Long Weekend Fun

I told Paul that I didn't want to sit around the house all weekend so we headed to Knox-Vegas on Saturday.
First we went to a drive-in that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives on Food Network. We ordered pizza, and it was very yummy.
Then we went to a scrapbook store - all the ones in our area have closed. It was the best store ever! I wish all locally owned scrapbook stores set themselves apart from the big box stores. I think it's the only smart way to compete.
Then we went to the mall. Much bigger than our own. Paul was able to withstand the crowds and enjoy himself. I tried not to overshop, but all in all, we didn't buy much.
Then we drove around UT and showed Abbie which dorms we had lived in, how far we had to walk to class, where we hung out between classes, where we bought books, where we shopped for comic books, where the Vols play (and where everyone knows the words to Rocky Top), and the apartment that Paul and Marc lived in. It was quite the educational trip for Abbie.
Then we ate at PF Changs and then headed for home.
Today, we went to church then went to Horse Creek (my mom was camping again). Lots of creek play and some rock collecting and lots of sitting around the campfire talking.
Tonight, I am cleaning the house (it is quite the wreck) and tomorrow, we will go to the pool since it will be the last day it is open.

Bipartisan

I promise this isn't a political post! I watched the Democratic Convention last night and listened to Obama's speech. While I was watching, a thought struck me - I think it must be really hard to be a politician or work in the government- and I think there are a lot of similarities to serving on a board.
I've been on two boards - church and school. Real boards with real bylaws following Roberts Rules of Order, serving with people wanting to do good, make a difference, etc.
Just speaking from my own experience, I "ran" for the board position because I saw a need, a spot to fill, work to be done, and I wanted to help. I consider myself level headed and easy to get along with so I felt sure I would be a good fit. And it has been a rewarding experience - I've learned so much!
But it has been so hard!!!! You can't make everyone happy. All decisions have pros and cons. There are so many different personalities to deal with.
Some people come with their own agenda. Some people don't do much and hardly show up for meetings. As much as you communicate, it is never enough. There is misinformation given - some on purpose. Sometimes, info is buried. Sometimes, you're only fed the information someone else wants you to know. Sometimes, you're lied to. Sometimes, you trust people that you shouldn't. Sometimes, non-board members get the wrong idea of what they *think* the actual board is doing. Sometimes, you'll have an idea-no one is against it-the project will go forward and then if it doesn't work out, people will say "I knew we shouldn't have done that" and you wonder why no one spoke up when it was first discussed. Some people are having affairs together. Some people are pulling the cart, and some people are digging their heels in and slowing the cart down. Some people are looking to the future - trying to figure out how to grow and improve while others do not want anything to change because they don't think its broken. Sometimes, you can't get "backing" because there are people who won't speak up and will avoid confrontation at all costs.
Recently, I heard someone say "I'm going to run for the board next year. I'm going to [do it better]." I was thinking, "well, good luck, that's what I thought too." I've learned that even good ideas that everyone is in favor of take a while to get accomplished. Great ideas can't always get off the ground because money isn't budgeted for it.
And if anyone thinks my above examples are thinly veiled comments about current or past political/national events, you'd be wrong. This is all small town stuff that I've dealt with and noticed. There is intrigue, innuendo, cover ups, weirdos, snarkiness at every turn. There are also good, honest people that I am proud to work with.
I just think it would be hard to be a president (current or past) or a presidential hopeful or a senator or a presidential aid, a mayor, etc. After my current experiences, I have a newfound respect for these jobs.
It's hard to serve on a 15 person board and represent 100 people so it's got to be a million times more difficult to serve in the government.
I am glad my term is almost complete. Flip me over, I'm done!

Samantha

This morning as I was watching TV...no wait, I was doing laundry and sweeping litter from the floor...I started thinking about my first cat, Samantha.
My mom thinks I got her when I was 4. She says I had not started Kindergarten yet, and I started Kindergarten right after I turned 5.
I named her Samantha Thomasina Pussycat. Samantha because my favorite show was Bewitched. Thomasina was from a cat in a Disney movie. And Pussycat was her last name. This was my first foray into naming animals, and until Little Man came along, I've always chosen real names (not Fluffy or Spot). And Baby was already named when we got her, in case you're keeping track.
Samantha was a fluffy black cat with an undertone of tortoiseshell. She had green eyes and was an indoor/outdoor cat. She was welcome inside the house, but she went outside whenever she wanted. She had no litterbox in the house. When she wanted to go out, she sat beside the door until someone saw her and opened it (we lived in a really, really small house). When she wanted inside, she pawed at the door until someone opened it. If we ever left her in the house too long, and no one was there to let her out, she would potty in the bathtub - number one down the drain and number two at the other end of the tub. Now, that may sound gross, but it was so easy to clean and sanitize the tub after her accident, and that was better than cleaning it out of carpet (my mom would have had a cow!). I always thought that that was very considerate of her to choose the bathtub. It probably only happened twice in her life anyway so she can be forgiven.
She wasn't a super cuddly cat, but she was friendly and liked to be petted, and she slept on my bed at night.
Samantha had two litters of kittens before we got her fixed. I loved those kittens - they were fluffy and cuddly and all different colors. In the summer, my mom would set up our tent in the side yard, and I would play house in the tent. I tormented those kittens by dressing them in baby doll clothes.
When I was in high school, I read Pet Cemetary by Stephen King. For awhile, I was a little scared of Samantha. The book spooked me a little bit, and sometimes, I wouldn't let her sleep with me, but I eventually got over it.
Then I went away to college and had to leave Samantha behind. She died when I was 21 or 22 so she lived about 17 years. My mom called me with the news, and she was more upset than I was. Samantha was as much the family cat as she was my cat. I guess I'm feeling a little nostalgic today. And I can't help but think about cats when I'm sweeping litter.

Enemy Number One and Two

I'll address Enemy #2 first (and this enemy is sometimes #1). Enemy #2 is paper. I don't hate paper, but I have too much of it. It's in the form of mail, bills, school papers (homework, monthly school calendar, monthly school lunch menu, papers sent home for me to sign and return, artwork, book order forms, field trip reminders, etc, etc), school board paperwork (there is lots of it - minutes from the board meetings, minutes from the academic committe that I am on, minutes from the middles school sub committe that I am on, minutes from the safety and security subcommittee that I am on, and all of these committees generate their own agendas, works in progress, etc, etc, etc), receipts from bills, receipts from doctors-vets-repair work-lawn service-etc, church papers (the monthly newsletter I do, weekly bulletin, children's program pertinent to Abbie, acolyte schedule pertinent to Abbie), post its with notes I jot down, lists I make so I can try to keep up with everything, recipes, wadded up kleenex from my daily snot fest, etc, etc, etc. I don't think I've listed it all, but I'm going to stop now before the cussing begins. Wrangling all this paper (and I don't even have a horse, chaps, boots, and spurs to help me) is quite frankly a full time job. You know that if I throw something away, I'll need it. What if I need to reference a bill that I paid or I need to look up what jobs the lawn service performed 2 weeks ago or I can't remember how much the painters charged. I keep thinking, maybe if I organized it differently, it would be easier to keep up with. And before you start thinking - why don't you throw the crap away - I do throw the crap away. I only keep bill stubs for a year then they go in the garbage. I can't throw away bank statements and debit card receipts because I'm a former banker; I-just-can't-do-it! Today, I am actually working on organizing all of my school board papers - each project and committee has it's own folder (I am procrastinating by blogging :), and I have a kitten sleeping and purring in my lap which automatically means I am stuck in this spot for awhile (Paul and Abbie also get to use this excuse). So I hate paper unless it is a check that I can deposit!
Enemy #1 is cat litter. I like the new fangled cat litter that clumps and eliminates odor (mostly). It really is better than the old clay stuff, but I have a growing stack of giant, plastic litter containers in my garage. I keep them to use as buckets - they really are handy - but I only need so many. I hate to send them to the landfill. And I'm not sure if the litter itself will ever biodegrade. And the full containers are so heavy - I hate buying them, loading them in my car and then unloading them at home. I won't be able to carry these when I'm a crazy old cat lady.
The other thing I hate about litter is that the cats track it out of the litter box. I have used all sorts of things in front of the litter box to help prevent this, but none of the ideas are perfect.
While at Petsmart recently, I got the wild idea to try a new, biodegradeable litter. It is made out of corn, and it is in a bag and it is so light! It clumps and seems to be controlling the odor very well, but......they really, really, really track this stuff out of the litter box - I guess because it is so light - it's like a flake.
So for all the people who have asked me lately how I spend my time now that Abbie is back in school (I think I'm going to start telling people that I watch soap operas all day), this is what I do: I scoop the litter box, sweep cat litter, shuffle papers, stack papers, organize papers, make new piles of papers, file papers, pay bills, get frustrated then go blog. That's what I did today before noon (plus two loads of laundry).

In Honor of Grammy Taker

Yesterday, while I was at an all day scrapbooking event, Paul and Abbie spent a fun filled day together. When I called to check in, Abbie said that Paul had done another treasure hunt for her. I'm sure it was spur of the moment and amazing.
When I got home, I found all the cool little clues that Paul hid for Abbie during the treasure hunt. When I complimented him on his ability to create a rhyme, he said he gets it from his Grammy Taker.