Monday, February 28, 2005

Crabs and The Dogs of Babel

I‘m crabby! I‘m crabby! I‘m crabby! I guess that should be expected because I live in Maryland. And Maryland is famous, at least among us Marylanders, for Blue Crabs.
USELESS FACT ALERT: Maryland and Louisiana are the only two states with a with a State Crustacean. Maryland‘s is the Blue Crab and Louisiana’s is the Crawdad. And by the way isn’t it rather weird to have a State Crustacean.
Late last night I finished reading The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. Lord that book is incredible. It is well written, powerful and thought provoking. I enjoyed it immensely, except for a few parts about cruel amateur scientists. I couldn’t put the book down and stayed up reading until I finished it at 2:00 a.m. The book hit me so hard I still couldn’t sleep for another hour or so. Carolyn writes eloquently about love and loss. So powerfully that now that I am finished I am crabby, crabby, crabby. I’m crabby because it is a reminder that there are no guarantees in life. No one can promise me that I will never lose any of the people I love most in the world. No one can promise that there won’t be accidents, that people won’t change, that life won’t hurt.
Wouldn’t you think I could find something a little closer to home to worry about.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

I Want Better Hair!!

I got my hair cut today. I know, I know, I can just hear you saying so what, big deal. Well the big deal is I want better hair. 'There isn't much to my hair. It is too dang fine. I mean, I see ladies with pony tails the circumference of a quarter. When I pull my hair back it makes a pony tail with the circumference of one of those thick milk shake straws. What fun is that! It is too fine to hold an interesting or fun style, style; curls straighten out with in an hour. All it ever does is hang straight down.

So I live by my fantasy, that if I don't get it cut, if I continue to let it grow, it will transform itself into thicker, fuller hair. Hair that will hold a curl and a fun style. Sadly it never does, all that happens is it gets longer, hangs straighter and the women I work with start to bug me so that I'll call for an appointment to get it cut.

Eventually I give in to my work buddies and make the hair appointment. I give in not because I think it is too long, but because I'm tired of the ladies bugging me and because eventually my mind shifts over to fantasy two. I get my hair cut and it will be a miracle transformation, just like I see on an Oprah makeover. It will transform itself into thicker, fuller hair. Hair that will hold a curl and a fun style. Yesterday I made the appointment, today Julie cut my hair.

I admit it. It does look better. It does have a tiny bit of body. But it won't hold a curl or a fun style. Don't get me wrong. Julie did a great job. But all she had to work with was my baby fine, bone straight hair.

Oh well maybe if I let it grow it will magically transform it self into thick, beautiful blonde hair. Hair that will fall to me knees in beautiful magical curls!! You think?

How did it end up this way?

I don't know how it happened but somehow or other we have more pets than people in the house. It's my fault, I guess. I've always loved animals. Ever since I graduated from college I've had a cat or two. I was single for a long time and the cats were my furry kids, my company when I was home.

Fast forward a bit. I meet my husband-to-be and before too long we become a family of four; two people, two cats. A few years go by we add two (human) boys to the mix and become a family of six. And, in my opinion, four people and 2 cats just about makes a perfect family. Unfortunately as time goes on the cats grow old and move on to cat heaven. Children need pets. Right! So we visit the local animal shelter and adopt 2 new fuzzy babies. That brings us back to the perfect, in my opinion, family; four people, 2 cats.

The boys had another idea. Late Spring of 2002, they found 2 small kittens in the woods. They came running home to tell me how little they were and "Mom they are hungry". I tried my best to convince them that the cats belonged to someone nearby, that they should just take them some food and water to tide them over until the family found them. That worked for just one day. As soon as school was over the next day, my boys got off the bus, ran past the house, dropping off their backpacks in the middle of the drive way and ran to the woods. Finding the kittens still there, they braved the stickers, caught the kittens and brought them home.

I said we would take them to the animal shelter as soon as Daddy came home. I should have known better. Those two were determined to keep those kittens. They beg, cajoled and pleaded. They promised to feed, clean and care for all the cats. They wore us down. The kittens joined the family. But still it wasn't too bad; four people four cats. At least the sides were equal. That was 2 years ago. We now have 2 boys, 4 cats, a turtle and a dog. I love them all, but good lord, normal people don't have this many pets!!

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Snow Day

It's snowing, school has been cancelled and I took the day off from work to stay home with the boys. My husband thinks they are old enough to stay home by themselves all day, I'm not sure. Or maybe I just wanted a day off.

It has been a good day, but I think I have become addicted to reading blogs. I sit here for hours hitting next blog, next blog. I'm fascinated by the wide variety of people, postings and stuff her. Though it sure irks me when I can't find the stupid next blog button.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Why Not & Who I Am

Why Not

Why not have my own blog. After all I have been fascinated with the idea of online journals/blogs since I found my first and still favorite years ago. It wasn't until I found this site a few weeks ago that I started to get the bug to have my own. I mean it is free. How can you beat that.

I like blogs because they show me a slice of someone else's life. I like seeing the similarities and the difference between my life and the lives I read about. I find it fascinating that some folks can be so very painfully open, telling the most intimate details about their lives; while other bloggers practice a more public openness, (talking about issues that while controversial, still find wide public acceptance, such as gay marriage or how very irritating their mothers are) and still others write a blog that could be read by their mother, their third grade teacher or even the local parish priest.

I like the wide range of issues people write about, everything from what music they are currently listening to or trying to lose weight to dealing with miscarriages or trying to adopt a child.

I like seeing how different people cope with hard times and good times. Often I can see some of myself in the way they handle things, even if I haven't been through a similar experience. I like that sometimes the blogger surprises me because they see things and handle things in a way that I would never have thought of, but learn from. I like that even though we may have similarities everyone is different.

Who I Am

I am a middle aged woman,married to the love of my life for almost 15 years. We have 2 sons, ages 11 and 13. I have worked for the same company for most of my adult life. While I love my job a job in management is opening up soon. I want that promotion even though the idea of being a manager scares me.