emerging from the deep...

It sounds like the title of a creepy movie! Ha. ...from the deeeeepp!

I have been simplifying my life. Less stuff, less clutter, fewer late nights, oh, and can I add less spare time? Classes really have a way of sucking up every little window of time that exists in your day. Between studying for tests and writing papers and going to class...wow! But I love being in class. I love to learn things. So I'm really not complaining. And I'm learning something that is fun for me.

Next fall, I'd like to take a sign language class with my honey. An evening class, once a week. Doesn't that sound like fun?? I hope it works out.

So what's new? I got healthy again, mostly. Still have a plugged nose, but I think that is from allergies. Which I'm not medicating as consistently as I should.

My Erica is playing basketball once again, and she made the varsity team. She's so nonchalant about it all, and my buttons are just popping off my sweater! But I try to contain myself. I do think this year it's going to be a lot more work, more practice.

Gail is just going to school, doin' her thing, working hard. Living on campus seems to have settled down into a familiar pattern, and she's doing great, at least from my perspective. I can't really speak for her. And tomorrow--tomorrow we're going scrapbooking at Archivers! They have a "make a calendar" class. Time to let the right side of the brain take a break, and let the left side out to play. Mugs is going, too. I'm so looking forward to it.

My honey has been so sweet and thoughtful to me--I'm lovin' it. I feel a little spoiled, though. He goes out and starts my car for me every morning, and he's been getting up early and making coffee so we can spend a little quiet time together before I go to work. That man has a soft spot in his heart for me...I'm telling you.

My bloggy friend daisymarie was talking about the theme of her life recently, wondering what it would be if she tried to nail it down. I think mine would be something along the lines of enough...in terms of having enough, and realizing that I have enough. I don't need "stuff" to fill up the hole in my heart. I have a pretty excellent hole-filler in mind, and He doesn't take up any floor space whatsoever. However, I have let Him take over the interior decoration both in my house and in my heart. I don't need the clutter to live my life. I don't need to hang on to it in case I am lacking it someday and need to pull it out. That's really what it is, you know. A deep down fear that someday I will need something and I won't have it. So I save every possible thing that I think I might need someday down the road. Why worry? Why stack it up? It just makes me miserable and makes everything messy.

I really need to soak that in and revel in that knowledge. Thanks, daisymarie. A beautiful day to ya, hon!

*cough! cough!*

Wipe off your keyboards. Clean your monitors. It's very contagious! We are the official sickies around here. In my spare time, I sleep. On my lunch hour, I sleep. I go to bed early, and I get up as late as possible and still get to work on time. And finally, thankfully, it's Friday and I don't have to get up early!

I feel the drive to scrapbook coming on. Next weekend, Archiver's is having their holiday bonanza sale, and the following weekend, they have a super duper calendar class happening! I'm really tempted. If I'm not still tired, that is. This has to end sooner or later. I've been feeling yucky since I got my flu shot a little over a week ago. I want it to be done.

I've been slacking on the blog since I started classes, and now I have classes two nights a week! I have another test on Monday and a paper due again. I better factor in some study time this weekend instead of waiting till two hours before class to buckle down. Although if you look at grades, what I've been doing has been working, cuz I have a 92% in the class. But I want to RETAIN this stuff! Not just ace the test and forget it. That's for rookies. I want to be in it to win it and be able to pass certification tests and such. Maybe that is part of why I'm tired. My brain is working overtime! Ha!

Well, there's plenty of family drama going on. Oh, the stories I could tell! But it's nothing that I can blog about, so I'll just ask you to pray about my kids. And me, too. And my honey. Oh, heck. All of us! Thanks!

shebang! he has claws

It's official. Garfield, Mugs' cat, has discovered that he has claws and that our cats, Tucker and Franklin, do not. What an attitude change. he no longer cowers and hides. He struts down the hall. He lollygags in the chairs, sprawled as far as he can stretch. He saunters in front of the cats, stopping to give them a cold stare.

But it doesn't stop them from trying. They still gang up on him and try to intimidate him. Today Franklin had Garfield blocked into the hallway and was growling at Garfield, so I went to break it up. Franklin turned around and headed for the dining room when I shooed him away, and right after he turned around, Garfield exploded past me and leapt onto Franklin's back with all his claws outstretched! Wow!

Franklin crouched down and started yowling. Tucker rushed over to defend Franklin, and Franklin turned and hissed at him, too. Tucker started to yowl. That is an eerie sound. It started out mournful and rolled right on down into a rumbling growl. Zowie! That's the most excitement I've had in weeks!

Cats do not play nice. They strut and puff and bluster just like men do (sorry guys, but you do). And I couldn't believe that Garfield gave Frankie the equivalent of a sucker punch. Hit him when his back was turned.

So Garfield has been banished back to the bedroom.

He is so funny, though. We bought those sticky sheets of plastic that you can stick onto the upholstery to keep cats from shredding up your furniture when they want to sharpen their claws. We heard him back behind the couch...rip, rip, rip...if you have cats, you probably know the sound.

So I took out the sticky sheets and applied them to the back of the couch. After a bit, I saw him head back there, so I quietly peeked my head over the back of the couch to see what he was doing.

That little stinker. He was back there, touching the plastic sheets with his paws. He'd give them this disgusted look. But instead of giving up, he put his face up to them and grabbed a corner of the closest strip with his teeth and tried to peel it off the couch! What a smartie!

My usual line of defense when the cats are doing something they shouldn't is to squirt them with water from a spray bottle. I didn't have that handy, so I blew a big puff of air at his face. He stopped, for a second, and went back to it. I had to do that three or four more times before he ran out of there and left them alone.

My goodnes. It's like having kids around. But the next few days will determine if Garfield stays or goes. He may have to go back to our niece's house if he can't get along with Frankie and Tucker. He's young, and our kitties are almost fourteen years old. They're destined to lose if Garfield doesn't cool his jets.

You know that old saying...something like, Youth and strength will never win out over age and treachery? It doesn't work here in our wild kingdom of cats. I think the tide is turning. The theme from The Lion King is playing in my mind...The Circle of Life. They were the kings, but there comes a time when the younger, stronger ones are ready to take over. Kind of depressing, you know? LOL

cats don't share

Franklin has become a class A-1 bully. A bully, I tell ya.

Mugs, my beloved sister-in-law, has moved in with us. For good. She comes with pets. One little wire-haired dachshund, Odie, and one big orange and white cat, Garfield. I know--it's perfect!

Except Garfield doesn't really live up to his name yet. He's pretty shy and retiring. Very meek and mild. Hasn't been fixed yet, still has his claws. And he's timid. Go figure.

Odie has been a frequent visitor, as he has come with Mugs when she would stay for the weekend here and there. Garfield, on the other hand, has not.

Franklin, our black and white kitty, is a PILL. He stalks poor Garfield every time he pokes his nose out of Mugs' room. He'll sit down at the beginning of the hallway, and he just pokes enough of his face around the corner so he can see if Garfield is out of the room.

Mugs has the room at the end of the hall. I'm afraid poor Garfield is destined to live down there. He's such a timid thing. I know that our cats are going to run his life and make him miserable, just the way they did little Charli-mama's.

Has anyone had any luck with getting cats to get along? Because my cats definitely don't sing that song..."Can't we all just get along?"

Tucker, our big black cat, has already let Odie know who's boss. He's the one with the Garfield personality, really. Odie got too close to him one day...it was kind of like when someone keeps backing up out in public somewhere and doesn't look behind them. You know what I mean? And all of a sudden, they're in your bubble? You want to give them a shove or something, but you usually just back up and wait for them to notice they're too close. They run you over, and you move out of the way. Crazy.

Well, not Tucker. Odie got too close to him and as soon as Tucker had had enough, he gave poor Odie a good CHOMP! on his backside. Odie yelped and took off running for Mugs. He sat under her chair looking out at Tucker, like, what the heck is your problem, cat? Tucker just sat there and gave Odie a cold stare.

They are so entertaining! Who needs TV?

Yes, I know we said NO NEW PETS. I don't think these count, because they're technically not our pets. Really.