Destroyer #1 is losing her claws tomorrow

I have had my cats now for a long time. I got my oldest cat, Gabrielle, when I was a freshman in college eleven years ago, and my subsequent kitties, Moira and Taylor, when I moved to Texas in 1996.

Ever since I have had them, I have vowed never, ever to declaw them, citing reasons such as that I don't want them to be defenseless if they get outside, I don't want the dogs to bully them, and especially...because I just didn't want to. I have put up a good fight. All three of them sit very still (okay, not really) and let me trim their daggers from time to time.

But as time goes on, and we are having to replace furniture, window treatments, etcetera, it's getting rather old seeing our cats turn their noses up at the expensive scratching posts that we buy for them and make beelines instead for the ultra-expensive scratching posts also known as OUR COUCHES.

So let's sum up (and don't let their innocent faces and excellent posing ability fool you):

Destroyer #1: Taylor

-Accolades of Destruction: the legs of our dining room table, the sides of a double recliner long since retired to the dumpster, and the sides of our current couch and loveseat
-Irritating Claw Habits Other Than Destruction: jumping on your bare back after you get out of the shower and clinging with her claws, kneading on you when you are trying to sleep, patting your face and thinking it's cute while trying to ignore the winces of pain on your face

Destroyer #2: Moira

-Accolades of Destruction: the sheer curtains in our office, the sheer curtains in our bedroom, the blinds in our bedroom soon to be replaced when we get a new window, the blinds in our living room that were replaced a year or so ago, our carpet, many a scratching post, and our king mattress that she has deemed her personal little hiding place (hence the reason why this picture is an old one and not a new one)
-Irritating Claw Habits Other Than Destruction: kneading on ME constantly when I'm trying to stitch (she doesn't do it to P)

Destroyer #3: Gabrielle

-Accolades of Destruction: the carpet, the old paint on the walls of my office, and she's hard at work on the new paint in my office already
-Irritating Claw Habits Other Than Destruction: kneading on me when I'm trying to go to sleep (see all they all do it at varying times?)

As you can see, Taylor is by FAR the most destructive and the most annoying, hence why she gets the privilege of getting to go first tomorrow. I am taking her in first thing in the morning to have her front claws removed. If all goes well, Moira will go next week, and then Gab the week after. I'm not worried about the dogs messing with them...the dogs, unlike the cats, know their boundaries and respect not only our things but also the other members of the house which include the cats. (We just can't ever leave them home when we go on vacation. Ever.) And in that same vein, I know that the dogs will be great with the baby...I don't have the same faith in the cats, especially since Taylor has that face-patting thing. We don't want to get rid of them...so the only option I see is to declaw them.

Wish us luck!

Oh, you're probably wondering what happened today with the contractors? Same old song and dance...they didn't show up, P called them, and L pretended like he never told me that he'd be here Monday, and that I, the hysterical pregnant homeowner, misheard him AS USUAL. At this point, nothing that man says fazes me anymore. Supposedly they will be here in the morning. We'll see. I am just not optimistic anymore.

Still working on the dresser...the main part of the dresser is completely done, I sanded the last four drawers, conditioned them and stained them with coat #1, and then put coat #2 on the other two drawers and the small drawers. Tomorrow I'll put coat #2 on the rest of the drawers, and then when they are all on the same schedule, I'll start the top coats. I'm definitely getting the two in one stuff for the dining room table. Everything looks great...although I realized tonight that the seahorse hardware that I bought for the long drawers doesn't fit the pre-existing holes, so I'm going to have to do a little repair work on the drawers. It's a close fit though, so it's not a big deal. Nothing that a little wood putty and creativity won't fix!