All You can Do Is Laugh

Today's blog is dedicated to some of my recent Life’s Little LaughablesTM
because sometimes all you can do is laugh - and hey - it's even healthy for your body and mind.

One week ago, I made the impulsive decision to add a 2nd cat to our household; this one in the form of a 1.25lb, 5-week-old kitten.  Her coloring melted my heart and I had to have her (Oh - if only she had been a plain, boring, solid color.):

So deceptively innocent

The first four Laughables are dedicated to her:

1. We were discussing possible names for the kitten, and I said: "We should call her Trouble with a capital T."  And daughter B responds: "ALL names are spelled with a capital letter at the beginning!"  (Can you see her eyes rolling and hear her sigh when you read that?)

2. Whack-A-Mole.  When I was at the pet store picking up kitten items, I saw a cardboard box with big holes in it for play time.  Rather than buying a cardboard box, I decided to cut a doorway on each side of one I had at home.  This was a big hit for both the kitten and the 4 year-old cat that we have.  It was particularly hilarious watching them play the Whack-A-Mole game.  The kitten was inside of the box and the cat was outside of the box.  All of a sudden, the kitten starts popping her head in and out of the box, at a very fast rate, and the cat was sitting there with his paw up in the air ready to whack the kitten's head.  (And no - the kitten was not injured in the least people.)

3. This next one I am writing in the hopes that I will soon look back on this and laugh and be thankful it was short-lived: apparently kittens are NOT born with the innate ability to cover their litter box items effectively.  She has fallen in it, stepped in it, tracked it around the room, thrown it against the wall ... she has yet to get down the clean and tidy way of covering it, without getting it on her.

4.  Another joy of getting a baby kitten that was stranded in the wild by her mother - worms.  I am told it is quite common for kittens and puppies to have worms and that it typically takes at least two treatments before the worms are all gone.  This is just great news for me and my husband (whom I have turned into quite the germ-a-phobe); so we wash our hands a thousand times a day and just feel that there are worms all over us.  The other night daughter B was giving me a hug at bed time and I yelled out: "Ack! Your face is where the kitten was!" to which she replied: "Yuk! I feel all wormy now!".

And now on to non-kitten Laughables:

5. The other day my 12 year-old was doing her homework when she excitedly exclaimed: "I LOVE how the abbreviation for Miles Per Hour is M.P.H. (which she pronounced as Mmmph)!".

6. Apparently the result of a few too many tequila shots for my husband is him being unaware that mosquitoes are feasting on him:

7. As I was writing this blog, my sister, who is an attorney, and who is very smart (and very good at arguing, I might add) called me to share what she just did.  She was running out to her car in a parking lot and there was a torrential rainfall, so she runs up to a 4-door black sedan and opens the door and then realizes it's not her car.  She then proceeds to tell me she has done this before.  Lesson learned here: one may be very smart at some things and not so brilliant - or even observant - at other things.  (Love you sis!)

8. I currently am battling carpenter ants in my kitchen.  After fighting them for two months, I surrendered and called pest control.  The down side is that it will take up to three weeks for the poison to get back to the colony and kill the queen (I am just through week one).  Apparently, the scoundrels are living somewhere either in the wall behind my stove or in the ground below my stove (which in and of itself is extremely disturbing to my psyche), because twice now, I have had the extreme displeasure of cooking on the stove, while the oven is also on, and have had to kill at least 20 ants over the course of the hour.  The problem is that I HATE bugs.  Particularly fast-crawling things that I have to smush.  

Here is a description of my experience:

Large ant darts across counter ... I scream.

I rush to grab a paper-towel and attempt to smush the rotten intruder ... I scream. 

Said intruder darts out from under my paper-towel ... I scream.

I hurry and smush him dead ... I scream.

One would think one would get accustomed to bug killing...   *SIGH*

Laughingly Shaking My Head,

Me

Motivational Moment:

Laugh people!  For Pete's sake, this is the only life you have, you might as well enjoy the crazy ride! 

Here's wishing you lots of laughter today!  

Hugs,

SG

The Big Picture

The past couple of weeks have been difficult ones for me because my joint pain has been particularly bad and unrelenting.  At times like this, it amazes me how easily I get pulled into the misery of the moment and lose all sight of the bigger picture of life.  During these times, I tend to think deeply about life and its meaning and purpose (or shall I say, I tend to struggle more with those thoughts).  And then I come across a quote, or a movie, or a book, that provides such hope that it almost is a lifeline during dark times.

My best friend recommended a movie to me.  As I was watching the first half of this movie, I was questioning why he recommended it for me, as I saw it as somewhat violent and dark.  And then I got to the end of the movie.  The final thoughts that were voiced tied it all together so beautifully and were so poignant that they really resonated with me.  The move was a "Winter's Tale" and here are the final quotes from the movie:

-       "What if we are all unique and the universe loves us all equally, so much so that it bends over backwards across the centuries for each and every one of us and sometimes we are just lucky enough to see it." 

-          "No life is more important than another and nothing has been without purpose.  Nothing.  What if we are all part of a great pattern that we may someday understand?  And one day, when we have done what we alone are capable of doing, we get to rise up and reunite with those we have loved the most?  Forever embraced.  What if we get to become stars?!" 

I love the hope and beauty that those thoughts inspire.  It makes the troubles and stress of your current life seem small.  They promise a greater purpose that makes it all worthwhile.  I find them very comforting and encouraging.

Searching for that Greater Purpose,

Me

Motivational Moment:

Today's Moment is one of my Life’s Little LaughablesTM and is dedicated to daughter B (age 12), who is a very sweet and tender-hearted child and who simply loves walking around the backyard, discovering nature...and bugs...and animals.  Here is what she said to me yesterday:

Her: "Did I tell you that I walked through a giant web in the backyard yesterday?"

Me:  LOL. "NO! Yuk!"

Her: "It was between a bush against our house and the swing set and it was the size of my entire body.  And it was REALLY hard trying to pick it off my skin and shirt; that stuff really sticks."

Me: (At this point, I have the TOTAL heebee jeebies - and if that were me, I would have been freaking out wondering WHERE, exactly, the spider was that made that giant web ... and particularly, was it ON me), but instead, she simply said:

Her: "I felt SO bad because that was A LOT of work I just ruined."


May you all have tender-hearted moments that make your heart melt.  SG