Author: Emily

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Attempt No. 2

nablo1108120x240Okay, so I’m going out on a limb here. Seeing that I have now consistently written just about every day (sans a day here and there) for the past three weeks, I’ve decided to make another attempt at posting more consistently.

I may live to regret this, but I think I’m going to attempt NaBloPoMo. I personally blame Becky from Mommy Wants Vodka (just kidding, Becky … ) for inspiring me to do this. She’s doing it, so I decided to try it too. Of course, she’s also more a consistent poster than I am, so we’ll see how well I do.

So what to talk about today (which, I guess is technically Day 3)? Perhaps how I should have been wearing this t-shirt today at work? Hmm, for those of you that questioned who I was planning on voting for from this post … I guess you probably can figure it out now. Well, at least I still have tomorrow to wear that shirt. Wonder what the Exit-Poll people would do if they approached me.

Or I could talk about how I need to remember not to schedule my dental cleaning four days after Halloween again. What. Was. I. Thinking?! Seriously … I’m a little afraid for my poor hygienist, who might be finding some “Bit O’Honey” or bite-size “Snickers” bits in the back. Poor, poor girl.

Or I could talk about how this evening I watched “Duran Duran: Live from Wembley“on VH1 Classic Concerts. (And yes, Kara … was totally thinking of you.) It made me regret not going to see them in concert for that tour. Because, is it me? Or did Simon Le Bon’s voice get better and stronger with age? Or did technology advance that much since watching the “Arena” concert?

Oh, I know. I’ll talk about how easy it is to get suckered into taking stupid online quizzes. I must confess, that one time ( … at band camp … ) I must have spent an evening just taking quizzes. For me, it usually starts off by reading about someone else’s quiz.

In this case, it was another friend‘s blog who took a quiz on what she should be when she grows up. Of course then I wanted to find out for myself (because I still haven’t figured it out … ). And once I finished that quiz, I saw another one I wanted to take. And another one. And yet another one. I swear … I must have taken about 5 of them. But this one was the one that made me stop:

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You Are Changing Leaves

Pretty, but soon dead.

What Part of Fall Are You?
(Don’t click it … even though I know you want to!)

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I mean, seriously? “Pretty, but soon dead”?! Kinda a little freaky, don’t you think? And to think, that Fall is my absolute favorite season. Hmm … I might need to rethink that.

Okay, babbling enough. Guess I need to save some of this babble and spread it out over the next month …

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Show and Tell: Oasis' Sister

Do you remember the band Oasis? If you do, then you’d remember that the band comprised of two brothers named Liam and Noel Gallagher. I don’t listen to them as much anymore, but back in the mid-1990’s the songs off their album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, played a prominent part in the day’s following my 1996 wedding to Hubby. To this day hearing these songs, particularly “Don’t Look Back In Anger, remind me of driving in our convertible rental car (with the top down, of course) back to our hotel in Kaanapali from Lahaina on the island of Maui. That song just happened to be playing on the radio as we drove up the coastline while watching the sun set on the ocean. It. Was. Heaven on Earth.

But I digress. This post wasn’t to share that memory (although, I hope you enjoyed that imagery). This post is about another mid-1990’s pop-culture icon. A person, who might be related to the brothers from Oasis.

Mary Katherine Gallagher
Mary Katherine Gallagher

Oh yes, I’m talking about Mary Katherine Gallagher. Remember her from SNL in the mid-nineties?

Yes, today my Show and Tell item is the Halloween costume I wore to work this year. Okay, so I wasn’t exactly Mary Katherine … but the intent was to be a Catholic school girl. A bad one, nonetheless. And no, I don’t mean the sexy Brit.ney version either.

It started off as a joke when my co-worker told me that she and her sister went to a costume party dressed as nuns. (Ha! Get it?! Sisters dressed as “Sisters”?) When we found out that there would be a costume contest at work, I jokingly said that I’d come as a Catholic school girl (with green and white saddle shoes!) and she could come in as one of my “teachers” back in my grade school days, complete with the wooden ruler for disciplinary purposes.

So we hatched a plan where we’d arrive at work at the same time and walk in together. After all … the effect wouldn’t have been the same if we came in separately.

Friday morning … I’m patiently waiting in our parking lot when my co-worker’s car pulls up behind me. One look in my rearview mirror and I’m completely cracking up … because she looked exactly like how one of my grade school teachers would look. As I literally stumble out of my car, she points up at the front of the parking lot … and there is my other co-worker dressed up as a nun as well.

As my co-worker said, “When have you ever seen a Sister without another one around? They always travel in pairs!”

Well needless to say, we had a blast playing our parts for the day. And during the competition, our “skit” included the me chewing gum and putting on inappropriately shiny lip gloss, as well as them chasing me while screaming, “Get back to class, young lady!”

After all was said and done … we won third place! And that was without the “flask” and candy cigarettes I wanted to carry around … Woo-hoo!

Don’t forget to check out the other Show and Tell blogs!

And while you’re at it … check out my latest favorite black kitty cate!

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On Being There …

I woke up about 4:30 this morning to the sound of my “puppy” needing a potty break. And because of that, I wasn’t able to get back to sleep right away. So instead, I fired up my laptop and started playing catch-up with blog-reading. It was at that early hour that I read this excellent post from Mrs. Spit.

Now, Mrs. Spit, I hope you don’t mind me saying … but that post had me desperately trying to hold back the tears. For it’s that silent communication that I’ve been searching for in my life. That feeling of knowing that someone … anyone … close by in proximity would (directly) acknowledge the hurt and that pain that I felt. And someone would realize how hard it was on some days to just get through certain moments, certain snippets in time.

Yesterday, being Halloween, was one of those snippets in time. Particularly made worse by the fact that it’s a very child-centric holiday. For obvious reasons, our yearly ritual of walking around trick-or-treating with our nephew was suspended. Understandably so, as the events of this past two months have put such a huge strain on the current relationship status with his family.

But that’s neither here nor there. And this is not another post about those issues. This is a post of what happens when someone finally made that connection with me. Today. This morning, in fact. And as I write about it now, the tears can’t help but spring back up again. Because this is what I get for trying to hold them back earlier this morning.

Simply said … there is nothing … nothing better than having your fears and your hurt and your pain directly acknowledged. Nothing better than having someone validate that what I’m feeling is real. Nothing better than having someone understand how hard it is to be and to act in my situation.

Nothing better than having someone physically say these things to you. And mean it.

And you know in your heart and your mind that she does. Because, although she will soon join the ranks of motherhood, she’s been there, too.

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She's No Teenage Witch

On my first Show and Tell post, I shared with you some pictures of Yami, our charming black kitty. Our favorite indoor black kitty, who was not to be mistaken with our favorite indoor senior citizen kitty, Rain. Well, I had to make that distinction because of this little one.

Meet Sabrina, our favorite outdoor black kitty.

Except Sabrina is actually our next-door neighbors kitty who loves to hang out in the bushes in front of our house.
Hubby and I call her “Sabby” for short, because she reminds us of yet another black cat, named Sabbath. Except Sabbath is actually a fictional kitty, who is part of this cool goth chick‘s kitty posse.

But going back to Sabrina. She is the most affable black cat that I’ve ever met. I think that if a person was superstitious of a black cat crossing their path, they should stay off of our street. Because, Sabby will definitely friendly enough to try to meet you (at least if she doesn’t see you as threatening).

Sabby and I are in such good terms that if she happens to see my car turning onto our street from down the street, she will literally sprint towards our house in anticipation of me pulling into our driveway. And I know that I recently garnered much respect from her when, as I sat on our porch steps to pet her, she climbed right onto my lap and snuggled.

Her “real” owners say that she’s not like this with anyone else except her “mom” and her human “sister.” I think I’ve literally become one of her “sisters.”

But my favorite Sabby story is the time that I happened to find our neighbors dog on our lawn. I went inside to grab our dog leash to snap onto our neighbor dog’s collar. And when I came out, Sabby was sitting on our porch, making sure that doggie didn’t run off again. And as I walked down the street towards doggie’s human house, I glanced to my side and saw Sabby walking right next to me. And after neighbor doggie was dropped off, Sabby and I turned around and walked down the street side by side.

So today, on Halloween, I thought I’d share Sabby with you. She is definitely my most favorite outdoor black kitty.

Happy Halloween!!

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Political Non-Pundit

I am no political expert.

In fact, I’m probably furthest from that. However, I do like to keep myself pretty well informed. Especially because Election Day is now less than a week away. And seeing as this was one h*ll of a presidential campaign run, it’s hard not to want to be well-informed.

(Sidenote: It’s times like this, that I reaaallly miss Tim Russert. He just had an excellent way of explaining politics that made it fascinating. Election night coverage will not be the same without him …)

Anyways, I strongly believe in the right to vote. After all, democracy (and, a-hem … not free market) is what this country was founded on. And while I agree that campaigning is needed in order to promote a candidate’s platform, I don’t agree when someone tries to tell you how to vote. That, of course, does not mean that people aren’t allowed to debate with each other about who they support or don’t support a particular candidate.

Anybody notice how McCain & Palin are both in the same size font ...

Let me reiterate that one more time. I don’t agree when someone tries to tell you how to vote.

And why am I bringing this up now? Well of course, it’s because I have a story to tell.

Last Tuesday I dropped my parents off at the airport. They were on their way to Turkey and Greece to participate on a tour based on the travels of St. Paul. (Uh huh … you probably already know where this is going.) Because my car has been acting up, I suggested that we take their car to the airport. That way they could pack the car while waiting for me to drive over to their house.

So the drive to the airport was a smooth ride. So smooth that I considered “borrowing” their car for the two weeks they would be away. Never mind that she had a rosary (and a Franciscan Tau) hanging off her rear view mirror … I would have totally “borrowed” it for a couple weeks. The conversation was light. As we just got back from my cousin’s wedding, we talked about how great it was to be in the same room with everyone again.

It wasn’t until we got to the airport curb where the main part of my story takes place. As we were pulling out their luggage from the trunk, I glanced down at the bumper sticker that she’s had on her bumper forever (“Love a Franciscan: 2B1 Ask 1″) and chuckled like I always did when I spotted it. (As I’ve said in the past, my mom is very strong in her Catholic faith.) But then I glanced to the right of that sticker and saw a “Vote No on Proposal 2” bumper sticker. (More on Prop 2 in a bit.)

After helping them unload their luggage, I turned to give Dad a hug and kiss. And as I lean in to give my mom her hug, she pushes my hair off my shoulder and whispers in my ear, “Don’t forget to vote for McCain. And don’t forget to vote No on 2.” In which I promptly kissed her on her cheek and wished her a safe and fun trip. I briefly shook my head afterwards and thought, “Yup, should have seen that coming.”

For those of you that aren’t familiar, Michigan’s Prop 2 is a proposal to allow for embryonic stem cell research within the state. In the past, my mom and I have had conversations about stem cell research. My mom, of course being a devout Catholic does not support any type of stem cell research (and yes, of course she’s a “Right to Life” person as well).

And myself? Well the truth is, I’m still trying to determine how I feel about it; which is exactly what I told her. And that’s because of my own personal experience with our one and only IVF cycle and the one lone blastocyte that was left for us to freeze (to see what happened to that one embie … click here).

... While Obama is clearly larger (and in a more prominent color) than Biden?
... while Obama is clearly larger (and in a more prominent color) than Biden?

However, after that little bit at the airport … I felt myself fighting off every urge to vote Yes, just to cancel out her vote. But I won’t do that. I will make an informed, unbiased decision before November 4th. And I will make it based on my own opinions.

And I won’t let her (or anyone else, for that matter) know how I voted either.

Because while I support the need to campaign and to rally for whatever (or whomever) you’re voting on (or for) … and while I don’t hold anything against those that openly show how (or who) they’re voting … I personally believe that my vote is confidential.

The important thing is that everyone should go out and vote. For no other reason than BECAUSE YOU CAN.

As for whether or not I decided to “borrow” the car for a couple weeks … well, as you can guess, I decided against it. The icing on the cake was when I had no choice but to head straight to my doctor’s appointment after being stuck in the mid-morning rush hour traffic.

Which doctor and for which appointment, you might ask? Well, of all things … it was my first appointment with my new OB/Gyn.

Uh, so yeah. I hid the car at the back of the lot. I so didn’t feel like getting into it with any person who may be for or against Proposal 2.