The personal life was a rolling through hills and valleys last week. Some of this my readers may already know from my posts last week.

Last Sunday was the birthday, and I received a lot of well wishes on the Book of Face, and some Amazon monies. Since The Girlfriend’s birthday and mine are so close, we decided to hold off any major celebration until the weekend after Independence Day.

I had a short week at the day job as I was taking off Thursday and Friday. It was still the beginning of the month, so I still had my monthly reports to get out. So, like the Bloodhound Gang lyrics, Short and hard, like a bodybuilding elf.

Tuesday night, The Girlfriend took our newest cat Rose to the vet. The cat came to me originally as a foster from my sister-in-law, and we decided to just keep her. She was a feisty, bossy little thing that was always hungry. We discovered part of the reason after taking the cat to the vet. Cancer. So, we decided to give that little cat the best home she could have until the disease took her. Which it did on Tuesday.

Wednesday was momentous, not because it was Independence Day, but because it was Cat Moving Day. Due to jobs, logistics, and houses, The Girlfriend and I decided that it would be best for me to move down to her place in Parrish than for her to move up to northern Hillsborough County. Wednesday was the day I moved my two cats down to be introduced to hers. Yes, we have a lot of cats. No, I’m not going to tell you how many. Yes, it’s less than ten.

Then came Wednesday night. With heart pounding in my chest, I popped the question. The Girlfriend is now The Fiancee.

Thursday was busy. The Fiancee’s niece moved in a few weeks ago after she left her husband. The niece asked if we would mind if she switched from the bedroom at the front of the house to the spare room at the back. This actually works out well, as it forced a purge and consolidation to turn the spare room into a bedroom and the bedroom into my home office. It was also a lot of work.

Friday was The Fiancee’s birthday and we celebrated by exchanging gifts. With the moving, we agreed to a $20 limit on gifts this year. I got her a cute coffee mug, and she got me a sign to go on the door of my new home office. Friday we also announced to the Facebook world we were engaged. The Fiancee has a lot more FB friends than I do. After celebrating, we did some quick shopping and then back to work. This was capped off with the AC going out Friday night, and the repair guy not being available until Saturday morning. Shakes were obtained from Sonic and multiple fans set up. It was a long, hot, and sweaty night. And not in a good way.

Saturday morning involved waiting for the AC guy to show up, fix the bad capacitor, and enjoy the rush of the first cool air in fifteen hours. Then more work. For the record, the desks we bought from Target went together so easily, I was almost suspicious. I also highly appreciated how the small parts were bundled by assembly step rather than one big bag.

Saturday night was a combination birthday/engagement dinner hosted and cooked by The Brother and Shooting Buddy. Both of them are into molecular gastronomy, and this was one of their chances to pull out the stops. The main course was a chicken breast with bacon glued on one side, grilled, and topped with a pepper jack cheese sauce. High end stuff. After dinner was board games and convivial company.

Yesterday was more work in the morning. The day was capped off with a birthday/engagement party at her parents’ house. Good food and good people. And more Amazon money. Which is good because Prime Day is a week away.

I’m on leave for the next couple of days while I do work on my house to get rid of stuff and box up stuff going down to my new home. It’s going to be weird for me to be in the house without my two fur balls getting underfoot.

It was a very busy week. On the good news front, my two cats have assimilated (or dominated) into the household with minimal growling, hissing, and spitting. We haven’t had any real fights. On the bad side, The Fiancee and I have had some frustrations as we get used to living with each other after living independently for years. Sometimes life decides to cram a month’s worth of moments into a week.