A Christmas Story

So the Winter Solstice, Yule and Christmas blew in and out in a flurry of activities. Hubby's birthday was in there as well. He's a Christmas week baby and has always loathed his birthday. I didn't do as well this year celebrating his birthday as I have in the past. Not only was it Sunday with church obligations, it was the only chance I had to go to a friend's house to tie-dye underwear for the kids' stockings. We did throw together an impromptu surprise birthday party after the middle child's youth group. Then we went to a late showing of Avatar (A-MA-ZING video, predictable plot).

Christmas week was spent cramming my 15-hour work week into three days and finishing up the holiday shopping. The kids seemed happy with their gifts. Our family keeps the gift giving to a pretty low amount compared to most out there. The kids get a big gift, some clothing and a stocking for Christmas morning, plus a gift to open on Christmas Eve. This year's big gift was a bicycle for everyone in the family. The boys took their bikes out immediately while the girl and I went out later. The weather was cloudy, cold and windy so the rides were short. The rest of the day we relaxed before meeting the hubby's mother, brother and nieces at a Japanese restaurant for Christmas dinner. We started doing the Japanese dinner last year and I really enjoy it. The food is delicious and the clean-up is a breeze! ;-)

Saturday Clark took his son back to Atlanta. On the way home, he stopped off to visit with his best friend John and his family. When he got home, we went over to visit a little more with Clark's mom and brother (who was heading back to Florida Sunday morning). My son we put on a plane for California Sunday night. My daughter, now 18, chose not to go this year. So this week will be a little quiet without the boys around. Traditionally this is the time we catch up on some of those pesky household chores. I'm also looking forward to taking my new bicycle out on some of the Nashville greenways this week!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

What a Wonderful World

On my quest for some holiday cheer, this video made me smile. :-)



¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Bah. Humbug.

Soul Cake

Though I myself rarely patronize Starbucks (aka St. Arbuck's to some of my Twitter friends), the company does sponsor Morning Joe, which we do watch. Earlier this year there was an ad for a new CD from Sting with a holiday theme called "If on a Winter's Night..." The featured songs intrigued me so I texted Clark, who was on the road, and that night he brought it home. Some of the songs are so-so but a few are great and my absolute favorite song on the CD is entitled "Soul Cake."


¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

We Need a Little Christmas

Ten days until Christmas and I continue on my search for my holiday spirit. Today I will attempt to conjure up some Christmas cheer through food by making peanut butter fudge and Oreo bon bons. Maybe giving away tons of sugary yummy treats will light the fire needed to get this little elf started.

Last night we watched "A Christmas Story," which was the first time any of us had seen this movie touted as the #1 Christmas film. It was a cute movie, but I now understand why everyone I tried to get to watch this who had seen it did not want to re-watch it. I don't know if this will be one I watch every year. We still have "Deck the Halls" to watch, but really nobody liked that the first time around! Netflix is shipping out a couple of films today--"Unaccompanied Minors" and "A Christmas Carol" (the Patrick Stewart version)--and I plan on hitting McKay's Used Books this afternoon for some more movies on our must-see list.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Where Are You Christmas?

So the Christmas tree is still sitting in the living room with its bright colorful lights and bare limbs. We haven't even covered the ugly bottom up with a tree skirt. The black cat has taken to sleeping under it. *sigh*

When my dad was here this weekend he asked me about the holiday plates. I can't believe it's December 14th and I haven't gotten the snowman plates down yet! Can you say, "Bah hum bug!" We have used holiday plates from Thanksgiving to Spring every year we have been in Nashville! So this week I resolve to:

1. get the holiday dinnerware out and washed;
2. get the tree decorated;
3. finish stocking stuffer shopping; and
4. pick up the final parts of the big family gift(s).

Meanwhile, in family news, this is finals week. Kyle has his exhibition today and Ryann has four finals she needs to take. I am so happy that both of my kids were able to find non-traditional education systems since neither of them are traditional students.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We have boxes and boxes of decorations sitting in the living room, so yes, decorating is on the schedule. Over the years my interest in decorating the house has definitely waned. I am not sure if this is a shift in my attitude towards Christmas or my attitude towards the labor involved in putting up (then taking down) all the decorations.

I do worry sometimes that in a few more years I will completely forgo any type of Christmas decorating and I wonder if my family will even notice. That's not to say I'm a "bah-humbug" about the holidays. I listen to holiday tunes the entire month, watch holiday movies with the family and love to see the holiday lights on all the houses. This weekend we'll get everything put up, and with luck, all the boxes put away so we can enjoy the ambiance for the rest of the month.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

December Arrives

December announced its arrival yesterday with a cool snap of weather and keeps up today with lots of rain. I love when the air turns cold and we have to bundle up, but always get caught unawares. I try a couple of times through the fall to pull out my big coat and gloves and scarf, then the weather stays warm. About the time I reach the point where I have given up on ever having cold weather and leave my cold-weather gear at home, the weather changes for good. So, welcome, December! I am looking forward to a chilly month!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

National Novel Writing Month Wrap-up

November went by way too fast. I have to admit I did not reach my 50,000 word goal in the National Novel Writing Month. I was about 7,500 short, but refuse to be too bummed out about it. During November there was lots of church work--in addition to the board work (I'm Board Secretary), I also chaired the search committee for a youth coordinator at church and worked on some social justice programs for the youth. I spent a great holiday weekend in the mountains with family and friends, plus we had a soccer tournament, weekly commutes to daughter's school, and my own job in the mix. Not a bad way to spend thirty days. I think I'll work on this novel for another couple of weeks at a more leisurely pace and then send it out for review. Next year, I will be ready with my own novel, my own plot and, hopefully, more time! ;-)

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Day Five #nanowrimo

Day Five - 2,039 words for a total of 8,446. Got such a late start today, I actually thought we would not get much done. =) K has been helping with the plot line and giving suggestions, so he is still helping. This may work! LOL

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Day Two = 3305 Words

It's late, but I got them posted. I think I've lost my collaborator already! LOL

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Day One = 2205 Words

Not bad for a first day of writing. Now if only K and I can keep up the pace. So far the story hasn't developed. We're doing a couple of background, set the stage chapters right now. Let's hope we can agree on where the story is going when we get to the action! Have a great day and good luck if you're writing for National Novel Writing Month!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

How Many Words A Day??

So November is National Novel Writing Month and I'm taking a break from editing my own novel so I can participate with my son. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. In order to get to our target of 50,000 words, we have to average 1,665 words every single day! Whew! I'm not sure how this is going to turn out, but it's going to be fun working with K on this. We've talked for months about this conspiracy with plumber trucks. This is our chance to put it all down in words. This morning I wrote the first chapter based on stuff we'd discussed yesterday. It was a total of 1,375 words. Now I need to get him to log off of WoW to help me with the beginning of Chapter Two. Of course, in his defense he is two bars away from level 40 and his epic mount. Unfortunately we have soccer practice and OWL this afternoon so time is running out to squeeze out those additional 290 words. Anyone else up for the challenge?

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Back in the Saddle

So I have neglected my blog during the month of October. I can't believe today is Halloween. Things have been very busy with church life. I am the chair of the search committee looking for a new youth coordinator. Add in soccer, fall break, and regular life, it's been a whirlwind of activity. But I'm ready to climb back into that saddle and get to blogging. I actually forced myself to refrain from posting these last couple of days just to make sure I really wanted to post again. And I do!



So please forgive my absence for the last few weeks and check back soon for an exciting project starting up tomorrow morning...until then have a spooky and safe All Hallow's Eve!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. Since she is in Arizona and we all are in Tennessee, we won't be going out to dinner. I use to angst over what to do for Mom since we can't be there in person and do the eating thing together. She does not collect anything and her digs are fairly spartan of knick-knacks. Then one day I decided to send her flowers on her birthday. They are clutter-free (gone in a week or two) and totally frivolous and totally just for her!

Mom lives in a very remote area of the Arizona high desert about an hour from Phoenix. In years past, I would hop online to order from 1800flowers.com and the local florist would deliver (getting lost and having to call, but getting there eventually). This year we had trouble. The kids helped me pick out a very nice arrangement. Do you know how hard it is to get two teenagers of different genders to pick out the same arrangement? If not, you don't have kids! Anyway, we picked out a great Flowers of Europe Fall Flowers arrangement and I ordered. Not. Turns out the economy has businesses dropping like flies in Mom's area and there is no longer a florist who delivers to her community. Drat! Back to the drawing board. This time I try ftd.com. Same situation. The kids agree on an arrangement and we order, but again no florist. Third time's the charm I tell myself. I have always dreaded sending boxed flower arrangements through FedEx or UPS, but it seems this is the only way I'm going to get flowers to my mom for her birthday, so I relent and go back to 1800flowers.com. Once again I present options and to my wonderment the kids both pick the same arrangement. Hallelujah! Flowers ordered; crisis averted.

Mom called when the flowers arrived. They are beautiful and she loves them! Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Rain Rain Go Away...

Let me begin by stating.... I. Love. Rain. Being a fair-skinned red-head growing up in the South Pacific and the desert of Southeastern California, I have had my fill of sun and sunburns. Bluntly, I would be very happy living in perpetual cloudiness. With a soccer playing son, however, I need the rain to go away. Last September Kyle injured his knee--fractured growth plate--and missed most of the fall season, so we were looking forward to this year. Instead, Middle Tennessee has had rain every day for the past the last fifteen days with more predicted for the weekend. What this means to a soccer family is canceled games, canceled practices, canceled tournaments.... in other words, no soccer! On the plus side, we get to spend more time this weekend at our all-church retreat, so we're going to make the most of a soggy situation. Have a great weekend!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Church is for broken people...

...is the message on the roadside marquee at one of the several churches I drive by almost daily. I enjoy reading messages from different denominations. Many are inspirational; some are amusing; and then there are the ones like this one that strike a raw nerve. I am not sure exactly what they are meaning by "broken" and it bothers me. The impression I get, and keep getting each time I see this sign, is that of a vengeful dogma preaching the evilness of man. After many many years, my own spiritual path has finally veered from this shadowy path. Believe me I pile enough guilt upon myself that I do not need my religion adding to the mix. For me, religion should concentrate on the beauty of life and joy of miracles all around us. Why do so many religions, especially Christian religions, rely upon fear of retribution instead of embracing love? That old adage of "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" rings true here. Instead hammering a person with a litany of faults and shortcomings, why not fill them with hope and possibilities? In short, why are there so many "glass half-empty" dogmas out there? Some days it's enough to depress even the most optimistic of the "glass half-full" among us!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

On the Road Again...

This morning I rediscovered the joy and the beauty of the open road at sunrise. Something about headlamps reflecting white off the lane markers and the emptiness of the roadways makes this nomad heart of mine sing and yearn to keep driving. I am a writer, but poetry is a prose that completely eludes me. It is akin to my high school years on the track team. I could run the 100- and 200-meter dashes and soar in the long jump and triple jump, but the dexterity of the hurdles and nuances of the high jump always remained beyond my grasp. This morning, however, as I drove east on I-40 in the pre-dawn shadows, I felt inspired and almost believed I could construct a poem good enough to honor the magnificence of the sunrise and voice the feelings such a vision evoked within me. Sadly, however, two hours later, under gray fog in the campus parking lot, that magic has faded. Should I have pulled over and scribbled the words filling my heart? Or at least spoken them aloud, given them life instead of allowing them to die undeclared? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps instead I should remain alert for other such moments in my days and resolve that, if at that time I am not driving seventy mph down a freeway, I will then endeavor in my attempt to vocalize the splendors.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Sticks and Stones

This morning I decided to get back into the swing of rising a little early to have a few minutes to myself and spend some quiet time before switching on the the technology. I found a small book I have not read in nine years--Take Time by Eknath Easwaran. Eknath Easwaran was an Indian professor born in 1910. He came of age during India's struggle for independence and, as a college student, met Ghandi, who influenced a number of stories in this first chapter.

While reading I was struck by the language used in this book, which led me to the differences between American English and British English. We American choose words or phrases that (imho) have a slightly negative tint. Take for example the word vacation. American vacation, or "vacate" their lives, while the British take a holiday. Another phrase is "stand in line." Would you prefer to "stand in line" or "join the queue"?

This line of thinking also leads me down the road of derogatory terms, a topic I have discussed with people from church a couple of times and, most recently, with my children. That old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me" is not truthful. Words have the ability to cause harm, invisible and lasting hurt. I have never been physically assaulted, but still carry wounds deep inside from words carelessly thrown out by family or friends. There are words we throw about in everyday conversation that can inadvertently cause harm. Have you ever heard a comment like "That so-and-so gypped me" or "That vendor tried to jew me down"? The words "gypped" and "jew" refer to discriminatory and stereotypes of gypsies and Jewish people. How about "Indian giver"? That one really is an ironic statement since it was not the Native American nations, but the U.S. government, who made a habit out of taking back that which was supposedly "given." Then, of course, is the modern put downs referring negatively to gays and lesbians. Those sentiments make me cringe whenever I hear them (or read them in chat). We may have made many advances in our society, but there is still much work to be done on our attitudes and tongues.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Do Something

I've been talking with the youth this month about social action programs. Working for social justice is an integral component of our faith, one to which we (the adults) devote many resources. Unfortunately, sometimes our projects leave the youth in the fringes. For example, our congregation joined with 19 other congregations to do a Unity Build with Habitat for Humanity. We raised money last month, over $4,000.00, and a group worked on-site today. When my son heard about this project--one of the organizers talked about it from the pulpit a couple of Sunday mornings back--he turned to me, very excited, and said he would like to participate in this project. I had to inform him that participants had to be over 18. This is not the first time I have had to curb my children's enthusiasm because of age restrictions. Frustrated, I started looking on the web (Google is my best friend) for age appropriate projects. Let's face it teens, and children for that matter, have limited resources. Any money the kids "raise" for a project is most likely coming from their parents' pockets, same with any collection drives--food, clothes, school supplies, etc. I found the most awesome website at dosomething.org. Their five guidelines are:

1. Believe in teenagers. Teenagers can lead today. We don't require adults.
2. Trust teenagers. We provide reliable, easy to access information and activation strategies, but teens decide for themselves what to do.
3. Celebrate teenagers. We think all measurable contributions from teens are valuable.
4. Respect teenagers. We understand that teenagers have diverse abilities and constraints.
5. Value teenagers. Our programs and products are free. We're not after teens' money; we want their passion, time and creativity.

Additionally the Do Something motto "Powering Offline Action. Using the power of online to get teens to do good stuff offline" is reflected throughout the entire site. There are many inspirational stories of teens doing, not good, but great stuff in their communities and truly making a difference. I think tonight I saw a spark in our youth and am looking forward to our next conversations to plan some projects. I only hope the adults in our congregation are prepared for the awesomeness that is our youth when they are fired up!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Better Days...

Some days the bad news of the world gets me down and I wonder about the future of the human race. Then something comes along that restores my faith in mankind. Last night was one of those good times. The youth and parents from church served dinner at Safe Haven Family Shelter, the only homeless shelter in middle Tennessee that lets families stay together. The kids did a great job and were so full of grace. My son told me a couple of years ago after the youth helped with Room in the Inn that working that project made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Well, watching the youth interact with these families at Safe Haven made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Self Care

For most of my adult life I have taken care of those around me, sometimes taking on too much and allowing *me* to get lost in the process. When the kids were small, I would make sure they were bathed, dressed in clean clothes and fed breakfast before we left the house, but then I would not have (or take) the time to do the same for myself. I know this drives my hubby crazy and he has been working with me for almost ten years to change this damaging mindset. That is one reason he took the pottery class with me this summer. He knew that given the chance I would avoid going, but with him coming along, I was forced to go. Right now we are talking about me taking a pottery class this fall, and I'm torn...not because I don't like pottery (I love it!)....not because I have other commitments (Monday nights are open and hubby will help with soccer practice)...I have no reason not to take the class, none, but still I hesitate. See, I know me and I know that if my day is crazy busy and I feel overwhelmed, my initial response is to cut out anything that has to do with *me*. For example, today is the first day I have had off for a couple of weeks and have made plans to meet my friend this morning. Unfortunately this afternoon is jammed full with eye doctor appointments for me and the boy child, boy's soccer practice, then making a dish and serving dinner at a local family homeless shelter. Do I look at rescheduling the eye doctor appointment? No! Instead I look at my visit with my friend. We met in Spanish class my first day back at college in August '06. She has since had a baby and is a stay-at-home mom with a toddler and 2nd grader. Since I graduated we try to get together every week for coffee, chat and/or a walk. I have not been able to meet up for almost a month, so there is no way I am canceling. This is progress! A couple of years ago I would have canceled. Before that I would not have even bothered taking an hour out of my schedule for something as selfish as coffee with a friend.

As I mentioned, my hubby is always urging me to do something for myself and it is bad enough that my teenage kids have even noticed. A couple of years ago I went grocery shopping before picking my son up from middle school. He noticed a bottle in the cup holder, a Sobe or Frappacino, I can't even remember what, but he picked it up and looked at me with a big smile, "Mom! You bought yourself something to drink! That's great!" From the mouth of babes.....

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Time Keeps on Slipping....

The middle of September is upon us. Wow! My brain keeps thinking it is still the first of September, but feel like it's August. We had a busy weekend starting with worship at The Temple on Friday evening to kick-off the Unity Habitat build--20 congregations from various denominations building a house over the next four weeks. Saturday we spent most of the day at the church putting finishing touches on the youth room so it would be ready for class and youth group on Sunday. Sunday was church and recuperating! ;-)

Clark and I did sneak in a little "us" time to go to the TN State Fair. Clark spent most of his time at the leather guild's booth, while I wandered. This is my first visit to the state fair since moving to Nashville. We went to the Wilson County Fair a couple of times with the kids, but they were never interested in the exhibits. I saw the cakes, cookies, sewing, drawings, paintings, photos, legos, and various other creative arts. I also walked through the livestock barns, which brought back a plethora of memories, some good, some not-so-good. In a previous lifetime, the first two weeks of March were dedicated to the California Mid-Winter Fair, one year as an FFA student and fourteen years at the significant other of an FFA advisor. One thing that is the same at every fair...California Mid-Winter, Wilson County, TN State...the food! I had myself a corn dog and Nutty Buddy. Yummers!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Flu Season Already?

Kyle has been sniffling since the weekend and I've been feeling run down--sore throat and lethargic. He really wanted to skip practice last night, but "Mean Mom" (aka me) made him go. When he got in the truck after practice, though, he looked and sounded horrible. So this morning we decided to let him stay home. Turns out the flu is already spreading in the local schools. I think this year we will all get our flu shots, something I quit doing when I stopped working in an office back in 2000. Hopefully CVS is still carrying the vaccine.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

First Day of College

I have no idea where the last week has gone! It's been busy busy busy with school and sports and church. I think I've logged 3-4 hours a day in the car. Today I took Ray to her first day of college art class--two hour drive there, two hours on campus, two hour drive home. Turns out she does have to be on campus on Thursday for her lab, so Clark is driving her Thursday. What I don't understand is a two-hour credit class requiring four-hours per week class time. Normally three hours per week equal a 3-hr credit class; and four hours per week equal a 4-hr credit class; and so on. Other than that, she is getting adjusted to her online courses and learning how to navigate those screen. It is interesting how all four professors set their online class up differently, so she is having to learn four different methods. Oh, well! At least she is wasting her three hours per week per class here at home instead spending those twelve hours sitting in a classroom, only to come home and spend another few hours trying to figure out what her professors require! I think we made the right choice going online for academic classes.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Knock Me Down a Peg

Our Chevy Malibu Maxx had to go into CarMax today for some repairs--the cigarette lighters blew again and the driver's seat won't adjust correctly--and it seems they needed to order the parts. Our extended warranty includes a rental car at no cost to us, so Clark headed over to Enterprise. The guy at the counter took pity on my 6'6" 275lbs. hubby and instead of putting us in a Cobalt upgraded us to the only other available vehicle, a fire-engine red Chevy Silverado. Wow is this thing flashy and conspicuous. I felt like everyone was staring at us as we drove down the road. I know I would have been and my assessment would not have been favorabe. We all need to be pulled off our holier-than-thou soap boxes every now and then!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Monday... ugh!

Every fall there is one day that is overloaded with too many activities and not enough room to breathe. This year it is Monday. Not only is it the beginning of the week, but it is Kyle's soccer practice day. Why is practice a big deal? When we moved to the Crieve Hall area, Kyle stayed with his old team in Donelson, which is about fifteen minutes away on a good day. With practice beginning at 5:30, right in the middle of rush hour, it takes about 45 minutes to get to practice. Then I am stuck there for two hours while Kyle practices since traffic is such that I don't want to get back out in it. Tonight I read, which was okay. But we don't get home until 8:15-8:30 so it's definitely a long day. The upside? Getting through the rest of the week is a breeze after Monday's marathon!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Doing nothing

Today was one of those days where I did absolutely nothing of any merit. I made us biscuits for breakfast then played WoW. I skipped church and two meetings there (all optional, nothing to which I had committed to going). Towards mid-afternoon, Clark suggested ordering in something to eat so we had Roma's, enough food that dinner took care of itself. This is not something I do very often. I'm always doing something and feeling guilty if I do nothing. When it's the teenagers, however, telling Mom she needs to just relax, it's time to take their advice. And what did I have to feel guilty about? Nothing! The house had been cleaned the day before. I did not have any required meetings at church and I do have obligations there for the next couple of Sundays, a meeting next week and then teaching the jr/sr high class the following week. Plus we have some soccer weekends coming up. So today was my attempt at self-care. The guilt is just something I have to continue working on.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

AIE Meetup

For all the MMORPG gamers, WoW peeps and AIE guildies on ER, you can skip down. For everyone else, here are some definitions to help you through this post:

AIE: Alea Iacta Est, "The Die Has Been Cast" guild on ER
Earthen Ring: An RP Server in WoW
MMORPG: Multi-media, online, role-playing game
RP: Role play
WoW: World of Warcraft


So, the family has been playing this online game WoW for almost five years. Clark's coworkers pulled him onto the bandwagon shortly after the game was launched and, as he did with DnD, he corrupted the rest of the family! Being the tech geeks that we are, we started listening to podcasts to help us in the game and stumbled across The Instance podcast, which led us to the Earthen Ring server and AIE, a humongous fun guild. Now is that humongous and fun or humongously fun? Both! The guild is large--over 4000 members, maybe 5000 now, I'm not sure--and there is always lots of conversation in guild chat--aka the green wall, because the default font for guild chat is green--and fun events happen all the time.

Admittedly, Clark and I have not been active lately in either the guild or in WoW. When I was in school and otherwise occupied, Clark kept himself busy in WoW and AIE with NORG--Night Owl Raid Group. When I joined Twitter last year, I chose to follow mainly AIE guildies and have had great Twitter fun with them. So now that we are getting back into the game, it was great to have the opportunity to meet some of the people face-to-face at an AIE guild meetup at the Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills. I had so much fun, which is saying a lot for this extreme introvert! Ryann went with us and everyone was so welcoming she had a wonderful time as well. Ray's ambition is to go to college for animation and work on video games, so I've been telling her that WoW is definitely something she needs to play and get involved with. Now how many mothers you know tell their teenagers they need to play *MORE* video games? When we got home from the meet-up Ryann logged into WoW, created an Undead Priest for herself and leveled the toon up to level seven in a couple of hours. As for me, my own toon--a Tauren druid--gained another level on my slow crawl to the cap, which is 80...for now. Blizzard announced a new cap of 85 in the upcoming Catyaclysm expansion at this weekend's Blizzcon. Hey, Blizz! Quit it! I'm still trying to get to the original cap level of 60!!



¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Buona fortuna, Lauren! Abbia il divertimento!

My hubby's niece Lauren is leaving Monday to do a semester of college in Italy! Tonight we went to Clark's mom's house to have a farewell dinner.... lasagna, salad, garlic bread and gelato with brownies. Yummy! It was lots of fun. I was in charge of finding Italian games/entertainment for the evening. We actually had a bocce set we had never used. Clark, Kyle and Kyle's friend Spencer figured out the rules before we headed to Mommo's house and the four kids played while dinner was finishing up. My kids and Clark's nieces all get along so well and it's great to see them together. During dinner I pestered Lauren with questions about her trip. When I went back to college in '06 I loved the idea of semesters abroad. This is a great opportunity for Lauren and I hope we can offer the same opportunity to our kids to study abroad when they get into college. After dinner I had assembled a quiz I found online called "So You Want to Be Italian?" It was entertaining and informative tidbits of information about Italy. I had been looking for a card game, but the Italian card games required a modified deck and the rules seemed, at first glance, very complicated, so we left it at that. Kyle and Lauren did play a game of Speed while Ryann drew a "chibi" of Meghan, which turned out so amazing Ryann then had to draw one of Lauren. It probably took her thirty minutes to draw both of them. That girl's talent never ceases to amaze me! Of course, while his sister was drawing his cousins, Kyle was glued to his phone. He is my social butterfly and can't ever be off the grid!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Essential Life Lessons

So this morning I saw that the toilet paper roll was getting a tad low and was pleasantly surprised to note a spare sitting on the back of the toilet. So now I'm wondering did one of the kids actually take the initiative or was it the hubby? My thinking then goes down the mom-road... my kids are teenagers and will be heading out on their own in a couple of years, but are they really ready? Have I taught them the important things... the essential life lessons? Then I started reflecting how the definition of life lessons has changed since I was a teenager. Let's see... I learned how to properly change the toilet paper (0ver is Right, under is Wrong) and how to make a bed (the bright pattern of the top sheet down with hospital corners). I don't think my kids have learned those lessons. Maybe, I hope, times have changed and with them essential life lessons have changed. So while my kids and I have have had many great conversations about things I could never discuss with my parents... drugs, relationships, sex, finances, bullies.... I will just have to hope they can forgive me when their significant other reads them the riot act for putting the toilet paper on the roller wrong or making the bed incorrectly!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

I'm what level....?

I've not been playing World of Warcraft (WoW) lately and have had the itch to get back into my casual gaming. I thought I would play some over the summer, but I kept finding excuses not to get online. While a part of it is lack of time, a majority was just the frustration of re-learning my spells and how to play the game. I really like my druid, but have forgotten most of the techniques. It's funny I can't remember what to do with my warlock or my druid, but I can always pick a hunter back up with no problem. Maybe that is because hunter was the first class I played.
Anyway, I logged on to WoW tonight, thinking I would do a couple of quests and also to make sure I was still a member of Alea Iacta Est (AIE) before Saturday's meet-up. No troubles there. I am still a member of the guild... and Xabi is level 53. 53? Five-three? I was shocked! My signature line in the forums had Xabi at 43 and I was sure the toon was only 45. I am so embarrassed! How did I gain eight levels without knowing? Much like "how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop", the world may never know!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

One Hour....

That is how long it took my son to have his cell phone confiscated on his first full day on-site at a school that has the most liberal and forgiving cell phone policy in the school district.

Yesterday, Kyle and the other sophomores spent the day at Lipscomb University, a private, coeducational liberal arts institution associated with the Church of Christ. This was basically an all-day orientation session to introduce the students to the Gateway to Senior Institute program they will be working on this year. In a nutshell, these students spent their freshman year exploring and learning who they are so that this year they can begin to "ramp it up" (Principal Ralph's words) this year as they aim for "College and Beyond" (part of the Big Picture motto).

Last night, the parents were invited to the school for a "mandatory" meeting to introduce us to this year's programming. I say "mandatory" because like other "mandatory" meetings I have attended throughout my children's schooling and through church, only about 33% of the group actually attended. But that is another soap box for another day...

At this meeting we started off with a talk from Principal Ralph before splitting into groups by advisors (aka teachers) and attending four small group presentations. In our very first group meeting, Kyle's advisor Mr. Wayne discussed some of the new policies for the school this year. Most of these policies are a result of people taking advantage of the lax atmosphere around Big Picture last year. One of the biggees, one that Mr. Wayne discussed for several minutes, was the crack down on misuse of the... yep, you guessed it... cell phones. Basically the students need to get their advisors' permission before making phone calls or texting.

The most aggravating part of Kyle's phone being confiscated? Last night he was whining about how boring it was having to sit through all this information a second time because they listened to everything, in much longer in-depth presentations, earlier in the day. As I told him on the way home today, evidently sitting through the presentations twice was not sufficient as he did not assimilate the information.... It is going to be a long year, folks!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Getting back into the Routine

Today is the first full day of school. I am jumping in feet first, trying to get back into a reasonable routine. It's funny when I look at my life. Conventional wisdom says the beginning of the year is January 1st, but my entire life has centered around the beginning of the school year. That's the true beginning of the year for me.

My first goal of the day was to take the dog for a walk. This is to get me and my metabolism moving and also to give the dog some exercise, which she needs and loves. One of the reasons I hate walking in our neighborhood is that we have so many people who let their dogs roam free. This morning I tried a route I have never tried and was pleasantly surprised. We made the entire walk without running into a stray!

The walk wasn't without its snags, of course. Ryann's black cat, Kage Neko, decided he wanted to go for a walk with us. Ellie Mae and I were almost to the end of the block and ready to cross a busy street when I heard this meow from behind me. Omg, there was the demon cat, meandering right down the middle of the street, tail up straight, pausing to sniff the asphalt. Cars zoom along our street and I had this image of Kage getting hit. I have no desire to go through *THAT* again, so I had to come back to the house and coax Kage inside before the dog and I could enjoy our outing, which we did. I think Ellie Mae is going to sleep very well all day long!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Nashville Rollergirls Roller Derby!

Tonight we met up with our Dinners For Nine group from church for dinner and then headed out to the Fairgrounds to watch the Nashville Rollergirls Roller Derby between the X-Pistols and Damsels of Distress. Clark had purchesed the tickets ahead of time so we loitered over dinner and didn't get to the Fairgrounds until just before 7pm. The Fairgrounds is a hopping place on a Saturday night! The stock car races were just starting up and a bunch of people in formal dress were heading into one building, probably for a wedding reception. When we got to the Sports Arena for the Roller Derby I was surprised how many people were there. The stands were packed and it took us a while to find a section with enough space for all seven of us. Then I spent the rest of the first period trying to figure out what roller derby is all about. I knew it was strategy and there was scoring, but at first glance it looked like a bunch of tough girls skating around in a circle knocking each other down! By the last jam X-Pistols had come back from behind to take the lead and I knew enough to know the Damsels had pulled out all the stops putting their best (imho) jammer, Rambo Sambo, in with their other jammer, Lady Fury, in as pivot and their best (again imho) blocker, Sexy Slady. As the pack started out and the bumping commenced, Rambo slipped through the pack and sprinted to the lead while X-Pistols' jammer, Slammylou Harris, another great skater, was held back. When Rambo Sambo came around for another sprint through the pack, the crowd went crazy. It was lots of fun and I think roller derby gained a few new fans from our little group. I know Clark and I are going back in October when the X-Pistols face the third Nashville team, Assault Rivals.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Nashville public schools. I think it is strange to have the first day of school, a half-day to boot, on a Friday. Nashville can't decide when to start school. In our nine years in the school district I think Tuesday is the only day we haven't had a first day. LOL

Kyle attends a great high school called Nashville Big Picture High School, which is in its third year in Nashville. The idea behind Big Picture is "learning through internship," a smaller community and the classwork is project driven instead of traditional classroom settings. At the end of the quarter the students give a presentation that summarized the work they did that term. Kyle did four 30-minute presentations during his freshman year. This year the sophomores have to do 45-minute presentations, plus they have something called a Gateway, where they defend the work they have done in their freshman and sophomore year to justify advancing to upperclassman status. So it will be another interesting year!

Kyle's school moved to a new building this year. They had been in a very old run-down school building last year. It was so bad that the cafeteria kitchen could not be used because things fell from the ceiling into the food. Eeww! The building they moved to was built 5 or 6 years ago and is very nice.

I am very proud of Kyle's progress over the summer. He had several assignments to complete and turn in on the first day, which included reading five books. Before he returned from California, he had completed reading all five books, had his father sign his reading logs, and finished writing the two IBPs (independent book projects, or book reports for us old timers). This week when we returned from Florida, Kyle wrote his three essays and had me proof them so he could turn everything in as soon as he walked into the classroom. Way to go, Kyle!!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Catching up

Between the kids returning and then going on holiday, I have let my blog go for a couple of days. This doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about the blog, so I've decided to post a day-by-day update from our recent trip to Florida.



Thursday August 6, 2009




The kids are back from their summer with their father. Our first outing on their first day back was to get their phones upgraded. They both picked out a Samsung Impression, which has both a touch screen and a full qwerty screen.




Friday August 7, 2009

The kids and I finally made it down to Florida to my parents’ place on Pine Island, just outside Ft. Myers. Kyle had a doctor’s appointment to check out his knee. Good news—the difference between his legs has evened out to less than one centimeter difference, where it was around 1.8 cm difference at his April appointment. It was around 5:30pm by the time we hit the road. After a late night with only an hour and a half sleep, I was tired so we stopped between Atlanta and Macon, Georgia. After a quick breakfast we hit the road and made it to our destination by dinnertime. I was bummed out that I never found a Dunkin’ Donuts along the I-475 corridor, but eventually we did find one. Then, as we were driving onto the island, my hubby called and said the bank had phoned about a problem with my bank card. Ugh! Turns out my card had been part of a “mass compromise,” which means on a Friday evening on my first day of holiday my bank card is cancelled and I have to find a local branch to pick up a temporary card. Not the best beginning! A swim in the pool under the night sky helped get me back into the vacation mood.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

This morning, after another swim in the pool, the kids and I found a Bank of America to get my temporary card. After an hour there, we headed back towards Pine Island and spent some time wandering around Matlacha. We started off with some very tasty homemade ice cream in an art gallery. Ray and I bought some very pretty shell earrings at one shop. We finished up just after 1:00pm and the day was hitting top heat, so we stopped at Winn-Dixie to buy some groceries and then hung out at the house for the rest of the day. My parents were gone for the weekend, so I barbecued some burgers for dinner. It was nice to just chill out with the tv, laptops, swimming pool and pool table.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

This morning the kids and I headed out early to visit a local Unitarian Universalist church. I managed to sneak in a visit to Dunkin’ Donuts for yummy coffee on the drive there. The sanctuary and campus of the Ft. Myers UU Church are beautiful. The visiting minister gave a wonderful sermon entitled “Three Things.” Kyle wanted to meet her afterwards and it turns out the minister at her home church is the same minister who was at FUUN when we joined, the same minister who performed our wedding. It truly is a small world! After church, we drove up to Pt. Charlotte to visit my cousin Cyndi and her family. We had a great afternoon. Kyle and I had been down for my grandmother’s memorial in the spring, but Ryann had not seen the family in several years. My cousin’s daughter Kama and her girlfriend Alex are attending Savannah College of Art & Design this fall, which is where Ryann plans to transfer to in two years. They should still be there, so have offered to rent Ryann a room when she goes and also for us to stay when we visit. I was exhausted when we got back to the house, but the kids stayed up until my parents got home from their weekend up north with their former neighbors at Redington Shores. Before fading into sleep, I listened to Dad and Kyle goofing off in the pool.



Monday, August 10, 2009




Sunday we had made arrangements with my cousin and her family to meet up early in the morning to drive over to Ft. Myers Beach. We arrived around 10am and found a place near the pier where we could put down blankets in the sun and the shade. Cyndi and I walked down the beach with Ryann and Cyndi’s 8yo daughter trailing behind, picking up shells. The girls found some great shells. We also saw part of a jelly fish, which we kept at a distance, especially when a wave rolled in and moved it. Then Cyndi and I left the young’uns on their own for a little bit while we had a couple of drinks at a nearby bar, sitting under an umbrella on the beach, just talking and watching the people. It was great to catch up with Cyndi and just relax for a while. When we got back to the blanket, we passed out the sandwiches bought earlier at a Publix and ate lunch. Then it was getting so hot we packed up and drove back to Pine Island to chill out in the pool. I made a mistake getting a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream at the beach, which triggered a headache, so I took a short nap. My dad had headed back up to Alabama, where his job is, but my step-mom was there and she fixed us a great dinner of spaghetti with meatballs, salad and garlic bread. Then I showed the movie I made for Ryann’s graduation party, which always makes me sentimental. It was sad to say good-bye to my cousin and her family, but hopefully we’ll be seeing each other again soon with both our kids heading towards Savannah. My plan was to get up early and head back to Tennessee on Tuesday, a day early since the kids wanted to go to the church dinner on Wednesday, so I told the kids to pack up before they went to bed and I headed to sleep early, not looking forward to the long drive in the morning.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I have got to figure out what is going on with my Blackberry’s alarm. Third day in a row the audible alarm did not go off. The phone will vibrate, but it won’t sound out. Wtf? Oh, well, we got off to a late start, about an hour and a half later than I wanted, but early enough that we arrived home by 7pm Central time. The drive back was very uneventful, which is always a good thing. The traffic in Atlanta cooperated and we only had a couple of slow-downs and only one complete stop, maybe a record. We hit some heavy rain on the last hour of the drive, very similar to the hard rain we hit on the way to Pine Island on Friday afternoon. It was very nice to be home, relax in our den and watch the Design Star DVR, then sleep in my own bed with my hubby! Ellie Mae, my black lab, was very happy and cuddled up against me all evening, not wanting to move when I finally headed to bed. Dorothy had it right… there is no place like home!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Today I just couldn’t get moving. I slept in and then lounged in my pj’s all day, finally hitting the shower around 3pm. Clark had to drive to Crossville, so he left out around 9am. Kyle impressed me by doing his three essays which are due the first day of school. Once I was dressed and presentable, we headed out to Publix, where Ryann applied for a job, then we went to church for dinner. Kyle was happy to be back with his buddies at church, then when we came home one of his classmates came over and they went out into the neighborhood. It really is nice to live in a community that is safe enough for the kids to wander from house to house with their friends. Ryann and I worked for a little bit on a DnD campaign that we had all been discussing on our recent drive. Kyle had this great idea for a pirate campaign which would take the party from level one to epic level 20. We’re hoping to get it completely written out and ready for testing in the next couple of months. Wouldn’t it be great to get this published by Wizards and then made available at GenCon next summer?

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Well, it is time to get back into the routine this morning. Got up and got dressed this morning (still having issues with the Blackberry alarm), and Clark brought Dunkin' Donuts coffee home (bless him!!). It feels good to get back onto Twitter and Facebook, then updating this blog. Tomorrow Kyle starts school, but today he and two friends are sleeping late. I have no idea when they went to bed, but am happy they were quiet last night and didn't wake me up. Of course, I was so fast asleep I didn't wake up when Clark came to bed! Ah, well! It is nice to be back with my family and fairly rested as we dive back into school, soccer and the frenzy of the upcoming fall!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Selachophobia

Sharks reside at the top of my top three things to fear, mixed right in there with tornadoes and cockroaches. Because I never get into the water past my ankles, I have pretty effectively limited my shark encounters.

Every year Discovery has “Shark Week” and every year I do my best to avoid this channel. This year, however, I find myself morbidly obsessed with Shark Week. Last night I watched a show on tiger sharks. Well, I kept my eyes on my computer while the show played in my peripheral vision. Every once in a while I would mute the announcer and then rewind to watch the segment I just ignored! Isn’t DVR wonderful? I taped some other shark shows, but had to turn off the “Eaten Alive” show. Maybe I’ll be able to watch these shows, maybe not.

Such a fear might seem irrational, but I have a shark history which (in my terrified mind) justifies this phobia. Growing up on a tiny island in the Pacific, I was very aware of sharks lurking under the surface. When my father took me to work on another island when I was about 7 or 8, I went shark fishing and caught three little 3-foot sharks. There was this kitten there that was having fun poking at the dead sharks. I will never forget how the sharks continued to thrash and strike out *after death*. Ugh!

A few years later I was hanging out on a tiny little sand bar near our trailer, exposed only during low tide, when I noticed a tiny shark (maybe 2-ft long?) hanging out in the shallow water. It swam back and forth, following the curve of the beach line. I was terrified (this was shortly after “Jaws” had been released in theaters) and mesmerized. I don’t know how long I stood in the sand watching this creature move back and forth, but it was a long time!

Shortly after that encounter, I was hanging out with my friends at the family beach (Kwaj had a beach for families and one for the bachelors). I don’t remember if it was just a weekend day or a holiday. We left the beach and walked over to the other side of the shoal to watch the teenagers water ski. The float, about 50 yards off the shore, was empty. We were excited. This platform was off limits for us pre-teens, unless you had an older sibling who occasionally allowed you to enter the inner sanctum. It took us all of 30 seconds to dive in and swim over to the platform. We were out there, basking in our bold glory when a teenager on the shore biking by stopped to shout over to us… “Water skiing was shut down today because someone saw a shark”…. To this day, I don’t know if the teen was having some fun with us or if that was the real story. No matter, we all huddled together in the middle of the platform and discussed how to get back to shore. In the end we decided it would be best to take off as a group and swim together. It was the longest, most awkward, most frightening swim of my entire life…and the last time I swam in the ocean.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

They're Coming Home Tomorrow!!

It's finally time!! My babies return tomorrow night. They've been gone all summer long, having headed to California with their father on May 23rd after Ryann's high school graduation.

This is the first time in the ten years they've been flying without parents that they will be changing flights. It's much different having an 18 year old and a 15 year old flying than it was when they were eight and five. But let me tell you, I still miss them so very much when they are gone. For some reason I thought it would get easier to have them gone, but I actually think it's gotten worse! So if you hear a big whoop around midnight central time tomorrow night, that's me!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Organic Food Scandal

A study came out last week announcing that organic food has no nutritional or health benefit over ordinary food. This is one of the tricks of our media that just ticks me off! Let's make a controversy over something and blow it out of proportion. I would hope that people smart enough to want healthier food are also smart enough to understand why organic foods are healthier. Shouldn't it be common sense and basic science to understand that growing foods without chemical additives will not change their basic molecular structure and suddenly pack them fuller of nutrients?

Putting chemicals into the soil and onto the plants during the growth cycle will, however, introduce chemicals into the vegetable/fruit and then into the person consuming those products. Having grown up in an agricultural community, studied agricultural business, and worked for both a private farmer and the USDA, I learned what types of chemicals are being put on our food and it's scary. I don't want that stuff in me or especially in my children as their little bodies are growing and developing. Remember DDT and bald eagles in the 70's? That's why I buy farm salmon instead of wild salmon and why I prefer organic foods over "ordinary" food. It's also why I have started buying organic milk. My daughter drinks a gallon a week and I don't want those growth hormones that get injected into cows getting transferred into my child.

Now don't believe I'm a complete health nut cuz I'm not. But I prefer to serve natural food... baked chicken I cook over frozen chicken nuggets warmed up, fresh or frozen veggies over canned veggies, lasagna assembled at home over frozen pre-made lasagna. I may be off target, but I believe pre-made food has too many preservatives and common sense tells me those chemicals cannot be healthy. So, when my kids want something sweet, I give them the stuff with real sugar or corn syrup, no artificial sweetners for my babies. Do we know what those complex chemical do to our kids' developing physiology? Okay, folks, I'll get off the food soap box now...

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

The Kaj

Kage Neko (Shadow Cat). What can I say about this cat? Lots, but not much of it is very nice! We have that love-hate relationship… I love to hate him and vice-versa but it’s a very loving hate relationship. My nicknames for him include spawn of satan, cartoon face and el gato feo (the ugly cat). Let’s start at the beginning when our daughter conjured this hairball. Conjured? Yes, conjured. Ray had been asking for another cat. Specifically she wanted a long-hair black boy kitty with green or yellow eyes. This year she was in the Coming of Age program at church, which is a year-long program for 7th and 8th graders where they explore their spirituality. As the finale of the program, these middle schoolers gave a testimonial about their beliefs. Ray’s specifically mentioned magic and mysticism. The following day a teeny tiny kitten appeared on our deck, a deck standing six or seven feet high with steps taller than this little kitty. It was a tiny fluffy ball of black fur with white ear hair. Ray spent the entire day on the back porch with him cradled in her lap because I refused to let it in the house. We already had a cat. She was getting ready to leave *the very next day* to spend the summer with her father. Well, Mom is a softie and eventually gave in to the cuteness. That cuteness was just a ploy. I should have known better! I tease Ryann about her conjuring her cat by calling him “cartoon face” because his face doesn’t quite fit.

Kage is a beautiful cat on the outside. He reminds me of those super models or actors who are drop-dead gorgeous, but are not very nice people. I swear he spends the day thinking of ways to annoy me and others around him. For example, we have a bird house in the middle of our back yard and this summer we have a family living there. You can see mama and papa, tiny little birds, flitting in and out all day long. Kage has taken to sleeping in the yard. He has *never* slept in the middle of the grass. Inside the house we can hear one of the parent birds scolding Kage, a constant chee-chee-chee-chee-chee-chee. I believe Kage fully knows the angst he is causing these birds and gets pleasure from their pain. Kage will position himself in a room so as to bother Ellie Mae because he knows Ellie can’t stand him and she can’t do anything about him. His favorite spot in our bedroom is lounging on our tall chest of drawers taking a bath (aka “kitty yoga”). If anything happens to be in his way, he just pushes it off. He will wait until I walk into a room to begin scratching on the couch or rug.

Shortly after we moved to our new home, we almost lost Kage or at least a part of him. This cat has to be one of the luckiest animals I’ve ever met. Ryann was spending the day with her friend and my son had a soccer tournament scheduled for the weekend. Unfortunately his team didn’t make the cut so we just happened to be home when an awful ruckus erupted outside. If you’ve ever heard a cat fight, you know the sound. Only add barking into the mix. Two dogs had attacked Kage, cornered him before he could get up a tree. As we ran outside, the dogs took off and we found Kage lying listless under a tree. Clark wrapped him in a towel and picked him up. We knew he was hurt because this is a cat who hates to be picked up. He simply lay in Clark’s lap as I drove around on an early Saturday evening, trying to find an open vet. We finally found one getting ready to close. I dropped off Clark then the boys and I went to pick up Ryann, who after losing Daisy was extremely upset. The vet stabilized Kage and recommended an overnight facility to monitor the IV and medications with instructions to bring him back in the morning. They did not think the back leg could be saved. Lots of stress and money later Kage went into surgery Monday morning to have his leg removed. The vet, a different one from the weekend on-call vet, left surgery to call Clark. He thought the leg could be saved. Clark told him that we’d love to save the leg, but we really didn’t have any more money to put into the situation. The vet said he’d do what he could at the quoted price and if later the leg needed to come off he wouldn’t charge us. Now this is a vet who cares for the animal more than the bottom line. This was his last week in the office as he was retiring at the end of the week. I am so thankful we had him in the surgery room with Kage. Fast forward to present day. Kage had one more surgery to remove the pins in his leg, but he has all four legs. When he runs that injured leg will splay out in a funky way, but he jumps and runs and gets around like any other demon cat. He is a little more cautious now and you can see his worry whenever he hears a neighbor dog barking. Perfectly understandable.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N

Pretty Pouty Precious Princess Mimi, Kirigirisu the Kamikaze Kitty

On a trip to Petsmart after we lost Daisy, Ray found a timid little tortoise shell kitty, which she named Mimi. This new kitten could not be any more different from Daisy. She was a shy little creature who spent most of her time sequestered away in Ryann’s bedroom. It was so bad that one day, before the other cat’s arrival and before we moved, I stood at the bottom of the stairs and could not remember this cat’s name! It was as though Mimi wanted to become invisible and succeeded! Looking back, though, you can see the bond between Ryann and Mimi. Over the years Mimi’s nickname has evolved so that now she is known as Pretty Pouty Precious Princess Mimi, Kirigirisu the Kamikaze Kitty.

How in the world did this meek creature get the nickname “Kirigirisu the Kamikaze Kitty”? In the first couple of months, before she went into seclusion, Mimi would sometimes wander into Clark’s and my bedroom in the early morning hours. She’d jump on the bed and I would wake up to her pouncing on my toes. The way Mimi attacked—all four paws held together and hopping from spot to spot—reminded me of a grasshopper. Ryann had just entered her fascination of all things Japanese so we researched the word “grasshopper” so we called Mimi “Kirigirisu.” Around this same time Mimi performed an act of daredevilry so phenomenal we are still amazed. Clark firmly believes this was Mimi’s one and only act of rash behavior and we just happened to be present when it occurred. We had one of those tall cat condos, looming over my own 5’6”, sitting next to the low-back couch, a 40+year old pullout couch that Clark slept on as a child when he visited his grandparents. One day this tiny timid feline climbed up to the very top of this structure and launched herself down onto the back of the neighboring couch. With her tortie fur and all four paws spread out, she really resembled a flying squirrel and I swear she meowed, “Banzai!” as she fell.

Gone are these carefree reckless days. Now Mimi is a mature regal creature. Over the last few years, since the arrival of our other cat, she has changed very much. On retrospect, I wonder if she was depressed as an only kitty in a two-dog house. Before Kage’s arrival, Mimi was, as I mentioned, a recluse, but she was also extremely fat, so fat you could hear her moving around in Ryann’s room and on those rare occasions she ventured down the stairs. I do not remember exactly when she lost the weight, but today she is a slender shadow of her previous rotund self, with quite the skin flap that wobbles then she trots!

When Kage arrived, Mimi started emerging from Ray’s room more and more often. She even started nosing at the back door if we left it cracked. Over the last year in our previous house, Mimi got braver and braver. She’d sniff the open door for several minutes then put a single paw out for a heartbeat before running away and back upstairs. Eventually she got all the way out the door only to rush back inside. By the time we moved, she was spending several minutes hunched just outside the back door, as long as the door remained open and none of us inside moved.

Once we moved, Mimi started immediately spending more time outside. She was and still is a very timid kitty. Loud noises and sometimes even no noise startle her and she darts into hiding. Thunderstorms scare her and, even though we have a tiny house, she has hidey holes where we can’t find her. One time, shortly after our move, Mimi was outside when a thunderstorm hit and we weren’t home. The following morning we realized we hadn’t seen the Kirigirisu for a long time. Ryann and Clark went outside to call and call for her while I searched the inside. After quite a while they heard a weak little mew and finally located Mimi cowering in the crawl space under the house. She was in the farthest corner and refused to budge. Finally I opened a can of tuna fish and Ryann, who HATES this cramped bug-ridden crawlspace, went in a little ways. It took almost an hour, but Mimi finally was coaxed out. Hooray for tuna!

This summer, with the kids gone, Mimi has been spending more time with me than ever before. I spend time every day in the bedroom writing at my desk (a beautiful built-in made by my wonderful hubby when I went back to school). Within 2-3 minutes of sitting down and turning on the desk lamp, Mimi jumps up and demands a few minutes of petting before she settles down under the lamplight. If I remain in bed too long, she will also jump up and walk across my body with her tiny little painful paws (think about a woman’s stiletto heels!). Then she’ll get right up in my face with her whiskers tickling my nose. It works better than the alarm!


¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N