Family Matters - Week of 1-15-06

I write each week about my family. Welcome to it.

Thanks again to those kind folks regarding my grandmother’s passing last week. Now we’re back to the fam goodness as always.

Annie (3yrs old)

Annie, despite her beautiful and endearing sweetness, simply cannot leave our new cat alone. She is covered in scratches up and down her arms, scratches on her belly, scratches even on her face. She picks up the cat by the belly and carries it around, she pulls the cat’s tail, she backs the cat into a corner and scares the living hell out of it.

Seriously, this is some sort of enigma in the household. Worse? Abby’s picked it up too. So, combined, the cat has scratched both of my girls’ arms, bellies and faces, and both girls simply will not quit.

Did I mention the damn cat was in heat? Becuase it is. So between it meowing loudly all over the house looking for some feline loving, it’s being chased and hounded by two little angels who are dead-set on tormenting it.

There has to be a manual for this, somewhere. No amount of yelling, teaching, spanking or threatening has stopped this behavior.

Abby (1.9yrs old)

Abby, now almost two, has began to get more descriptive in her sentences. Which are now officially sentences. Last night from the backseat I heard “Turn…da moosic…up!” from the backseat, the longest sentence I’ve ever heard her speak. Plus she now greets me with a “Hi dad” and a hug which is always super-fun when arriving home.

Otherwise she’s as cuddly and loving as ever. She adores her piggies and has taken to sleeping with a lightweight fluffy piggy bank at night. There are no coins in this piggy, but still it just sounds…odd.

“Oh yes, my daughter loves her teddy bear.” Says one proud parent.

“Yeah, um…mine can invest in her sleepmate.”

And so it goes.

Ericka (her blog)

My loving wife has been kinda down lately. This worries me because, as the saying goes, “If momma ain’t happy, Evan’s screwed.” Oh, sure, she still does a wonderful job with the kids and the house as she always has, but it’s obvious she’s kinda bored and depressed. I’m trying to think of a good way to cheer her up. Her birthday is on the 28th, after all.

She has been very keen on her myspace account, since it’s “hers” and not “something my husband set up for me.” This includes letting her modify the template, add songs and pictures and whatnot. If you happen to lurk on myspace, feel free to add her as a friend. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. Tell her the loving husband sent you…

Etc

Okay, seriously, Shel is my hero. He’s the guy who wrote the amazing Naked Conversations completely in blog format. Today he gave me not just one amazing kudos, but two amazing kudos! And, yes, secretly I would love to be published. I don’t mention it because, like Tony, I don’t want to jinx myself. I’m a little surprised myself at how episodic life can be when you try to put it on a blog format, and more importantly how well the stories flow using it. Finding the string of events and just how to phrase them is fascinating and fun for me.

Friends of mine (ahem) have expressed disdain for my rule of ‘one post per day’ because it makes blogging seems like “work” when it is anything but. Don’t think for a second I’m not having a blast reliving my adventures running from the cops, or what I learned at my first job to how amazing Woodstock ‘99 was. Putting me on a writing schedule makes these stories happen and while I sometimes resent it, I always appreciate my tenacity when it’s done with.

And, as always, I appreciate you reading. I hope you’re having as much fun as I am.

Some people claim, if you get enough fame
You live over the rainbow