GEORGIE PORGIE SITTING IN A TREE

Well he wasn't "k-i-s-s-i-n-g"! Last week as I was leaving for dance class with Erin and Sarah, our kitten George did what he does best, he darted through the door. I yelled to Tom to get him in sometime in the next hour. Somewhere in my pea sized brain I should have realized that George was used to coming when I called him, not Tom. He tried to get him to come in the entire time I was gone but when I arrived home three hours later he was still out. I knew when I called and he didn't come right away that he was lost. The kids helped look for him for awhile but I needed to send them to bed. I looked for two hours in the dark woods with my flashlight. Let me mention here that we do see BEARS around quite a bit! We also hear foxes a lot but I was more worried that George could have encountered them, then me having any problems. I was quite worried because it was getting to be around 40 degrees F. I knew my other cats can handle freezing temperatures, but George's coat is no where near as full as theirs. He's put on weight since we've had him but can still be described as scrawny. I finally gave up and went to bed by our front door so I could hear him meow if he showed up and wanted to get in. I tossed and turned thinking of all the horrible possibilites. Did something eat him? Would he curl up somewhere, tired, fall asleep then freeze to death? I had asked Tom if Beau had gone running after anything and he said only to the edge of the lawn...in other words, no he hadn't gotten a hold of George and done something horrible. You see, although inside Beau is meek with George, I've seen Beau go after wild animals with a vengence and don't totally trust that his wild instincts wouldn't take over. As I slept I kept imagining that I could hear George cry. I woke up exhausted. Thomas and Erin got ready for school while I made "lost kitten" signs to hang up at the entrance to our community. We had 5 minutes before we needed to leave and Erin and I went out to call George again. As we headed out into the woods behind our house calling I heard a faint "meow"! Oh my god, I hear him!!!!!!! I thought I was going to cry with relief. Relief because I wouldn't need to explain to Sarah that he wasn't coming back and relief because I like the little bugger!! We stopped and called again, it was coming from my neighbor, Margaret's house! At first we thought he was trapped in their wood pile until Erin looked up and saw him HIGH up in a tree. We called, he meowed but wouldn't budge. I had to bring Thomas and Erin to school but I told Sarah to watch him while I was gone in case he decided to come down he wouldn't get lost again. One of our other cat's Bob decided to help by calling to George and keeping Sarah company. During that time Richard, Margaret's husband, came outside and then went in to tell Margaret, "we have a little girl in our driveway"! So I came back to Sarah and Margaret staring up into the tree, Bob had enough and gave up. Sarah needed to get ready for school so I sent her in. I also didn't really want her to be there in case George fell and got hurt. He was up about two and a half stories and foolishly decided to come down the hard way. I think he used up one of his nine lives when he luckily landed between a railroad tie wall and a stump with a pointy piece of wood sticking out of it. He landed in some leaves that didn't do much to break his fall. I saw as his feet landed, his back kept going and bent backwards more than it probably should. He got up quite dazed and started to stagger off. My neighbor worried he was getting away but I wanted to see if he could walk. I then scooped him up and carried him home. He was shivering, not from the cold but from the stress. As soon as I got home with him, he wobbled up the stairs and went pee in the litter box. He peed for a very long time! He ate a bit. He looked exhausted and dazed. He was walking a little crooked and I was concerned because his back had bent so much but a couple of hours later he seemed A-OK! The next day he was back to his usual crazy kitten self! A very happy ending! I can't tell you how happy I really am! I'm so grateful he is home.

INTERESTING OBSERVATION

Have you ever noticed that some people's identity revolves around the hardships that they've endured? I know someone who likes to point out how "street smart" she is. She admires other people who are "street smart". I'm sure that she thinks that I am NOT "street smart". Just a naive country bumpkin. She is not the only person I know who wears her past as a badge of honor. She perceives herself as one tough cookie who is ready to take on the world. I've often found myself in subtle contests with these kind of people trying to prove which one of us has had the rougher childhood or gone through more off the wall circumstances. When I realize what is happening, I get annoyed with myself as well as with them. Why must I reveal what has happened to me in the past in order to gain their respect? Why should my respect for them increase because they feel they've "been through a lot"? I see that its all relative and have trouble feeling that my life or theirs has been tough. Just watch a documentary on the Holocaust. Or on female circumcision. Or on people in other countries being tortured and killed. Those things make our problems trivial. How can people want to wear these trivial things as a badge of honor?

I'm not talking about people who use things from their past in order to help people in the present. Or people who use problems in their past to make them a better person today. I'm also not talking about people who sometimes whine and complain that life is not fair (that would be me). I'm talking about the people who elevate themselves based on a false sense that they have been through more difficulties than the average person. We've all been through things, but I just don't get why someone needs to use that to make themself feel superior.

SOMEBODY LOVES ME

I just had a relative come to visit me and while she was here she asked me if I realized that my son Thomas always wants to be close to me (sitting next to me). I told her that I did realized it but later I began wondering why she had pointed that out. I began to think that maybe she was trying to tell me that he was too close to me. As I was wondering, it occurred to me that it doesn't matter what she was thinking because its so wonderful that ALL my kids want to be close to me. My husband also wants to be close to me. They want to be with me because they love me. They literally surround me with love. Such a simple thing that means so much. It hit me just how lucky I am. I have what everyone wants. Love! I often bemoan my less than perfect childhood. The lack of love I felt. All that really doesn't matter because I have four people who love me now. I have everything I need sitting right here beside me.

GRAPPLE AND OTHER SUCH NONSENSE

Grapple, grapple.

Doesn't that word look weird? Doesn't it sound weird? I hate when I decide to use a word as I'm writing something and as soon as I write the word down it starts to look weird to me. I just used grapple and the more I thought about it, the more I thought that I probably had made up the word myself and no one else would even know what it meant. Because really, it just doesn't exist in the English language. So, I went to my trusty dictionary (had to stop and check to see if I was spelling dictionary correctly since that word also started to look a little weird to me). I looked up grapple. I have to note here that I just went back to the dictionary right now to look up grapple again because I lost my spot and I've discovered that "grapple" has moved. I swear it used to be halfway down on a righthand page, but now it is on a lefthand page only a third of the way down!

Anyway...believe it or not there are two listings for grapple. One is that it is an instrument with iron claws used to fasten an enemy ship alongside before boarding. It even has a picture. Also, listed here is that it is a hand to hand struggle and also that it is a bucket similar to a clamshell. Next it is separately listed with the definition that I was using - "to come to grips with".

Now, you would think with all those different usages that I would not be weirded out by seeing it in print! Surely, I must have seen it many different times!

Is "usages" really a word? Its looking a little weird to me! Oh no, here we go again!

MY OTHER BEAU

This is my other dog Beau! Doesn't he look like a completely different dog when he is shaved!? He was unhappy because we had to hook him up. He hates being tied.
Today he is unhappy because for the next few days he is not allowed into the house....until the SKUNK smell wears off. I think this is the fourth time that he has been sprayed and he never learns....don't bother to send special shampoo/bath formulas because I refuse to wash him. He is suffering the consequences, I know it sounds mean but I wish he would just learn the smell of skunk is not pretty. He probably never will. Sigh! I've found that is how cats are different from dogs, I had a cat who was sprayed by a skunk...once... she learned.

THANX

Thanx for all the nice comments about my being a good mom. Like I said, I don't take a compliment well. Just so I don't feel like a phony, I have to mention I have my not so good moments. Quite a few of them to be exact. I can yell and scream and say stupid things that I regret. Sometimes I wonder if some of the things that I say and do really are the right thing. Many times I never figure out if I'm getting it right and I just keep plugging along anyway. My kids seem pretty happy right now but am I helping them have long term happiness? Well, a new kitten doesn't hurt and they can live for 20 years or more (see pictures below)!! LOL!!

I realize that kids are incredibly forgiving if you make sure you season your flaws with a dash of that kindness that I mentioned. Right angry prophet? Your insight is valuable to me. You mentioned the kind of music a person likes has an influence on them. Thomas likes to make his own music on the saxophone and organ. When he was two the only show he would watch was the Pennsylvania Polka - old people dancing around to polka music. Got any ideas on what kind of adult he'll grow into!!?? So far he is an interestingly unique person!

A PICTURES WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Let me outta here!

We'll be home soon!

Home at last!

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER

I feel as if I am trapped in a Leave It To Beaver episode!

Last night my third grade daughter, Sarah, told me that she had something she wanted to tell me about and that I probably wouldn't think it was good. She explained that during recess she had been throwing her toys at a friend of hers while he was on the swing. Another girl joined in on the fun. After awhile my daughter stopped because she wanted to do something else. Since Sarah took her toys with her, the other girl decided to continue by using acorns instead. Along comes the teacher and yells at the girl for throwing things and punishes her by taking away her recess for a couple of days or so. Sarah was not caught so she got off scott free. I asked Sarah if she knew she was doing something wrong but decided to do it anyway. She said yes. I asked her if she stopped because she felt bad about doing something wrong. She said no, she just wanted to do something else. I asked her since she normally always does the right thing, why on this day did she decide to do something bad. She burst into tears and said she didn't know. She told me that she deserves to be punished and that she wanted Miss S. (the teacher) to know and to punish her. I told her that I would write a note to Miss S. but I asked Sarah how she would feel if Miss S. decided not to punish her. Sarah said she would be mad because she deserves to be punished. So I reluctantly wrote a letter to Miss S. explaining the situation and requested that she punish Sarah. I also told her that it would torture Sarah more to not be punished.

I know that I should be happy that I've raised such a conciencious little girl but in many ways I'm not. I think the entire thing is very bizarre! I can't remember the last time that I punished any of my kids. My husband jokingly told me that maybe that's why she wants to be punished. That's what she's missing in her life. I told him that I feel guilty because I think maybe I've done something to make her too good. I said she feels overly guilty. He said just like her mother....LOL!

I am not hard on my kids. I spoil them in many ways. They don't have to do any regular chores. I don't yell at them very much. Most of the time I clean up after them. I sometimes still pour drinks for my son who will be 13 years old on saturday. Pamper, spoil, overindulge that's my tendency. I know many people who are much tougher on their kids. Yet, its me who doesn't even have to punish my kids because they never do anything really bad. Yeah, they grate on my nerves, they sometimes bicker with each other, they whine but all I do is whine back and when it gets bad I yell. But nothing that they do really requires a true punishment.

Many times I've tried to figure out what I've done so right to make them so good and I just can't understand it. Many times I've wondered if being so good really is the right thing. One of the only things I can think of is that they are just reflecting back the kindness that I've shown them. The one thing that I know for sure is that I am kind to my children. Kindness influences every decision I make in raising them. Even when I have to do something "mean", I am doing it to be kind in the long run. I have never treated them like they are just children who need to be controlled. I've always thought of them as people with the same feelings that grown-ups have. When Sarah came to tell me about this incident, she didn't come in fear. She came to be comforted. She came to be hugged. To relieve her guilt about doing something wrong. She knew she could set things right and move on with life. She was confident that I wouldn't be overly upset. She is relieved and she is also proud of herself. That part of it makes me feel good.

We live in a world where many people do the wrong thing. Is there a place for my children who so much want to do the right thing? Of course I believe there is a place for them but I want to make sure that they take there place with an understanding that their goodness doesn't come at the price of their happiness. That many different people exist with many different value systems. I want them to know themselves, but also know and be wise about other people as well.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Of course like all parents I've been incredibly busy adjusting to the start of school. Its tough on the kids to get back into the swing of things but its hard on us parents too! I normally stay home with my kids so its weird to have them gone all day. I realized this year that I am not one of those parents doing a happy dance at the thought of having them gone. Oh sure, I laugh at all the funny commercials where the parents are overjoyed at the prospect of new found freedom. I especially like the one where the father is happily buying school supplies and the song in the background is "Its the most wonderful time of the year...". However, my laughter is a mask for my inner turmoil. I laugh on the outside, but on the inside I am crying. For those who don't know me, I'm being overly dramatic as a joke. Seriously, the start of school always makes me a bit sad. For the first two weeks I mope around the house pining away for my family. It almost feels like my footsteps are echoing through the empty rooms. Sounds that used to blend into the background now seem magnified. I usually try to go out somewhere on the first day. Then after that I resort to loud music or the TV. After a couple weeks or so I adjust and come to appreciate the extra time to catch up on things that never seem to get done. I'm almost there. Thank god, I'm sick of hearing the dog snore.

Beau