If your Cat were someone famous, who would they be?

My husband is infamous for coming up with random games. When we go to brunch, he makes me compete with the jelly containers to see how many times out of 5 I can get it to land right side up. He makes goalposts for straw wrappers. And he comes up with great 'what if' questions.

The other day he came upstairs and requested that I pause the Twilight movie I was watching in bed to ask me "if our cats were people, who would they be?". Before I tell you some of the celebs in the running, let me fill you in on the kits. (That's a kid/kitten combo that aptly describes my emotional attachment/cat lady tendencies).

This is Pants. He is about 2.5. He is both really crazy in terms of high energy, running around, chasing moths, and the other cat and also really cuddly as he routinely in the morning almost knocks you over trying to get his head pet and at night likes to curl up and watch tv with me.

And this is Stella. She turns 11 this month and is a sweet, gentle Himalayan Persian. She is like a loyal dog, following your every step just to be near you.

So what well known people could personify each of these guys?
For Pants, after toying with Usher, we settled on Busta Rhymes. Youngish (at least he was when we were younger, which is where my brain still lives), feisty-they both kind of get those crazy eyes occasionally and racially and gender appropriate.

Stella was tougher. I tossed out the late, beloved Jessica Tandy. My husband didn't like comparing her to someone who was in the iconic film, Cocoon, because it aged her. He proposed Sigourney Weaver. I almost lost my mind. Apparently, I have a thing against Sigourney Weaver that I have never acknowledged because I was outraged. He tried to calm me down by referencing her Jane Goodall role as opposed to her Ghostbusters alter-ego. I think we left undecided.

So I am both open to suggestions and curious who your pets would be. Go!

Any Given Tuesday

As I have muddled through the first half of my Tuesday, a couple of noteworthy things have already happened. In addition to that, my Tuesdays are generally the most full in terms of the number of different environments I need to be in. My favorite email buddy knows that I am less available on Tuesdays and she frequently writes it off to me being in court with survivors so I thought it might be fun to walk through my day thus far to give a snapshot of any given Tuesday in my life. For this purpose, today I would define it as a day in the life of a cat owner/commuter/advocate/clinician.

Ok, so it starts out with my sick kitty. My older cat, who I love like I gave birth to her, was diagnosed with kidney failure last week. It was pretty tragic for me but I am doing all that I can to keep her life as normal and natural as possible and to ensure that she has good quality of life for as long as she can. One of the things this involves is a diet switch but food is no joking matter in our house. We have a 2 year old cat that is a heifer. And then this older one is like 5 lbs. So it's actually a really strategic process to split the food in half, mash it up, and put it on two sides of a plate and make sure each cat gets his or her designated side. The little one will only eat if she is on the left. Odd but true.

Then I get in my car to begin my commute that usually takes about 45 minutes but it's about 15 miles so that number can vary widely depending on the time of day, the road I take, etc. I prefer back roads over the highway, usually.  And back roads are especially scenic in New England at this time of year. So I was on a lovely road near a body of water and had just passed an elementary school when I saw a mother and three small children kneeling by the curb on my left. In front of them was an animal in the road the size of a medium dog with brown fur. At first my heart wrenched as I feared a family pet had just been injured. I worried about the trauma these children would remember for the rest of their lives. I drove a few more feet and realized it wasn't a dog but a giant beaver. Giant. And there was blood splatter abounding like it was a CSI episode. While it was still sad and certainly interesting, I became a little alarmed now that the mother was showing this off to her little ones. Being near the school and just after 9 am, I'm pretty sure they were running late for classes so they could get this life lesson. This wasn't just pointing it out; it was getting down to street level within a foot of a very bloody dead animal and these were really little kids. Again, I worried about the traumatic impact. I certainly would expect nightmares at that house tonight.

I'm making pretty good time and feeling pretty good about that because last Tuesday this same commute made me a little late for my work day because the road was under construction in about 46 places. I actually saw a woman I used to babysit for out on her morning run and was kind of racing her as I had to keep stopping at lights. As she passed me for the fourth time, something shifted in the traffic pattern. I was stopped and probably five solid minutes passed before I realized it wasn't just stop and go, slow and inching. It was put your car in park and do your makeup stopped. First a cop car came by. Then a fire truck. Then 2 more cop cars. Then an undercover cop car. Cars behind me started turning around but I was stuck between a Peter Pan bus and a tractor trailer. I got out of my car to see what was happening and I could see that it was right in front of me but the action shot was being blocked by the bus. I could see a photographer and some construction equipment in the middle of the road. Fifteen minutes had passed. Curious but impatient, I did a multi-point turn to unwedge myself and turned down a road I had never been on but somehow it delivered me to a main route and I was on my way again!

Twenty minutes late for a group I had all the supplies for that I was co-leading with my boss, I arrived at a residential facility for mothers in early substance abuse recovery. We had a discussion about a topic related to domestic violence, substance use and transactional sex and then moved on to craft time. We used Mod Podge to collage hat boxes as a means of "defining your own reality" and a good time was had by all.

After an hour, I left to head to the local trauma clinic where, each week, I sit on a team that talks about families they are working with who are experiencing domestic violence. Often, they are also families I am working with so we pow wow about how we can collaborate. I know it sounds wacky but it's actually really fun. It's nice to be in it with other like-minded people. I grabbed some baked goods off of the table before heading into my office for the first time today. Filled up from the goodies, I could take less time eating my actual lunch and could sneak in a quick blog post. Voila!

And that was only by 1 pm....I still have a few more hours to go and then head to my part time job tonight!

Been around the World and I, I, I

"I can't find my baby". Do you remember that song? It's in my head for some reason. Maybe it's because I am leaving tomorrow for my big adventure.
As for today, I am cranky. Work stuff has kind of been blowing my mind today. I won't get into it and you're welcome for that.
I have a lot to do tonight including packing, although I have been trying on clothes since last weekend. Because someone else planned the trip and I don't even understand half of the things on the itinerary, I'm just hoping I have the appropriate attire for all of the activities. I'm no fashionista but I am overly preoccupied with the clothes I will be wearing.
Tonight I need to give Hubby lots of hugs and spoon with the cats.
The DVR is cleared enough to accommodate the shows I will miss while I am gone. Check.
Me and Madame trip planner, as my friend who organized the trip is now being called, have added another tv show reference to the mix. We already have our Sex and the City  names, our Golden Girls names, our Jersey Shore personas, or as autocorrect just taught me "personae". I suggested Mob Wives identities, too, but not enough people are into it yet for it to be fun. The newest addition is from Ru Paul's Drag Race 3. The cool girls are "Heathers" and the lamo-s are "Boogers". It can be our little inside joke.
I hope I bring the right books to read, too! Isn't it the worst to bring books on vacation or to the beach and then not really be into them? I always travel with two books, just in case. I also worry that I will blow through my book and then I will be book-bare. I actually went book shopping when I was in Iceland, for the next book in my series. It was awesome to have a pricetag in Krona on the front of my book.
Ok, enough from me. Ta ta for now!

Born to Run

I'm having trouble posting from my cell today so I can't share any pictures with you but here's what I have coming up: pictures from my Etsy shopping spree and pictures of Stella the model-cat with my new curtains. If that doesn't pull you back to read my next couple of posts then I don't know what will. Haha.

So have you read Born to Run? It seems like people everywhere I go are talking to me about the book and the concepts behind it. You can learn more by clicking here. In the shortest summary ever, it's about the history and rationale of the barefoot running movement. Despite the obvious goofiness of the appearance of the five finger shoes, the movement has a lure akin to a charismatic leader (and there are other versions of shoes that don't outline your toes). My chiropractor (Dr. Chris) was one of the more recent people to talk to me about the book and he offered to let me borrow the book on CD. With a couple long car rides under my belt to visit my bestie who is in town for the week, I have gotten to the second disc in as many days. Point being, I am still a novice to the concept of barefoot running but am very interested in it.

Another thing Born to Run mentions is the benefit of chia seeds. A few of the ladies I do triathlon training with have mentioned chia seeds in the past and two of them sell Mila, a form of them which you can find here if you are so inclined. I think I am going to give this a try, as well.

The point of this post is not to bore you to tears with running theory if you are not a runner (which I can barely identify with because I am horrible at it and slow but it is part of my training when I am doing that). The point is to 1. talk about what is on my mind 2. set forth a public proclamation that I am going to get back in gear in terms of fitness and want to set the stage for me to follow up on that here 3. potentially recruit some like minded friends who would like to check in with me, too, about fitness goals and how they plan to achieve them.

From May-early October, I usually do a pretty good job of staying active. Winter in New England takes a toll on me and gets me a little too comfortable staying warm on a cushioned surface than it should. So it's that time of year to get motivated again. Who is with me???

Nothing to Blog about

You would think that if I have nothing to blog about that I just wouldn't blog, right? Wrong. I'm taking a mental break from work at the moment. The client who is supposed to be sitting across from me right now never called or came. And that's ok. I wasn't feeling attentive anyway so it's all for the best.
We had a training on S&M in our staff meeting today. Yes, really. My favorite part was when one of the older women asked how one finds out about parties. Oh the visuals I visualize!
Other than that, what can I tell you?
I brought my spare sound machine (of course I had a back up!) from my office back to my bedroom and slept like a very tired baby last night, meaning I didn't wake up every few hours like a regular baby. Or like I have been because the cat has been coughing up hair balls between 3-5am the past few nights. I kicked the cats out of the bed and shut the door and enjoyed my water noises from the machine. I'm also enjoying a particularly comfy blanket while my usual one is being cleaned. I could have picked it up on Monday but who has the time? Too much work = fatigue = boring paragraphs related to  my desire to be back in my bed.
I could also tell you about getting put on blast by a woman in a group I was leading last night. That felt good. The women asked us to self-disclose our traumatic experiences, which is a professional no-no. When we nicely avoided the question, not everyone let it go quietly. Ah, vacation Maureen checked out sometime last night during that meeting.
Oh, I could also tell you about how I have not done my taxes yet. I am the kind of person accountants hate at this time of year. I had the best intentions of doing them tonight but when I went to gather all the documents, I can't find my form from my job, my 401k, or my mortgage. Awesome. So I'm going to see a movie tonight instead.
Something about all this makes me want to laugh. I hope it does for you, as well!

Thriller?

Any chance my beloved mj was reincarnated as my cat?

So this is what Saturday morning looks like

And this is what a fridge after vacation looks like. It's deceiving because all the containers are actually food accessories. They all require something else and don't make a meal in and of themselves. I think the biggest tragedy is no milk. I left hubby a voicemail last night to see if he would bring some home but does he listen to voicemails? No. He goes to the movies instead.
So I'm sitting here eating Cream of Wheat because it's the only thing in the house that can stand alone. Luckily, Golden Girls surprised me on TV and it's sunny out so those things are working in my favor.
It's way earlier than I should be up if I have no purpose because Iceland is 4 hours ahead so I'm all thrown off. One of the cats has woken me up, coughing up hairballs, both nights I have been home. This morning it was at 5 am. I have to get up and clean and soothe. Then the kitten starts attacking my feet. So I watched a DVRd special on Annie Lebovitz. I am sure I didn't spell that correctly but I think you know who I am talking about: the amazing photographer. When I tried to go back to sleep, I went to turn on the sound machine that I swear by and, lo and behold, the burning smell I noticed when I plugged it into the converter thing for the European plug actually shorted out and killed my sound machine.
So, in addition to the dire need for grocery shopping, I now have an excuse to go to Target for a new sound machine, too. Trouble is, I don't think I can leave the house this early on a Saturday without someone else expecting me to be somewhere based on the sheer principle of it.
Instead, I am going to do the vacation hangover appropriate thing to do: scavenge off what I can find left in the house to sustain my body, watch a little of "the girls", keep my eye mask on the top of my head like a headband, and enjoy the sunshine!

RaNdOm TiDbItS 2

• It's Sunday morning and church has been cancelled due to the snow falling outside. It's nothing compared to what we have see so far this winter but it's still happening so the roads are probably not super safe. I had to make some calls to tell people, which is why I didn't automatically just roll over and go back to sleep, which is where I am headed as soon as I am done with this:)
• Last night I fulfilled a childhood dream!! I went and saw roller derby live. They didn't have the huge ring with the Nascar-like inclines and railings to push each other over but it was still pretty glorious. The girls all had super fun names and crazy get ups on. The crows was the best part, though. Super eclectic. As always, pics to come as soon as I take them off my camera! PS, there was a dance party after. How cool is that?
• I finished reading Little Bee. The writing was good but I just didn't love the story. It had some graphic violent scenes that hit a little too close to home with some hard work stuff this week so I decided my next book needs to be a bit less socially aware so I have started The Mortal Instruments series with City of Bones, recommended by someone who loved the Hunger Games with the zeal that I did.
• Did you ever realize that when things are going especially bad you can have a psychotic "break" but when things are going really well in that same realm, you can have a "break" through?
• I called the police on Friday morning on my way to work because some sketchy guy in an equally sketchy van was parked in a weird location near my house. I pretty much drove myself crazy thinking of how he was going to get into my house and steal Hubby's xbox games and let my cats out. Or worse. It was all very dramatic in my mind. I guess he didn't do any of those things, though.
• I went to see the eye dr on Friday, too. It was only my second visit and he placed some big decisions in my lap. He also had me stick contacts in my eyes for the first time ever. Since then, I have been weighing the pros and cons of glasses v contacts, especially in regard to my triathlons for the swimming and biking. I think I have settled on getting contacts but not wearing them often while simultaneously getting a new pair of glasses. I am told that my prescription changed enough that I should upgrade my current frames, too, but I think they are just dandy. I don't have a very bad prescription and only really need the vision help for distances "Oh, look at that pretty thing on our travels" or late night driving or movies. I don't think it's worth sticking my fingers in my eyes for this small fragment of time. I am open to suggestions on this, though!!
• The kitten is trying to catch the snowflakes at the window right now.

A Love/Hate Relationship with Pants

Why do pants feel comfy standing up but tight sitting down? If I bought them bigger, they would be too baggy when I was standing. Why do they show my socks when I sit? When I am standing, they are touching the floor! I feel duped. (Hate)

On the other hand, I let Hubby name our kitten (Love) and he chose the name Panthro, inspired by the Thundercats. It just doesn't roll off the tongue. Try it and I'm sure you will agree. We have nicknamed his Pants, in part because of his long legs and a tail that is always curled over  his back, exposing areas that would nicely be covered by a pair of pants. The kitten is a little naughty and jumps on places and things that my other beloved, old lady cat, Stella, would never even think of disturbing. As a result, I find myself yelling for him to get down from the counter or the sink or my leg a lot. Only after a few months of such hollering did Hubby point out that the neighbors often loudly hear me yelling "No Pants!!" or "Pants, down!!" or, worst in my opinion, "Pants, off!". They much think I am a pretty aggressive wife!

Cat Tunnel

I bought the cats a crinkly, noisy tunnel to climb through and play in. The kitten is going back and forth the same way the 1 year old I watched last Saturday went through his. Pretty entertaining. This is further evidence of why I equate my cats to being my children.
 Meanwhile, there's an interview on TV with the guy who was dancing in the street and got hit by a speeding ice cream truck. Super entertaining. I always wanted to marry an ice cream man when I grew up. Those ninja turtles on a stick are quite tasty.