots and drank some more apple juice. Hubby is putting kids to bed, then I’m on my way back to slumber land. HORRIBLE way to spend Christmas.
I hope you recover soon, Avarie537.
I’m just finishing up my transaction at the convenience store on my way home tonight. This young woman (18-20-ish) walks up behind me, talking on her phone. Her voice is low, sad and disappointed.
“You spent all the Christmas money?”
“You spent all the Christmas money?”
“You spent all $200?”
“You got $100 and I got $100. So you spent both our moneys.”
“You spent my Christmas money.”
Damn. If I’d have had the money, I would have given her $100 and advised her to dump the fucker. God only knows what he could possibly have spent it on on Christmas Day.
Two-faced hypocrite!
A few months ago my mother’s bf berated me because I still like my sister’s ex husband. He’s not my best friend or anything but if I happen to see him I’m still friendly to him and I like him ok. It nothing else he is my nieces’ father, and they love him so out of respect for them and their feelings I get along with him. So my mother’s bf chewed me out, asked my how I could be nice to him, how I could even like him after the way he treated my sister.
Well, like I said he is my nieces’ father, the shit between him and my sister was 25 years ago, my sister gave as good as she got and my mother’s bf wasn’t even around then so he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about anyway and it’s really none of his business who I do or don’t like.
So today at the family gathering my mother’s bf, who berated me, told me what a horrible person I am to still talk to the ex-bil, how horrible I am to do that to my sister… that same fucking man… sits down next to my ex-bil and talks to him like he is his long lost best friend.
Fucking two-faced hypocrite!
This is the same hypocrite who has pointed at a chair and told my mother to ‘sit’, told her to ‘get out of his way’ when he was walking past her, tells her ‘good girl!’ when she does something nice for him, has snapped his finger and pointed at something he wants her to hand him, and has sat in her house, at her dining room table, eating the dinner she just made and told her to ‘shut up about politics’. A week or ago my mother and I got into a heated argument and he had the goddamn nerve to tell me ‘not to talk to my mother like that’. WTF???
Old man needs to take a long look at his own behavior before he ever says another word to me.
Today he yelled at my son to get out of his way.
I have never wanted so much to punch somebody in the goddamn mouth.
Dear father-in-law: Thanks so much for the framed copy of an old family portrait. Would it have killed you to have used one taken within the last 40 years so that my husband would have been included in it, or at least have chosen to give us one with him and the other one for everyone else? Not that we have any desire to hang up a blown-up family photo over a foot per side (having exactly zero family photos displayed anywhere) and complete with the reproduction of your scrawl of the year prominently featured in the corner. (They make things called the back of the photo for writing the year, location, etc. Just FYI.)
Tough day. Trying not to feel sorry for myself.
I’m sorry. Even though I was with family and had good food and conversation and everything, it was kind of rough for me, too, and I, too, have had moments of feeling sorry for myself. Sometimes I hate the holidays. How about I’ll feel sorry for you and you’ll feel sorry for me, just to switch it up a bit?