The Litter Box

I can't quite recall if the question was, "Why is there a litter box here?" or "Is there a cat here?"  Either way the question took me off guard when we first stepped foot in the condo we rented during our stay on Maui.  

We had risen before the sun the day we left for Maui and by the time we got to our destination it was well beyond our normal bed time.  Not to mention fatigue from travel and excitement!  My aunt probably dislikes cats more than I do.  I dislike them because I am a dog person and I am allergic to cats.  My aunt HATES cats, not sure what it is but she isn't too big a fan of animals, her loss I think.  But I think her fatigue was in part to blame for the confusion that ensued.

Upon entering the condo my aunt noticed a box near the front door under the coat rack.  This is what she saw:

Not a litter box!

I suppose she automatically reacted and assumed this was a cat litter box.  She didn't notice the small plaque on the wall asking that you remove your shoes before entering the house.  My sister and I had a hearty laugh over my aunt's worry about a cat being in the house or not.  Why was I laughing so hard?

*Her apprehension towards cats had her jump to conclusions so fast, she missed the sign above the "litter box".

*Litter boxes usually have kitty litter, as far as this litter box goes, it fails.

*My aunt obviously has never seen a real litter box or she would have known that they are generally filled with little scoopable pebbles.

*The look on her face!!!

*I realized that my aunt has been in a bubble.

A little background, my aunt has not gone on a trip but once in my entire life.  The one time she returned to Mexico with my grandmother.  She went as a care taker with my grandmother so she could visit her relatives before everyone was too old to travel or already dead.  This happened while I was in my young teens.  So we can say my aunt has lived in a sort of bubble, she knows her life and that's about it.

Growing up in my grandmother's tiled home, you had to wear shoes in the house.  Not socks or barefeet, full on shoes!  I hated it as a kid growing up, my feet always felt hot and confined.  I also hated the frequent sweeping and mopping from tracking everything under the sun into the house.  When I grew up I quickly realized that shoes in a carpeted home makes for a nasty carpet, REAL QUICK. So in my carpeted home, I like slippers or even socks or even barefeet.  I also vacuum often and run the carpet shampooer every other month.  I don't like wearing shoes in the house and I really don't want to step on gross floors.  So no shoes in my house and keep the floor clean. 

So I explained to my aunt, after pointing out the sign, that the house was a no shoe house.  She accepted it and removed her shoes but I could tell it was not what she wanted to do.  But my family is respectful of homes we enter so she was willing to abide by the house rules.  A few times during our stay she had to be reminded because old habits are hard to break.  But in the end it was one of the little chuckles that helped me realize for as country bumpkin as I feel sometimes, I do have worldly knowledge.

Now, that's more like it.

The trip was filled with other bits of laughing, at ourselves and each other.  It was great to get my mother and aunt to get out of the house.  It was great that they were able to sit back and have their breakfast served just mere feet from the beach.  They enjoyed nightly dinners served to them while they enjoyed their cocktails as the sun set.  I will admit I was pretty tired after the trip because I cooked the meals we ate at the condo (lunches included), I felt like they deserved it.  I am glad my sister was able to have my aunt come along with us in addition to our mom.  I am also glad she took the dish washing duty, thanks!

Just thinking back on the trip, I have to laugh because my aunt assumed a carry-on meant 'if you can carry it, it's on!'  She tried to bring no-no's on the plane and her carry on was so big we had to squish some of her items into the one checked back we did bring.  My mom and aunt love souvenirs so my sister and I decided it would be in our best interest to bring a checked bag for them to fill.  My sister and I have decided the next trip we take them on we will have to check their bags before we leave.  Our condo had everything just shy of the food supplied for us.  So there were plenty of towels... for some reason my mom and aunt felt the need to pack SEVERAL towels.  No wonder their bags were bursting at the seams!  I wondered to my sister how it was that we were able to take backpacks for 2 weeks of travel in Germany NOT in a condo yet we had a week in a fully furnished place and their bags were about to burst!

TOWELS!

That's how.

My aunt and mom.

I should be able to get some more Hawaii stories and pictures up soon.  Sorry for the poo-poo party recently.  

 

*In other news, I got the job!  I started this Monday.  I took up a secondary pottery class to help the nerves.  I also will be signing myself as well as the horrid child-beast for every fun run the city has to offer in an attempt to wear him out with 'training' for the fun run.  Weariness is the best medication for a hyper child I think.