Category Archives: Life

Meow Meow Face is Goliath’s new nickname. Yesterday, I mentioned how soft his fur was and if he conditioned and Wendy told me a story about Goliath’s activity.

You see, Goliath conditions his fur with sherbert that he purchases from the Cat Palace down the road. He steals money from me, sneaks out a tiny hole and walks to the palace. There, he buys his product, puts is in his pack and walks home. He conditions his fur with the cherry-flavored (but cat-scented) dessert in my tub and cleans it, so I won’t notice. He sneaks back out to recycle the tub.

The secret life of Meow Meow Face! Who knew?

Sleeping

Seriously. If it’s not from Goliath meowing randomly and clawing at the door or banging his food dish. Or Phantom pawing the bottom of the dresser, running over my body, climbing the walls and knocking stuff off the dresser. Or maybe he’s waking me up for cuddles. Or maybe they’re chasing each other through the house. They’ve been especially bad lately. If I can get to sleep, I wake up multiple times due to the cats anyway.

Making the bed

Maybe my first point doesn’t even matter since I can’t make Phantom stop chasing the sheets long enough to get them on the bed. Oh, and remember how excited I was to have satin sheets? Maybe a bad idea. They look pretty horrendous now.

Walking

Have you ever taken a step only to step on your cat and then you feel super bad when they meow? Or maybe you’ve moved forward when a cat was trying to jump onto something — directly in your path — and it collided with you bodily? My favorite is when I move my leg forward and it collides — midair! — with a cat.

Dressing

Anything with straps or strings. Anything that flows and moves. Phantom’s on it and his claws are in me. Ow ow ow.

The Internet.

How many pictures have I taken of the laptop on my lap and Goliath all on top? Yea, a lot.

The movie “Yes, Man” really resognated with me in a powerful way. It sounds kind of silly in writing but it did. And so, I decided, with the prompting of my now ex-husband, that I needed to say yes to more things. I began to wonder if perhaps I was missing out because I was declining invitations and turning down ideas to do things simply because they did not sound immediately interesting. But, perhaps there was enjoyment to be found in doing something with people I love or simply to try new things even if they weren’t exactly my cup of tea or if my anxiety surrounding new activities can be frustrating.

So, for the past year or so, I’ve said “Yes” a lot. I’ve wound up doing things that I probably wouldn’t have done, simply to spend time with friends and family and expand my horizons. I’ve wound up having some good times and enjoying myself quite a bit and am glad of my decision to be a Yes, man. Or woman, as it may be.

I think I’ve come out on the other side of the equation, however. There’ve been a few times when saying “yes” to something wound up being pretty stressful and the payout far lower than the sacrifice or effort than I had to come in. I’ve come to the point where saying yes to some things just isn’t worth it. I never meant to say yes to every thing but it just sort of happened that I was rarely saying “no” and maybe I temporarily forgot I could reject an invitation, too.

I have been reminded of that and I’ve also been reminded that sometimes, no matter how much fun others may have and how many people I love may be doing it, some things just aren’t for me. It’s okay to say “no” when I know I’ll have felt like I’ve wasted my time after. Sometimes not doing something is exactly the change of pace I need. There’s no forcing myself to enjoy something that I just don’t find enjoyable.

I’m much more open to ideas than I once was and I think that’s the point, to consider things, to try some new things but not to run myself ragged in the process.

At what point in a new friendship is it okay to ask this question? Because I really feel awkward mentioning people in my blog — by name — if I haven’t received express permission and haven’t already been blogging about them for years. But these people are important to me and in my life and I want you to know about them. But no one in my offline life blogs and few people understand the significance of my blog or even blogging in general.

Am I fretting too much? Should I just do what feels right? Should I change names?  When did this sense of privacy and respect even come about the begin with?

Actually, it’s almost Tuesday which is crazy because I started writing this blog post in my head, in the shower when I woke up. I’ve had some busy weekends and while I’m glad to be spending time with the people I love, sometimes it gets a little crazy.

Wendy headed out of town on Friday so I enjoyed the house to myself for a few hours before heading to a Pure Romance party. I hung out with some people from school. You know the type, you have them on Facebook but rarely talk. But we caught up, talked about old friends, new lives. It was fun. It was a different group than I normally hang out with and it was nice to have a silly night with the girls and meet new people, too.

I recouped on Saturday. Sort of. I had a really difficult time sleeping this weekend, mostly because it’s warmed up and I like it cool. On top of that, everyone just seems to be so loud lately. I had been invited on a mini road trip earlier in the week by my uncle but he decided not to go and instead invited me over to his house on Sunday. Although he thought some other folks would show up, they didn’t. He picked up my sister before they stopped by my place and, of course, I misjudged the time and was in the shower when they showed up. I ran out to answer the door in a towel, quickly shaved my other armpit and dressed.

My sister spent the day being eight and my uncle spent his day being the kind of funny uncle an eight year old — and maybe a 25 year-0ld — loves. We filled a giant pumpkin bag with leaves that Samantha stomped down and she and my uncle threw leaves back and forth. She convinced him to buy even more bags and filled and arranged them all on his front lawn. He grilled out, we enjoyed dinner (I topped it off with some apple pie and ice cream) and we finished off the night by hanging some lights on his front porch.

It was a great chance for Samantha to get to know who I believe is her best uncle.Plus, the smell of the leaves and the changing colors really made me feel like Autumn was in full swing. I hadn’t noticed how quickly the leaves had changed and fallen

Last night I was so exhausted and sore but I couldn’t get to sleep. I popped some pain killers and eventually drifted off to sleep for a ridiculous amount of time before waking to no Internet. In lieu of checking email and working, I did dishes and put up even more Halloween decorations. Sorry if you received one of the million pictures that I sent.