Upside Down Cats

A couple weeks ago I was required to attend a two hour training at a resource center for child care professionals. This "mandatory meeting" was announced in an email that indicated the training was being held once on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning - our choice which to attend.

Since I didn't fancy a late Friday meeting I opted to attend bright and early on Saturday.

And so did ten other ladies. I arrived to find a line formed outside the center's locked door...

Continue reading "Wasted Time" »

Submitted for your approval: Gina's Quote Du Jour 4/10/08

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any. - Fred Astaire

I had no idea the talented Mr Astaire was so astute...

My Sweetie Scott found this quote quoted on Execupundit recently and he knew I would want to comment on it.

Scott knows how I feel about manners - or the lack of them. It's a common topic of conversation when I return home from battling the crowds at the grocery store or debrief after a day spent with the children in my daycare.

I usually come home from my weekly excursion to the supermarket completely frustrated with the state of humanity. What a collection of selfish, clueless idiots I encounter! That's all it takes...two hours among the general public to convince me that the human race is headed down the tubes...

Continue reading "Lost (Manners) In The ... »

I'm honestly not sure if today's installment should be titled Too Cute! or Too Sad...!

A five-year-old girl in my daycare saw the Spicy Barbecue Chicken Wings - left over from the previous night's dinner - that I was eating with my lunch. She asked what they were, then asked if I got them from a restaurant. I told her, "No, I cooked them myself." (See, I told you we ate last week, even if I didn't post the menu here!)

She stood watching me eat for a couple minutes, then she asked, "How did you get the bones in them?"

Is it really possible that she has never seen chicken wings that didn't come from a restaurant? How sad would that be? I have previously ranted on the subject of children becoming increasingly disconnected from the food they eat. So I will spare you my diatribe...

But seriously...how can she not know that bones are not an addition to a wing...?

I was reading a piece on Mr Besilly's One Man's Highway blog today entitled, Kitty Wigs Is Open For Biznazz.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Besilly's assessment of the people who advocate these fashion wigs for cats. He accuses those who anthropomorphize cats to this extent of absolute lunacy! Accessorizing your cat as if she/he were a person says far more about your emotional stability - or lack thereof - than it does about your love for your cat!

His post has inspired a mini-rant of my own...

Continue reading "The Hair Club For Cats" »

Today is the twelfth of NaBloPoMo. I have vowed to write about things for which I am thankful each day of November.

Today I am thinking about what it means to me to have been born in the United States. When I was ten years old my sister got me a subscription to National Geographic for Kids. It was my first exposure to people who lived in other parts of the world. I remember having a revelation...that I could have just as easily been born in India or Africa as New Jersey. I tried imagining being me on the inside, but looking different and living differently. It kind of blew my mind, because I had very limited experience with diversity. In my house, those who were different from us were known as Protestants.

Continue reading "Lucky To Be Me" »

Today I saw three - count 'em - three cats walking past my house.

Three beautiful young cats let out in the big wide world on their own.

The first one was white with black patches. I saw her/him this morning walking down the sidewalk in front of our house. When s(he) reached our front walk, s(he) turned and walked right up to our front door. (I swear there's a sign in "Felinese" outside our house that reads, "Cat Sanctuary!"...) S(he) paused there a few seconds, then walked away along the front of our house.

The second and third were traveling together and played a while on the front lawn this afternoon. One was practically Cooper's twin, and the other was white with tabby tan patches.

My heart just broke for these little guys left to fend for themselves. I can't even imagine how people can thoughtlessly let these cats roam free! Is it possible they are unaware of the dangers that could befall stray cats, or (even worse) they don't care! When you commit to a pet, you simply can't be so irresponsible!

Unfortunately, these little abandoned cats are the ones who will pay the price for the negligence of these uncaring people!

I am outraged at these people and admittedly, infatuated with these cats I don't even know. How can their owners be so calloused?

No need to worry about us, though...we are firmly convinced that four cats living in our home is the perfect number for us.

I just wish I could help these poor kitties!

Following a power outage in the wee early morning hours Thursday, we experienced a power surge that we believed fried the electronic board of our dishwasher.The repairman came to the house and confirmed our diagnosis this morning. Our dishwasher is dead. To replace the circuit board (plus labor) would have cost the better part of what a brand new decent dishwasher would cost so...

My dear wonderful Scott is out buying a new one at this very moment...I did not send him - he willingly offered to shop!

Continue reading "The Dish(washer)" »

I have a confession to make...

I haven't watched news - any news - since May.

I found myself suffering from a case of information overload. The news junkies of the world may consider this the act of a complete philistine...so be it. I am willing to endure your criticism because what I have gained is worth bearing your wrath...a tolerable level of blissful ignorance.

Continue reading "No News Is Good News" »

The first time he hit me was two weeks after we started dating. We had been napping...my head was tucked up under his outstretched arm. When I rolled over, apparently my head caused a piece of the skin under his arm to be pinched...HE WENT BALLISTIC! He accused me of hurting him on purpose and went running into the bathroom to inspect his injury in the mirror. When he emerged from the bathroom, he called me a stupid, careless bitch and punched me on my right upper arm. I told him how sorry I was, how it was purely an accident and that I would be more careful in the future. Then I cried...Once he saw that I was hurt too, he apologized, saying he didn't know what came over him, and that such a thing would never happen again.

Thus began our ten year cycle of abuse...

Continue reading "My Survivor Story" »

Last year, just weeks before the fifth anniversary of the horrendous events of September 11, 2001, my Sweetie Scott posed this query on our family website. At that time I responded, and I still wholeheartedly believe what I wrote. In memoriam of this day, I would like to - respectfully - share my thoughts...

Continue reading "In Memoriam..." »