"Lucy"

Whenever Ben comes home, he kind of expects the world to stop and for our parents to wait on him hand and foot. I've even heard him say, (jokingly..kind of) "Hey chew up my food and then put it in my mouth so I won't have to move". Lucy and him have bonded over their love of lazy and have taken over the living room and everywhere else comfortable in my parent's house. Ben actually does help out a lot when he's at home but he likes to remind everyone of how much he has helped and thus should be rewarded with lazy time with Lucy.

In other news, Lucy might in fact be a boy. Still to be determined yet we think she maybe a he. Mom says she doesn't know if she can live the lie and continue to call "her" Lucy. I think he/she has already embraced the name Lucy so we should just go with it. As old William said, "What's in a name?"

Stay tuned to the possible name change.

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Introducing our new bundle of joy...

We are proud and excited about the new sounds of pitter- patter that will soon take over our lives. It's been a long time coming and we are finally ready to introduce.......

MISS LUCY!



Ha, what a tease. No, we are not having a baby but we are proud to introduce a different type of addition! We are all already so in love with Mom's new kitty, Ms. Lucy. She is already ruling the house and has fallen in love with Mom and Dad.

Excuse the appearance but I came from walking outside in the near 60 degree weather on Saturday that was followed by snow on Sunday! Cray cray TN.

 



ugh, a cat after my own heart. She will totally strike a pose and doesn't like a flash. None of us a do, girl. Too hard on those laugh lines.

Of course the real treat was seeing my Mom on Saturday and hanging out with her for most of the day, just us girls. I love my Momma!

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

(almost) wordless Wednesday

Never gonna been super wordless. Brother Ben is wins best kid award...today. He got Mom a new kitty and kept it an entire week before giving it to her to make sure it was a "good kitty". No name yet but I hear he/she (not sure) is a snuggler!

Any name ideas?

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.



Wake up call

I almost don't realize this wonderful feeling. It's like someone allowed me to not work on weekends and sleep in with out the use of an evil, torture devise known to most as an alarm clock. Oh wait, that's exactly what just happened. No musical, no freshman parent forums, nothing to do with mid or all-state choirs, nothing. I slept until wait for it...8:30 on Saturday AND Sunday.

Regrettably I took no pictures from this weekend so reenactments from cats will have to do.

I cannot remember a time in recent memory where I have felt this good and rested! Thankfully church had a women's retreat and although I am a woman  I decided to skip the retreat with the lovely church ladies have my own type of retreat with my family and hubby! Since so many were gone we didn't even have church choir this morning...thus the morning off to sleep in! Not trying to brag about skipping church and all of you who are about to judge/condemn/preach to me about the values of church can just skip on to another blog because I feel amazing and there's nothing you can do about it.

yup, still going with the cat reenactments. See them laughing?

The perfect storm of a weekend began Friday night with a quick stop by BHS to see my student sing the anthem and then we met Mom Dad, and UNCLE RAY in town from Seattle for dinner. Well he was in town to see the family not to go to dinner at the oh so fine dining establishment of Chili's but you get my point. The weekend continued with a visit at my parents house with Ray, Shari, and Lisa! They told story after story about visiting Grandma's house and the endless hours of fun there consisting of games like swinging statues where my Mom would spin a cousin or sibling and then throw (hurl) them and they had to stop in some sort of statuesque pose. Or classics like bicycle chicken ( I am giving this game a name because no one could remember the name) where a child would ride as close to the curb while the other kids kept their feet on the side of the road as long as possible before moving their feet with only valuable seconds to spare before the bike crushed their tiny toes. The kids would also test fate by riding close to the home with the crazed dog who would always run after them and bite at their legs. Lastly on rainy days the cousins talked about playing "coloring contests" where my Mom would use her ruler to point out mistakes as head coloring judge. ("I was tough but I was fair" Michelle) They would also sing hymns on the front porch with a Church of Christ hymnal and just once they called on the spirits of JFK and Abraham Lincoln to thunder if their presence was there...of like it often does during a storm, thunder and lighting crashed down thus ending their playing with the Ouija board. I loved hearing their stories but even more I enjoyed seeing my Mom and family laugh so hard!


Seriously? still the cats?



Today we helped P's Mom and sister get some stuff done around their new house (we= P) and we organized, cleaned and as lame as that sounds, it was so nice to just be HOME. With a quick stop from soon-to-be Mommy again Sarah along with Kyle and little Holden we enjoyed catching up with the parents...and Holden enjoyed playing with our front door.

With such a nice weekend almost over it leave me with only one thing to do.

Pray for snow.

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

ps. I haven't been under a rock. I realize Whitney is no longer with us (Houston not Whit Gent). I haven't figured out how to create a blog post about her glory. It will come...just be patient.

Wordless Wednesday

I want, I want.

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Happy Halloween!

Happy, happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a frightful night with tons of candy that's totally alright.

(it's late and that's all the rhyme I got folks)

In other news, I want this cat.

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Happy Memorial Day...Again...

I hope everyone relaxed as much as Millie!

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Millie

Since my parents went on a trip for their 30th wedding anniversary, I have been SO happy to have my baby back. We are keeping little Millie while my parents are away and as crazy as this makes me sound, having her just makes me so happy! I know as I post this blog I'm pretty much assuring my future as a crazy cat lady but if it's my fate, so be it. I love this little girl and she has just been so fun all week! She has made herself quite at home snuggling with me all the time and even fussing at us when we leave her out too long. Don't tell but I think even P has liked having her around. Except for the time when he thought someone was in the house in the middle of the night and he got all Rambo trying to protect our house while I gracefully snored and missed the entire event.. but it was really Millie. Other than that, it has been great :)

For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Rehab?

So denial has carried me here for awhile but I must say it now legit and official. A huge life change is taking over. I'm going to a place so unknown, so rare, so confusing that the deep insides that previously felt full of intellect and knowledge are unsure of which way is up. Living this double life in two different worlds will soon no longer exist and I will only live in one world. So where am I going? Rehab, ha I wish. Europe? Nah. Denver? Please... I Natalie am moving to...Arkansas. (hi Natalie) Let's all take a moment with some Oprah recommended meditating to realize what I just wrote. No it is not a dream and yes there are mountain folks (scary and serious). I am moving to west Arkansas where dry counties rule, wearing a helmet on a motorcycle is optional (not even playing) and the Wal- Marts are an entire new world of crazy foreign even to me. It is west Arkansas so at least you can see the Ozark mountains everywhere and it is actually kind of pretty (mountains pictured right). I'm living in another college town which brings extra culture, what-a-burgers, brainy professor friends I am dying to meet, and God willing less mountain folks. It is actually a cute town and I've spent the last week trying to find my way around and look for jobs and friends that also love ironic, witty (okay maybe somewhat nerdy) and observational humor. No such luck on the job or friends but I feel like I am making strives. I am applying for jobs with a vengeance and am adapting the Secret's mantra of seeing what I believe will happen. Not really knowing exactly what I want, I'm envisioning ruling the universe with a hot beach bod in a red bikini (pictured left), but if that does not work out I will picture myself happy at my job with an awesome paycheck. Things have been fun but I must admit I miss my Oxford friends like crazy. I mean I've only been here a week and I haven't really "moved in" because most of my belongings are in Oxford still and I will return shortly to get them, but still I miss my little slice of Heaven aka Oxford like models miss food. It really hit me the other day when Philip and I were eating at this "Italian place" (no lie, everything was vegall vegetables with some kind of noodles and Ragu sauce from the can, or you could get french fries...?) and some gays and their friends started singing in their booth and I was soooo jealous! Those are MY friends! Here I was having a boring, quiet, and adult lunch and those folks were singing in the middle of the day. It was a good sign to see some gays singing their little hearts out but I was not positive enough at that point to see the bright side. I wanted my friends, community, and fun life I built for myself but moving is hard anywhere and I'm sure I'll find that here. Luckily I was smart enough to bring my little Millie now to make the adjustment that much better! She running around like a crazy cat and enjoying ruling the house and I of course love having her always! But please don't let all my complaining scare you too much. We have already had Philip's cousin and her husband over for a cook out and Philip met some of our neighbors last night who I am so excited about. Not because I can really see us forging a friendship but they are so odd to me. I'm not really sure who all lives there because there are about 7 cars.. wait HUGE, HUGE TRUCKS there all the time. One ridiculous truck has a huge "strictly southern" sticker on his back window so that's what I've adoringly started calling our red neighbors. Last night Philip found out they all work on an oil rig and have odd schedules. Oil rig? Seriously!?!!? I've never known anyone who has even been to an oil rig much less worked at one. Maybe they can teach me how to dip or better yet trick my sentra like their trucks. Hmm, we shall see. Well I should get back to looking for a job to complain about.

I hope all is well back in the civilized world. For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Millie Update

It's back to the grind here at the junior high. Today is like any other day after a long break...crazy but even a little bit more so because of the illegal packages the little runts brought with them...Easter candy. It seems the Easter bunny brought all kinds of sugar explosions and my students are eager to sneak it in their mouths like I cannot see it. Hello, I teach choir. If you are eating a Snickers and singing with your wide opened trap, I'm going to know. I would like to believe I was smarter and better behaved in junior high but this is probably not the case. It is more likely that I was a weenie just like the rest of these kids and am being paid back by the karma gods all in one year. Awesome.

In other news, I have received some requests for pictures of the holy terror residing in our house, Millie. The kitten is growing like a weed and these pictures are here to prove it! Please save your comments about how I'm well on my way to becoming the old cat lady by blogging and even worse posting pictures about my cat. I've accepted the awful association with cat ladies and have moved past it and I suggest you do the same. Unlike her owner, Millie does not pose effortlessly for the camera, so it is difficult to take a good picture. For some reason she did not receive the gift to take an effortlessly "natural" photo. (ie. You're well aware someone is taking a picture but you give that great "I'm listening" or "I'm laughing" face acting like you do not see the photographer..yeah I know you do it too). You might be wondering why on earth Millie is playing with Birkenstocks..fear not, I have not switched teams, rather the shoes belong to Mr. Travis of Colorado. Millie does love playing with shoes, especially high heals so at least she's got that going for her and she immediately became amazed with these flat shoes she never sees her owner wearing. Always playing, Millie rarely looks at the camera and I think a lot cuter in person but I guess I'm a little bias.

Well I better get back to work before the kids come back. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! For Natalie's News this has been, Natalie-Corinne.

Some Rules

I returned to work from the weekend really refreshed and feeling good about being at work. (write this down because it may never happen again) I have a new hair cut, I feel rested, there is only 9 school days until my next PAID vacation, just feeling nice. Then it happened... I had to meet with the insurance people. Last year when I met with these vultures and was almost committed after the stress they induced. But this year I felt confident and walked in and sat down planning on spending the maximum of five minutes with the insurance man. He looks at me and says,"do you like cats?" and I say, "yes I do, I have a kitten named Millie" then he tells me a terrible story about his cat being hit by a car and dying while he was out of town. I politely listen but want to scream I have one break all day when I can go to the bathroom, please hurry it up. So then I guess he assumes (like a lot of Repubs do down here) that every single and white woman is conservative. He pulls out this article with Dave Ramsey and says, "do you know of Dave Ramsey? He says you need disability and I know a smart GIRL like you would do what he says" Okay...okay.. stay calm. I want to look at him and tell him that this GIRL manages to control 150 students raging with hormones and then use my words to cut his soul out make him question life but I stop and say, "no". Of course he is a salesman so he persists and persists..this does not bother me as much because we all have to make a living so I give him some credit but I say "no." Then....he begins talking to me about retirement and the big bad new government. "Obama's gonna take all our money, don't think these bailouts are gonna help any of us. They are gonna have us paying 80% of our income by the time you're in your 40s. They will take all your money away, you better put some more in retirement." With my mouth hanging open and my frown lines blazing he is aware that I am not in agreement with him and looks panicked. I respond with "well oh this mess..yes it is a mess..do you remember how we got in this mess?" he looks at me without anything to say and of course I continue "and furthermore, we do not know each other I would appreciate you not using insulting, untrue comments to scare people into buying your product that you get a commission out of". Don't get me wrong, retirement is important, I have a plan, but this guy just set me off. Finally we moved on and has the nerve to ask me if I want life insurance for MY CAT...I give him a look I only reserve for cheaters and cussers and he takes that as a "no" and finishes my paper work quickly.

So some rules to live by: (that I thought we all knew)

One: Refrain from insulting any politics, religion, etc, especially when you're trying to make some money.

Secondly: Don't be an idiot.

In other news: Goober Sam celebrated his birthday this weekend in Indiana. I am told that he had many friends over and enjoyed presents and fun for his big day! We all wish we could have celebrated with the young chap but I am sure he enjoyed himself in his usual Sam style!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I will publish a weekend update soon! For Natalie's News this has been Natalie-Corinne.

pop quiz

So at the painful hour of 5:15 the alarm hatefully rang and woke me up proving that Spring Break 2009 had officially come to an end and the last 9 weeks of school was upon us. I was happy to be home to see my wild kitty but the wonderful week of sleeping in made it even harder to get up before the sun. I came back to school and the kids were crazier than ever. A week at home with out in school drama gave them too much time to create gossip over texting, facebook, bebo, and other communications devices so the halls were swarming with he said/ she said before 7:20am, way too early for such nonsense. My homeroom was extremely talkative and loud. Maybe it was because I was removed for so long or maybe the students were really too loud but I could not take it so I did what any good teacher does. I gave them a welcome back quiz. I decided I would not stress over making them listen. I went over notes and definitions, gave great examples, took questions from some students while some continued to whisper and pass notes. Finally I said in my best teacher voice, "okay, put everything away and take out a pencil and paper and separate into your test seats". Panic struck the room because this is the last day before grades are printed for report cards and a bad quiz grade can really hurt students! Many students gave me the usual groans, pathetic faces, but one very talkative student named Tyeisha responded loudly, "how you gonna give us a pop quiz on the first day back from spring break?" I looked at her with the most evil teacher smile I could give and responded softly back, "welcome back". Small and precious victory. Now that the students were scared they were quiet which is worth more money that I shall ever know.

In other news, yes spring break is over for good. In my last weekend in the boondocks (aka Arkansas) I went to the Wiederkehr winery in further West Arkansas. The winery is located in Altus, Arkansas where the famous Paris and Nicole began their adventures in The Simple Life. The winery began with a tasting where the t-shirt wearing employees looked less than thrilled to be working. People from far and wide watched the movie Sideways before attending and were proud of their wino questions while the employees irritatedly answered with snobby faces. I guess when one has been working in a winery for a while one may get tired of faux wrangler wearing wino's but I was surprised with the obvious frustration from the employees. Finally it was time for the grand tour of the winery. An employee in a orange Nike T-shirt with matching jogging pants gave the tour and was equally ready to be finished as the other employees. There were surprisingly a lot of folks on the tour and they fell into one of two categories. First were the folks who were really eager to be there so they could learn facts about wine and impress their friends and two the group who read wikipedia before they left and had prepared questions to feel important...well I guess there were three because I fell into the group who thought the whole thing was a sham. I felt badly for the first two groups because the tour provided hardly any knowledge and when anyone asked a question the tour guide belittled them...sad. But on a positive note, the wine and the little restaurant were very good. The restaurant (pictured right) used to be the Wiederhehr home back in the later 1800s and now is a restaurant where the waitresses really dress like the picture! The trip made me think fondly of the long ago trip to Europe with Ray and Lindsay and all of our great experiences...Thank God now I actually have a tolerance and did not serenade anyone on a train ride after a little wine.

Well I best get back to work! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. For Natalie's News this has been Natalie-Corinne.

back it up...

Sorry for the blog schizophrenia, but let's back it up and get to Weekend Update. This weekend was so much fun! I hate to be one of those annoying romantics on Valentine's day, but this year was the first in a while that I got to celebrate rather than feel the cold harshness of singles awareness day. If you read the previous blog you know that Friday afternoon I spent with the parents in Oxford enjoying the square. Around 2:30, I packed up and headed to Nashville while the parents made another trip back to Martin to see brother Ben. Since the laundry was taken care of, they actually got to spend time with the college chap and enjoyed dinner at a local Italian eatery. The parents said they were sad to leave me but I think they were most upset about leaving my new addition, Millie (kitty pictured left..the picture really doesn't do her cuteness justice). The new kitty instantly won the affection of my parents and they played were her constantly! I was afraid to leave them alone with her for too long because I wouldn't put it past my Momma to steal Millie for herself..Back in Nashville Philip and I met high school friends Jenna and Taylor at their house in Franklin. Later we met other high school friends Bret and Christina at newly renovated 108 restaurant in Franklin that used to be Monells. 108 is off the square and was once a prison. Yikes! There are still cell doors, rooms for solitary confinement and other spooky reminders of the past. Although the ambiance and martinis were excellent, the food was really lackluster; I would not recommend eating there but if you would like an expensive yet tasty martini, drinking at the bar might be fun. Saturday morning I hung out with the parents. It is a family tradition that on the weekend Papa cooks breakfast for the ladies and waits on us constantly with coffee. Yeah...lucky you momma! Later I did some last minute shopping and met Philip for a special Valentine's Day dinner. He cooked steak and lobster, twice baked potatoes, pasta, salad, and creme brule for dessert! Move on over Food Network; what a meal! Then we swapped gifts, I got a very sweet and romantic heart shaped necklace and Philip got a bass pro gift card. I know...so shameful, but that's what he likes. Sunday morning and afternoon the family hung out and after a quick stop in Brentwood, made the long haul back to Oxford.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines and beginning to their week, promise to blog about something less self involved soon... well I don't promise but I'll try :) For Natalie's News this has been Natalie-Corinne.

weekend update

This weekend seemed to fly by with fun times had by all. It was exactly what I needed to detox from the long week of craziness here at the junior high. This weekend was pretty bare in my favorite city. I guess because of the cold weather and such it seemed at the beginning of the weekend that there was not much going on, but this quickly changed. Friday night was pretty tame with a casual dinner at Oby's then a house party at the Worthy's estate. Brooke, the ultimate hostess served lasagna and low calorie margaritas. Saturday we saw movie, ran some errands and then....picked out a new kitten! For some reason I thought I would be able to go to the humane society and just look...right. I picked the cutest baby kitten that is only 3 weeks old. Considering we are not supposed to have animals and I am super busy this was really one of the worst decisions of the weekend, but I don't really care. She is so cute and I cannot wait to get her in two weeks. After the shelter we went to dinner with power couple Rebecca and Smitty. They spent the day getting engagement pictures taken all over town. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Bouree (sign pictured left) and then went to City Grocery (pictured right) for after dinner drinks. Usually when I go out now I have become a total snob and stick to wine, occasionally when I'm influenced by a particular boy I will stoop to a 24 ounce beer but for the most part, snobby wine is my drink of choice. But for some reason Saturday after wine at dinner, I was feeling frisky at the bar so I went for an old favorite during my sorority days...jack and diet coke. Huge mistake. I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe it was my sudden urge to do more before I turned 26, maybe I thought I would drink it slower, I have no idea but it was not pretty. The next morning I had to arise bright and early for children's choir and let's just say it was not my finest hour. Nothing came up but my head kept throbbing and cursing my thoughtless drinking! Sadly, I only had 1 and a couple of sips of another drink and it did it in for me. I guess we should look on the bright side of things, I've become a totally cheap date and with our economy nobody can complain about that. Plus, it takes way fewer calories. So lesson learned is: I still plan on trying new things etc before I enter that horrid stage of the upper twenties but my former boyfriend Jack will be dumped permanently and we will never fling again. Ever. I did "buck up and do" and got up for church like a good little Episcopalian girl on Sunday (church where I felt awful pictured left). I went to church and then went back to bed for some much needed recuperation. As I began preparing for the Superbowl, Philip told me the best news of the entire weekend...he downloaded all of the newest episodes of Big Love (pictured right) for me. Holy Lord God, my life is complete. Previously I had HBO but I felt that times were tough I should cancel it, but oh how I've missed my shows...most of all Big Love. Who cannot enjoy this show of crazies hiding their polygamy? It is so twisted and dramatic, I love it. Secretly I want to pretend that I am a polygamist so I can get inside the cult and do a whole Lisa Ling style documentary...no worries that is a fleeting thought before I come back to reality. Plus their dresses are so ugly. After two glorious hours of Big Love we went to a Super Bowl party with St. Peter's folks and enjoyed the boring Super Bowl. I really didn't care about either team and the commercials were pretty lame. After the Super Bowl we came home and watched the hilarious after Super Bowl special hour of The Office. Amazing. Wow, as I write I just realized how much television I watched yesterday. Kind of gross. Maybe I shouldn't say bye bye to Jack just yet.



Well I better get back to work, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. For Natalie's News this has been Natalie Corinne.

Heidi girl

When I think about my blog Seinfeld usually comes to mind. I do not really blog about anything serious but I am so sad about my little kitty Heidi, so this will be different. My cat Heidi died really early this morning. She most likely had a stroke or some sort of blood clot. When we found her she was having seizures every couple of minutes. I called the vet and he came and saw her at 11:30pm. He gave her some medicine and decided to keep her but in the middle of the night he called and said that we had lost her. I only got her this fall but I am so sad and upset by this. She was such a cute kitty and I will miss her so much.

the girls

Being such a dedicated junior high teacher I am going to go to the football game tonight so I do not have a lot of time to post BUT due to increasing demands for pictures of the new additions in my life I thought there was no time like the present! The little lady on the left is Heidi. She is of course named after the amazing Heidi Klum and is still a kitten and loves to play. The cat on the right is Beatrice but we just call her B. This fluff ball is over a year old and the prissy one. At first the girls did not know what to think about each other but now they are getting along well and play together all the time. I just love having them! We got them kind of randomly one day at the Humane society and the litter box (eww) has totally been worth it. They are so cute together! At first we thought of only getting one but now are so glad we got them together. Although they are not biological, they have come to be sisters, we're basically the Brady bunch of cats. Now we just need an Alice.. any takers?

Lastly I thought I would leave you with a picture from the Presidential debate in Oxford. This picture is of myself and my former roommate Ms. Ann Marie Hall in the grove on the Ole Miss campus where we watched the debate on big screen televisions! Her boyfriend Mike took this picture for us and I thought it was cute :)

Well I am off to the football game! Go Tigers! For Natalie's News this has been Natalie-Corinne.

Finally Friday

Oh, what a week. School has been much busier than normal getting ready for the talent show, children's choir is preparing to sing on Sunday, Michelle is coming to Oxford on Saturday to go to the Ole Miss game and prepare for the bridal shower we are throwing for Ms. Rebecca Bertrand on Sunday! WOW. Last night I should have stayed home and work but I did not. My teacher friend Jessica hosted a debate party for the Biden/Palin debate. As I arrived at her house I knew it would be a memorable night. There were red, white and blue balloons on the mailbox and life size cut out of Joe Biden as you walked in. Joe was so kind he would pose with everyone. Jessica went all out for this party; very hip Martha Stewart. Somehow she found Jill Biden's recipe for Joe's favorite cookie and made these huge chocolate oatmeal cookies! So good! Then she found out his favorite food was pasta so Jessica made this great pasta, salad and rosemary bread! She also served BLUEtinis and Bluemoon beer. It was so cute. As we left we were all given goody bags filled with homemade donkey cookies, Obama/Biden stickers and other fun things. I have not received a goody bag since a birthday party at the skate center circa 1995. It really had been too long. The attendees of this party were also very posh. Jessica's husband Paul is a lawyer in Oxford and I met several other lawyers and such. Most importantly though I met the stand in for Barack Obama at the presidential debate. He has totally become a local celebrity and well of course we hit it off right away. After several glasses of the blue drink we all decided we should go to DC for the inauguration... we shall see.

In other news, like I said before mother Michelle and I are giving Ms. Rebecca Bertrand a bridal shower this weekend. Really, Michelle is doing most of the work but it is at my house. I am getting a little nervous because my house is an upgrade from the previous house but it is still modest. Rebecca invited several "socialites" from Oxford and I am a little nervous about having them in my tiny place. Hopefully they do not mind sitting very closely... we'll just say cozy, that's sounds better, right? Whatever the case, I am so excited to see mother Michelle. I have not seen her in so long and I am so excited to show her the new additions in my life: like the car, cat, new house etc.

cat chaos

Reviews are in. Obama Rama was a raving success. I went with some new teacher friends from Batesville and as we walked to the lyric from the square we could smell the glorious scent of BBQ. That's right, there was barbecue. I mean forget foreign policy, if a candidate is associated with BBQ, I'm pretty much sold. I walked into the lyric I was floored by the diversity of the crowd. At first people really did not know what to do. All of the younger students were kind of wandering around the bands, the middle aged people stood toward the back and we just kind of stood there looking for direction. After teaching all day my brain refuses to function. The only task I really succeed at after teaching is inhaling and exhaling. Finally someone was there to lead us where we needed to go, because how could we figure that out?! There were several sign up booths where people could register to vote, to volunteer for the debate and other events closer to the election. Then we went into the main room of the Lyric. The renovation is amazing. I had not been to the Lyric until last night and it looks incredible. However, I felt that awful feeling again... oldness. There were several local bands there and it was so loud! I looked around and my other teacher friend said, "there should be tables and chairs" and I laughed so hard because it hit us at the same time how old it sounded! We stayed and mingled for a little over two hours. Mayor Howarth was there, several St. Peter's people, several professors from various parts of campus, Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, and several students. Overall the night was very successful and I was happy I got out of my nightly in pajamas by 8pm routine to go!

At risk of becoming an old spinster, I am going to blog about my cats. They are so cute and wonderful but oh my gosh so demanding. My kitten has gotten into this awful routine of wanting to play at 1am and around 4am. She comes and jumps or walks all over me and licks my face to wake me up! It is the strangest thing. This morning around 4am she started this game again and I was determined for her to sleep. Finally she began to settle down and then Claire's cat jumped on the bed too and they began playing on top of me! Don't these cats know that I am a sleep deprived teacher?!?!

HE IS ALIVE. In other news brother Ben is alive and well. I talked to him for a bit last night, probably because Michelle called and shamed him. Anyway, the long lost brother is busy with school and practice, but happy at Martin. He surprised me with the request to come and stay in Oxford this weekend. I was so excited and then he slips in, "yeah I also want to bring some friends". Oh Lord, four young baseball boys in my tiny duplex. Because of the debate there is no chance of getting a hotel so I am going to ask friends to spare an extra bedroom if the boys do come down.