The "So That Really Does Happen?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my office, talking on the phone with one of my doctor's secretaries when I heard it...a loud crashing noise!  In an instant one of my cats, the Gray Lady, came flying past me into her "safe place" in the corner of my office!   I told the secretary what I had heard and told her I would be back in a moment.  I headed through my living room and dining room and as soon as I entered the kitchen I saw it.  There in the corner of our family room was laying...our Christmas Tree!  Lights were pulled from the tree and ornaments were everywhere!  I'm sure by now you have guessed what had happened!  Yep...The Gray Lady must have decided it was time to rearrange a few ornaments on the Christmas tree.  I headed back into my office and picked up the phone..."I'm sorry, but my cat just knocked over the Christmas tree!  A second later she began laughing.  "I'm sorry for laughing, but I never heard anyone say that before!  So that really does happen?  I've heard other people talk about problems they may have had with their tree, but no one every said their cat knocked the tree over.  She must be one big cat."  I replied, laughing by now, "That's the funny part, she's a very small cat!  She must have gotten scared and caught something on the tree and took off.  I knew I should have wired the tree to the wall, but I just forgot to do it."  We finished our talk and both hung up.  My next job was to try and figure out how I would tell my wife when she got home from her doctor's visit to find out how to deal with stress.  The Gray Lady by now was in her cardboard box trying to make herself invisible.  I looked at her and said,  "Your mommy isn't going to be happy about this...you know!"  She tucked her head under her front leg!  Her brother, Snickerdoodle, was no where to be found.  He knew what was going to happen and he wanted nothing to do with it.  Well, we waited and waited and finally we heard the garage door go up.  I walked to the door in our family room that connects to the garage and held the door open as Carol got out of the car and closed the car door.  As the garage door began to lower I said to Carol, "We seem to have a problem!"  She saw the smile on my face so she knew it must have something to do with one of the cats.  Then she walked into the house and saw the tree laying on the floor in the midst of lights and ornaments.  "Who did this?" she said in a firm voice.  No one except the two of us could be found.  As we sat on our recliners in the family room, The Gray Lady showed her head.  She crept across the room to Carol and rubbed against her hoping she would be forgiven.  Now...who wouldn't forgive a little ball of fur who was trying to tell you she was sorry by rubbing against your leg.  I grabbed by camera for a few photographs and we both began to pick up alll the pieces still laying on the floor.  I did take some of the blame since I had failed to wire the tree to the wall like I do every other year.  I just forgot to do it this year and I now know why I wired the tree to the wall after it has been decorated.  One thing I did do was to give my doctor's secretary a good laugh.  She now knows that it actually does happen and isn't just something people just4 say happens!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.