The Adventures of Being Me

Had a lovely Christmas Day at my Mom's apartment with sister's family. Took turns choosing Christmas specials to watch. Niece and nephew liked their gifts of slippers/gloves/gift card. Mom loved her chocolate present. Back to work the next day and rest of the week. We had a cubicle decorating contest and the top manager's kids were the judges. Our section was Santa's Workshop and I was Mrs. Claus. On my desk, I put down black paper to create stove and made a tray of gingerbread cookies from construction paper. I should have brought cookie cutter for the gingerbread men cause my free hand figures were less tidy. Since I brought treats for coworkers and gave a Christmas specials/movies quiz to get the grand prize Champagne cupcake, I left a few cookies and piece of fudge for the judges. I think they might have tipped the scale in our favor. Anyway, we are getting chicken strip lunch as a reward. Took down everything today. I grabbed a couple boxes to use for storage. Ne...

Twas the night before Christmas and I could hardly bare it Not a creature was stirring, not even a ferret The stockings were hung on the bookcase with care With hopes of St Nicholas soon would be there Mama in bed taking a long nap As Eowyn, Luthien, and I waited with the Santa trap Visions of red toys and dangling Christmas balls Filled my dreams of what this Christmas thing befalls When all of a sudden there popped such a spark Eowyn jumped up to find it was all dark A streetlight went out and trees covered in ice No longer dimly sparkled, which was very nice The moon glowing upon the new fallen snow Covering the mushy leaves unraked below When what to my wondering ferret eyes should appear But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer With a little old driver so bright red and quick I so badly wanted give that toy a lick More rapid than eagles his coursers they came And he whistled and shouted and called them by name Now Jingles Now Jangles Now Ivy and Holly On Snowball On Spark...

Merry Christmas to my dear friends and family. Slept in the New Year and enjoyed the next day off. Drove Mom to my Dad's cousins’ reunion at a pizza place. Attended a baby shower for my cousin having her first child, a boy she gave birth to a couple months later. Started volunteering for VITA again (my 4th year) answering newbie questions and checking their work. Celebrated ferret Boromir's 1st Birthday. Had fun shoveling the driveway from all of our snowfall the old-fashioned way. A snow blower would be just another machine I don’t know how to use, plus got to gas up and fix when parts break. Spent Valentine's Day at work and then doing taxes for VITA. Sent Mom a Heart shaped pizza and brownies. Watched the Winter Olympics on TV. Celebrated cat Precious's 12th Birthday. Celebrated ferret Luthien's 2nd Birthday. Missed the St. Patrick's Day parade because it was just too cold outside to enjoy it so spent the day at home doing house chores. In the spring, I e...

Celebrated niece's 15th birthday at a buffet restaurant. She loved my gift of Skechers shoes. Who doesn't love Skechers? Friend offered her kittens just born the week before to me since I'm in misery missing my kitties. So have to wait a couple months to collect when they are weaned from their mother. My heart is healing. Went to brother's house for Thanksgiving and went out with sister's family for Black Friday specials. Not very many good sales if allowed to say that. Anything I badly want is often not on sale. Did get a ladder and new icicle lights for my roof. It's so pretty. Next got a vacuum and attachment to clean the dryer vent so maybe my clothes will come out dry instead of moist. Dryer just got serviced last summer and parts put on to make it work again. Put up my Mom's Christmas decorations for her. I got my decorations and ferrets are happy to play in the boxes and under the tree skirt. Returned to work to put up my Christmas tree and garl...

I got a new white male Beta fish and named him Atlas Junior last weekend. Today Frodo cat died. I was worried last night from his getting lethargic on me and refusing to eat (I played Elvis songs for him), but at bedtime he perked up to drink some water. Then this morning I saw he ate a little food during the night. He was meowing the second he heard me stir in my bed. I gave him his medicine and went to work. Came home and he was gone. Ferrets paid their respects before I covered him with rose petals and wrapped him in a blanket I got from the nearby store. Too dark and ground too cold to dig a grave tonight, so will bury him tomorrow after work. At least, I don't have to worry about Frodo anymore like I have the past 2 months. Frodo was 12 years old so he has lived his life.

Celebrated Eowyn ferret's 5th birthday with cupcake. Ferrets love frosting and I eat the cupcake. Frodo cat got a can of tuna. Spoon fed Frodo until he started eating on his own again. Took the pets out to enjoy the days of warm weather. Frodo finally quit hiding and strengthened his arm muscles to move around while dragging his bottom half. He even went outside on warm days and enjoyed some fresh air. Email got hacked again and discovered a device in another country was synced to my email. Lodged the typical complaints but who knows if anything happened to the people who hacked me. We had tornadoes near my Mom's hometown and my hometown. Many friends and family in the danger zones. Don't know how many tornadoes are normal for October. Had to rent Joan Jett's Documentary Bad Reputation online cause it wasn't playing in my area of the world. Loved it and highly recommend it. Had some flurries that didn't stay long enough to count toward the 1st Snow Conte...

Sad week. Took Frodo to the vet from his limping (he resembles a seal on land) and received the news he has arthritis in his hips and knees, plus a small solid mass the size of a pea in his tummy tissue. He was greatly traumatized at the vet going through blood test, urine test, claws clipped, and X-rays. He was happy to return home. Giving him his pain meds and now he stopped eating. Had to inform the family that we might be saying good-bye to Frodo if he doesn't recover his eating. And got a another huge vet bill I have to put on the credit card. Such as life, at least for me anyway.

Well, my black walnut tree has dropped tons of walnuts in my yard that nobody wants, not even squirrels who eat my peanuts. Nephew celebrated his birthday with his father's side 90 miles from us so we got together later to give him presents. He received a zipper sweatshirt from me. It was a little big so probably went back to the store to be exchanged. Got new parts for the dryer so it is completely fixed. Couldn't afford to renew the warranty so will hope for the best and replace appliances if I must. Got the teeth cleaned at the dentist's office. Got a coupon in the mail so got a hair cut at the salon (6 inches whacked off). I said I wanted job getting hair. I have yet to have an interview to test it out and soon it will grow out. Frodo cat took Precious cat's death hard and let the ferrets he usually smacks near him. He needed a buddy. Then he started hiding in the closet to escape the flea spray (I thought) so when I got a flea foam he came out and last night he s...

My cat Precious died last night. I buried him in the backyard after work tonight and sang Amazing Grace for him. I got him from a friend who insisted I take kitten her cat had (1 of 9). Precious had a twin who looked just like him. Her son picked Precious for me cause he was so sweet and I had a sweet disposition. I got him at 9 weeks old and 2.2 pounds. Tiny shrimp of a cat I called him. He grew bigger and his heaviest weight was 22 pounds. Had someone take his picture because he was the biggest cat he ever saw as we were outside. Vet techs said he looked like a Maine Coon. Actually had someone say their friend wanted a Maine Coon cat and asked me how much I wanted for Precious. I replied he was not for sale and continued our walk. Yes, I got Precious to walk on a leash. Actually he walked around sniffing everything and I just followed him. He loved to chase feathers and his buddy Frodo I adopted from a shelter. Later on I got a ferret that the cats didn't like and it was comica...

Kept having a recurring dream this week while I was working. It is 1981, I'm 5 years old, and I'm sitting alone at an airport, I think Kansas City but not sure. I am on my way to Los Angeles to be in the Annie movie as an orphan extra (if you spot a girl in pigtails cause Mom kept my hair short wearing a lavender dress with white shirt that was me). My Mom went to the rest room and I sit on a bench singing to myself. A man walks by and sits on the bench a couple feet way. I do a double take at the man cause I recognize him as Freddie Mercury. I shake with excitement and shock. You're Freddie Mercury, I gasp and sing a bit of Another One Bites the Dust. Yep, that's my song, the man says. The rest of the band arrive and Mr. Mercury offers a band autograph for me. I have no paper and pen. They grab pen and paper to sign it. I ask what it says cause I haven't started school yet to read it myself. Mr. Mercury points to the 4 names and To the Songbird (cause I was singi...

Survived the flooding in Des Moines. Walnut Creek that flooded was north of my journey to work so got to work okay. Got rid of 2 shrubs along my house. Had to use an axe to whack the wood trunk apart. Don't have to worry about it anymore. Day before the 4th of July, got off work early so stopped at the grocery store. Got a nail in my tire and rushed to mechanic before they closed to get it fixed. Spent 4th of July with Mom and sister's family. Got a stash of parade candy from niece and nephew so shared it at work. It took about a week but it did disappear. When I came into work the next day, the computers were down from a power surge frying the server so ended up with the day off. Lost my male Beta Helios I got as a baby and got another baby Atlas. 2 fish buried in the backyard now. Claims adjuster informed me that my roof leakage is not from storm damage, but normal wear and tear so insurance won't cover it. Got 2 interviews for new jobs. One employer called my home pho...

May adventures included door leaking water, had a thunderstorm where rotating clouds passed over my city (but no funnel cloud came down), went on a date with a man I met on online dating site to find a codependent dud, had a neighbor's tree fall into my yard so had to keep cats inside until fence was fixed (and tree broke my glass birdbath), had Mother's Day dinner with 2 sisters and Mom (Mom got a dozen of red roses), hired a lawn care company since nephew wasn't out of school yet and they ran over my Miniature Roses and Dutch Iris so no blooms from them this year, let the ferrets have yard time to have them be naughty trying to escape so privilege was taken away, my pink male Beta Pontus died after a year from getting him full grown and became first fish to be buried in backyard, received a phone call for a job offer and returned the call to find the voicemail box full so couldn't leave a message, got interest from a temp agency to find I don't really want to go...

Well, Diana's second son got married to an American. I bet she would be so proud and give the new Duchess of Sussex a hug. I missed the entrance of the wedding, but got woken up by a hungry cat to switch the TV on to see some of it. It was nice to see Sarah behind her daughters and ex-husband (since she wasn't invited to William's wedding). I wish them happiness and present this poem. If I were to write a poem For your big wedding day I would use silly words and try to make it rhyme. If I were to write a poem for a once sweet young boy I would say I'm proud of you and have a joyous time. If I were to write a poem For your wish come true I would wish I could be there but natural forces pulled us apart. If I were to write a poem for Henry and Meghan I would give them a big hug from the bottom of my heart. If I were to write a poem for a delightful couple I would toast the love birds and present you the only copy.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

The good part about owning a house is planting flowers. I have flower blooms of hyacinths and daffodils. Plus tons of purple violets all over the yard. I love violets. My Cat TV (aka Bird Feeder) are attracting red wing blackbirds and crows. See robins, sparrows, and chickadees too. My hummingbird feeders evaporated so something is drinking them up. Saw some bees by my flowers so making my contribution of honey to their hives. Attended my niece's confirmation and got to see family again. She loved my cross necklace gift with mother of pearl. Much better family gathering than my Mom's cousin's funeral a few weeks ago. Poor family discovered so many loved the deceased that they ran out of food. Mom was given a basket of flowers.

Tried out a dating site to find a man. I find men who hide under sunglasses and a hat in their profile photo or worse, their show off their naked chest. Excuse me, if you want someone to fall in love with your personality, why are you hiding it (and yes, a naked chest is hiding because they are trying to attract a superficial woman who won't deep deeper into their personality)? Even better, I keep reading profiles that are nothing but complaints about how lousy the dating site is or the women they meet are cheap whores and scammers. I have to wonder why they are on a website that is so awful. Maybe they can't figure out how to delete their profile. I do my ranting off the dating website, like here. Even worse, this dating site recommends men I don't want. They give me smokers (I have asthma), men who don't want kids nor marriage, and men who live 1000 miles away. I swear I'm going to die alone like that scene in Bridget Jones's Diary where she is lying on the...

Celebrated ferret Boromir's 1st Birthday with a cupcake and can of tuna. Had fun shoveling the driveway from all of our snowfall. Visited the dentist after 2 years of trying to secure my job and thus, insurance, to find a new dentist (old dentist stopped their service for me when the state privatized Medicaid). Took the piece of garbage car in to change a headlight and change all 4 rotten tires. Get better traction in the snow now. Spent Valentine's Day/Ash Wednesday at work and then doing taxes for VITA. My Mom called to thank me for her Heart Pizza and brownies I had delivered to her home. It was so big she had to invite people over to help her eat it. Watched the Winter Olympics on TV, snowboarding and figure skating are my favorites. Celebrated cat Precious's 12th Birthday with a cake and tuna. Gained 3 clients at the company and lost a client due to them declaring bankruptcy. One new client demanded a sealed room to work audits for their company so we got to hear a l...

I once read in a newspaper where students were asked to name 20 Black Americans who are/were not athletes nor entertainers. Many could not. One high school class of mine did that challenge and I think we did make it to 20 people. Let's see how many I can name. Let the challenge begin. 1. Phyllis Wheatley: Poet who met with George Washington during the Revolutionary War. 2. Sojourner Truth: Abolitionist and Women's Suffragist who bared her breasts and gave a famous speech "Ain't I a Woman?" 3. Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad and later scout, spy, and soldier in Civil War. 4. Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist who published his autobiography as a former slave. 5. Solomon Northup: Violinist who published his autobiography 12 Years a Slave. 6. 54th Massachusetts Infantry unit that inspired the film Glory. 7. Bass Reeves: Lawman out of Ft. Smith, AR who entered Indian Territory (Oklahoma) to capture fugitives and some say was the inspiration to t...

Had a good January. Slept in the New Year going to bed at 11 PM and enjoyed the day off. Then back to work hearing about about a new pay system the corporate office wants to inflict on us. Instead of raises we usually, they will pay us bonus related to how much work we produce over the budget. Which means many employees are looking for new jobs I'm sure. I call it "20 different reason not to pay us". Drove Mom to my Dad's cousins reunion at a pizza place. Younger generations don't bother to visit people they only see once a year so the cousins have their own gathering in January. Attended a baby shower for my cousin about to have her first child. Got to see her out-of-state sister and family plus my out-of-state aunt. My sister and niece got a stomach bug at the last minute and decided not to come, so took nephew along to visit out-of-state uncle. They played games down in the basement. Told nephew a baby shower is like a birthday party: have cake and punch, p...