Robby is better. WHEW! Thank you all for praying. He just sneezed all over me, but, hey, as long as he's up and about, I can handle it.

Remember when I was trying to describe his little bowl bed? Made out of cloth ropes? Well, it came to me that what I was trying to think of was a braided rug. Yes, it resembles a braided rug, more or less, in a bowl form.

It's no wonder Robby's sick as a cat. Think of all these poor little strays go through. They are orphaned as babies (no telling what all that entails), they get tossed in a small cage with several other sick orphans, they get moved around from place to place. Then hopefully they get adopted. But let me tell you, Mike and I by no stretch of the imagination even remotely resemble Robby's birth parents. So that has to be a shock to a kitty's system. Then there's the change of cat food, the new house environment, which is completely over stimulating. Oh, and a strange new animal thrown in the mix, Jazzi.

I'm telling you what, that's a lot for anyone to absorb, much less a 1.5 pound kitten. NO WONDER he is under the weather and has a virus.

I love him, he's my dream kitten. He has learned to give me an Eskimo kiss.

There was no children's sermon today, in an effort to save time because of communion. That means the whole congregation was deprived of what that cute little boy might have said or done. This is practically criminal, and I hereby loudly protest.

Last night when we had dinner with two couples, it turns out that both of the women are neat freaks. I've seen the one lady's house, and it was perfect. PERFECT. Then after the dinner, the other woman's husband said, Let's go over to our house and watch the Rays. His wife gave him the evil eye, even though he said, If it's okay with her.

Mary said she needs notice when company is coming over, that her house was a mess (not dusted or something). Well, we went anyway and let me tell you, her house is also perfect. PERFECT. I can hardly stand it, here I am in the presence of two PERFECT, I'm not kidding, housekeepers.

So I launch in, HOW do you DO this? They both said they had perfect housekeeping mothers, that was their model. Lori said her mother was abundantly strict and when they went out to dinner the kids were not allowed so much as a peep or a wink. So much so that strangers would comment, sometimes not favorably.

Mary said her mother changed her (Mary's) and the brother's clothes four times a day when they were little.

Okay. So, Lori said she just can't comprehend people (that would be me) who, say, pack for moving and just throw things in boxes when it is JUST AS EASY to do it neatly.

Therein lies the difference. It's all in perception. To some people, being organized and tidy is as easy as breathing. For others, like myself, it's blood, sweat and tears, tears, sweat and blood, slice it anyway you wish.

After church I found myself in Staples. I bought File Jackets. Because that's what Decluttering Fast said to do. Although I haven't gotten to the part as to what I'm supposed to do with the jackets. Never fear, tomorrow I need to go around and stuff those folders with all the 8 million scraps of paper raining down on my house like confetti.

I said to Mary, Mary. Your house is perfect, I would need a magnifying glass to find even one speck of dust, for crying out loud. She said, My mother would find it. I told her, Listen, if you want to see a house that is truly not ready for unexpected company, then you need to drop by my house. Both these friends would be SHOCKED if they saw my house. So now I'm highly motivated to get a life or be left friendless.

It's interesting to me that Mary and Lori are perfect like their mothers. They are both nice, kind and sweet, too. Living in cleanliness and order their entire lives hasn't hurt them any, that's for sure. They are now my shining examples. Mary doesn't keep paper. Not only that, under no circumstances would she retain something in her house she doesn't use. Lori said her husband likes to hold onto magazines because, you know, there might be an article in one he might read some day. Lori does a great eyeroll. She said when she moved from her perfect house in PA to get married here in FL that the movers said to her, after they saw her future husband's house, having also seen her perfect home, Are you sure you're going to be okay? When all was said and done, Lori got her husband to throw out an untold amount of junk, it filled many trailers, something like that. It was a very enlightening evening.

So there you have it. Either Mary or Lori could have the President himself drop in anytime unannounced, spend the night, whatever. It would be NO sweat. Of course, Mary would go chasing that fleck of dust, which, trust me, is not there.

Oh, and these ladies aren't home cleaning all day. Mary volunteers several mornings a week at a local kindergarten, has for years, and Lori works full time. And they both have time for other fun stuff, too.

A little thought. Sometimes we might feel we're running out of hope or heart, but we can never run out of God. I hope that isn't sacrilegious, but the thought struck me last night and...it restored my hope and heart.

And Robby's on the road to recovery. I praise and thank God for His merciful kindness.

Amy's Mac 'N Cheese is calling me.

A much relieved KEM