Imitation

I am suffering writer's block, brain dead, empty headed. Why? I just don't sit down and write. Sometimes I just go through these stages, writing pure blather, waiting for the aha moment. It hasn't come lately. So I'll use a little...

== BlogFodder ==

Learning by imitation.

From watching Dad, I'm wearing out the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions on my steering wheel from rubbing my thumbs there. I rub my thumb and middle fingers. At least I haven't started doing the "Eh Eh Eh" every time I move... or do I? I learned how to drive with my left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas pedal. I unlearned it when I failed my driver's test.

Mom always sat in the back row at church so I sit in the back row at church (when I go) so I can make a quick escape. To eat two vegetables at dinner when on a diet.

I followed my big brothers around so I must have learned a lot of things but I can't remember.

My little sister showed me how not to drink.

The first CPA I worked for - build up honest clients, prepare honest returns and assemble with simple little sticky notes so the client doesn't goof and send the state return to IRS etc.

Heck, I feel stupid. Put this down as one of my stupidest writings so far. Trash it? No, it's gotta stay just so you know I'm alive and reasonably well.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Badminton:: net
   
2. Obsessive compulsive :: disorder
   
3. Prosthetics:: legs
   
4. Sophistication:: age
   
5. Hiphop :: dance
   
6. Stammering:: stuttering
   
7. Property taxes:: real estate
   
8. Lowrider:: hunk
   
9. Blowtorch:: match
   
10. Formality::legal
    

A-Z

A is for Acceptance
B is for Been there done that
C is for Change and Courage
D is for Donuts not Drugs ( sign I saw in a bakery window in Bishop)
E is for Enough of this
F is for Fifteen years
Gis for Good things come to those who believe
H is for Higher Power
I is for Inner Joy
J is for Just for Today
K is for Keep Coming Back
L is for Letting Go
M is for Meditation
N is for No thank you
O is for One Day at a Time
P is for Promises
Q is for Quality of life
R is for Recovery
S is for Serenity
T is for This to Shall Pass
U is for Unity
V is for Very Important People
W is for Wisdom
X is for XV
Y is for Years
Z is for Zestfully living

15 Years Today.

A to Z

I must do this. Maybe tomorrow.

2nd Pair of Socks

Finished 2nd pair of socks yesterday. Regia sock yarn which forms its own stripe and Fair Isle color pattern. Notice that they almost match. Not bad for a beginner huh?



Next up: Shepherd Sock yarn in Purple Club.

Now that I am into all this sock making, summer seems to have arrived. High eighties yesterday, not exactly wool sock wearing weather. Oh well, winter will come soon enough. Socks are a good thing to knit during the summer anyway. Easy to carry with me on summer adventures. No need to swelter under a bulky afghan in progress.

What's More Annoying and Mutterings

What's more annoying? I was in Barnes & Nobles when I noticed a young man sharing a table with a mother of a small baby. She was discreetly breastfeeding the baby. The young man and mother were carrying on a quiet conversation. The baby got a bit fussy so the lady apologized and left. As soon as she was out of earshot the guy gets out his cell phone and calls three people and tells them how here he is in B&N trying to study as well as escape from allergies when this lady sits next to him with a 4 month old baby and breast feeds right in front of him. He just couldn't concentrate on his studying under those circumstances. I could clearly hear his conversations three aisles away. I'd rather hear the fussy baby.

1. Naked:: city
   
2. Singular:: telephone - oops thats Cingular
   
3. Particle:: atom
   
4. Unified:: schools
   
5. Lion:: tamer
   
6. Capitulate:: decapitate (where did that come from)
   
7. Quantum:: leap
   
8. Celestial:: being
   
9. Motion:: detector
   
10. Delight:: ful
    

For the Birds

My neighbors have bird feeders. My cats sit way in the corner, craning their necks, peering with salivatious eyes out my window. So a week ago I decided I would treat the cats to their own private bird watching area. Off to Target I went for the bestest bird feeder in the store. After all I wanted to make sure the birds would find my feeder more attractive than my neighbors.

But, there were so many feeders, an entire aisle devoted to birds. I strolled up and down studying each feeder, each pack of birdseed, reading all the labels. Mind you, I know nothing about birds. Can't tell the difference between a canary and a parakeet. It was all way to confusing so I opted for the easy way out. I bought one of those Gourmet Birdseed Snackbars, the kind you just hang on the tree branch. The label said it would attract all varieties of birds.

Just happened to have one of those plant poles that loop around with a hook for hanging plants, a reasonable place to hang the Gourmet treat. Hung it up and waited all evening. Not one bird, except of course at the neighbor's. Finally gave up and went to bed. Woke up at 6am hearing lots of chirping outside my window. Looked out. No birds. But, 1/4 of the Gourmet treat was gone. Watched all through breakfast. One small brown bird with a black necklace came and took a couple of pecks. Nothing more.

Next morning, half the treat was gone.

Next morning, three quarters of the treat was gone.

Following morning, not even a trace of the holder hung on the stand. I went out to check and found the dregs of the treat bar on the ground. Now what on earth could be smart enough to pull that loop over the top of the plant stand and bring it down to the ground?

Today I am going out to buy a squirrel feeder. The cats love to watch their bushy little tails vibrate; they will like it better than the birds. My neighbors will like me better because the squirrels will stay away from their bird feeders.

Bits & Pieces

I don't have perfect blood pressure any more according to the latest news. Now I must strive to lower it below 120/80.

The Oreo cookie lawsuit has been dropped. Good. We all know those hydrogenated oils are in everything so why pick on the lowly little chocolate sandwiches. All that Orea news only induced more cravings for me. Now I see I can get Oreo mistakes too. Ummm vanilla with chocolate centers.

Speaking of chocolate, where are those kids from the inner city (not our inner city...we don't have one) that used to make frequent visits to the office with crates full of chocolates pricey enough to support their drug habits... oops I mean pricey enough to keep other kids off the streets? Why don't they come when I am desperate? I was good at lunch time today. I ate my bagel with Better Than Peanut Butter spread (half the fat of the real stuff). I skipped dessert since I have now decided I get a treat only once a day. I cleaned out my snack drawer at work last week so I can't snack for at least 8 hours a day. I thought I could wait until CSI to have my daily treat. But I have this craving. I need chocolate. NOW. I checked the bottom of my purse... there's not even one tiny crumb of a Velamint in there.

We had a visitor at the office this afternoon. Left the door open because it seems our automatic thermostat has not been reset for these warm springtime days. Shortly after noon the big, and I mean BIG, orange cat (the same one that prowls around my apartment complex) came in the door. All was good until he backed up to my bosses desk.

It's hay fever season. The gentle breezes are blowing pollen all over the neighborhood. I sneezed all the way to work this morning and all during my lunch time walk. I went to fill my prescription for allergy medication; it expired two days ago. TWO DAYS. So now I wait for the doctor to return the pharmacy's call. Okay, it's all my fault. I should have mentioned it last time I was in there. I should have been prepared. I know allergies hit me on mother's day, like clockwork.

Tonight I should go out and watch the moon eclipse. I should but I probably won't. It's my favorite TV night. Survivor is over but there is still CSI, the final episode of the season, and ER, if I can stay awake.

Brag Spot

StoryCircle honored me as Writer of the Month for May!!!!! I am a bit amused by this as the following is the story they selected for this honor and it was one that I turned in unedited at the last minute (we have a writing assignment each month and sometimes I miss the deadline).

How I Ended Up With 13 Indoor Cats (at one time)

I can't count the number of cats that came and went through my childhood years. They just kind of mysteriously weave in and out of the family photo albums. But the one thing that is certain, there was always at least one cat in our household, until I got married.

My husband was allergic to cats. Or so he told me. But then again, he had a Siamese cat named Gertrude throughout his growing up years. He claimed that she had some special kind of dander that he could tolerate. Since my preference for cats was always the long-haired variety, a definite sneeze attack to my husband, I figured that my cat days were long gone with the exchange of the marriage vows.

Three months into the marriage he came home from work with a cardboard box emitting the most distinctive of all yowls, the unmistakable yowls of a mama cat giving birth. It seems Mama Kitty, a stray cat from my husband's newspaper district, had selected one of the Tribune newspaper boxes as a good place to have her kittens. Of course my husband didn't have the heart to leave her there so she became the first resident cat in our new home. I just had to keep two of her litter too. One because she was long-haired and calico. The other because he was so ugly that no one would take him. Those cats all lived long happy lives.

Meanwhile my husband's allergies disappeared. Then we had kids, two boys. More cats came and went as the boys grew up and started bringing home strays here and there. Then one day a feral cat showed up. She had babies. We trapped cats, neutered cats, tamed cats and tried our best to find homes for them. People didn't seem to want those feral rejects. It got out of control. Soon we realized that there were 13 cats that were allowed to come inside the house and an undetermined amount of midnight raiders to the food source outside the house. Okay, I know, we might have been just a little too generous with the cat food in those days.

My son is living in our old house now and has kicked the five cats left in our little colony outside because he has turned into a "dog person" (girl friends can do that to a guy you know). It's okay though. They have shelter and food and a great big hillside to romp in. We get to visit daily.

Note: I do have two cats at my apartment. It was a tough decision but I did have to choose the best candidates for this indoor lifestyle.

Flossmore

Oh no, another one of my friends is moving to what my brother refers to as "Flossmore." It's the place we go to in this area when we get to be over 55 and start simplifying our lives. We move out of the homes where we raised our family into these gated adult communities so we are safe.

We go there so we can mingle with others our age. We move there to join in on age appropriate community activities.

We leave behind playground sounds to hear the golfers chorus of "fores" and daily rounds of ambulances.

We give up hunting deer to sit back and watch for the new Bambi's.

We trade our jogging shoes for hiking boots, our backpacks for totebags.

We use our binoculars for bird watching rather than scoping out the next mountain vistas.

The speedo swimsuits are replaced by body camoflouging skirted tankinis or trunks. A parade of high fashion swim coverups topped with rubber flowered swimming caps leads us to new ways to workout from swimming to dancing in the water. And when winter comes we don our flannel sweatsuits and parade around the gymnasium or aerobicize in wheelchairs.

We play bocce ball instead of bowling.

We plant pots of annual flowers in case we don't last another season.

We ride camel busses instead of Bart. We give up our cars and hail taxis or medi-transports.

We know when company is coming cause they can't get by the gatekeepers without our permission. We send the grandchildren home after 3 days to follow the rules (well that might be a positive).

To think, in just one more year and I'll be eligible to move to God's waiting room.