My cat, Puddy, sneaks out into the living room after the dogs have been put to bed. I noticed, tonight that she needed her nails clipped. I usually do it in the bedroom, her domain, where she feels safe. I didn’t really think twice about being in the living room, but something must have spooked her (the tiniest of noises will send her running back to her lair) and I felt her back claws whip up and into my flesh. As she dropped, now free to escape, I lost it completely. (The blood helped my release, I’m sure, as well as the fear & pain.)

I try to recognize and appreciate the opportunities the universe gives me to learn and grow, but in this case, I really wish my face had been spared from this lesson. I’m worried I will have a scar from this much needed catharsis.

From there, we headed to another local u-pick (The Girls) and loaded up on fresh greens and zucchini flowers! (Their strawberries had taken a hit as well.) Our haul from the second market would have easily cost $10+ at the local farmer’s market, but we paid less than $2 by picking it ourselves. Yummy organic produce at cost!

Our last u-pick of the day was rather unconventional. We stopped at Total Wine & Spirits and browsed the imported beer aisle & ‘picked’ our own six pack! Cor suggested we put the in the RV as an adventure in tasting when we go to MARS for Miss Trailer Trash weekend! Marvelous!

We also stopped by The Boys Market & picked up some New Year’s noshes and had half priced drinks from Sonic. It was one of the lovliest date days.

This evening sees Cor saving the Universe by playing the latest Ratchet & Clank and I finished reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (excellent read – I highly recommend it). Tommorow I must tackle my grading and other classwork in earnest and start de-christmasing the house and yard.

but i love our RV. i adored living in the dorm at college. my ideal sleeping arrangement is curled up in a sleeping bag. i like efficiency and compactness. my office has lovingly been nicknamed ‘the dorm’ for a reason. all the comforts of home in a nice neat package.  and with the RV, that package is mobile!

maybe the confined space prevents me from becoming overly cluttered. maybe i like being forced to find a space for everything or having everything in its place.  maybe the simplest reason is the best – my first home was a trailer. of course, being a baby and toddler, i had no idea i lived in a trailer or the perceived social implications of my status.  yes, i have redneck roots!

and in my emerging adulthood, i am gladly, gratefully, and joyously reclaiming my redneck heritage!  i’ve got the truck, white, like my father’s and now, a modern, yet smaller version of my childhood home. and i foresee, in my future, a little vegetable garden and maybe even a tool bench – a chip off the old block.

better get working on my green thumb…

i collapsed, face first, down on the futon, my hands hanging down over the side and grazing the hardwood floorboards.  suddenly, in the midst of my deep sighing and decompression, i was assaulted by dog kisses.  two very insistent and very affectionate terriers decided, at that moment, that they NEEDED to give kisses.  i must have been giving off the ‘i need kisses’ vibe.

there is no pharmaceutical or herbal or nutritional supplement that can approximate the giggling uncontrollably, cover your face, breathe between licks, when is she ever going to stop kissing me joy that comes from insane dog kissing sessions.  and then, to have those same dogs snuggle into you and flip themselves over for well-deserved belly rubs – of course, they slip a few more kisses in for good measure.

that weight?  that pressure pressing down on my heart that made it hard to breathe?  it melted away with the power (and breath) of those incredible puppy kisses.  even chocolate can’t do that.

being in the throes of such a periodic craving got me thinking about other episodic treats.  fall is officially upon is, so now all the pumpkin flavored muffins and lattes and spiced apple whatnots are making their way back onto menus all over the area.  even the air fresheners at work have been converted to a quite ‘autumnal’ scent.  cinnamon brooms are on display at Publix and the doors of mine and my coworkers’ offices are decorated with spiders, witches, orange leaves, black mylar tinsel, and scarecrows.  soon, it will be time to scarf candy corn and sickly sweet orange pumpkins, popcorn balls, and gummy body parts while scaring costume clad treat seekers.

then comes the marathon of eating that accompanies thanksgiving and christmas.  we bake cookies, roast turkeys, make stuffing and squashes and savory stuffed mushrooms.  foods and traditions i look forward to year round, yet if i had access to them year round, would they mean as much to me?

i frequently say i wish we had christmas decorations up throughout the year.  not specifically christmas, per se, but lights and decorations and pretties bedazzling each home and outfit, changing with the seasons or holidays.  but would they be as special as those twinkly lights that get strung up as the air gets cooler and natures settles in for her yearly nap?  when somehow, our spirit of giving activates and we reach out to others in a sharing spirit of comradery? (ok, so that benevolent spirit would definitely be appreciated year round – we won’t argue that fact)

i think i’ll stick to my annual treats and festivities – thy give me something not only to look forward to, but to cherish during their presence.  even my chocolate craving.

luckily, this type of evil can be banished relatively easily – with a broom, dustpan, cleaning solution and some scrubby towels.  today was the day that i peeked under things, crawled into the little spaces, and generally mucked about in those areas i tend to neglect.  i drug the big garbage can to the front door and began pitching out bags & boxes and armloads of stuff that needed to be tossed.  i rearranged and consolidated and put things away. after yesterday’s marathon of working at the office & today’s working at home, my ‘weekend’ simply didn’t exist.  cor’s having to work weekends now while she’s in the inpatient unit, so it’s fairly equitable across the board. which, of course, means we’re both tired.

but, no more evil lurks under our couch.  and that’s a good thing.

• i like the Macy’s “come together” commercial where all the stars are getting together for a dinner in one of the stores. i love Queen Latifah. but the commercial makes me smile every time.  so does the song.
• Dunkin Donuts’ mocha latte is becoming my morning ‘thing’.
• sometimes, delegating a task is the best idea.  sometimes, it can backfire horrendously. its difficult to know which way things are going to go.
• i also love the prius commercials.
• lately, i’ve felt really stressed – i can’t pinpoint any particular event or issue, but my plate is full.
• watching top chef makes me hungry. watching most food shows make me hungry. we watch a lot of those shows … hmmm…

as a fun factoid, its been quite a while since i’ve succumbed to any sort of cold/flu.  i’m quite proud of that – especially given the fact that i used to miss quite a bit of work from being ‘sick’.

saturday i biked about 23 miles … and it totally kicked my butt.  that could be because this bug was creeping on – i was sweating buckets and still had chills.  and it could be the fact that i really did ride quite a distance and am still not as fit as i’d like to be.  i’m not going to get a chance to ride while i’m on my trip to Texas, but when i come back home, Cor and i are going to star exploring local parks for camping and bike riding potential.

one huge benefit of Cor getting infected with the camping bug, is now, every time she cooks on her coal grill, we have s’mores for dessert!! i personally like the ones made with reeses cups … not just hershey bars.

jamie oliver (chef) was there (which struck me as bizarre because he was actually auditioning to be a cook there – but the woman holding the auditions said the head chef was too particular about her food and wouldn’t have him). i can’t remember who the woman was holding the auditions – she was an older woman, beautiful, poised, and famous – actress or model or something in her time – and i know i’ve seen her on tv before…. anyway – she was also very direct with each of the applicants.

the auditions kept on, it was sort of America’s Got Talent meets Coyote Ugly. she was quick to tell people, even after the first few notes or whatever they were doing – ‘No’. somehow, i had a number to audition, even though i knew i would never go up there. a friend of mine, near the end of the line, went up and danced for the woman – and the woman loved it. it was so unexpected that everyone was in shock. i laughed and called out to my friend (in Spanish, no less) that she would now have to learn to sing.

when everyone cleared out, the woman was looking at me expectantly, because i still had a number. i went over to her and took her hands, kissed them, and told her that i would never embarrass myself by auditioning for her but that i thought she was beautiful and thanked her for letting me watch her auditions. she smiled and nodded.

i walked out of the cantina and, like most of my dreams, the world shifted. i was visiting an amusement park (though it was actually not a park per se, but an entire country or something) that was connected by chair lifts. and the main office was in a large church, which was in session.

things got progressively weirder from there.

i watched ‘Farrah’s Story’ on television recently.  it was very sad to me that she was going through such a traumatic journey but i was touched at her desire to advocate for others and share her pain.  i saw her partner on television and he announced they planned to finally marry when she was strong/well enough to say ‘i do’.  that didn’t happen, apparently.  it was obvious they had a very strong love.

and then, even bigger and more significant for me, michael’s death.  when i was a child, i LOVED michael jackson’s music.  he was easily and hands down my favorite musical artist when i was a child and still today remains in my top 10 easily.

when i was in 2nd grade, i became a latch-key kid.  i would be home, alone, for hours every single day.  being social, i found that the telephone was a great connection to the outside world – but i didn’t have many people i knew (or was allowed) to call.  i started calling my local radio station and requesting they play michael jackson’s songs.  when you call a radio station every day, and you’re 8 years old, the DJs tend to get to know you, and if you’re cute, humor you.  so every afternoon, around 3:00pm, there’d be a michael jackson song playing on the local radio station in Temple, Texas and i, would be dancing and singing at the top of my lungs in my living room.  my mom would listen to the radio & know i was home when she heard him start singing.

i’d also beg the DJs at the local roller skating rink to play MJ’s songs.  there was no better artist’s songs to get up some great speed around that wooden floor and start grooving out while you were literally flying.  none.  only michael could do that for me.

so yeah, he was weird & odd and even outright questionable in many of his behaviors …. but the man could sing and dance.  and i’m sad he’s gone.