Pre-teen Drama Queens

A friend invited me to a high school football game the other day.  I haven’t been to one in nearly 10 years.  I decided that, even though I didn’t know a soul who was playing, I would go because it was something to do and I had had a very stressful week and needed to do something to take my mind off of work.  So, I went.  It was a little chilly, but was a beautiful night.  The crowd was intense and it was a great game!  I even found myself standing up to cheer when we made touchdowns!  However, the most intriguing thing about the game in my mind was a group of pre-teen diva cheer-leader wannabes.  I’m not going to lie and, therefore, must make the disclaimer that I am completely and totally unfavorably biased against anything and everything that cheerleading stands for!  Drill team is slightly different.  Stunts are cool and those guys who hold a girl up with one arm are super strong and I would not make fun of them for fear of being pummelled if for no other reason.  Anyway, back to the point.  These young divas had practiced their leg kicks and arm movements with great precision.  They even made up new cheers all through the game and chided their mothers for not responding to their efforts to get the crowd on their feet.  One girl in particular was entertaining.  She was the next captain of the cheerleading squad for sure.  She had the “ready ok” and “last time” commands down pat.  She also was very adept at manipulating her squad to do whatever cheer she thought they should do despite their numerous and repeated suggestions.  She even sat down in front of them a few times and counted them off to evaluate their performance.  I think she had been watching the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders because she certainly knew how to move, act and look like a professional cheer leader.  The fact that she was 10ish made this really humorous!  There ought to be a law against corrupting innocent little girls’ minds with ideas of becoming cheerleaders!  Perhaps my Mother was wrong, but for some reason I’m pretty sure that she would have never let us publicly embarrass ourselves at that age if she could at all help it.  Perhaps that is why none of us ever became cheerleaders…  Whew!  Thankfully.  Who knows.  At any rate, I wish everyone could have been there to see the early corruption of little girls who so desperately wanted to be high school cheerleaders!  Frankly, I was embarrassed for them and their parents throughout the entire game.  I’ll admit that I do get embarrassed more easily than the average joe, but that is beside point.  We won the football game and I can’t help but think that part of it was because of these little girls ability to (to quote the gals from Man of the House) “inspire and electrify.”

Wasting time…

So, this afternoon I was bored.  I got home from Church around 2:30 and ate lunch.  Then I passed out on my bed for a two-hour nap.  It was glorious.  However, a two-hour nap is generally a bit much for me and makes me groggy the rest of the day.  Besides, it may make it so that I cannot go to sleep very well tonight…  All of which is beside the point!  Anyway, I was on Facebook hoping to run into some of my friends.  I think that on Facebook that that word is loosely defined, but, Facebook is great because at least once in a while I know that my Friends are still alive because they either update their profile or I see that they have changed their status.  All of which is better than what I would likely know about a lot of these people if I was not at least connected with them through Facebook.  More digression…  So, the point is that I was killing time so I decided to take a couple of quizzes.  They are kind of fun, but I only do them when I am bored because they are very low on my priority list.  However, I had a random thought this afternoon while taking a quiz…  At the end of the quiz, it generally gives you the option of taking more quizzes or making your own.  I have never attempted to make my own, but may try it sometime.  The point is that if I only take quizzes on Facebook when I am bored to tears, what can be said of those who spend enough time on Facebook to make up their own quizzes?  An interesting and poignant question, I think, with no criticism intended or implied.  I just wonder how many people on Facebook have hundreds of “friends,” but in reality are bored and lonely while hanging out in cyberspace with their cyber-”friends”.  I have never pondered this before, but the thought struck me today.  However, Facebook and the like are not the only ways that we are becoming cyber-isolated.  For example, I often use the self-checkout at WalMart because it is faster than waiting in line.  However, this means that I have no interaction whatsoever with anyone while shopping unless it is the “excuse mes” and other such pleasantries (or occasionally not so pleasantries) while playing shopping cart bumper cars down the busy aisles!  We can access our bank accounts without so much as ever speaking with another human being–not to mention the computerized systems we all dread when calling an 800 number for Customer Service of some sort!  I’ve gotten so I prefer to use email or online account information because there is no point in calling if you never actually speak to a person.  In some cases I agree with a friend of mine who has said that we have become a series of account numbers and PINs.  Seems tragic that human interaction in simple everyday matters is becoming less and less important.  I think that a lot of people communicate primarily with idks and omgs and the like at the expense of human interaction and intellectual (or at least social) conversation.  (It doesn’t take much intellect to rise above idk, omg and bff !)  Now, don’t get me wrong…  I spend my fair share of time texting and IMing and enjoy it very much.  However, I think there is something to be said for having a personal converasation with someone that goes beyond the simple, rudimentary communication process.  And not just with those to whom we are close.  There is something deeper in us that finds satisfaction while looking into the eyes of a “stranger” and saying…hello.

Ever try to cut your own hair?

When I was a kid, my little sister decided that she wanted to cut her hair.  Since we were always partners in crime, I helped.  For some reason, we imagined that our Mother would never notice if we hid the hair in her closet, which is where we set up the barber shop.  Needless to say, Mom definitely noticed and she cried!  My sister’s hair grows incredibly slow and it was just long enough to put in pigtails and I cut them off!!!  The only way to fix it was for my Mom to give her a pixy do.  So, she had what she termed a “boy hair cut” for quite some time.  The whole point of this seemingly random thread (when compared to the title of my post) is that since I have no close friends yet in my new location, I decided that I would cut my own hair.  You would think that I had learned my lesson as a kid…  But…I guess my frugality keeps influencing me.  If I’m home often enough, I can get my Mom to cut it for me, but now that a weekend trip is not really an option, it’s either cut my own or pay someone else to do it.  I have contemplated the idea before and have even done most of a self-trim a couple of times.  If you’re a guy and buy the clippers with the plastic guides, it is pretty straight-forward to remove some length from your do.  However until last night, I had forgotten why I had never actually completed a haircut without someone else’s help.  The other two times when I did partials I had someone to do the trimming around my ears and in the back.  I told myself that this couldn’t be too hard because it is just a little trimming.  It is the smallest portion of the haircut, but is likely the most important.  We can’t be running around with one sideburn longer than the other…  That would be an utter disaster–especially if in JH or High school.  Then again, most people in JH and HS these days have longer hair than I have ever had, but…  Ok, back on track!  The point is that by the time I got to this stage of the haircut (definitely way past the point of no return), I was dripping with perspiration because it was about 80 degrees in the house and the humidity was up pretty good.  So I had hair stuck all over my face and on my neck and shoulders.  It was getting in my mouth and up my nose and in my ears!  So I wasn’t in the most patient of moods which is not good when you are attempting to cut your own hair!  It is difficult enough to work hair clippers when viewing them through one mirror.  Throw two into the equation and a barely-coordinated novice like me hasn’t a chance at wielding them without making a mistake.  I managed to trim around my ears without too much trouble and I even got my sideburns even (I think).  However, it is very difficult to hold a mirror up behind your head with one hand and wield the clippers in the other hand while looking at the image of the back of your head in the mirror in front of your face!    I kept getting the wrong angle or moving the clippers in the wrong direction.  I finally got so frustrated that I just blindly took them to the back of my head!  I’m not sure that i did any worse than a beauty school drop-out, but let’s just say that the line across the bottom of my hair across my neck would not be the shortest distance between two points…  I decided to quit while I was ahead or at least figured that I wasn’t going to impove things with continued use of the clippers in my current state of frustration and heat exhaustion.  (Melodramatic, I know, but it’s my stroy I’ll tell it how i want to!)  It doesn’t look too bad, but I think that I either need to accept fate and realize that I was not cut out for cutting my own hair no matter how much it costs to go to a shop OR I need to practice a lot and develop the dexterity to hold a mirror in one hand, the clippers in another and the presence of mind to not be confused by so many reflections!  A third option I suppose is to find someone to trim around my ears and across the back of my neck, but I don’t think that either of my cats (or the both of them in cahoots) would be up to the challenge.  The good thing is that I can go about two months between haircuts these days.  The downside of that is that it is because my hair has stopped growing on top and is starting to fall out.  I suppose before too long I could just bic it, but I’m not ready to fully embrace my bald self yet!  A fourth option exists, but is hardly qualifies as one.  I could just let my hair grow until I (hopefully) go home at Christmas time.  The reason that this is hardly an option is because, with the increased himidity here, my hair is completely out of control when it is not very long.  I can only imagine how scary it would be if it got some good length to it!  The other thing is that I cannot stand for my hair to be long enough to tickle my ears, so I doubt that I could successfully sport the 70s look.  At any rate, like my Mom always said, “the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is about 2 weeks.”  Thanks, Mom.  That helps a little.  Whether my haircut looks ridiculous or not is really a sidenote.  The most important thing is that it is shorter and, thus, less frizzy and much cooler than it was before!

Boredom-Induced Humiliation

As you could probably all recollect for at least a few more days or at the very least ascertain by looking at a calendar, it is Friday.  However, I’m going to state that for the record–and so you don’t have to look at a calendar before finishing the rest of my post should you read it at some later date.  When I got home from work tonight, my Friday night plans were rather scarce.  In fact, they didn’t exist.  I toyed with the idea of cooking and eating the pizza that is in my freezer, but in view of the fact that I ate nearly my body weight in chips and salsa as an after-work snack, I decided that it was not in my best interest to eat pizza tonight.  So I ate a quesadilla instead, which kind of hit the spot.  I was imagining what there might be to do in this small town on an average Friday evening.  They do have a movie theatre and as I drove past the other day I thought I saw that the current attraction was Mama Mia.  I drove on past without thinking much about it.  I had really wanted to go see Wall-E when it was in town last weekend, but managed to be pathetic and work or clean or something else and never actually made it there.  Prospects weren’t looking good and I actually hoped that the poster for Mama Mia was for next weekend and to be surprised by what was playing tonight.  But, it was true; the screen was reserved for Mama Mia.  So, I thought I’d at least follow the link to the page showing the trailer.  Well, I do like musicals and it looked kind of funny and I love Meryl Streep so I thought:  “What else have you got to do?  You have no friends other than your cats.  (A well-timed “oh…” would be appropriately placed here…) You haven’t joined netflix yet and you’ve watched all 10 of the movies you own within the last three weeks.  You have no library books to read; you cleaned the house last night; and it’s still too hot to go for a long bike ride; and your brain is too fried to accomplish anything at work.  So…  What the heck?”  I almost talked myself out of it because it is such a chick flick and I definitely did not have a date–nor could I take my Mom, sister or friend that is a girl.  Have to phrase that carefully–wouldn’t want anyone to have a stroke thinking that I actually had a girlfriend…  You see men can deny liking chick flicks, but still go if they have a woman to take along.  This way they don’t have to admit that they like the show, they just say that they went because of the woman.  It’s a pride thing. 

So I was playing the piano and deciding what to do and thought that I’d brave it.  When I rode up to the theatre on my bike some Jr. High girls were outside and I almost rode on past without stopping, but the prospect of sitting at home with my cats all night was good motivation.  My cats are very good company, but not very socially engaging and I was feeling pretty cagey.  Well, I went in the theatre and looked around for other males.  There were a couple of guys in there.  One with his daughters, one with his girlfriend and another with his sweetheart of many years.  I think that was it–3 other males and they had their chick flick scapegoats with them.  This was not helping me feel more secure.  But, I bought a ticket for myself.  Tickets are half as much here as they were in Bozeman so I almost bought 2 just so it didn’t look like a man was attending Mama Mia by himself voluntarily.  But, money is tight and I am trying to be frugal.  The cashier was put out by my paying for my $4 movie ticket with a $20 and at first I thought it was because she was running out of change.  (In my defense, I didn’t know how much movies here cost, but they were $8.25 in Bozeman and I hate carrying a wallet around in my back pocket so I stuffed a $20 in my pants pocket and took off).  Upon further reflection, I couldn’t tell whether she was more perplexed by counting the change or by the potential lack of it.  The drawer seemed well-stocked to me…  Anyway, I sit down and anxiously await the dimming of the lights–the sooner, the better.  I figure that from what I have heard the few places I’ve gone, everyone in town has seen my picture in the local paper and they all know who I am and what I’m doing in town, while I have no idea who any of them are.  Down go the lights and on come the previews.  I can finally relax and, hopefully, enjoy the show.  The music was fantastic although I had a hard time taking Pierce Brosnan seriously when he was singing.  There was a strong element of humor and I ended up laughing a lot.  I could have done without the one guy “finding his true self” at the end, but it was a happily ever after and, what can I say, I don’t watch movies to see how real and cruel life is.  I get enough of that every day when I watch the news or watch the world go by.  I watch movies to check out of reality and am completely ok with a fairy tale ending.  Don’t get me wrong.  A movie does not have to end happily for me to like it, but a majority of the movies I like end happily ever after.  My friend always says that I’m such a little girl.  Whatever… 

Anyway at the end of the movie, the lights come up before the credits have barely begun to roll.  I start squirming, but Donna and the Dynamos are singing at the end and then all the cast comes on for one last number.  So, I stay and rock out to “Dancing Queen” and whatever the other song was.  I get up to leave and when I turn around, there are like 20 old ladies in the rows behind me in the threatre.  I completely avoid eye contact and walk straight for the exit.  But, a woman is standing by the door.  She just smiles one of those smiles that says:  “You’re a pedophile aren’t you?  But, I’m a Christian woman and am going to smile and say hi to you anyway.  I’ll just tell my kids tonight to look out for you and warn the other ladies when we go walking in the morning so that they can tell their kids.  The school board meeting is tomorrow night, I’ll be sure to attend this week.”  Perhaps that’s not what she was thinking at all; I have no idea, but I ALMOST DIED!  I’m a little weird of course, but I’m no freak show.  I hurried out of the lobby, got on my bike and hit the road for home.  What a humiliating evening!  I still liked the movie, but was completely and totally embarrassed that I was jamming out to “Dancing Queen” with a bunch of old ladies.  But, I was desperately bored and am sure I’ll be able to laugh about the experience later.  Welcome to the life of a stranger in the first few weeks of life in a small town in the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska.

Moving from a Cat’s Perspective

My recent experience in moving my cats and me nearly 900 miles from Montana to Nebraska for my new job has given me an idea for a (perhaps) rather unorthodox post: moving from a house cat’s perspective.

During the first week of my new job where I was working on curriculum preparation from home and preparing to move my cats were probably wondering why I was home during the day.

Toby may have thought something like this:  “So he hasn’t gone to work for about a week which is kind of weird.  But, it is nice to have him around to pet me instead of being gone all day.  Besides, I like sitting in his lap, leaning on his arm while he types away at his computer.”

Jasper cat may have entertained this thought while chirping near my feet: “You are usually gone at this time of day.  What are you doing home?  Are you sick?  I’m going to jump up into your lap and check it out for myself.  I may even stay a while (which I never do) because it seems that you are a little stressed.  Perhaps if I purr in your lap for a while it will help you relax.”  It did.

By the next Tuesday, their thought processes had likely changed as I packed up the entertainment center and all of its components.

Jasper’s thoughts were most likely: “Hey!  What the heck did you do?  Under the entertainment center was my favorite place to nap and now it’s gone!  Why is my stuff all lined up over in the corner?  What is going on here?!?!” as he paced nervously up and down the hall checking out everything in the house to make sure it was not disturbed.

Toby was more chill.  He was probably thinking: “I think I’ll go outside and take a nice nap in a shady spot somewhere.  It’s too noisy in here for me and he keeps pacing around and moving boxes from here to there and back and forth.  I was out all night catting around and can’t even get a decent cat nap in…”  Pardon the puns.  I couldn’t resist!

On Wednesday morning when the movers showed up, it was a completely different story.

Toby was thinking: “Hey who are these guys?  I’ve never seen them before.  And they reek like cigarette smoke!  Oh, well, I can rub their legs and see if I can get some attention.  Besides, there are a lot of boxes to inspect.  Alright, well, that was fun.  I think I’ll exit and take a nice siesta” while Jasper cat was melting down pacing up and down the hallway, thinking:  “Who the heck are these guys and what are they doing in my house?!?  Wait!  Those are my things!  Why are you putting them in boxes?  Get out of my house!  Wait.  Let me see if I can trip this guy.  Ouch!  It worked for a second, but mostly I got booted across the floor.  Oh, good, they’re finally gone.  These boxes are kind of cool.  I think I’ll jump on top of some of them and see what’s shakin’.  I’m so glad that they left my favorite sofa.  It’s way past time for my nap.”

Then Thursday when the truck driver arrived to load things Jasper probably thought:  “More strange men!  What the heck?  Hey, put that loveseat down!  Don’t you dare take my scratching post!  Put that bed back down.  Where am I supposed to sleep when I return from my nightly stroll?  Guys?  Hey, why are you letting these strangers take all of my stuff? Hey…  Come on, please.”

Toby was outside somewhere.  I was worried that he might be checking out the semi truck.  The guys that came yesterday to pack my boxes told me a couple horror stories about cats getting packed up in moving trucks.  He probably wondered what was up with all the racket and why we were making so much noise and making so many trips in and out of the house, thinking “How am I supposed to catch a bird when you keep scaring them away? Hello!?!  Fine.  Ignore me.  Forget it.  I’ll be taking a nap if you need me.”

That night they were both thinking:  “This twin-size air mattress stinks!  Every time he moves, he knocks me off the bed.  How am I supposed to get any sleep at all? Eventually Jasper says, “I give up!  I’ll sleep on the clothes bag in the corner.”

On Saturday morning, Jasper was nowhere to be found.  He probably thought that since all of his things were gone and his whole world had been turned upside down that he’d rather not be home in case something worse was going to happen.  Toby got suspicious when I closed all of the windows tight enough that he couldn’t get out and locked the cat door.  He kept rubbing around my legs saying: “What’s going on?  Why are you locking me up?  I wanna go outside.  Please.  Pretty please.  Hey!  Why are you putting boxes in the car?  Are we going to Grandma’s house again?  Last time we went to Grandma’s house, you didn’t pack this much crap…  Besides all those little kids really freaked me out!  Come on, please let me outside.  Please…  Maybe if I’m sneaky I can get out the door while he is trying to get through with those boxes.  Rats!  Foiled again!  Fine, I give up.  I’ll be on the couch.”

When Jasper cat finally came home he jumped up on the couch to see why Toby was so blue.  “Hey? Tobes?  What’s going on?  You’re usually outside somewhere right about now.  Everything ok?”

“No, that jerk locked us in the house!  I think he’s dragging us off to Grandma’s house again.  Last time all of those little kids were so annoying.  They kept chasing me around and made so much noise.  Alright!  What the heck is up with this harness thing?!?  Get it off of me!  It’s so heavy and weird-feeling.  I can’t stand the weight…  Ah, that’s better” he said as he flopped down on his side on the carpet.

Jasper cat was completely freaked out.  “What the heck is this thing?  Get it off of me now!  Well, if you won’t, I will.  I’ll kangaroo kick it off or bite it off or something…  Oh, thank you.  That thing was freaky.  You’re not getting anywhere near me for quite a while now” he said as he raced down the hallway.  Toby waited patiently, but was also relieved when I took his harness off.  I just wanted to adjust them so that I didn’t have to do that while trying to prevent them from escaping at the hotel.  Besides, they are always in a hurry to get out of their carrier and it is hard enough just to deal with that!

Then I loaded the cats into their carrier which they never really appreciate.  When I headed east into town, they were probably wondering:  “Where the heck is he going?  I thought Grandma’s house was the other way.  Wait a minute…   Grandma’s house is the other way.  Where are we going?”

After a while, they were resigned to the fact that they were stuck in the car for a while and fell asleep.  But, when we arrived in Casper, WY Toby let me know that he was sick and tired of being in the car.  “Meow.”  “Meow,” which could be translated as “Help, Help!  Get me out of this thing.  I’m so tired of being cooped up!  Where the heck are we anyway?  This is DEFINITELY NOT Grandma’s house.  Where have you taken us?”

After checking into the hotel, I returned to the car to fetch the cats.  Oh my gosh!  Good thing I had the car door shut.  They were out of the carrier like lighting.  I put their harnesses on them—believe me, they were THRILLED!  Jasper was moaning and digging his claws into my shoulder.  Toby was only slightly mellower.  A nice woman in the lobby petted Jasper cat and said nice things to him, but he’s kind of a particular cat and I don’t think that she helped calm him down any.   He was probably thinking, “Who does this freaky lady think she is?  And why is she petting me and talking to me like I’m some kind of baby?”  Toby was like “whatever dude…”  But, she tried and that was all that mattered.

Meanwhile back in the hotel room, the cats got locked in the bathroom so that they wouldn’t escape while I was hauling in all of the stuff.  I thought that this was the best place for them in case they had an accident while I was still hauling in the litter box.  They have never messed on the floor at home or at Grandma’s house, but their entire world had been turned upside down and I wasn’t completely sure that they wouldn’t show their disappointment with what I would call inappropriate behavior!

Being the curious cat that he is Toby searched every corner of the room and checked everything out including my Taco John’s take-out.  He did as he usually does—gave it a good sniff and moved on.  Jasper cat on the other hand was completely freaked out and hid under the bed for most of the evening.  It seemed that they had gone on a voluntary hunger and thirst strike to show me that they were not at all happy about the current direction our lives were taking; but, eventually, both at least drank some water.  I’m not gonna lie…  Jasper’s a toilet drinker.  I had no idea and don’t know when it got started, but I discovered it when I was home at the 4^th of July.  I kept shutting them downstairs so that they could escape from my nieces and nephews, but every time I opened the door Jasper cat would sneak out and head straight for the commode to get a drink!  Kind of gross, but he is a cat and the water was clear so I guess…  ANYWAY big tangent!

They were even more excited the next morning when they got locked in the bathroom again while I was loading the car.  However, I think they assumed that it was like all of our previous trips and that we were heading back home.  About two hours into the trip, Toby started to voice his objections by meowing repeatedly.  It wasn’t loud, but was still very annoying!  I’m sure he was thinking:  “What?  We’re going further from home?  Where are you taking us?  Why do I have to stay in this ridiculous cage?  Let me out.  Let me out!  Let me out!!!   No?  Ok, I give up… Sigh…”  Jasper completely hates traveling and endures by lying down and practicing controlled breathing the entire time, thinking something like: “You can do this.  Just breathe and it will be over soon.  Look Toby’s right here with me it’ll be ok.  Besides, I like Grandma and her house is pretty cool, too.  Maybe we’ll end up there or back home eventually.”

Toby woke up every couple of hours and protested until he tired of it and returned to sleeping.  When I stopped in North Platte to re-fuel and grab some lunch, Toby had had all he could take.  It was only 40 more miles to our new house, so I thought after I gassed up I’d let them out of the cage in hopes Tobes would stop yowling.  I’d let him out of the cage once before and, after exploring the car, he went to sleep on my lap.  Jasper is too petrified to exit the cage—or too stupefied by the anxiety to find the door—I don’t know which.  At any rate, we made it about a mile before pulling over and returning Toby to his place in the cage.  He was wandering rapidly around the car and yowling very loudly.  I had hoped the yowling would subside if I set him free, but now he was yowling AND he was pacing around the car.  And Jasper was looking more freaked out by the minute in the absence of his traveling companion and best bud.  I was afraid he might mess himself…  So, since letting Toby out of the cage had just complicated matters while not reducing his yowling, he got stuffed back into the carrier and eventually gave up and went back to sleep.

It was hotter than Hades when we arrived in Curtis and all three of us were thinking: “What the heck did this guy get us into?”  Toby and Jasper set about exploring the house and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me whatsoever!  I guess I shouldn’t blame them, but I was incredibly unsure about things and could’ve used a friend at the time and the only two I had—a black cat and a black and white cat—were mad at me!  So, I cranked the window AC and laid down in front of it and told myself that it would all look better in the morning…  It didn’t help much, but I was here and was dealing with it.  The cats were probably thinking that this whole nightmare would be over soon and that they would return to their beloved home in King Arthur Court by the little stream.  But, when all of the boxes and their things arrived the next day, I think they figured out that we weren’t going back any time soon.  They didn’t sleep on the bed with me like as was customary for several nights, but have since seemed to forgive me. 

Anyway, that is moving from a cat’s perspective.  Hope you enjoyed it more than I did while living the story…

There aint nothin’ random about me!

Nandango tagged me and insisted that I do this.  She said that these are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your blog entry is up.

Six random things about me.  I think that it would be more fun to see if I could come up with six things about me that are NOT random, but, whatever, here goes!

1.  The tops of your sock make great napkins in a pinch…  I discovered this while living in Korea.  As is the custom shoes are removed when entering a home and people sit cross-legged on the floor–despite having a sofa.  Anway, it is also traditional to be served some type of food, but napkins (or the more commonly-used toilet paper roll) are not always readily available.  The top of your socks haven’t been in your shoes, are readily accessible when sitting cross-legged and work quite well as a napkin.

2.  I like to eat syrup on scrambled eggs.  None of that ketchup crap!  I think may be a genetic defect as it seems to come from my Dad’s side of the family.  My mother hates, but tolerates it.

3.  The only fist fight I have ever been in in my life went down something like this:  I was walking across the playground to the football field to meet my Mom as she was watching my oldest brother’s JV football game against the Browning Indians.  As I crossed the playground this Browning kid came up to me and asked me if I wanted to fight.  I said something like “No, I don’t even know you!”  To which he replied with a fist to my gut.  At this point in my life (1st or 2nd grade), I didn’t know people actually hit each other and so didn’t prepare for the blow.  He pretty much knocked the wind right out of me to which any normal boy would have responded with a fist, but I just walked past him and continued on with my day.  I’m special…

4.  I hate it when people pop their knuckles!  It almost makes me nauseous!  In fact, once I even had to ask a friend of my to please refrain from doing so when seated right next to me.  I know everyone does it and mine even pop occasionally, but the incessant contorsion of ones finger joints is completely stomach-turning to me.

5.  As un-American as I have been told it is, I have NEVER seen the Star Wars Trilogy all of the way through.  I’ve seen bits and peices of them, of course, but have never actually seen any of them from beginning to end.  My roomates freshman year of college were going to force me to, but they didn’t follow through, so I’ve still never seen them.

6.  I have mild scoliosis.  My back curves 14 degrees one way at one spot and then 14 the other way at a spot further up.  The major problem with this is that it makes it difficult to sit perfectly vertical on top of a horse.  I generally slide to the one side.

I’m definitely not going to tag 6 people because I think all of the people I know in the blogging world have already done this, but, ya know, if anyone reads this and feels a burning desire to respond, they are free to do so!

One of life’s little injustices…or is it?

So, as I’m preparing to move to Nebraska for my new job, I have been contemplating how much I will miss a lot of people that I know here in Bozeman and am once again reminded of people I have known and loved, but have left behind previously.  I’ve decided that it is one of life’s little injustices that we spend time with people and become close to them, only to have them move on and out of our lives or to move on ourselves.  The result is the same either way.  I think family is the biggest example of this: all that time spent fighting with and learning to love siblings during the growing up years only to finally realize that, when you cannot always be in such close proximity, that is precisely and perpetually what you want to do.  Too bad we can’t or don’t realize these things sooner…  It seems sad, and, yet, at the same time those seemingly never-ending family roadtrips and those times giggling on the floor until your sides ache are the experiences that solidify this bond.  Without these experiences, we cannot develop this type of relationship.  

Aside from family, however there are many people who pass through our lives at one time or another.  We live near some of them for years and some of them are only a part of our close association for days, weeks or months.  Whatever it is, I believe that people come into our lives for a reason.  I don’t believe that this is a coincidence (despite the fact that there are always those individuals whose purpose in our lives seems to be to help us learn patience or tolerance or those whose purpose we cannot discern until later).  However, as much as we try, we lose contact with at least some of these people that, at least for a time, meant a great deal to us.  Or, despite the fact that we remain in touch, we no longer share the exact same bond that we once had.  Sometimes even people who are still in close physical proximity drift out of our circle of close friends for one reason or another.  Perhaps these people have fulfulled their purpose for coming into our lives and now must move on to help someone else.  Or, perhaps one or both of us stop investing the time in the friendship that is required to keep it alive…  Someone once pointed this out to me–that being a friend is not a passive thing, you have to invest some time to truly be a friend.  This would also explain why an email every so often or an occasional post on facebook does not create the same type of bond as spending several hours a week together doing whatever, wherever.  Another possibility is that our friendship has been “trumped” (so-to-speak) by a deeper one such as when one of our best friends gets married and our relationship lessens even if ever so slightly as theirs grows.  As impossible as it would be in this life, wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of the people we ever knew and cared about could always be with us?  if our relationships could remain in their best state forever?  Why do we have to move on?  Why must our relationships evolve?  I don’t know, but, whatever the reason or circumstance, it is always sad to say farewell to those to whom you are close.  But, we all face those times in our lives.

Conversely, one of the neatest things about true friends is that they can always be just that.  Unless we intentionally chase these friendships from our hearts because of grief or spite or let them die for whatever reason, they remain intact as if scientifically preserved.  Then, when we meet again, it is as if we are picking up exactly where we left off, instantly and effortlessly resuming the closeness that we once felt.  True friends are the type that whenever you happen to see each other or talk to each other on the phone, it is as if you have never really been apart–aside from the catching up on details of what you’ve been up to and where you have been.  Something deeper bonds your souls together.  These true friends are the ones that drift through your thoughts often and of whom you have fond memories–the kind of memories that can make you laugh out loud or cry at seemingly (or really) inappropriate times when no one else around you knows why…

So despite the fact, that we cannot carry all of the people that we have ever known and cared about around with us wherever we go, these friendships stay in our hearts in a dormant stage as if flash-frozen.  But they can be immediately reconstituted whenever we meet again.  So despite the seemingly unfair nature of this whole phenomenon and the sadness that sometimes accompanies it, we are granted this gift to be able to store these relationships in our hearts indefinitely and enjoy them again and again, either through revisiting fond memories or by becoming reacquainted with those (in some cases) long lost friends once again.  How wonderful it will be when we will be able to have these good friends near us always–especially our families and those to whom we have no blood relation, but are close enough to be placed in the same category.

The hidden joys of having house cats…

So, growing up on our ranch in Montana, we always had at least one batch of kittens every summer…  I seemed to have had a gift for picking out the “special” ones (as in “Stop eating the paste!” special).  For instance one of my kittens named “Babes” (Don’t ask me why a 13 year old would come up with such a stupid name… IT seems incredibly ridiculous to me now, but that was her name.)  She was very “special.”  In fact, my brothers liked to hold her up in the air by her tail to make me mad.  The funny thing was, that she would START purring when picked up by the tail!  Anway, at this time in my life I could not understand why my Dad wouldn’t let us keep a cat in the house.  He would allow us to bring the kittens in for a while to play, but they lived outside.  I really wanted a house cat.  In fact, I told everyone that when I had my own house, I was going to have a house cat.  Around Thanksgiving, I decided that I was going to get a kitten, but I had to get two so that they would have someone to play with.  Well, I did–Fergus and Toby.  They were loads of fun; they would run all over the house and chase and tumble and they were so incredibly cute!  When they got a little older they would play with my toes while I was trying to sleep and run over the top of my bed constantly which kept me awake.  Fergus liked to crawl on top of my head and sleep, while Toby preferred to be under the covers by my feet…  They were so funny, despite the fact that they kept me awake sometimes!  I think this is the first reason Dad never let a cat live in our house–he tried it once because my Mom brought some home and the cats kept everyone awake with their nocturnal nonsense, so they got booted outside.

Another reason could be that they are reputed to be not so delicate with the furniture…  But, Toby and Fergus were pretty good about only scratching on their scratching post and they were angels as far as using the litter box from the get-go.  What a relief!  However, the utility of getting kittens in pairs was reinforced when Fergus passed on (he got FIP) and Toby nearly destroyed my house before I could find a new playmate for him.  Ok, so that’s a little melodramatic, but, out of boredom (I presume), he did destroy the miniblinds above my headboard in my bedroom with his little chompers–bless his heart…  (I’m told that in the South you can say anything you want about someone as long as you add those three words!)  Anyway, he hasn’t touched them since I got Jasper cat.  (Don’t ask me about the obviously needless redundancy of calling a cat his name followed by the word “cat”…, but it rolls off the tongue nicely.  So nicely in fact that I occasionally refer to his partner in crime as “Toby cat.”)  Anyway, Toby was so glad to have a new friend that, while Jasper cat was trying to figure out which end was up and where the food and potty were, Toby kept pummelling him and biting his ears.  Poor little guy!  He survived it well and they are best buds now.  As far as house destruction, we could always include the fur that gets on stuff, but my cats don’t shet too awfully much–especially if I use the Furminator every so often.  I know it sounds like a torture device, but it is really just a special comb that works like a charm to comb out their loose undercoat hair and keep them from depositing it on the couch…or my bed or my clothes…or whatever else.

So all is peachy with the cats in the house, right?  Wrong!  Jasper cat and Tobes decided that they liked going outside, so I thought that that would be fine and purchased a cat door and some tags for the kitties.  They were in heaven!  They could run around and explore new things–even if they couldn’t get out of my chain link fenced back yard for the first month or so…  The real joy began about a month ago when my cats decided to capitalize on their hunting skills and instincts.  That IS what cats are supposed to do, (I know and believe me I appreciate it) but cats have this devilish delight in bringing their captured prey home with them…!  So, at first it was the earthworms… Toby loves earthworms.  I would grab them and chuck them out the front door and he would zip out the back door, get a new one and be back in before I had hardly shut the front door!  Next it was the mice…  It was an especial treat to come home at night only to find a dead mouse when I flipped on the light.  At least they were dead.  Last week, I came home around ten and turned on my bedroom light only to discover that my entire room was covered in feathers!  The source which, a dead starling, lay on the floor near the door.  It was so digusting, but again, I thought to myself, at least it was dead.  Famous last words of a fool!  Two nights later, I was asleep and I could hear one of the cats playing with something between my bed and the wall.  (Since my cats gave up playing with their toy mice a couple of months ago, this type of noise is NEVER a good thing.)  I looked at the clock and it was 1:03 AM.  I got up and turned on the bathroom light and suddently I could hear this awful screeching.  Toby had a bird and it was most definitely NOT dead.  The only thing worse than the fact that is was alive was that it was in my BEDROOM!  Toby would drop the bird and then when it thought it could escape, it would try to fly and Toby would snatch it mid-lauch and shake it around some more with his teeth, scattering feather everywhere.  I chased Tobes out of my room because he was definitely not willing to let me steal his prize, nor did I really want to touch it.  I chased him to the living room where Jasper cat steals the bird and streaks through the kitchen back down the hall back toward my bedroom!  When he discovered I was in hot pursuit and that he might be cornered, he released the bird and it flew right at me and up over my head shedding feathers with every flap of its little wings.  Jasper leaped into the air and swiped the bird again and I managed to chase him out the back door and lock the cat door so the cats could not come back inside with their little dinner and a show act.  By this time I was furious…  If the keeping me awake with their night games and the house destruction issues were not enough to convince me that perhaps my Dad had been wise in excluding the cats from our living space, the bird incident was a good clean-up hitter!  I keep hoping this phase will pass because I’m not sure how many more of these types of events I can handle before the cats are banished from the house permanently!  Perhaps it is good practice for the when I have kids one day…  Only time will tell.

Gotta love celebrity politics…

So, this morning I was reading the news on Yahoo!  (The current status of the presidential election is dismal to me.  I find it depressing that I am going to have to vote for the candidate that I dislike the least…  Or not vote, but that’s hardly an option in my opinion!  You shouldn’t complain about what goes on if you didn’t cast your vote…)  But, that is just a sidenote–what floored me this morning on the news was the rationale some people on the BET awards were using to support Barack Obama.  If it were only on this show, then it would not matter in the least, but I think there is a lot of this among the populus.  Now, I’ll try and put personal views aside, but voting a black president in just because he would be the first black president seems like the stupidest thing a body could do!  The same goes for a woman president.  I don’t have a problem with a black president or even a woman president, but it seems that we should base our political decisions on more than just setting precedence!  Obviously if the black person or the woman is the most qualified and represents my views the best, by all means I would not hesitate to vote for them!  I would have voted for Colin Powell in a heartbeat!  However, it seems juvenile to me to vote for someone simply because it would be cool to have a woman or a black person in the oval office.  Besides, why do movie stars and entertainers have so much clout?  What are their credentials for publicly saying who should be elected?  Freedom of speech, I know…they can say whatever they want!  Then, I guess the real question is why aren’t more of the citizens asking the afore-mentioned questions before falling in line behind these highly visible figures?  At any rate, I hope that people are really ignoring the color of skin or gender in making their decisions in politics (and in any other area for that matter!).  That is what equality is supposed to be about…  BUT then again, what gives me the clout to rant about this anyway?!?!