The Kids' Table

Photo of the arbor as it’s progressing! Oh, and a photo of Rumi who mewed in my ear recently that he wasn’t getting enough blog time.



Saturday night we had "Kali" and "Tequila" over for dinner for their third annual anniversary celebration. Since Kali played a role in setting me up with Doc. B., it’s always a pleasure to get to share in her happiness. I’ve known Kali for 12 or 13 years and have always enjoyed her company. So it’s been fun getting to know Tequila over the past couple of years. The thing I noticed at first meeting was that Tequila tends to bring out the 10 year old boy in me. You know what I mean, the part of me that laughs at flatulence jokes and says things like “I’m rubber, and you’re glue...” Sometimes being immature is just plain fun, in the right context of course. So Saturday night was a much needed round of playfulness after my month of work travel during which I was forced to act my age, 24-7.

Now that I've proofread that first paragraph, it seems like I'm talking about a date with a bottle of Cuervo Gold. "Tequila" is actually a nickname for a real live person whose name happens to rhyme with tequila. Oh wait, that could be a dead give away that her name is really Mandila.

Anyway, after dinner, Kali, Tequila, Doc. B. and I went out back to the fire pit (thanks middle sis!) for s’mores (for sure brings out the ten year old!) and Glayva (thanks baby sis!). Somehow we got to talking about “the kids’ table” at extended family gatherings. I have fond memories of sharing holiday meals at grandma and grandpa’s farm. My parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and any other adult guests would sit at the big table in the dining room while my sisters, brother, cousins and I would sit at folding card tables out on the glassed-in porch. We always had fun talking and laughing out there without feeling like we had to be on our best behavior. I never really wanted to graduate to the adult table since that meant I had to actually make use of the manners my mother taught me so well. But on occasion, there would be room for us kids at the adult table. Like the time when grandma put out some applesauce that had mold on it (her vision wasn't very good and she probably couldn't even tell that it had gone bad - runs in the family with a host of other lovely ailments!). If moldy applesauce had made its way to the kids’ table, we would have made jokes about it, thrown it away when no one was looking, or any number of other creative things. But since I happened to be sitting at the adult table this particular visit, I simply kept my mouth shut and passed the dish on to my aunt who promptly blurted out “June, there’s mold on this applesauce!”. I’m still not sure, to this day, which action was more appropriate for the adult table, mine or my aunt's? Maybe there was a happy medium. Perhaps I can ask Patricia Arquette if I ever happen to run into her.

Tequila was talking less about the memories and more about why, at age 44, her seat was still at the kids’ table? I wasn’t sure if the question was rhetorical so I didn’t chime in – but I did make a mental note that it would be great blog fodder. Plus, that was the polite thing to do, right?

New Tricks

I had mentioned to a few people that Ms. Maddie Cat would be turning 19 friggin' years old in May. So it was pretty cool when we received the homemade card pictured here (thanks Leona). It got me to wondering exactly when the old cat, who is still learning new tricks, arrived on the planet. We have a rough idea of when that occurred because it coincides with the approximate time that she and her three siblings were left on the doorstep of the Log Cabin Animal Hospital (in Battle Creek, Michigan) before their eyes were even open. My friend "Tina" had taken the beloved Murphy Cat, Higher Power rest his soul, to the Animal Hospital for a check up in June of 1988 and was tempted by the mewing kittens who were being loved on by the coffee-making hospital staffers (I mention that because for the first 10 years of Maddie's life, that kitty would come running to the kitchen every time she smelled java being brewed). Tina of course couldn't resist bringing little Madison home. Thank goodness Maddie ended up being a girl because if she were a boy, Tina wanted to name her Byron. Yuck (notice the use of the subjunctive, like as in "if I were a rich man").

When I received the above birthday card, I decided to look back through my vet records to determine when she was actually born. Turns out we took her to the Log Cabin Animal Hospital on 7/12/88 for her 8 week check up. So I think we can roughly estimate that Maddie turned 19 on 5/12/07.

"Mad Dog" has lived a lush nine lives. She's been on her death bed a time or two or three, or...but she's always come through purring. She relied on Murphy for the first 17 years of her life and now she's relying on me. I'm up for the task as long as she wants to hang out on this earth.

Home Sick

The past 5 weeks have been a travel blur and a routine shaker. It’s taken me an entire week to regain any real energy let alone muster enough inspiration to open up the blue mailbox. But I finally have myself back together enough to at least write somewhat of an update – perhaps more of a “journal entry” than my typical blog entry.

As you may recall from my last writings, Doc. B. and I went on a Hilton Head vacation at the beginning of April. We came back for two days and then I was off to Florida to assist in providing training for some of our SSA field office employees. I came back home for another two days and then made my first ever visit to the Social Security holy land – Baltimore (it was almost as exciting as the time I made a work-related trip to the Mecca of Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas). I was in Baltimore for two weeks, along with 22 other SSA employees, to learn how to do interactive video training (IVT). I now know how to write a training script, how to use a teleprompter and what not to wear when you are on camera (saturated colors, stripes, polka dots and leopard skin prints don’t go over too well – thankfully my wardrobe contains very little of these types of garments). When I returned home a week ago, my parents greeted me at the door. They were able to make our house a pit stop on their way home to Michigan from Florida.

So for an entire month, I was in my little work cubicle for only one day. Pretty cool, huh?

There were many difficult times for me over the month. Being away from Doc. B and the kitties, being “on” all the time, stepping outside of my comfort zone to be on camera, and just plain being away from my beloved routine in good old Atlanta.

But what I just realized is that despite stepping outside of my routine box, I really had a great time on my trips. I have wonderful new friends/co-workers because of it all. Just because I’m out of my element doesn’t mean I can’t have fun. Perhaps next time I'll realize this while I’m in the midst of the fun rather than days later.

p.s. When I left a month ago, Doc. B. was building an arbor in our backyard. The photos are what it looked like when I left. While dad was in town, he helped on it a bit and it’s coming along nicely. I’ll post new pictures when it’s done!