I'm No Longer A Dog Person

(July 2022)

I say July but really, it was August. Also, hi, this is Ivory. Last year, I had the strange desire to make pants made out of essentially what was laundry bag material and so once I bought the fabric (if you can call it that) and a pattern I liked, we rang up Granny V and I went to stay a week at her house. We exchanged at Bear Lake, so I arrived on the 30th, but more of the time that I spent there was in August. 

You may remember that Pip had passed before Bear Lake and listen, I was not on a mission to get Grandma a pet. Okay, maybe slightly. But we ended up at the pet store on Monday. First Grandma pulled a little stunt to get us to hold the chinchillas which probably wasn't completely ethical but they were very soft like they're supposed to be. Then we wandered to the back where there were cats in cages that were up for adoption. And Grandma took a liking to this beautiful kitty that she named Tally. After she signed some stuff, and we perused through the store to find everything a kitty would need, we went back, packed up the cat and all of our newly purchased kitty litter, toys, bed and everything and headed home. 

Up until this point, I was a dog person. But this cat literally stole my heart and I have a thing for cats as well. I can no longer classify myself as one or the other, they are equally precious in my eyes. Tally was a pretty good kitty. She used the litter box, she left Grandma's curtains alone, she snuggled and she played. Her favorite toy was this ball that had feathers on it and spun around the floor. I'm pretty sure we had run it out of batteries by the end of the week.

I regret not taking many other pictures besides all the pictures of Tally. For staying with Grandma I was her chef. Going shopping with her was a blast. I danced all around the store and she made fun of me. We also found these amazing pink sneakers which I insisted on buying myself but because I was also going to be hauling her brick, she bought them for me. This picture was not taken the week that I was up there, and it's not even the best picture but it is proof of their amazingness.

As the chef, I made her pacos one night. I was nervous because I had never made them without Mom but Grandma was a big fan so I would say it was a success.

As for my hauling brick, there was a lot of that. I don't even remember the whole logic of it. There was a whole bunch of brick down underneath her porch thingy in the back, I'm not even sure what to classify that as. A balcony? But she needed it up at the top so she could lay it for a new walkway or something along those lines. So there was giant piles of brick and I would just load them up and take them. It wasn't too hard but over time it got tiring. I made my way halfway through the pile on my own. And then KJ and Kayson had to show up and show me up and we finished it all in one afternoon. I appreciate their help all the same. 

One morning, I wanted to try my fun pink eyeliner. I didn't do a very good job but I was excited to try it so I slapped it on while getting ready for the day. I went out to go show Grandma and see what we were gonna do that day and she stopped me and said 'Nope' and made me go take it off. Then we sat down in her bathroom and she did me a lil makeover. And at the end she gave me all the products that she had used on me in exchange for me to throw my pink eyeliner away. I didn't feel like the pink was that bad but Grandma's makeover was definitely fire for her being my grandma and everything. 

More pictures of Tally because she was so cute and honestly the whole focus of the week.... and the only thing I took pictures of. She had definitely made herself at home. 

Don't worry, we did make the pants. The first day we washed the fabric. The second day there was some problems so we ran to JOANN and then we cut the fabric and kinda made things up cause the pattern I bought didn't actually have a size that fit me so we just adapted and made it smaller. The third day we finished cutting and started sewing. The fourth day we finished up and I'm pretty sure I wore them the fifth day. Or the last day. I'm not sure how many days I was up there. I didn't take any pictures of the process, which I'll make sure to repent of next time I do this, but here is the finished product. 

I made Grandma breakfast paninis early on in the week. At first, she was hesitant. She was all 'oh this looks yummy' and then 'how could you dip that in egg!' and then 'You mashed my croissant??' but in the end she loved them. In fact, she loved them so much that she called BeaJo over on a different morning and I made them for BeaJo too. And the morning before I left, she brought over Kolby and the boys and I made them for all the guys too. My dad was also there at that point, coming to fetch me. 

Grandma spent time talking to all her boys throughout the week on the phone, I love that they still stay in touch with their mom. We found out that Henlee is super allergic and so is J.R apparently, but not as bad. Kolby, Kayson and KJ all claimed to be allergic and Hank wasn't much of a fan cause he would grab the pillow and push Tally off if she ever jumped up on his lap. I was heartbroken because Grandma was gonna go give the cat back. Tally was the best kitty I could've ever hoped for but I knew I had a ravenous Nova waiting at home and Tally would be better off with another family that loved her just as much as I did. 

I had driven Grandma around all week and now it was time for me to drive Dad all the way home from Idaho. It was the longest drive I'd done up to that point (and probably since) and I was a little drowsy when we hit Salt Lake but Dad was on the phone and I didn't want to bug him so I pushed through it. Maybe wasn't the greatest decision but we did make it home safely. I showed off my new pants, and greeted my evil dog which was the reason I had to say goodbye to Tally, and then spent some time with my family that I hadn't seen in a week. All in all, it was a complete success, it was very fun, and I definitely plan to come up with a weird project for next summer before I go off to college and see Granny V even less.