The crossed eyes are not a problem! The vet says she is part Siamese so that also explains the long neck, the tightrope walking and the purtling talk. It doesn't explain the white fur with ginger colored markings. Several things are going on with her, right now. The major thing is the neutering will be a bit later. I'm not sure of the vet's reasoning but since she is not having long periods of heat, we will go along with it. The next thing, of equal importance is she got a dose of Revolution. This is supposed to take care of things like heartworms, fleas, some kind of tick, ear mites and who knows what else and it is used once a month. It is supposed to be applied to the back of her head. I am not sure we can tolerate just how sick she got. I guess it wasn't so serious as all that but she was obviously miserable for three days so I am wondering if it is worth it. Have any of you used it on your pets? Should we continue with it? The vet says she did have ear mites so her ears were irrigated again. She seemed a lot less upset about it this time. There were no baleful looks or vocal outrage and no cowering in the corner although she did get down on the bench again. Everyone got through it without scratches this time and they clipped her claws, just in case. Hopefully the second treatment and the Revolution will take care of them. Once again, I carried her in the mesh softside hamper. It is so much easier than trying to get any cat in one of the regular carriers. I do need to figure out a better closer though. She can get out much too easily. Once again, people thought it was such a good idea for a small pet. I think this must be one of those ideas that lots of people get at the same time. I have never figured that one out but it does happen to me fairly often. Has it ever happened to you? I guess the next problem to solve will be getting her teeth cleaned. She has some obvious tarter and it must be uncomfortable. Do they give her an anesthetic? Should it be done when she is neutered? How the heck do you brush a kitties teeth? I bought a tooth brush and toothpaste (tuna flavored)but I've never had to do this before. I think it may take both me and DH to accomplish this little task and DH gets pretty stressed trying to do anything like giving medication. This could definitely be a snapshot opportunity. How come all cats will sit on anything you are trying to read? I'm not sure how it could be genetic but every cat we have had would do it. Ginger now has added getting between me and the keyboard. More often, it is sitting or laying ON the keyboard. It makes such amusing noises and I make some unusual noises as well. She has changed the settings on the screen so often I have given up changing them back. There are three labels for "My Network Places", the icons are now on the left instead of the right, "Desktop and "My Documents" are right under the icons and everything else is scattered all over the place. No more clicking on something without looking on this screen. Half the time I lose most of the task bars, which can be very interesting. Thank goodness for "Computers for Dummies". She doesn't care so long as she can get scratching and head rubs and she can rub against my face, or sit on my hands. And of course there are those delightful noises. Oh, I forgot about the tightrope walking. The laundry room is a great play room. Not only can you curl up in the freshly dried clothes, you have all sorts of places to hide and climb. Getting to the shelves up really high was fun until you jumped and the rod for hanging stuff was too full. It wasn't much fun getting out from under all those clothes. It's lots of fun to sick your head in the washer while it is filling with water and during the spin cycle you have to sit on the lid. Mom won't let you get into the dryer with the wet clothes even if it looks like great fun. The best thing though, is to climb on the 3 section laundry sorter. While the top of the metal frame is fun it is much more challenging to walk on the fabric walls that separate the bins. Even if you fall you can't get hurt. Sandy

I highly, highly, highly (!) recommend checking out the elfa closet system at The Container Store. If you can wait until their annual elfa sale which usually runs from Dec 26 until mid-Feb (30% off every elfa component, incl installation), you can save a significant amount. Great quality, great value (with the sale), and a good degree of customization, plus, utilizing TCS' expertise and CAD drawings to come up with the perfect layout for YOUR needs. You can have them make up more than one plan (or variation thereof), and then bring the drawings home, and "play" with them, and tweak and re-tweak as needed, until you come up with what works for you.

If the house is old enough, they will be dealing with plaster walls, so that's another thing to take into consideration. Can you find out if there is trim/molding/a flat piece of wood running along the closet walls at about closet rod height? If there is, the closet most likely had standard coat hooks, the ones with one large and one small hook, on the molding. Clothes would have been hung on hangers and two to three hangers per hook. The best way to use this space is not the easiest. But I'll give you some ideas and you can go from there. First, I'd put up a closet shelf along all three walls, slightly above head height, so things can be stored on the shelf, but those entering the closet won't bump their heads. Then, along the 30" back wall, I'd put a double rod, for hanging shirts and pants that are folded over a hanger. That will give about 58-59" of hanging space, Next, along one long wall, I'd install valet rods, preferably the ones that swing to one side, to make getting to the back of the closet easier. If those aren't possible, I'd get the ones that fold down. You'd need at least one that would allow for full-length hanging clothes, but the other could be doubled up, just like the rods at the far end. That would give you at least 5 valet rods, with about 9-10" of hanging space on each or at least 40" more of hanging space. If there is molding on the wall, the valet rods should be attached to it. If there isn't, I'd install that first. Then, on the opposite long wall, I'd put a bunch of clothes hooks for things that get used a lot but don't need hangers--robes, hoodies, jackets, scarves, belts, anything else that can hang from a hook. You'd have at least 4 feet of space to work with, so they could have a lot of hooks along that wall. Under the row of valet rods, you could put a row of baskets or a low shelf for shoes. This would maximize use of the length of the space while still allowing enough room down the center of the closet to get to the stuff hanging on the back wall.

Thank you for your comments ---- I can't believe I didn't think of the things you pointed out... they make so much sense. Our style is what I call "casual eclectic Hispanic", LOL. The walls are EK's Light Terracotta, medium-dark hardwood floors, stained wood trim around windows, dark blue leather sofas, red/blue area rug, etc. I'll try to take a picture. Because our look is casual, I want the tab-top curtains. We stayed two nights in a motel in Santa Fe that was decorated throughout with terracotta tile and had tabbed curtains. Anyway, the reason we want to add non-sheer curtains is because we want some privacy at night while we are watching TV in the living room which has a large window that faces the street. The sheers let in a lot of light during the day ---- which I LOVE -- but I would like to add some non-sheers to pull when we want privacy. I also considered --- I know this sounds weird, but stay with me ---- replacing these sheers with tab-top sheers, and adding tab-top curtains on the same rods, putting the sheers in the middle so when they are closed some light still comes in but they still offer privacy. I'll take pictures later and post them for help.