Christmas Greetings and cat piss

We've been bad and haven't sent out Christmas cards yet. I swear I'm planning on dressing up the kids Saturday and taking a few pics to make into a Christmas card. Wish me luck, this year they're all wiggly and uncooperative.

Speaking of Christmas cards, we got a card yesterday and we have no idea who it's from! It's addressed to Patty and Jared (and last name), with no return address. The inside says something like "Merry Christmas from us", and lists the first names only of the family members. So, no last name and no return address....only problem is we don't recognize any of the first names!!! Our only clue is the postmark is from N.O. (I don't think they'll be getting a card from us!!) Detective G, we're keeping you busy this month!!!

On to more fragrant subjects. Our house reeks of cat piss. I can't figure out why. Black kitty died right after Katrina and we haven't replaced him, so it's not like it's our own cat.

Scenario 1: A cat got in the house while J was smoking and we didn't know it.
Now, this is J's theory but I just don't buy it. How could we not notice a cat in the house? He smokes right outside the back door with the back door open so he can watch TV, but I think he would have noticed if one was even in the vicinity, let alone came into the house. He thinks it could have also been responsible for knocking over the tree, but again, I think we'd have noticed a cat in the house.

Scenario 2: A cat pissed on the bin we keep our ornaments in. After we brought in the tree, we brought in the big plastic bin that has all our ornaments and decorations in it. We did most of the decorating but ran out of time and didn't put all the ornaments on the tree, so I put the lid on the bin (so Molly wouldn't get into it) because I knew we wouldn't have time Monday, so it would have to sit until Tuesday or Wednesday. Being in the garage, there is a very strong possibility that a cat peed on it. We put the bin back in the garage yesterday and J mopped the floor but it still stinks in the house.

Scenario 3: The table topper I brought home from the Christmas (Holiday) Party.
It's very pretty and has red roses, white flowers, and pine in it. J thinks the white flowers may be dogwood, which, according to him, smell like cat pee when they start to die. This sounds very possible to me, so today they went out in the trash, vase and all. We'll see how that worked.

Scenario 4: (This is the most likely scenerio) A mountain lion peed on the tree while it was still in the forest.
The Christmas tree farms are up North in the forest, right? Mountain lions live up there, right? Who is to say that a mountain lion didn't pee on our tree right before it was harvested? And I figure since cat pee is so strong, mountain lion pee must be really strong. Which would explain everything.