Light Bulb

Yesterday was a horrible day. I was tired, grumpy, and had a huge final exam to take after work. Which by the way, was terrible. Not just terrible as in oh, I think I missed a few questions. Terrible as in I missed a few sections. One of those tests where you are taking it and you actually consider all the horrible things you would rather do than to finish taking the test (cut off your arm, run 10 miles, die, get kung-fu-karate-chopped, etc). I was completely prepared to start wailing and cry for my entire hour drive home. Instead, I thought to myself: Self, you can't do anything about it now. It is done. Now turn up your music, sing, and jam out like crazy all the way home, and when you get home, this experience is done, no more thinking about it. (shocker, I know! no cursing? no yelling at other drivers? no calling 3 people to tell them about the most horrifying previous 2 hours that was taking that exam?) It was like an out of body experience. Who knew I could survive without expressing all of that rage? I didn't.

Aside from still being tired, I felt great this morning! Don't get me wrong, it still totally sucks that I completely bombed that exam and most likely dropped a letter grade in that class. But no stomach ache, no being irritated all morning because I'm still upset about it, no Mr. Grumpy Gills. They do say that you can't change other people/things, only your reaction to them. Ding! Light bulb. I get it now. What good does it do for me to be upset for 3 days? In the grand scheme of my life this is not that major (pretty hard statement to say/type, considering I tend to overreact, blow things out of proportion, yell/scream/curse on a fairly regular basis). But it is true. And what a much better way to go through life! Here's hoping it sticks. I'm hoping for the best anyway.

Especially considering I just remembered the two drivers I cursed at on the way to work this morning. But hello! They deserved it.

Wedding Weekend

What a fun weekend! Morgan and Bradley's wedding was an awesome good time, and it was so amazing to see how happy they were. Here's a rundown of the weekend festivities:

Friday night: cocktails and rehearsal dinner at the Marriott City Center. So much fun hanging out and catching up with my favorite girls. And all nine of us were there! The Notorious Nine, back in action! I still think it's pretty damn cool that we are still all close after 15 years. And why wouldn't we be? We are fabulous.

What was not fabulous was when we left, and went to get my car in the parking deck and the gate was closed. I could see my car 10 feet in front of me but could not get to it. Really started to think we were spending the night in Raleigh. And really started to think why the hell didn't I park in the two closer parking decks we passed walking to the city center. Anyway, after walking all the way back, and asking a nice valet for help, we figured out how to get to my car. Because it makes perfect sense to have to go in a different parking deck, walk underneath, and come into my parking deck. Silly me! Then, I decide to go home a different way than I came, because apparently I took us around our ass to get to our elbow when we were trying to come there. As soon as we get on 40, traffic is stopped. Not crawling, not inching, stopped. Apparently there was a wreck on the OTHER side that we on my side needed to be concerned enough about to stop our cars for 10 minutes. So much for my quicker way home.

Saturday: Wedding time! If you haven't seen the Edenton Street Church in downtown Raleigh, you should go sometime. It is gorgeous! Morgan looked beautiful, Bradley was captivated, it was a beautiful ceremony. Now on to the reception at the Capital City Club. Awesome band, awesome tortellini pasta (seriously wanted to lick the plate, but figured it was not the right atmosphere for that behavior), awesome fun times with my friends. Not so awesome was the pain that was walking by the end of the night. My shoes were fabulous and looked perfect with my dress. But after 2 hours they were hurting, and by the end of the night I was either barefoot or walking like a duck. Mostly walking like a duck.They are still protesting today.

Sunday: home sweet home! slightly hungover but mostly just tired. Babies are very glad to see me. My parents were awesome and went by the house Saturday night to give them their medicine, and unfortunately Dad was a victim of Gabby's kung-fu-karate-chops. I warned them about Izzy, not Gabby... well played Gabby, well played. Your secret is out, I am convinced you spend your days sharpening your claws. Anyway, they were glad to see me because I'm sure having two random people come into their house and shove medicine at them was a bit unsettling. Last night went pretty well for medication administration, I think because they missed me and it had been a while since I had given it to them. This morning however, another story. Gabby has learned how to inflict puncture wounds AND bruises. I look like I have a snake bite on my arm. Puncture wounds to the arm: 3, puncture wounds to the boob: 1 (and by the way, this hurts like hell even when the area is still numb from surgery). I screamed like a little girl.

TGIF

Izzy is most definitely planning a revolt. And trying to bring my sweet Gabby over to the dark side. Last night's medication administration went fairly smoothly (and by fairly smoothly I mean I didn't yell or curse). I have to be very clever and crafty in order to catch Izzy. She is very much on to me and convinced that even when I just want to pet her I am going to shove something in her mouth. She is so easily distracted and mesmerized by one particular toy, I managed to grab her with one hand while vigorously shaking the toy with the other (which required a bit of kung fu moves on my part). Since she is on to me now, as soon as I start walking with her she immediately extends her claws with a swift "hi-yah!" and begins to attack me with drop-and-slink-kung-fu-karate-chops. I was ready for her this time. I had her by the scruff (which I hate, and I know it doesn't hurt them, but I still don't like to "manhandle" them) and held her out at arms length. Now just picture this for a second: I have her by the scruff with one hand, the other hand under her bottom, arms completely outstretched in front of me, and Izzy is spread eagle in every direction. Not wiggling, not searching for skin to inflict pain with her kung-fu-karate-chops, but frozen in a complete spread eagle. Needless to say I walked very swiftly to the bathroom (read: torture chamber) because I wasn't sure if she was planning to trick me by freezing in that position and then doing a 180 to give me a karate-chop to the face. Once I get my hands on her, and get her to the bathroom, giving her the meds isn't too bad.

Gabby, my sweet Gabby, is beginning to adopt her sister's kung-fu-karate-chops. I usually get her after Izzy, and she is usually sitting at the bathroom door when I let Izzy out (who runs like hell down the hall, into the kitchen, where I hear "scrape scrape scrape" because she has no brakes on that floor and then BOOM she slams into a cabinet). I think she's been sitting there listening and learning Izzy's evasive maneuvers. The way she reacts to these eye drops you would think I was coming at her with a blow torch. It is getting worse every day. I even wore a scarf to protect my neck from anymore puncture wounds. Last night's score: Gabby:1, Me:0. Stomach puncture wound:1, severe arm scratches:1, neck: toasty in the scarf, which was not needed, because she went for my stomach. Clever. This morning's score: Gabby:1, Me:0. severe arm scratch:1, arm puncture wound (on the arm that was previously untouched, but now thankfully matches the other one):1.

On a non-kitty note, this weekend is wedding weekend.... Morgan and Bradley are getting married! I'm really excited about a fun-filled weekend with my favorite best friends. Hopefully I'll have fun stories to update on Monday.

Patience

And here I was thinking I would have nothing to write about. Turns out my girls are giving me PLENTY to write about.

Yesterday was a pretty good day, considering I worked all day, went to class for 3 hours, and didn't get home until 10:00. I came in the house and say hey to the girls, and headed back to the bedroom to change clothes. Not two minutes later, Gabby comes in, proceeds to the corner of the room, squats, and PEES. On the carpet. IN MY ROOM. Right in front of me. Everything started moving in slow motion at this point. I'm pretty sure my head came off and spun around Regan-style (from The Exorcist). Gabby must have known what was good for her because she took off down the hall while I proceeded to shout every curse word I know (I think I even created some new hybrid ones) while trying to clean the carpet. After taking my aggression out on the carpet, I went looking for Gabby. Miss Priss is sprawled out on the living room floor looking fat and happy, squinting her eyes at me all sweet-like. Oh no, that's not going to work honey. That's when I realized she needs a middle name, because this type of behavior deserves first and middle name yelling.

As for medication administration, last night went rather smoothly. Izzy was doing her best to evade capture, but I prevailed. This morning was another story. Chasing her back and forth from one side of under the bed to the other at 6:45am is not my idea of fun play time. I did finally catch her, and it is apparent to me that she has been using her time alone during the day to perfect her drop-and-slink-kung-fu-karate-chops. Oh clever kitty, I underestimated you. Today's score: Izzy-1, Me-0. Chest puncture wounds-3, neck puncture wounds-2. Curse words said before 7:00am - 4. Considering purchasing a HazMat suit for remaining dose administrations.

Now, I realize that these are all opportunities for me to practice my patience. After all, I have been praying a lot lately for patience, because I was most definitely born without any. And of course I am not just going to wake up one morning and be the most patient person, but rather God is going to provide me with opportunities to be patient. However, if I may say so, coming home to my cat peeing in the corner of my floor and getting attacked every 12 hours is not my 1st choice. What about extra traffic on the way to work? That would work much better for me and is definitely less painful.

The Joys of Parenthood

Time for my "Seriously?! I mean, really?" moment of the week:

My sweet, low maintenance, happy-go-lucky kittens are proving to be not so low maintenance. Two trips to the vet in the last two days. First of all, I notice on Saturday that Gabby has worms, most likely caught from Izzy since she came from a shelter. Now, knowing that they are dead once I see them, I only had a semi-freak out and knew that it was perfectly treatable. Until I saw one waving at me as she sprawled across my bed. Stay calm I thought, it's all part of being a parent! One load of sheets laundry and scrubbing the house top to bottom later, no more worries! I called the vet first thing Monday morning to ask for medication to treat both of them. Normally it would be a simple conversation, something like "Hi, my cats have X,Y,Z, can I pick up some medication for them?" But of course, this couldn't be simple. I am switching vets for these new babies, to one closer to my house (previous vet was an hour away, which was not fun with a cat who hated to ride, hated the vet, and tended to relieve herself in the carrier on the way home JUST to show me how pissed off she really was). So my conversation was something like this: "Hi, I've never been there with my kitties, but I'm planning to for their future care, but right now I need some medication, can I get that without an appointment to see the vet, because I have to work, and I have school, and I don't have time to bring them in, so would that be ok?" The very nice lady put me on hold so she could ask the doctor if that was ok, and I'm sure on her way to the back she told all the other techs to pick up line 2 and listen to the crazy lady, meanwhile muttering to herself "is this chick for real?". Anyway, they let me pick up the medication, no problem, one pill each, easy peasy!

2 hours later...

Izzy is just not going to get her pill tonight. Three tries and two puncture wounds later (on my back and how does that even happen) I gave up trying to force the tylenol-sized pill down her throat. And who can blame her? If someone had me wrapped in a towel and pinned down on the bed trying to shove something in my mouth and force it down my throat, I'd extend my 6 inch claws in a karate chop, go kung fu on you, and run like hell too. And I wonder why calling her name ever so sweetly doesn't make her come out from under the bed...

Gabby was much easier. She took her pill like a champ. Although I think this was only because her eyes were so swollen she didn't see my attack coming. Oh yes, last night she presented with a horrible eye infection. And why shouldn't she! Why in the world would my new babies be anything but completely and utterly healthy? Oh that's right, because the animal universe is out to get me. I think it goes back to last summer when I accidentally ran over a baby bird with the lawn mower. Mother Nature has been pissed ever since.

So my wonderful mother took both girls to the vet for me today, and that's when I get the good news. They both have an upper respiratory infection! That explains why Izzy sneezes constantly, and sounds like a tractor when she breathes (and don't I feel like a jack-ass for thinking she just had a loud purr). And it explains the radioactive goo that is coming out of their eyes. Luckily, there are no pills to give them for this, victory! Instead, they get eye drops and liquid antibiotics, twice a day. If you thought giving cats a pill was hard, can you imagine what it's like to hold their eyes open and drop something in them? They can literally SEE that coming. No amount of "hey sweeties" or "come here sugas" is going to soften that blow.

Update: I am happy to report that this evening's eye drop administration only resulted in one puncture wound (to the chest). I consider it a small victory.

2010 so far

Every year on New Year's I think this is going to be the year that amazing things happen. The whole year is stretched out in front of you and you have no idea where your life will take you. Well, 2010, so far you have kept it anything but normal by throwing me a few curve balls. Let's examine how 2010 is shaping up so far:

It is the year I celebrated 1 year of home ownership (read: being forever in debt). I can't believe it's already been a year, mostly because I still have boxes that need unpacking. I love my house, my neighborhood, and being out in the country. Now paying the mortgage? That's another story. Plus, now my parents are coming by with boxes of my stuff that has been living happily in their attic for the last 15 or so years, and is suddenly looking for a new home.

It's the year I lost my dear sweet Rosie. Ro has been with me through some pretty big transitions in my life; my first house I lived in after college, getting my first real job, losing my Aunt, moving to Chapel Hell, losing my Uncle, going to grad school, and buying my very own home. I got to spend my first year in my very own home with Ro, and I am thankful for that. I still miss her terribly and it is still a struggle for me to let go.

It's the year I (finally!) sold my car. I'm particularly excited about this one because it means I can pay for the rest of grad school. And considering I only have 1 year left, being able to pay when you're this close to the end is quite important.

It's the year UNC did not make it into the NCAA tournament! I'm particularly excited about this one as well. My tarheel friends (misguided as they may be) will remind me quickly that NCSU was not there either, but you see, that is not the point. I'm talking about UNC, not NCSU. AND YOU WERE NOT THERE UNC. ha!

It's the year I got my two new babies, Gabby and Izzy. 7 month old Maine Coon mix kittens. The last time I had a kitten I was 6 years old, so this is quite different than my life with Ro. They keep each other entertained, and me as well, and the fur is a-flyin' (literally. and I vacuum. a lot.). Their new fun thing to do is stalk each other down the hall, and then run full speed, slam into each other, and wrestle. If you've never seen a kitty headlock, you're missing out.

What else is coming in 2010? Who knows. I will finish up my last classes for grad school and only have my project left to complete. I will celebrate 5 years as a Duke employee (wow. just got depressed, because that made me think about how I graduated from college 6 years ago). My sweet buddy Sam will graduate from kindergarten, and boy is he already counting the days. I will turn another year closer to 30 and freak out. All in all, it looks like 2010 is shaping up to be a decent year. Time will tell.

Scarlett

Well, I have entered the blogging world (thanks to the advice of a certain Stately Lady). I've never done this before, so who knows what you'll end up reading from post to post. I'll do my best to keep it up regularly, as I'm completely convinced my followers will reach the millions, which will turn into a book deal, which will then be made into a movie, and I will never have to work again. And, I don't want to disappoint those millions of followers (read: about 5 probably). Let's dedicate this first post to my favorite heroine Scarlett O'Hara.

I named my blog after her movie, which is one of my all time favorites. I can remember sitting in my basement with my sister (as we often did) spending an entire Saturday afternoon watching Gone With the Wind. Of course, when I was younger I didn't really understand most of the movie, what with the war and all. I just thought Scarlett was so pretty, and they all talked so fast and southern-like, and boy did I want a big dress like hers. Oh, and I wanted a Mammy of my very own. If for nothing else to say things like "It ain't fittin, it just ain't fittin" and shake her head at me. Which I imagined she would do a lot, since I was quite an unruly child at times. Anyway, Scarlett has always been one of my favorite movie characters. Her passion, her spirit, her strong will, I can relate to a lot of things about her. Except for the whole getting-married-three-times-just-to-get-married thing. I couldn't do that.

I could go on and on about this movie and my favorite things about it (Prissy: Ms. Scah-lett I don't know nothin bout birthin babies!) but for now I'll stop. I'm actually at work and technically supposed to be doing about 5 other things right now. But, when creativity strikes, you have to take advantage.