...and We're Back!

It is one of my favorite times of year.  It is time for the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival.  My husband got me interested in gardening shortly after we were married, and now I adore going to look at various plants.  We spend a lot of time there discussing the composition of the individual beds, taking pictures of the beds, and discussing how we can use what we have learned at home in our nascent vegetable garden.  We enjoy doing this so much that we make it a point to go every weekend that it runs.

The Flower Power concerts are a bonus.  We both love the music of the '60's, so we enjoy sitting in on the free concerts.  Last week, we heard Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees.  This week, it's Chubby Checkers.  We are especially looking forward to concerts featuring Paul Revere & the Raiders (in April) and Herman's Hermits (in May).

There are food booths there this year, but our digestive issues make it difficult to enjoy much of what they sell.  (This is also why we don't enjoy the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival nearly as much.)

Well, it's time to go.  TTFN!

A Greener, More Active Year

I have made three resolutions for this year.

1. I will accomplish more this year, both professionally and personally.
2. I will be more organized than I have been.
3. I will be greener than I have been.

These three resolutions are broad, and they overlap.  They are not really single items that I can accomplish and be done with them, either.  I will not, at the end of this year, be able to look back and declare that I have reached any particular goal.  (I do have some specific goals attached to each of them.  More on that later.)  They are more a declaration of the person that I would like to be at the end of the year.  I would like to be able to look back on this year and feel like I have progressed in these areas.

However, I know that I have to attach specific, attainable goals to my resolutions, or I will not be able to judge my progress.  I know myself, and I know that I will wander around (metaphorically as well as physically) looking for things to do that sort of fit my resolutions.  Rather, I see my resolutions as integral to each other.  If I want to accomplish something, I will need to plan for it.  This requires organization.  If I want to make sure that something I do is as green as I can make it, I will also have to organize it.  Often, being greener IS what I want to accomplish, so these resolutions will meet more often than not.

Currently, I am in the organizational phase.  I have planned specific goals, and I have made skeleton plans for how to accomplish these goals during the coming year.  I am now in the phase where I start making incremental weekly and daily plans to move me forward in my accomplishments.  More on these goals tomorrow.  I must get back to organizing.

Midyear Updates

About myself: I successfully completed my internship, and I graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching Elementary Education.  I have also been hired at a local elementary school.  However, I have been hired to a temporary position that may end in December.  I'm holding out hope that a permanent position will open before the beginning of the school year.  ::fingers crossed::

About my husband: No updates on the van front.  We will buy one if I get a permanent position at work.  Otherwise, we may be waiting until next year.

About my children:  My older daughter has completed ninth grade and begins tenth grade next month.  My younger daughter has completed sixth grade and begins seventh grade next month.  She will start the year as first chair clarinet in her school's Symphonic Band.

About the pets:  We lost Arlo in January to a massive stroke at the ripe old age of 18 (almost).  However, a new dog came to live with us this spring.  She is an Australian Shepherd named Nana.  I'll tell you more about her later.  Audrey, our only female cat, still has yet to be spayed.  She is proving to be more of a challenge than I had originally thought.

About the extended family:  I lost my Grandpa in January.  He was 89.  I miss him more than I think I will miss any of my other grandparents, although I'm not really sure why.  This will require some thought.

Bits and Pieces

Here are some random thoughts:

1. It's really cold here.

2. I am awfully busy for a newly-unemployed person. I have a lot of errands to run, including getting my female cat spayed.

3. My mom is flying here from Los Angeles on Thursday. She is bringing her project with her: she and my aunt are putting a biography of my maternal grandfather together. Mom wants to share it with me. I'm so excited!

4. I want to share the current state of my genealogical findings with her.

5. Speaking of genealogy, I am trying to organize my genealogical files into something resembling a coherent system.

6. My grandfather on my father's side is dying.

7. My grandmother on my father's side is using the funeral to control the actions and plans of the whole family. I also suspect she is manipulating the funeral to exclude my brother. I think this is to punish my brother for something, but I don't know what.

8. I am knitting a baby blanket. It takes the edge off when I think about my grandmother.

9. I would like to be able to get through this week in one piece.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Well, the Christmas season is coming to a close, and a new year will soon begin. I'm not a big fan of resolutions. Sure, I'll say that I will diet, exercise, and get organized this year, and some of that may actually happen. However, I don't call those resolutions. They're just really good ideas. I'm more interested in looking back over the past year, learning lessons from the past that I can apply to the future, and in looking forward at the year to come.

This year, I have more than a year to evaluate. I have a whole decade. The 00's are coming to a close. What a decade it has been!

2000: I started the decade as a 26-year-old stay-at-home mother to a toddler and a preschooler and a part-time student at St. Petersburg Junior College. My older daughter, Beth, started kindergarten in August. My grandfather had a debilitating stroke in November, followed by two life-saving surgeries. He's still living, but he would never be the same again. I feel like I lost him then.

2001: I graduated from St. Pete Junior College and moved on to the University of South Florida to work on my bachelor's degree. Beth started first grade. I was in class when USF closed its Tampa campus at noon the day the World Trade Center was destroyed. I was later relieved to find out that my brother-in-law was not at the Pentagon, as he was originally supposed to be. He got leave to attend a family funeral in Kentucky.

2002: I continued my studies and my poor attempts at cleaning house. My younger daughter, Callie, was finally potty-trained at the age of almost 4. Both daughters were in school. They were in second grade and pre-kindergarten, respectively.

2003: My perspective on the world and my place in it began to change drastically. I turned 30 on the day the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded. I decided that being 30 wasn't the worst thing that could have happened to me. I took the most influential class of my college career, Medieval History I. I decided that I wanted to be a history professor specializing in the early middle ages. I still have a passion for that period. I also met my best friend, Roy, in that class. The girls began third grade and kindergarten. No more preschoolers for me!

2004: This watershed year witnessed some monumental changes in my life. I graduated with my bachelor's degree and began a master's degree in Religious Studies. My first marriage finally fell completely apart, and we divorced. The children began fourth grade and first grade. Life continues.

2005: Roy and I married and moved to his house in Antioch. I, who had never been a pet owner before, suddenly found myself the proud mother of three dogs: Waldo (lab/chow mix), Arlo (lab/beagle mix), and Hijack (Belgian sheep dog). The girls started fifth grade and second grade.

2006: I graduated with my master's degree, but decided against pursuing a Ph.D. immediately. I began working as a staff member at the University of South Florida. Our family adopted a puppy, whom Beth named Friskie (lab/something mix). The girls started sixth grade and third grade. Beth started middle school! The teenage years arrived.

2007: I decided to start working on a Ph.D. in Philosophy, however I only took one class. It was not for me! I decided to follow my childhood dream of teaching elementary school and transferred degree programs. My great-grandmother passed away at the age of 102. The girls started seventh grade and fourth grade. Beth finally grew taller than me.

2008: I began a second master's degree in elementary education. We lost Hijack to kidney failure on Memorial Day. Beth underwent open-heart surgery to close a hole in her heart. It was wildly successful. My aunt was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. She has survived and is thriving. We gained Yoda (chihuahua/mini bull terrier mix) when he wandered into our yard one day. The girls started eighth grade and fifth grade. Our family and our country stood on the precipice of tremendous change.

2009: At the end of this decade, I am a 36-year-old working woman preparing for a new career. My girls are in ninth grade and sixth grade, and they are both teenagers now. We rescued three kittens: Tigger, Ludwig, and Audrey. Arlo, our oldest dog, was diagnosed with cancer. He has been receiving treatments with a new drug, and the cancer is in remission. I look forward to the future and all that it holds.

For me: I am quitting my job at USF to pursue my internship. I hope to begin teaching in August.

For my husband: I hope we can buy the van that he wants and begin seeing the country within the next couple of years.

For my children: They will be graduating from high school during this decade and beginning their own lives in earnest. I hope they find and follow their dreams. I wish the same for my sister, who will also be graduating high school during the coming decade.

For my brother: I wish him the gift of parenthood. I don't mean the physical state. I mean the mental and emotional changes that occur in parents as they watch their child grow from a newborn into an adult.

For my father and step-mother: I hope they learn to forgive. My sister may need it.

For my mother: I hope she has found happiness with her new partner and has smooth sailing (both literally and figuratively) in the years ahead.

For my grandparents: All of my grandparents are still living, even the grandfather that had the stroke, but they now range in age from 83-89 years old. I hope they have as many joy-filled years as possible ahead of them.

I look forward to the years to come.

It's a Girl!

I have spent some quality time with T.K. (formerly known as "Norbert"), and I have discovered that she is, in fact, a girl! This is particularly exciting news, since she is the only one of our seven animals who is female. All four of our dogs (Arlo, Waldo, Friskie, and Yoda) and both of our other cats (Tigger and Ludwig) are boys. I feel a little less outnumbered now, but there are still 7 males (including humans) to 4 females (including humans) in my family. But I digress.

I have named the kitten Audrey, after my grandmother's cousin. Both the cat and the cousin have bright red hair, and they are both strong, independent women. I have been spending time with Audrey in our basement storage room, which is where she is currently living. This room is filled with boxes and other items, and Audrey feels secure hiding in its many nooks and crannies. I never chase her out of her hiding places. Instead, I lure her out with a tempting bit of rope. She likes it so much that she will forget that I'm sitting about 2 feet away from her. I also tap my fingers on the floor to attract her attention. Her curiosity tells her to investigate the sound, but her survival instincts tell her to be wary of me.

However, last night I took a book into her room when I went to visit with her. I always sit next to her litter box, because she allows me to get that close to her so I can clean it. Last night, though, I just sat and read my book. Eventually, she laid down by her litter box while I was reading. She was just six inches away from me, which is the closest she has ever come to me voluntarily. As soon as she is familiar enough with people, we can take her to the vet, get her shots and any other medical care she may need. Hopefully, we will also be able to get her spayed. My goal is to be able to take her to the vet by the end of the week.

Kitten on the Loose!

You know that we caught the elusive "Third Kitten" on Monday night. However, it took less than 24 hours for T.K. (I've given up on Norbert) to escape from her enclosure. Fortunately, her enclosure was in our basement, which is sealed against kitten escapes in order to allow Tigger and Ludwig to explore. Consequently, T.K. found the room with the most nooks and crannies in which to hide and refuses to come out. However, she is still eating our food, drinking our water, and pooping in our litter. (I'm extraordinarily grateful for the litter part.) I suspect that she will rejoin us when she is ready. I just hope it doesn't take too long. She has not been to see the vet yet.