The New Addition

As some of you who have been following this blog for awhile know, we had a little kitten named Whiskers join our family for about 4 days back in May, only to have it pass away when he went back to live with Caleb. Well, after all this time (with considerable pressure placed on us by one particular little girl) we dove head first back into the world of pet ownership yesterday.

Actually it all started on Saturday when we took Gracie and Balin to the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control to look at animals. Angie and I wanted to look at the dogs, but Gracie was insistent on going into the room with the kittens. We relented.

It was fun watching the two of them interact with the little kitties. I was worried because Grace wanted to hold each of them in turn and was not very agile at handing the cats. Most of them folded over at the belly when she lifted them up, illiciting more than a few plantive "meows". I was trying to control Gracie and failed to pay attention to Balin who attempted to pick up one of the kittens himself. He did so by grasping the cat firmly around the neck and lifting. Needless to say his attempt was far more distressing than Gracie's.

I finally pried his finger apart and got the cat back on the ground when he quickly went after another one. Eventually we had to pick Balin up just so he couldn't get to the poor kittens.

We looked at about 20 different cats and finally settled on lovable six month old black and white short haired named Scooby Doo. It didn't take long to decide that it could come home with us but it's stupid name was staying at the pound. That caused a great deal of consternation between Grace and Angie who had their own ideas on what to name the cat. Angie preferred the names Cooper or Wilson. Grace favored the old favorite, "Mittens". Over the span of the weekend they argued back and forth. I threw out a few names and was basically poo-pooed by both of them. So, by the time yesterday rolled around and it was time for me to swing by and pick up the cat, we still had no resolution, that is until I got home.

Grace was waiting for me in the driveway. She wanted the cat and she wanted it now. Well, I took it into the house and let it our of the carrier. Grace snatched it up and told it that his name was now Mittens and that was the end of it. Grace would listen to no more arguments from Angie. So Mittens it is.

The cat is extremely lovable. He likes to climb up on your lap, your chest, your shoulders. Problem is, sometimes he chooses to do this at inopportune times, like when I was reassembling Balin's bed after moving it from our room to Megan's old bedroom. While I was talking to Angie on the phone today he lept onto Angie's shoulder while she was on the computer. In bed last night, he decided that he needed to step on my face quite often. From 4:30am on we fought with the rotten little cat, who insisted on rubbing it's face against ours, purring as he did so. I've never been overly loved to death, but the cat is making a run at it.

I think this little kitty will do well at our house. Balin loves it and laughs all the time when he's around him. Gracie too has a kinship with the cat already and is fully and madly in love with it. Even Angie has found a deeper appreciation for it (she admitted while I talked to her today). I like the cat but can't help but think that with this pet, I've lost the opportunity to replace my beloved Hughie, who I miss deeply on a daily basis. I know that I will have a hound dog again someday, but I know it won't be until after Mittens has left us.

Anyways, we have entered in the new world of cat ownership. I look forward to it. I look forward to watching my kids grow up with a pet. It means a lot to watch their interactions.

Hopefully I can post a few pictures soon. I'll keep you all updated.

Our Labor Day Weekend

It felt so good getting out of work on Friday knowing that I had a long weekend away from work. I couldn't wait for it to get started. I had the intentions of leaving work early on Friday but decided to stay as I had an appointment to get my hair cut at about 4:30, so it would do me no good getting out early as I really didn't have anything to do.

I ended up meeting Angie at her sister's shop to get my hair cut and because I was the first one there, got in the chair first. She showed up with the kids not long afterwards and kept me company while Beth chopped my overgrown mop. My hair looks a lot better, but I've started growing my beard again so overall I'm pretty scraggly right now. I'll like it a lot more once my beard comes in, but for now I have to contend with the itching and the scrubby look I'm sporting.

Friday we didn't do too much. Russ and Carol came over and we ordered pizza. Megan made it home around 6:30 and spent the evening with us. It was nice to see her and hear all about school. She had a long weekend to spend with us and headed back this afternoon (she had yesterday off and has no classes on Tuesdays). After four days with us I was glad she was going back. More on that later.

Saturday Grace had a birthday party she was invited to. We had been invited as well as it was held at a local ice cream parlor. We went and while it was a bit boring at times, we stayed and had some ice cream. Actually Balin was the one that made a splash. He hogged down a whole bowl of ice cream as well as an entire cup cake and still seemed hungry. That little guy can eat!

Sunday we were invited up to Hamilton Lake to a friend's house for a cookout. All of us went, including Megan and we had a great time. Paul and Dorothy are the parents of Angie's best friend Michelle. Ang has always had a close relationship with them and it was nice to see them again. They live right on the lake and have a speedboat. Megan insisted on trying to ski. She made several attempts but was never able to get on her feet. A lot of that had to do with all the boat traffic on the lake, which served to make the water very choppy. We all had a good time though. Megan told us that Caleb was coming up to Hamilton and would pick her up at 6:30 at a gas station in town. While we didn't really want to leave, Balin was really tired and we figured we'd drop Megan off on our way out of town. We were surprised to see all the cars at a little restaurant down the road. Didn't seem like it would draw that much traffic on a Sunday, but it did. Come to find out, Democratic Presidential Election convoy, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden had stopped in the little restaurant! Had I known that I would have taken my camera, Grace and Megan down the street and met him. I would love to have a picture of the kids with him. I'd want to pass the pictures down to them as they got older so they could say that they met the future (hopefully) President of the United States. Alas, another missed opportunity in life.

Monday was a bit of a recovery day. It was very hot and I really didn't want to go anywhere or do anything, so we just stayed home. I was able to get a lot of reading done. I've recently picked up The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It is one of those books that is pretty imposing with a very unassuming cover and a ton of pages (close to 1000). Books like that can either be a blessing or a bore. I typically don't pick up a new author unless I've heard a lot about him/her and know a good deal about what the book is about. I've always had this thing for stone masonry and considering this book is about just that, and the building of the cathedral at Kingsbridge, I decided to go to the local used books store and pick this up at the bargain price of $9.99. So far so good. I'm about 175 pages in and really can't get enough. Once I finish I will give it a much more thorough review. I'll go so far as to recommend the story already, so if that is enough, pick up the book and start reading. It's a good one.

Okay, so back to Megan. She is really starting to concern me. About a month ago she broke up with Caleb. Well, right before she left for college she started spending more time with him. It wasn't a big deal. She met him at the mall for lunch, or went ot Target wiht him. The day she left for college she met him for breakfast which resulted in a great deal of blubbering from her as she pined about how much she was goiong to miss him and all that noise. Remember now, they are just friends now.

Well, Friday night, at 10:00 she had him come over to visit. I was playing on the computer when Angie went to bed around 11:30 and when I went out to get a drink Megan was curled up beside him on the couch, his arm around her, all the lights off while they watched TV. Okay, no big deal.

Saturday Megan was bored, so at around 7:00 she told us she was going out to Woodburn to sit with Caleb while he worked. She got home around 10:30. Again, not a big deal.

As I mentioned earlier, on Sunday he drove up to Hamilton to meet Megan and take her up to his property where his whole family was getting together for a cookout. She was with him until about 12:30am. Again, not a big deal.

Yesterday she told Angie that she wouldn't be having dinner with us because Caleb was taking her out to dinner at the Olive Garden. Just an innocent dinner, not a big deal.

Well, I think the whole of the weekend IS a big deal, and I made sure Megan knew it. I told her that she needed to get her head back in the game, that this thing with Caleb was starting to get out of control. She had already admitted that while at school she called him everyday. When I told her I was concerned she yelled at me and said, "Fine, do you want me to never talk to him again?!? We're just friends. Can't I hang out with my friends?!?"

Well, this bothered me. I told her that she was letting her heart get in the way and she did not have the time or the resources to commit to serious relationship while going to school 100 miles away. It scares to death to think that he is going to capsize her schooling. He needs to give her some space and let her go to school. I told Angie that if he can't be more hands off, then I am going to talk with him. Problem is, I don't think Megan would ever forgive me if I did.

I'm just so afraid she is going to tank in college because she isn't giving it all that it deserves. I've lived that before. When I first started seeing Jennifer in college, and she broke it off wiht me the first time my grades went right in the tank. I think I had a 2.11 GPA that semester. And that was while living on the same campus as her! Megan is thinking like a 19 year old, and my counsel just doesn't carry any weight. I hope that I'm not watching a train wreck unfold. I guess I will know if she shows up at home within the next few weeks. I've told her that she needs to put some time in down there and I don't expect to see her for awhile. I guess we'll see if she can stay away.

I talked to Angie today and she signed Gracie up for CCD classes. They start tomorrow and run every Wednesday night for an hour and a half. I have a feeling that is going to be a disaster. Gracie is a ball of energy and she has no patience for going to church. I guess they start their first class with a mass and I can tell you right now that this will cement Gracie's disposition towards CCD. Grace is a lot like me. She's a free thinker and not prone to except the ritualistic structure of the Catholic faith. I hate seeing her subjected to the regime, but unfortunately I accepted this when I signed the papers saying I would raise my children as Catholics. I hope I don't offend the Catholics who read this, but I find the CCD classes as akin to brainwashing and I hate to see my Gracie, my precious little girl subjected to the forced ideals of that religion. I've always thought the the Catholic faith was more about the ritual than it is about God, and I hate to see Gracie become part of that machine. I want her to go to church to soak in the feeling of pure relief and comfort that can be felt. Not to practice the ritualistic calisthenics forced into her head by the zombies that learned it before her.

I suppose that Grace will rebel if it is something she truly hates. If she likes it, then I'm happy for her, but if she doesn't I will use this as my opening to introduce a counterplan. I would love to be able to consistently attend the Methodist church down the street, and with their Sunday school program, have a chance of convincing Angie that she can learn about her faith and I can start going to church consistently at the same time. I knwo I would never get Angie to change, but I have a chance of building in Gracie a faith that I can accept and follow.

And for all of those out there that have ever questioned my faith, I don't go to church now not because I don't believe in God, but because I can't sit in church and listen to the Catholic doctrine without being sickened by the elitism of the church. I am uncomfortable with it, I don't like it and I told myself that I am not going to subjugate myself to something I don't like just because I need to put on a show for others. Furthermore, I would go to the Methodist church myself, but I know Gracie would want to follow me there and if I allowed that there would be a huge amount of protest in my house. I don't want that either.

Anyways, enough about religion.

I guess I've probably said enough. I've got anohter 30 minutes before I go home, so I should get some stuff done. More later. I'm sure of that.